COVID DAYS – AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ENGAGING WITH ONESELF, WITH OTHERS, WITH THE PLANET AND WITH THE SUPREME SELF- J. Prasant Palakkappillil CMI

The world is facing an unprecedented crisis, as we are all aware, and are experiencing.  I have experienced riots which had forced us to remain within homes for a very long time, but this is unique in its being universal, with no one being spared, and we all are still going clueless as to how to tackle it.  Hence it is time for us to gear up for newer modes of learning and living. 1.       With Personal Self – Aham Brahamsmi It is difficult times, but a very rare opportunity.  It is ideal that some time is set apart for engaging with oneself. (i)                  Keeping fit - FIT INDIA– start with stay fit efforts within your homes – I can vouch for Yogic practices in this regard as excellent. You could get online instructions, if you are not already familiarised.  A certification in this regard will be really a value addition for you. (ii)                Have some useful courses done on-line – related to your basic programmes, related to your interest areas, or related to your future career.  It could be anything – yoga, art, improving hand-writing, making a vegetable garden, organic farming, cooking lessons… This is the opportune time to experiment with the yogic ideal of swadhyay (self-learning), which is also stated as ‘’one quarter of our learning should be by the disciple him/herself” (paadam shishya swamedhaya) (iii)               Healthy practices like spending some time for self reflection with or without the help of scriptures or with some japam. (iv)              Best practice in this regard would be to have a personal journal (diary) where every day one jots down what one achieved, what surprises of the day, what came as a gift or bonus, the joys and set backs of the day, one’s failure and a thought or dominant feeling of the day.  I felt glad because…. I felt bored …., I felt happy …., I felt ashamed…., I felt sad…., I felt angry …. Enabling one to have clarity regarding one’s feelings beyond thoughts. 2.       With Other selves – tattvam asi! (i)                  It is a rare opportunity for training in social skills by keeping ourselves away from others physically – physical/social distancing – staying home! Also getting used to the new needs of caution as a preventive measure – that of using masks so that we don’t become contaminators of the immediate environment; that we avoid the unhygienic practice of spitting around. (ii)                By enlisting ourselves for volunteering by registering on SANNADHAM portal of the government. 3.       With the Planetary Self (i)                  This is an ideal time to engage  oneself in the education of hands (3 Hs advocated by Bapuji – Head, Heart and Hand) – that we are able to engage ourselves with our planet by means of our hands (manual labour).  This is also a call by the nations of the world as Sustainable Development Goals – especially, Goal No. 12 – sustainable consumption and PRODUCTION.  Vegetables, microgreens etc. can be grown by you.  And I promise you, you will definitely enjoy that. (ii)                In this regard, also taking into account the scenario depicted by our CM, it is time that we seriously reflected on our basic call as stewards of earth (Gen. 2:26) to till the earth and produce.  Gandhiji would refer to it as gramswaraj where each village is self-sufficient as far as basic requirements are concerned. In this connection, one way to go about is to start planting tubers – kappa, chempu, chena, kaachil, kizhangu (cheru kizhangu, nana kizhangu, adathaap), koorka (tapioca, colocasia, elephant yam, yam, other tubers, African potato or plecranthus).  These will come handy, in case the lockdown continues.  These can be planted now (though it is a little late – kumbham is considered ideal time) either directly on earth or in some sort of grow bags (you could make use of paint containers/cartons etc.). It is better to avoid plastic grow bags as they generate further waste. (iii)               This is also a good time to start practising a wasteless life instead of the increasing trend of wasteful/waste generating life. This calls for simple personal decisions – like not to create waste, and more practically, to segregate waste into bio-degradable and non-biodegradable items. 4.       With the Transcendental Self (i)                  This is not drastically different from No. 1.  However, it will depend.  But, as a believer or as a non-believer, the effort is to relate oneself to the realms which are beyond us.  For a believer, this is more easily done – the unquenchable thirst within us is said to be realised only in our submerging into that greater self. (ii)                This is also a call for resources beyond our usual reach.  Reaching out to the source of strength within or above!! The COVID Days are times when we feel that in spite of all our technology and advancement, there are several small things that can make us stuck, make the whole world and the most powerful and the most influential people get stuck and succumb. (iii)               Where we raise our hearts in prayer, and ask as it goes in the first sura of Quran: “show us the straight way”!  Or as Jesus taught: Our father in heaven, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I pray with the ancient seers for our vasudha kutumbam: लोकाः समस्ता: सुखिनो भवन्तु सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिन: सर्वे सन्तु निरामया: सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु मा कश्चित् दुःख भाग भवेत्! -- J. Prasant (പ്രശാന്ത്) Palakkappillil CMI Ph. D Principal S.H. College, Thevara KOCHI 682013 - KERALAM INDIA www.shcollege.ac.in