The world is reeling under fears and risks of Coronavirus. Many scheduled events had to be put on hold. Perhaps it is the nature’s way to tell humans: “Slow down! Don’t run around like crazy!” We can notice that the turbulence of our 84,000 cognitional-emotional defilements (kleśa: nyon mongs pa) is at its peak. We are drowning in our own five kinds of dregs or scums (kṣaya: snyigs ma) that Buddhist sources speak of. All of us who identify ourselves as politically and ideologically left, right, or centrist are seething with self-righteousness and hatred for all others who think, believe, and act differently. For those of us who believe that we have received and abide by bodhisattva precepts, there is a real risk that it is a mere bubble of illusion that we have created for ourselves. If one hates a single individual and thus mentally abandons him or her, one would incur the “transgression of abandoning sentient beings” (sems can yal bar ’dor ba’i ltung ba). A solution? Disagree with our prajñā, but with our karuṇā, we should embrace everyone without exception! The attitude that I love most of my leftist comrades but hate Trump and his supporters is simply incompatible with one’s bodhisattva precepts. Well, each of us is responsible for our own ethical-ascetical integrity. The beauty of Buddhism is that one has the freedom to go to hell, that is, if one chooses. I personally would like to believe that our external 84,000 illnesses or diseases are mere symptoms of our inner 84,000 cognitional-emotional defilements (kleśa: nyon mongs pa). We can temporarily try to fight the external 84,000 illnesses or diseases, but as long as we nurture and intensify our 84,000 cognitional-emotional defilements, these will find a way to emerge as pandemic diseases. We just have to recall that kleśas are pan-saṃsāric! This is a small personal thought associated with the coronology.
