COVID-19 worldwide

Hello.

Certainly, we are currently in the midst of events “like riding in a history textbook from around the world.” Once upon a time, there were diseases that cornered humanity to the extreme, such as the plague, but our ancestors imagine how difficult it would have been to maintain life without medical care like today.

However, it is quite different from “excitement,” as well as thinking about the hard work of people in the past and being forced to live in a difficult world.

The true nature of “COVID-19” is still not well understood, so I don't know if it is a disease “experienced for the first time by all humans on Earth.” However, as mentioned earlier, “pandemics” such as the plague have already been “experienced” by “all humanity” many times in history, and this is by no means the “first time” that people are frightened by an unidentified disease. I think it's hard to call being afraid of illness “excited,” but how about it?

The reason you can afford to say “excited” without being frightened by the “COVID-19” is probably because there are health care workers, essential workers, and government officials who are working hard because they almost collapse on the front lines. Can you say “excited” right in front of those people who sweat every day and are desperate in the midst of exhaustion?

They say that the situation where everyone is “forced to put up with it and refrain from doing so” is “comfortable” and “I think the present will continue forever.” What do you think will happen if the current situation continues?

Economically, countries around the world have already been severely damaged. Countless people are suffering from unemployment. Growth has slumped even in developed countries, and developing countries have been more affected. How many decades will it take for this to return to its original level? The financial losses are immeasurable anymore.

You say it's good that “the rich and famous are all equal,” but it's definitely not a good thing for everyone to become economically stagnant all at once and then become poor. The sinking of the Japanese economy is the sinking of the ground for your economy.

Are you saying that because you have enough money to afford it? Even if you can afford it, if you can see the suffering of the people around you, the word “comfortable” should never come up.

You probably only see your own “excitement” and “comfort.” I don't think we can see people's sorrow and suffering. Why don't you question that state of mind for yourself (character limit)

I read it.
Pandemics like this have occurred indefinitely in human history. Even in the early modern and modern times, many epidemics have occurred, such as the Spanish flu influenza and the plague smallpox dysentery typhus.
I looked up the temple's past records, and more than double the average number of people died in the age when the epidemic occurred. Also, when famine occurred due to the eruption of Mount Asama volcano or cold damage, many people died due to illness or starvation. History shows that many such disasters have occurred every certain cycle.

Then, a few years passed, and the plague subsided to some extent. The number of people who die roughly 3 to 4 years after the outbreak is drastically reduced. This is probably because antibodies, that is, people develop resistance to pathogens in groups, and I think it is also because hygiene management in the community is improved and nutritional conditions are getting better.
In modern times, vaccinations, medicine, etc. have developed, so it is not easy for half or 1/3 of the population to die like in the past.
Experts have reported that, as humans invaded undeveloped land, new pathogens, or rather organisms, were encountered, and they spread explosively as people moved after that. Before the Age of Discovery, it would have taken a long time for the infection to spread, but it spread all at once as people moved everywhere by airplane or railway as it is now. So I think it can be said that we humans are spreading that pathogen.

What really scares us seems to be the state of our minds. It's really horrible that lies, lies and misinformation are spread so much that people are afraid of getting sick, and discriminating against others by criticizing or discrediting others, and when connections with people are cut due to unfounded prejudice, and malice, abuse, violence, and forced quarantine occur.
Malicious acts such as becoming exclusive against people other than oneself, hurting people and significantly taking away human rights occur. If that happens, people lose their minds. We lose our sense of kindness, compassion, and help each other. They are dominated by anxiety, fear, selfishness, and hatred.
How is your heart?
I think it can also be said that this kind of situation is testing our own minds and ways of life.

I sincerely pray that everyone can live through every day sincerely, richly, and happily with peace of mind while caring for each other, whether they have COVID-19 infection or not.

