Rivers - COVID-19 and Humanitys Spiritual Awakening

COVID-19 and Humanitys Spiritual Awakening

Forrest Rivers

Also by Forrest Rivers

The Hippie Revival and Collected Writings

This title is available at your local retailer, online retailers, or may be ordered by visiting

https://ConsciousLiving.Media

https://Covid-19Book.info

COVID-19 and Humanitys Spiritual Awakening

Forrest Rivers

Conscious Living Media / Vizia Fiction

Tucson, Arizona

USA

Copyright 2021 Forrest Rivers

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form (electronically, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this material. Re-selling through electronic or retail outlets without permission of the author and publisher is illegal and punishable by law.

This book is not intended to provide emotional, psychological, or financial advice. Readers are encouraged to seek professional counsel on any personal or financial matters.

Cover and Interior design: Aaron C. Yeagle

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Introduction:

Appendix:

Introduction

Light Comes gently, slowly, but surely it comes.

-Swami Vivekananda-

Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.
Thich Nhat Hanh-

When the clock struck midnight on January 1 st , 2020, marking the start of a new decade, no one could have possibly imagined the utter chaos and unpredictability that would bring in the new year. As everyone well knows, the deadly Coronavirus began its silent march across the world infecting and claiming the lives of countless millions. From the very beginning, it became resoundingly clear that this pandemic would dramatically alter the course of humanity for the foreseeable future. Phrases and practices like social distancing, essential and non-essential workers, flattening the curve, stay at home orders, the mass wearing of face coverings in public places, and curbside food and retail pickup came to form the COVID-19 consciousness.

The far reach of the virus into every facet of our lives also forced us to confront our deepest existential anxieties and fears. For example, the elderly and those with preexisting health conditions had to quickly come to terms with the fact that they could succumb to the virus at any moment. And millions of workers laid off from their jobs had little choice but to navigate the waters of extreme financial hardship. For medical professionals on the frontlines, death, and dying in the age of COVID has become a tragic yet valuable daily reminder of the impermanent nature of life. Finally, seekers on the path of higher consciousness have found the pandemic to be a wonderful opportunity to work with the immense suffering that the virus has created. In essence, COVID-19 has had the effect of awakening humanity.

When the outbreak began and the college I teach at was ordered to shutdown mid-semester, I recall skeptically thinking, how bad could this virus really be? Apparently, much worse than I could have ever imagined at the time. In just the first two months of the outbreak, here, in the United States, hospitalization and fatality rates reached alarming levels, businesses were forced to shut down, and a record number of people filed for unemployment compensation. Meanwhile, shoppers fearing a breakdown in the nations food supply resorted to panic shopping at grocery and retail stores. The scene of empty shelves and runs on key necessities like toilet paper (I will never completely understand that one!) only added to the fear of the moment. As the virus raged out of control like a wildfire, the economy went into complete free fall as American state governments tightened shutdown orders to suppress the outbreak. Just when it appeared that things could not grow any more chaotic, the murder of George Floyd (an unarmed black man) occurred at the hands of the Minneapolis Police. This horrific event coincided with the peak of the first surge of COVID-19 and set off a wave of protests in most major US cities.

Together, these events made for an apocalyptic like setting straight out of Hollywood films. For many, COVID 19 appeared to be a harbinger of mass chaos and unspeakable tragedy. However, if we can still our minds and fully be with the immensity of this moment, we can start to see a different narrative emerging. These profound words from the infinitely wise and late spiritual teacher, Baba Ram Dass, have helped me to reorient my perspective of these unprecedented events:

Suffering is the sandpaper that awakens people.

Rather than react to the unsettling chain of events surrounding COVID-19 with fear and dread, we each have the choice to embrace it as the sandpaper that helps us all awaken and take a faithful leap in our consciousness. Some realized beings might even go as far as to say, that this pandemic appeared in part to awaken us from our collective delirium of mindless conformity and separation. It is this hopeful perspective of COVID-19 that grounds each of the chapters that follow. Contemplative explorations on such enduring themes as our fear of death, faith, the power of meditation practice, destiny, the value of indigenous wisdom, and radical love are each set against the context of this unique moment in history. Each chapter is intended to inspire a new and soulful direction for humanity.

I invite you, the reader and fellow seeker, to join me on this moving path of spirit. These unsettling times can make us feel more divided, alone, and afraid. Or they can empower us to look within and realize our common ties with all of humanity. Never, have we been so united in our mutual experience of suffering. And at no other time have we all been so deeply called upon to transcend all that separates us. The moment of our awakening has arrived, and we have this frightening yet potentially illuminating pandemic to thank for it. Deep in my own soul, I have faith that we can each meet this moment of terrible suffering with loving awareness and evolve into more soulful and compassionate beings. In the end, that is our ultimate destiny.

Forrest Rivers

The Great Smoky Mountains

October 31 st , 2020

Amid all the fearful media coverage and chaos surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic lies a hidden truth that is just now beginning to come into the light: from a spiritual perspective this public health crisis has been something of a collective blessing in disguise. While the world has been hard hit with both existential and economic catastrophes, something altogether beautiful and inspiring bubbled up from beneath the surface. That something is unity and compassion. At first glance, it might appear that mounting death tolls (particularly, among the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions) and runaway unemployment defined the narrative of this viruss fallout. However, what has not been adequately accounted for by much of the media is that this ordeal has pulled us all closer together. For the first time since possibly World War II, the whole of humanity has been forced to confront the painful truth that a collective mindset of ignorance, intolerance, hated, and greed only winds up producing negative consequences for us all.