How do we practice in the midst of the crisis brought about by the spread of SARS-COV-2? We can use this opportunity to make our isolation a retreat and learn to cultivate compassion towards ourselves and others. We can learn to give the three kinds of gifts: material gifts, the gift of the Dharma, and the greatest gift of all: the gift of non-fear.
"This present moment is wonderful, with already enough conditions for us to be happy. Whether we are sitting in an apartment in New York City, whether we're in lockdown in Sydney, Australia, whether we are on a farm in the countryside by ourselves looking out at the sun rising in the morning—we already have enough conditions to be happy. That is sure even if we are sick, even if we have the virus and the symptoms make it very difficult to breathe: every tiny bit of air and oxygen that can still come into our lungs riddled with pneumonia is a condition for happiness. It means that we're still able to breathe.
What we propose now is that we have a second rains retreat. This one is not mandated by Plum Village but by the coronavirus. We look to see the good conditions we have. Many of us can work from home, or maybe we don't have to work anymore. We can shut off our television. We can have one Internet-free day per week—a Day of Mindfulness offline. When we wake up in the morning and put our feet down we can just sit there for a moment and remember the poem:
Waking up this morning I smile
Twenty-four brand new hours are before me
I vow to live each moment in mindfulness
And look at all beings with eyes of compassion.
That way we transform our habit energy—in Sanskrit vāsanā. It more specifically means "perfuming". In our mind there are seeds, and those seeds are penetrated by the perfume of our actions—what we think, what we say, what we do. Our actions don't only have an effect on the present moment. The perfume of that action continues to penetrate the seeds in our consciousness. Later on, when those seeds sprout up, they will have transformed. They are no longer the same seed that we had before; they have a new fragrance—the fragrance of our actions. So if we speak with hate, anger or fear, then our actions in the future will have the fragrance of violence and fear. If we learn to speak with compassion and understanding, then that perfume penetrates the seeds of our consciousness, and when they manifest in the future they will have that quality of understanding and compassion."