1. Contemplate
A forcefully imposed slackened pace of many industries has forced free time. Rigor in routine pays dividends. Those who have forsaken lethargy in pursuit of structure will gain. Like progression from school to college and university, the period has given freedom to choose our forms of engagement and productivity. Dependence on group-think and group-motivation wanes, in favor of self-discipline. We will find that when the cameras aren't on us, we will be afforded the mental freedom to do what is natural to us, what is pleasing to us. This will involve confronting both vice and virtue almost inevitably. When force is removed, we will tend do what appeals to us in our most natural form. The so-called constrained state, will bring out what we have been cultivating all this time, and have a longing for. If it is confrontation, we will find that. If it is serenity, we will find that. Seek, and you will find. I recall a conversation with one of my martial arts teachers, when I first started training and would train almost every day. I said to him, I really find it frustrating when I have periods when I can't train for whatever reason. Being a contemplative person, he shared that actually we should be OK whether we train, or do not train. In a scenario where interaction is limited, we will seek the energies that we are after, and we should be more than OK with this. We should savor this time rather than lament during it. It is a window we may never get again. A short window of pause, when access to your deeper nature is more available than ever before for many of us.
2. Value
There are different grades of evil, different grades of exploitation. The period highlights what has been going on much clearer now that there is a pause. Almost like catching people red-handed. An example best used to illustrate this is one of holidays. Whilst many people like the idea of City breaks, visiting Cities for a glimpse into their vibe, food & history, there is little question over the immense mentally therapeutic aspects of holidays involving the sun, sand, sea, and greenery. Natures paradises are breathtaking, beyond imagination, and completely organic, being dependent not on the opportunistic exploits of human-kind, but on its own accord with its naturally infused function. It is beyond compare, and irreplaceable. The White Rhino being on the brink of extinction for a few years, with only 2 remaining in 2019, is an example of a warning signal. This animal can weigh up to 3.6 tonnes, almost 2 meters high, and up to 4 meters long, it can strike fear into even the King of the Jungle, the lion. Yet, through exploitative practices, and the pursuit of human fantasies, this animal, which we may one day only think of as a figment of our imagination, is bordering extinction. Back to holidays. Industry is largely responsible for shaping the way most humans are forced to live, the routines they need to go through in order to survive. At the top of this human food chain sit people who have some ability to control the direction of humankind. It is not that there is no accountability. Everything that has happened, has happened for a reason. As Bill Murray infamously Tweeted, "Everything happens for a reason, and sometimes that reason is that you're stupid and make bad decisions," somewhat sums up that there's only so much that we can put down to external factors. At some stage, the buck stops with people who decided to create certain things, for certain reasons. It is those very people who are responsible for the destruction of much of the Earth to serve their own ends. It is those very people who would also be enjoying the bounty of nature that the Earth offers on their luxury yatchs, and on their elaborate island getaways. For you to be OK with mass destruction of the very thing that you enjoy, defines the next grade of evil. For us to contemplate, and to then attribute value to these immensely valuable treasures of the Earth at this time, is something that will contribute a tiny part to the hopefully gradual rising pressure to the higher grades of evil to put the breaks on their nefarious dealings.
3. Act
Ultimately contemplation, and affirmations on what we value, should translate into action. Action isn't only concrete steps, but also the mental commitment to higher-level thought. Since higher level thought has the power to change habits, which in turn has a bottom line impact. The more positive sentiment there is towards the Earth, naturally the more benevolent behaviour there will be in relation to it. We must understand the nature of exploitation. What does it mean for us to exploit? Exploitation quite simply means taking advantage. It is leveraging to gain an upper hand on something just because we can. Why? To further our own cause. What is our cause? If it is simply self-centric, then this becomes a pathway to the higher grades of evil if empowered sufficiently. It is not simply about empowering the disempowered. A poor person isn't necessarily noble just because they are poor. As the great Abraham Lincoln said, "Almost all men can stand adversity, but if you really want to test a mans character, give him power." It is about empowering those who will safeguard benevolence towards others and the Earth, and not behave exploitatively of these things. Whilst this is a very opportune time to learn these lessons due to circumstance, in one sense it does not matter if the lessons are not learnt also. This is because there is a universal balance, which auto-corrects situations. In a similar way that market shocks sometimes lead to pricing corrections in stock valuations which might be distorted for the wrong reasons, the universal force acts to re-inforce or re-instate the truth. It is far easier to make the correction ourselves, rather than have this great force of nature make an auto-correct, which can indeed shake the self-proclaimed civilised human race to its core.
"Time I am, the great destroyer of the worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people."
Sri Krishna to Arjuna, Bhagavad Gita, 11.32
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