Fetsum Abraham: ምስ ህዝብካ ማዓት ዳርጋ ግዓት

“The rule of destiny unfolds itself and actualizes the inevitable. You cannot change the course of events but you can change your attitude and what matters is the attitude not the events.” Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Dear Eritreans, it is noble to be considerate to the situations of thousands of Eritreans in dire straits in this dark moment in human experience. It is very kind to think about our prisoners in overcrowded cells and homeless citizens and refugees all over the world. It is only normal and compassionate to wonder about what may happen to the people under the reckless dictatorship at home during this terrible period in history. It is also normal to worry about our lives and families with different degrees of emotion. The fact remains the whole world is facing the Corona virus equally; it is an impartial attack to humankind. Life has become uncertain for every human being on planet earth. Some are afraid, some bored and frustrated, quite a few stressed and depressed in their loneliness wherever they may be. Still, many are dying in different hospitals across the globe. There is no doubt we will solve it but I think we will lose thousands of people everywhere before we succeed.

In the flip, the world needed some type of disorder to quieted it a bit. Humankind was on the run to cheat, lie, steal, kill, over achieve, accumulate, oppress, dehumanize, etc., while millions suffering the imbalance with intolerable exodus, poverty and homelessness everywhere in the world. It was noisy and greedy to the limit. The collective ego was restlessly spinning around doing incalculable damage to humanity and something had to shake it off for better understanding of life and coexistence. We needed something to help us take the time to challenge our minds in privacy. This is an imposed experience, a forced opportunity for higher consciousness; a universal verdict on all of us to confront our respective individuality in view of spirituality.

Of course, this virus will be history like everything in Nature. Yet, crisis is a golden opportunity for mental transformation. The question is what we can learn from this crisis and how we should handle it till we find a vaccine hopefully in the near future.

Realities:

• We will all die one way or another. Therefore, death is inevitable and part of life
• We may need external contact for pleasure but we only need the inner self to control the mind and stay peaceful; and every human has that capacity.
• The virus will pass in accordance to the law of impermanence. Therefore, life goes on for the survivors!
• Neither can we change the situation nor can we control life. Therefore, we have to accept it without complaining following the instructions as much as possible.
• Life is beautiful for those who live it as it is, for those who accommodate things as they come. Therefore, dance with the flow without too much definition and explanation.
• Corona is a natural disaster to humankind but injustice and oppression induced loss of human life is more tragic in contrast.
• Corona is universal, it threatens all of us without discrimination. Therefore, there is nothing here to personalize the crisis; no reason to be afraid, only to follow instructions and relax wherever we may be.
• Corona is fatal, and prevention is the best medicine. The body needs good nutrition, sleeping, sanitation and moderate exercise to stay in shape for anything. Therefore, give it all as much as you can.
• We have to understand that most of the damage for the survivors is psychological. Ego will go crazy imagining different things (my family, my money, my business, my promotion, loss, death, etc. etc.). We need a quiet mind to deal with the situation and we can have it in abundance with uninterrupted awareness. The mind is the worst enemy of human life, especially in such a situation. It will bring issues associated with the virus, terrorizing people as much as possible. It will fabricate, exaggerate, remind, forecast and tell too many stories to attack you in many complex ways. It will serve your ego and make you regretful of the past and worrisome about the future. It will agitate you to be afraid and angry of the situation, and lose momentary existence, the success depending on your spiritual consciousness.

Please pay full attention to your ego and mind! Be careful not to be taken for a ride here because there is no problem at this moment in time and there is no need to entertain the future ahead of its actuality (for those of us who don’t have the disease). Simply, ignore the mind out of the way; tell it in the face that your life is in the moment not in the past and the future. Reject it in favor of your heart. Lock your ego and the mind somewhere for a while using your spirituality to the best stretch of your consciousness. Don’t believe and follow the mind by staying alert about its activities as much as you can. You have the capacity to enjoy the cat and mouth game with the mind and enjoy the moment watching the drama with alert presence, and please experiment it in this opportunity.

