A Stake Through the Heart: Reflections During the Pandemic ; Posted 8/9/2021
As I sat meditating on the what and why of my thoughts and feelings over the whole pandemic situation, I came to realize that my soul is in pain. I ponder the state humanity and the environment are in today, and I feel an ache in my health—somehow intimately tied to how the planet itself is suffering under the weight of corruption, pollution, and destruction. All of it, driven by man’s insatiable greed and self-aggrandizement.
I carry the guilt deep within me, so much so that my heart aches. As I told my daughter a few days ago, this will be the cause of my death. It is my sin, my karmic burden—I am responsible for contributing to the degradation of nature and the extinction of its countless species. And I am unable to remedy the devastation, which now feels far beyond our reach. The pain sits like a numbness, as though a stake has pierced my heart for many years. I later discovered it is called angina, but to me, it is the physical manifestation of my spiritual despair.
It seems as though the planet itself is showing signs of old age and decadence. So much destruction—natural and man-made. How can we reverse the damage? How can we initiate a healing process when the situation feels so far gone? Ironically, the answer may lie within the pandemic itself, which has acted like a sudden handbrake—slowing the momentum of so-called human progress.
While COVID may not solve the overpopulation crisis or restore balance overnight, it has at least slowed the wheels of pollution. We saw fewer planes in the sky, fewer luxury liners desecrating the oceans, fewer cars on the road. We witnessed a temporary reduction in carbon emissions and a pause in the relentless encroachment of wilderness. Wildlife, for a moment, was left to breathe.
But what disturbs me most is the desecration of the oceans. Plastic—both a curse and a supposed triumph of human ingenuity—has become our modern plague. Mountains of waste rise on land, clog rivers, choke the seas. Like a cancer in the body, plastic pollution suffocates the Earth’s vital systems. Yet there will be no moratorium on plastic production as too many industries profit from it. A tipping point will come, when governments will be forced to act. But will it be too late?
Plastic pollution is no less catastrophic than the pandemic itself. We cannot live in denial. And yet humanity marches on in its blindness.
If even half the money spent on wars—big or small—were directed toward environmental healing, we could begin the work of restoration. But clean governance has become a rare commodity. Politicians prey on the masses with fear and promises, while intellectuals and civil servants bury their heads in the sand, terrified of jeopardizing their status or livelihoods. Fear has become the new religion, endemic in the hearts of common people, making them easy prey for authoritarian agendas.
It all leads back to self-awareness. The stress, the dis-ease in our bodies and minds, is a reflection of our collective spiritual disconnect. We have created the very demons that now torment us. We have misunderstood the power of our own minds—individually and collectively. Our obsession with materialism and scientific progress has stripped us of compassion, empathy, and wonder. We are becoming like machines. Automatons. Souls plugged into the Matrix.
And so I ask myself: Why did God, in all His infinite wisdom, send us this pandemic? Why did He make me ill? The answer, though still incomplete, is not entirely hidden.
For those who dare to ponder life deeply, the signs are there. The truth is not too difficult to unveil. But what shall we do with it? How can we use this painful awareness for good? How do we awaken others—before we all slip into a collective coma?
If we do not act, we risk becoming automated demons, soulless zombies. But if we choose awareness—if we choose to stand, to awaken, to speak—we may yet serve the greater good.
Perhaps this is why God gave us the pandemic: as a wake-up call. A divine jolt to shake us out of complacency. And if even this fails to rouse us, then what lies ahead may not be something we would wish for.
The choice is still ours: to become demonic, or divine.
"Your own Self-Realization is the greatest service you can render the world."
— Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
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#COVIDReflections #EnvironmentalGrief #SpiritualAwakening #PlasticPollution #CollectiveKarma #PlanetaryHealing #RamanaMaharshi #EcologicalCrisis #PandemicMeditations #SoulInPain #AnginaAsSymbol #WakeUpCall #SelfRealization #HumanityInCrisis
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