A PERSONAL REFLECTION ON COVID -19 PANDEMIC

 

A PERSONAL REFLECTION ON COVID -19 PANDEMIC

 

When the first Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) case was reported from China in late 2019, nobody thought that the virus will spread this fast globally and cause health crisis of unprecedented proportion. According to WHO report, the total number of infected case worldwide stand at a staggering 19,402,112 with 722,285 deaths as of August 9. The grim reality is that, the worst is yet to come with infection rates peaking each passing day.   

One WHO official summed up this pandemic as a, “Once in a century outbreak.”

COVID-19 pandemic has exposed how ill prepared human beings really are in the face of global health crisis like this. The virus brought to the fore the naked truth of the capabilities of different global leadership in managing the crisis. Despite having tremendous resources at their disposal, some of the most advanced countries continue to have the highest rate of infections and deaths while some so called poorer countries continue to do much better solely because of the actions of their leaders.

 People of Bhutan can be truly called the most blessed ones on the face of the earth for no small reason because of the enlightened leadership of the successive kings. Each time the country is faced with some kind of crisis, it was their Majesties the kings who were at the forefront of the crisis management and thus Bhutan was able to navigate itself successfully.

On the night the first COVID-19 positive case was detected in a tourist, His Majesty the King spent the entire night with the Prime Minister, Health Minister and a team of health professionals personally overseeing contract tracing operation. Not many leaders would have done that. It showed how concerned His Majesty is for the wellbeing of its people. Thereafter, despite impending arrival of the second prince, His Majesty made repeated tours to all parts of the country to monitor our preparedness in the event of the worst case scenario.

At a time when so many people lost their livelihoods,   it was His Majesty’s welfare and Kidu schemes that have mitigated their plight. Deferment of loans repayments and waiving off of interests for six months continues to provide immense relief to thousands of Bhutanese families.

The government must also be commended for the work it is doing on a war footing in response to unprecedented situation caused by COVID-19 pandemic. The fact that, there is not a single community outbreak so far is because of the effective measures put in place by the government.

Despite the uncertainty posed by the virus, the positive thing is that there is a visible sign of patriotism in the country with most Bhutanese doing their part in one way or the other as COVID-19 response. From institutions to individuals, from those at the frontline treating positive cases to those braving rains heat and mosquitoes in the borders. From business houses to farmers everyone has come together collectively in an unprecedented manner.

At times like this, when science is grappling to find answers, it is prayers and blessings that are more potent than missiles with nuclear warheads. Bhutanese must feel grateful to be living in a land blessed by great saints like Guru Padmasambhava, Zhabdrung Rimpoche and countless spiritual masters for centuries. And we are fortunate to be blessed by the prayers of living Buddhas like His Holiness, the Je Khenpo, Rimpoches, Tuelkus and the entire religious institutions whose prayers continue to keep us safe.

Since very little is known about the behaviors of the virus, the best we can do isto follow directives issued from time to time. But, there are stray incidences of irresponsible people whose action could undo the efforts put in so far. Some people are caught trying to sneak in and out of the country to peddle contraband substances. Some tried to escape quarantine and greedy few were caught trying to sneak in illegal workers. These people are rightly being dealt by the law.

COVID-19 pandemic is having devastating effect but, it teaches us valuable lessons. This outbreak and many outbreaks of the recent past like SARS, MERS and Ebola have to do with the way we live. It is how nature fights back from excessive abuse by humans to gratify their insatiable greed. Some believe that the virus jumped from some animal to human. This would not have happened if humans stopped   abusing wild life to the extreme of eating them alive.

There are some who believe, that new and deadlier strains of virus are being released from thawing ice, snow and permafrost as a result of global warming.  Humans alone are to be blamed for global warming. Deforestation of precious tropical rain forest on mega scale are  reducing carbon sink area while polluting factories and industries to meet insatiable human greed are mushrooming at an unprecedented rate everywhere.

Then there are people who even believe that the corona virus is lab manufactured, this claim is refuted by most experts though. If at all this virus is lab manufactured, then, humans are facing the consequences of their own making.

The pandemic also reminds us that, the so called global military and economic powers stand no chance if we are to face the fury of the nature. Interestingly, it is those powerful and rich countries that are seeing some of the highest infections and deaths rates. The COVID-19 pandemic is a call for a more caring and compassionate human society where endless growth fuelled by our greed must end or else the actions of humans will certainly be the reason for the extinction of human race from the face of the earth as was predicted by one famous scientist.

In the aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic, global community must learn a valuable lesson  and make a paradigm shift to their development philosophy from unsustainable and endless growth model of GDP to a more compassionate, holistic and  desirable GNH model which  Bhutan gifted the world.

