During the 70s when Cholera was bloated all around the world, the American sannyasin’s of the well-known Indian mystic Osho approached him and asked, “how can we survive the ongoing pandemic?”
The advice given by Osho in reply to the above question is something which everyone should ponder upon in order to emerge stronger from the ongoing Covid crisis across the world.
Osho said, “You are asking a wrong question, you should rather ask how should we save ourselves from the fear of dying which we have instilled in us during the pandemic. It is because protecting ourselves from the virus is very easy but protecting ourselves from the fear of dying is not easy.”
Osho further says that people will die, but not from the disease itself, but from the fear that has taken its root in our minds. “You’ve to understand this fear, otherwise you’ll become a walking corpse. This fearful environment has nothing to do with the disease, this is a madness which repeats itself after a certain interval of time. A lot of people die, this has happened a thousand times before and will continue to happen in the future as well.”
Every problem is a matter of fear for the fool and an opportunity to the smart ones, says Osho. He insists that during a pandemic, one should stay at home, read books, exercise, do yoga, lose 15 kg in a month and bring that childlike freshness back on their face.
“Fulfil your hobbies, meditate, pray and learn from the scholars during this time. Take care of what you eat and drink clean water. Have patience, things will change soon,” he adds.
Osho asks, “Why waste time thinking about the disease?” The concept of ‘fear and crowd’ is out for everyone. Stop fearing the fear.
Osho suggests to stop reading newspapers and news videos that creates fear in you and stop talking about the pandemic.
“Fear is a kind of self hypnosis. Sending similar thoughts to your brain every time invokes chemical changes in you. This change can become so poisonous at times that it can kill you. Focus on other things happening around the world. Meditation can create a protective aura around you, which doesn’t let the negativity get into you.”
It is interesting to note that another well known Indian mystic, Sadhguru, shares very similar thoughts on dealing with a pandemic. He says, “History is full of evidence of epidemics because of the mass consciousness created by the fear of the disease. Fear is a very strong vibration. The more you feed the energy of fear, the more profound it becomes. So, stop discussing it with family, friends, stop checking out the latest statistics. Stop watching incessantly the news about Corona virus.”