　Kancha-san, it's unavoidable that various emotions will sprout in a long battle with infectious diseases. But if you think about it, find more advantages.
When I heard that Israel is an advanced vaccination country, I wonder if they were vaccinated regardless of ethnicity ⁉️.
I hope Israel's deep-seated ethnic conflict will also be eliminated as an opportunity for vaccination, etc.
There were reports only about mask fights, but at that time, I distributed masks to people I met. “Please give masks to people who are having trouble preventing infection. In a sense, “It's a mask to name it,” I may be enjoying the coronavirus too. The mask distribution activity was opposed by most of the monks.
You can have fun too, but be careful not to just slander them.

It is said that Dazai Osamu may have had a bipolar temperament, as his life and works were lively during the war and became bad again after the war.
When an extraordinary phenomenon occurs, such as the Great East Japan Earthquake, people's feelings tend to rise or fall higher than usual. Various actions have come into view, such as being able to act hard for others with a sense of elation, being depressed and unable to do anything, and incidentally making money and making people suffer by doing bad things.
The current commotion has continued for many more years instead of being moderate, and there are quite mixed reactions, such as exhaustion even when working hard for others at first, and changing responses along the way.
Instead of feeling excited or depressed on the emotional side of one's own heart, I think it's a great way to act by calmly judging what kind of situation this is on the rational side, in times of peace, in times of emergency, from a Buddhist perspective, and from a public perspective.
There have been various public reactions to this disturbance. Demonstrations have occurred in Europe and North America against government restrictions, and the medical community's views are already diametrically divided. Responses from various countries are also blurry, and only a few people are much richer than before the pandemic... I have the impression that the situation is wartime even though the bomb hasn't dropped rather than during a disaster. Information manipulation was a matter of course even during the previous war.
In Buddhism, being depressed or suffering is viewed as an evil act of the mind. I encourage you not to be depressed even in such situations.
On the other hand, feeling uplifted and inadvertently doing something you wouldn't normally do is also seen as an evil act of ignorance caused by the mind. they get nervous and force themselves to do something to get frowned upon...
Personally, not everyone is suffering equally; on the contrary, I intend to calmly watch the current situation where some people are making huge profits (although they should work with the government to provide benefits to the needy to get closer to equality), and the situation where this situation continues as if it were prolonged rather than trying to get rid of it quickly, etc., while thinking that it is troubling, without losing. I don't know how long it will last... (I'm rather surprised what kind of gag it is these days when people who become university professors say they should set up their own tents in the house on TV).

Well, at any time, I will do my best so that I can discern things calmly without feeling depressed, not in a hurry, and without getting bogged down.
　

Kancha-sama

Plagues, disasters, wars, famines... in our world, there is “grudge and suffering,” which is the suffering of having to encounter bad things and things we hate.

Other typical examples are called four struggles, and there are also things such as life, old age, illness, death, love, suffering, and unrequited hardships.

Well, big or small, you'll encounter that kind of suffering...

The disaster caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the nuclear accident were unprecedented...

The effects of radioactivity are still enormous, and there is absolutely no denying the possibility that people were unknowingly exposed to the atomic bomb due to radioactive substances with a long half-life.

There are many specific teachings in Buddhism about how we should overcome such suffering when we encounter this kind of grudge and suffering.

On the happy New Year's day at the beginning of a new year, Ikkyu-zenji wandered around the city saying “be careful, be careful.”

“A story that's smarter than this one, the best way to show off your face, be clever, and unbelievable”

“Kadomatsu is Ichirizuka in the Netherland Journey, neither happy, nor happy”

Enjoying extraordinary times is also “be careful, be careful.”

Gassho

you actually feel that way
so there's no harm to anyone else
I don't think there's any problem.

just
there's no way this situation will last forever
It will eventually come to an end.
When that happened
You feel uneasy again
They're probably going to be attacked.

Is that OK?

Not only are you just enjoying today's extraordinary
So that I can return to my daily life at any time
Why don't we get ready now?