 

Gyembo Namgyal

Pemagatsel

August 10, 2020

 

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS AND SHORT TERM RETREATS

source: google

While western people look for meaning and essence of life to the wisdom of eastern culture particularly Buddhism, we are increasingly trying to copy western culture. Look at the food our people eat, the clothes we wear and our desperation to look different with makeup and weird hairdos and with all these we also see violence, drugs, smugglings, thefts, robberies, frauds, corruptions and many other evil offshoots of those cultures taking roots in our society.

Just the other day, I was watching a BBS programme. It was a discussion programme with two monks, one was a Khenpo and another was a doctor-turned monk. Both were insisting on the need for lay people to take a break from their works and take vows of the sangha for a short period to get better perspectives of life. I did not realize such a provision exists and it is indeed a wonderful opportunity for lay people to take monastic vows for any period of time they wish and partake in the daily routines of a monastery or a nunnery like regular monks and nuns.

I couldn’t agree more with the doctor that this could in fact be a potent antidote for the insatiable desires of our mind that leads people to take evil paths ultimately bringing them more sufferings. I think this is a wonderful opportunity for people to get their perspectives on the right track and will contribute tremendously to the ideals of a compassionate and caring society. I don’t see why government and corporations should not allow their workers short leave from their jobs for this kind of retreat. I am sure when they rejoin their work they will become more productive and also become positive influence on their peers.

I was also struck by the truth of their assessment of how our society is increasingly transiting from traditional value based and caring society to a more self centric and artificial one trying to copy alien cultures. One basic example is the way we celebrate our children’s birthday today. It is not just in towns and cities that families  celebrate their children’s birthdays the western way, this culture is even making inroads in rural countryside where people with little education and understandings are trying to imitate birthday celebrations with cakes, candles and balloons like their cousins do in the towns, setting a less then desirable trend in the villages. If we really observe deeply, we are making the auspicious birthday of our children with everything inauspicious. We have birthday cakes with names of our children on them. When we cut the cake, we cut the name of the child which is quite inauspicious in our culture. We blow out candle and that is extremely inauspicious representing something like blowing out life and then poke balloons with needle while others clap.

I share the panelists’ view that we can celebrate birthdays in our own auspicious ways. We can have cakes adorned with Tashi Delek written on them and placing it on the altar as offerings first. It would be a good idea to invite a monk and perform a short cleansing ceremony (Lhabsang Thruesoel) and recite long life prayer (Tshedrup) for the child and do something good and wholesome in your  child’s name  like saving a life of an animal or donating something to a more needy ones around us. This way we instill values in our children right from the young age and they will grow up to be a more compassionate human being.

Like what the monks said we must encourage our children to say Apa to father and Ama or Aie to mother rather than Daddy or Mommy which are not our language in the first place and phonetically inauspicious. Daddy sounds like (Dredre) which means separation and Mommy sounds like (Ma Mey) no mother. These may sound trivial but, for Bhutanese there is nothing as important as Tendrel which is the custom of believing in the importance of auspiciousness in everything we do and it would certainly make sense to care about small things closer at home than trying to emulate things we hardly understand from far away.

Happy  reading.

Gyembo Namgyal

Pemagatshel

August 30, 2015

SLAUGHTERING THE IDEA OF SLAUGHTER HOUSES

source: google

In the last few days, there was lot of discussion in social media about the government’s decision to open slaughter houses in the country. Notwithstanding the small benefits of having slaughter houses in the country, I thought, this is a grave decision lacking wisdom and coming with utter disregard given to the concerns and sentiments of the larger population.

Arguments are being put forward justifying slaughter houses in financial and economic context. Well, how much are we really spending on import of meat that justifies setting up of slaughter houses in the country that is deeply religious? Can slaughter houses contribute to reversing the economic situation?  I have a serious doubt.

Well some argue that, since we eat lot of meat, setting up large scale meat farms and slaughter houses must be allowed amid choetens, lhakhangs and prayer flags. Certainly, there is something wrong with this kind of thinking. I think we are losing our sense of direction.

On the one hand we have the government targeting to restore thousands of hollowed-out choetens and restore their sanctity for peace, harmony and well being of all sentient beings and on the other hand the same government wants to start mega meat farms and slaughter houses for what? Other than ensuring blood smeared wealth for few promoters, the nation is bound to lose its own priceless age-old Bhutanese Buddhist values like the rest of senseless consumer driven countries of the world.

Let’s not forget that, it is Bhutan which gave the world the alternative development paradigm of Gross National Happiness (GNH) propounded by His Majesty the Fourth King Jigme Singye Wangchuck. GNH is a development philosophy based on Buddhist principles of moderation and compassion. Where will slaughter houses fit in? Let’s please not follow the path of illusion offered by endless consumerism and let us realize that the rest of the world is looking at us for directions as they become increasingly disillusioned by their unsustainable way of living based on insatiable consumerism.   Do we need to follow them by going the same way? Are we also seeing greener grasses on other side of the fence?

