.
Now, we're having this Coronavirus outbreak
around the world.
Because of this,
I would like to share
some of my thoughts.
Now, everybody has a lot of fear,
panic,
and anxiety,
but the most important thing
is our mindset
and how we think about this.
Especially from a meditator's point of view,
whatever we're facing in our lives —
if we try to take it as a learning opportunity
and a way to grow,
and we try to transform those fears
and anxiety into support for our meditation,
or our practice —
that's really a great opportunity.
Normally, our lives are like the waves of the ocean.
There are a lot of ups and downs.
Not only in our lives,
but in society and the world,
there are always ups and downs.
From these ups and downs,
we can learn a lot. We can grow a lot.
We can gain a lot of insight, also.
The main important thing is to not give up.
What we say is that we need to “let go.”
Letting go is, of course,
now we're having this problem,
we've to accept the situation. This is true.
This is the reality right now.
This virus is breaking out around the world,
and many people are having a lot of problems and difficulties.
But sometimes, if we give up,
we cannot learn.
We cannot grow, we cannot find a solution,
and we don't know what to do.
The most important thing is to not give up.
We all have great potential.
Everybody has wisdom,
love and compassion,
awareness, and skills.
All these are within all of us.
Try your best to use your knowledge,
wisdom, skills,
love and compassion.
And be really careful about this situation.
Listen to the experts' advice,
like that of health care workers,
doctors,
and whoever has special advice
about this virus.
Try to listen to them, and try to follow their advice.
For example, washing your hands,
resting,
and doing physical exercise are really important.
I think meditation, especially,
is really important.
Many of you know about awareness meditation,
compassion, and wisdom — these three practices.
Try your best.
If you don't know a lot about meditation,
practice even a simple one like watching your breath,
breathing in and out,
scanning your body, or watching sensations,
especially when you've panic,
anxiety or worry.
There are a lot of sensations in our bodies.
Just watch these sensations.
It might seem like it's getting worse,
but it's ok. It's a good sign.
Awareness is like the sky,
and our worries, thoughts, and anxiety
are like the clouds that come and go.
So, try to
be free from
binding yourself,
but at the same time,
don't be careless.
Be carefree,
but at the same time, take some action.
Try your best to
follow advice.
Practice, for example,
the one I just mentioned about awareness.
We can use this anxiety,
worry,
or sometimes even panic —
we can use those as support for our meditation.
If you already learned meditation before,
such as breathing meditation,
you can do the same thing.
Watch this panic, this feeling,
or this special sensation in your body.
And we have a new meditation,
which is to first watch your breath
and later, your sensations.
The second practice is about love and compassion.
When we have panic, or we're worried,
we can take others’ worry into our own
and wish, "May my worry
and my anxiety become
the representation of all beings’ worry.
May all beings be free from
anxiety, obstacles,
and suffering from this problem."
You can wish that your anxiety represent all beings’ anxiety.
That really helps.
Then your anxiety transforms into love and compassion.
Then, for wisdom practice,
you can accept that this is impermanent
and up and down.
It is changing.
Then, in the end, everything is emptiness.
Maybe think about
anxiety and the causes of anxiety,
and subject and object, as impermanent.
In the end, even
the nature of impermanence is emptiness,
so you can rest into emptiness.
Try all these different practices, and they help each other.
One practice helps the other.
Now, I am in Nepal.
I am in retreat,
and my health is very good.
I'm praying for all of you, every day.
We can all pray from time to time.
After you finish your meditation,
you can dedicate your meditation to world peace
and to finding a remedy for this disease soon.
And pray that,
"May we all be free from this disease,
and may we all not have this disease."
Pray like this from time to time.
Ok, thank you!