While we haven’t all suffered in the same way, we might agree that everyone has suffered during this pandemic. For some, the suffering involved shocking loss and acute illness. For others, feelings of frustration, deprivation and disconnection set in like its own psychological virus..
The healing traditions of Buddhism and psychotherapy share a wish to understand suffering and its causes. Buddhist psychology focuses on universal dynamics, while psychotherapy tends to zoom in close, having a look at the details of our personal journey.
Both traditions agree – when we suffer, we’ll need support to explore the fuller truth of what we’ve lived through. The mind gets easily riled when circumstances feel unsafe. But the spiritual challenge of Covid has involved helping ourselves and others restore enough inner stability to stay the course, learn more, and offer care to self and others when needed.
The Covid pandemic has impacted us all. And while some would like to believe it’s behind us, there is much that continues. Certainly, the grief from millions of losses continues. The overwhelm from chronic illness some now suffer continues. And the need for more and reliable information to stave off unnecessary suffering continues.
What I notice is a collective struggle to remain necessarily cautious – this is an airborne virus that affects our cardiovascular, respiratory, and neurologic systems – while thinking creatively about our needs as relational beings. How can we care for our bodies and minds, while offering that care for others, too? Can we notice how embedded in the human family we are, how interdependent?
The spiritual challenge posed by this pandemic involves a willingness to notice the protective defense of black and white thinking. It’s tempting to make emotionally driven decisions when feeling stressed. For example, deciding that it’s time to move on from the pandemic before we can safely do so. Or, deciding that no human contact is worth the risk. Throughout this experience, denial about our needs as embodied and psychological beings has wielded enormous power.
The Spiritual Challenges of COVID