As you know, people don’t usually change for the better from their comfort zones. Something has to shake them to change because “crisis is the mother of transformation”.  The virus is, thus blessing in disguise, a special gift of nature for spiritual growth. It provides opportunities for us to individually investigate ourselves in relation to our respective concepts of life (politics, spirituality, greed, power, etc.).

I hope something spiritually positive is going on in our community worldwide. I hope all of you have found a better way of communicating with God in your solitude. I am grateful for having been in beautiful and valuable spiritual experimentation as of today. The mind has been calm and quiet, spending a lot of time with my lovely cat Jojo, cooking, playing the guitar and walking in the hood at times with reasonable distance. I am telling you whatever will be will be like anything in life and I can only deal with the virus if it makes me sick, calmly observing its show from distance otherwise. Therefore, I Have chosen peacefully living it without expectation and with great sense of gratitude for what I have in this situation that billions don’t. But here is my opinion on how the Eritrean opposition camp can take advantage of the crisis towards total transformation: better humility, genuine unity and honest political relationship ahead.

• The virus is a great opportunity to understand the temporary nature of life; that any form of identification (color, ethnicity, religion, language, fame, wealth) will die with the body. We should use this opportunity to accept the vulnerability of life and transform the mind to substantial neutrality on the question of the Eritrean people in general. This can help us to deal with our people with the same degree of compassion and love.

Here are some questions I would confront myself with in this aspect: Am I really neutral in Eritrea’s socio political experience? Have I been partial to my group, ethnicity, religion, fame, personal interest in contrast to the interest of the people as a unit? How can I help out with the concrete education in experience (meaninglessness of life so to say)? What can I change to be more productive to the Eritrean society? how can I change myself before trying to positively change others?

• The virus is a great opportunity to reconcile with your mortality; to accept it as part of life and start working against fear of death by focusing on spirituality as a person. This universal disaster is a good opportunity to universalize the self once and for all; that the best we should do is dealing with anything without personalizing the issues: How can I help my people with absolute honesty before I die? Who am I beyond my ethnicity, nationality, religion, wealth, education and achievements in view of humanity? How can I globalize myself within the Eritrean society and treat and defend them all equally? How can I help the society based on universal solution minus any personal interest in the deal?
• Great opportunity to understand that death can come any moment and there is no time to delay collective solution to the Eritrean people’s problem for ego and power trip. This teaches us that life is uncertain and time does not indefinitely wait for us to entertain the solution without result; that there is no use in compromising the interest of the Eritrean people thinking there is enough time for it. The situation reminds us the limited time we have to change society for the better.
• Corona teaches us to magnify our essence as much as we can: when it comes to our society, quitting every personal interest (political, material, family, power, pride, religion, ethnicity, language, fame, legacy, etc.) and serving it strictly based on fairness and democratic values. The reason: all interests were accidental, imposed or inherited but never natural; yet they will vanish very soon! Here is a golden opportunity to pause any form of identification other that ERITREAN until we democratize the society in one mind and voice before we go.
• It is beautiful to see the entire medical society working together to save us from the virus at the expense of their health, God bless them forever. All of them are doing it to save humanity with high level of compassion and sacrifice, and without discrimination. I think this bliss should teach us about what genuine unity can do to our society and to execute it without any procrastination and excuse.
• The virus further provides us a great opportunity in terms securing peaceful coexistence in the region. It gives us the courage to admit our mistakes and humble down a bit; the compassion and capacity to forgive without forgetting specially in relation to the Tigran people next door.
• The other opportunity is to develop the spiritual capacity to pacify the mind in any situation by attentively listening to SILENCE in pleasant solitude.

In conclusion, there is so much we can say about the current universal status quo in relation to the virus. There will be many experiences to discuss when it is over. But the least we can do is using it for spiritual development. We should use it to discover the self beyond the body and mind; to clarify the mind and purifying the heart. There is nothing to be scared about but a lot to take advantage of with relaxed and quiet state of mind. Time will resolve this matter as usual and please stay safe and peaceful. At the bottom line; the virus should only be emotionally dealt with upon arrival and never from distance, therefore enjoy every minute of your life grounded in your spirituality and God bless you!