What does the mother of all our laws, the Constitution say? It says that, “Buddhism is the spiritual heritage of our country which promotes principles and values of peace, non-violence, compassion and tolerance.” Where does the slaughter house fit in?

People also argue that because we Bhutanese consume lot of meat, slaughtering takes place across the border for Bhutanese consumers. Well, we can also argue that, because meat is made available without restrictions, people tend to keep consuming. And let’s be honest here that urban dwellers with more affluence consume more meat than rural folks. While meat may be a staple for rich, it is still luxury for poor people in the villages.

Rather than allowing in slaughter houses and letting Bhutanese who can afford meat in all their meals become wholly carnivorous, an idea of meat rationing can reduce over consumption of meat. I think we can do this. Excess consumption of red meat is linked to cancer while animal fat are considered really unhealthy. We are not meant to be meat eaters. Look at our teeth, they are meant to chew and grind grains not puncture fatal wounds, tear flesh and break bones like natural carnivorous. Why isn't there institutionalized campaign against excessive meat consumption like we have for alcohol, tobacco and other substances which when consumed in excess becomes health hazards? Perhaps meat could be another root cause for rising NCDs in the country and NCDs are more common among urban dwellers than rural people.  Available records confirm the correlation.

source: google

And some may be of the view that Bhutanese Buddhist rituals are also heavily laden with non-vegetarian meals. Well, that is right. Today, even the after-death rituals take a party like atmosphere of meat laden buffets. I must confess that, this is all because of us. We can only blame ourselves for this trend. His Holiness, the Je Khenpo had issued repeated decrees on doing away with meat in rituals.  We must be ashamed of our conduct by not heeding to His Holiness’s decrees. Can we blame our religion for this?

So, before it is too late, let’s come to our senses and scrap the idea of slaughter houses.  The idea of slaughter houses should not have even taken roots in government thinking, in the first place. I am glad that petitions have come against the idea both from outside the country and also from our religious body, the Dratshang Lhentshok. I hate to use this word, but the idea of slaughter houses needs ‘SLAUGHTERING’ in the first place.

PEOPLE MAY ALSO ARGUE THAT, KILLING WILL ONLY CEASE WHEN EATING STOPS BUT, I THINK EATING WILL CERTAINLY REDUCE WHEN THE KILLING STOPS. WE DON’T EAT FIRST AND KILL LATER. WE HAVE TO KILL FIRST TO BE ABLE TO EAT.

Gyembo Namgyal

May 13, 2015 02:40 pm

ARE WINNERS ALWAYS RIGHT?

picture source: Google

Last Saturday, I was watching one of the most anticipated English Premier League football match between the leaders Chelsea and third place Manchester United. It was a high octane match living up to the expectation of ardent EPL followers and football lovers. The match ended with Chelsea taking all three points and making their pursuit of the coveted trophy even closer. For United, it was the fading away of their last hope of making a realistic bid of the trophy this season.

What bothers me always is the match analysis by football pundits at intervals and post matches. It is always the winner that gets all the praise while the losers are dissected and criticized for what had gone wrong. There is no arguing the fact that winners stand tall, but do winners always do the right thing to deserve all accolades as match pundits always shower on.

 

picture source: Google

Certainly, Chelsea won the all important clash of the titans that night, but to me the result did not necessarily reflect on Chelsea’s superiority on field. Chelsea won the match with a goal in a match dominated by Manchester United with the possession of nearly 70 percent. And isn’t it the better team that dominates possession on the pitch. So my question is on why these pundits’ analysis have to  always be in favour of the winning team and not on the proper match analysis of the entire 90 minutes and give due credit too, on the overall performance.

Notwithstanding the fact that, result is what matters in the end, analysis must be on the game as a whole and not just be about the result alone that could have happened in one moment of magic or madness. Better teams on the pitch not always win matches in the end but that do not necessarily reflect on how bad they played.

picture source: Google

Likewise, in real life too, it is always those successful people who get all the accolades even if the path to their successes may have been riddled with murky past. Those who are not so successful are always criticized, dissected and judged negatively by the society without understanding the reasons. I feel, not all successful people are  necessarily good people doing right things at all times and likewise not all unsuccessful people are  necessarily losers and failures to be despised and looked down.

Who doesn’t want to succeed and who doesn’t want to win always? And in striving to win and succeed many fail and falter, but that doesn’t make them any inferior. Like the need for football pundits to be objective with their match analysis which always tend to tell about everything right done by winners and point out all the wrong moves of the losing team, in life too, we all need to appreciate success acquired through fair and legitimate means while also empathizing with honest good people who are not so lucky in life.

Gyembo Namgyal

Pemagatshel

April 21, 2015

Dear readers, this post is not about that football match I cited in the article. It is about how experts analyse matches which are always pro winners which to me falls short of being objective. And, in real life too, it always happens the same way like football analysis failing to be objective and we don’t even realize that. This is the point here.

Happy Reading.