The BlogTalk: 10th Question: Will covid-19 have a long-lasting effect on our life? Will our life be the same as it was before?

The Master’s Guidance Continues

Acharya Mahendranath
(The Master)

As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, the entire country is in a lockdown. All students have been missing the joy of coming to the training centers, practicing in a group, interacting with the teachers, and of course meeting the Master. Everyone has also missed having our monthly “Master’s Talk Session”. But Master says that physical lockdown need not mean lockdown of our lives. We can still do the same things, but do them differently. Which is why the Master has given a schedule for daily practice of Martial Arts, Yoga and Reiki Energy Healing, and all students have responded really well. 

Our activities over Instagram and Facebook have kept us connected with each other’s energy. So why stop here? Why not have Master’s Talk Session as well, but in a different manner? So we asked students to send us questions and the Master has given His guidance through this blog. So we hope that you all read it, understand it, internalize it, apply it and make your life even better. Please share your comments at the end of each question and of course, more questions are welcome on moxshlife@gmail.com.

Q. Will covid-19 have a long-lasting effect on our social life? Will our life be the same as it was before? Will people become more afraid to socialise?
We have been already living a digital life than social life, as today people are connected with each other mainly via Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram etc. and meeting or socializing with each other only occasionally due to current lifestyle and professional commitments. So, with this covid-19 situation, this type of lifestyle will become prominent and balance will be lost.
As there is no medicine for this disease as of now, this fear is increasing day by day. Also, what effect is it going to have on employment? Please advise, Master.

—  Shashikant Pawade, Parent of Dhruv & Kshitij Pawade, Students of Keimoudo®— Moxsh® Martial Arts

Master’s Guidance: "There are multiple aspects to your question, so I will address them one by one. You first asked if covid-19 will have an effect on our social life. Well I guess that depends on covid-19 and how long it will stay among us! If a medicine or vaccine is discovered or the virus becomes dormant on its own in the next few months, then things will come back to normal almost immediately. But if it lasts longer than that, then definitely social life will get affected and it won’t be like it is now. However, we will find newer and better ways, and with time we will completely adjust to it.

Then you ask if life will be the same as it was before and if people will be afraid to socialize. I want to ask you: do you think our life was better before this pandemic? We had made a complete mess of our lives as well as of the planet (read the 6th BlogTalk: This pandemic - A call from Nature? Or just a co-incidence?). And now we have got the time to contemplate and an opportunity to learn from all the mistakes we have made and create a much better life once we come out of the lockdown. So, I say there’s nothing to fear because things will be much better. But again, that depends on us.

What you said about the digital mediums replacing every aspect of our social life before the pandemic is true. For some years now, our hectic and demanding lifestyles gave us very little time. And so, digital media became an alternative. It even affected us on a cultural level. For example, even wedding invitations were being sent on WhatsApp! But of course, you must also be aware that we did misuse it a lot as well.

But don’t you think that perhaps all these technological inventions happened so that we can pull through during this situation? Can you imagine how difficult things would have been if there was no Mobile, WhatsApp, Video Conferencing, etc.?

Even though there might be physical distance between us and the people we love, we can still stay in touch using these means. Also, Mobile, 4G network, and the ability to use WhatsApp and other digital platforms have permeated every level of the society. Quite a few people in rural areas also have smart phones and access to good mobile and internet network. At this time, most of the migrant workers and those away from their family are able to speak to their family who are in villages or in other cities or countries, and they are able to entertain themselves by watching programs and movies online. Imagine how difficult life would have been if this technology had not existed! Thanks to modern videoconferencing technology, students can continue with their school and college education, and people can stay connected with their office colleagues and work from home. These are examples of putting technology to good use.

Even if the pandemic extends, then don’t worry. In fact, you should be happy that you can communicate without risking your life as well as the lives of others. We should consider this a very big blessing. If the crisis extends, then we will find different ways to do our work.

Next you say that fear is increasing as there is no medicine or cure for this disease. This is very obvious. Coronavirus can be fatal and so we are afraid for our lives. And that fear is very important and needed. It is this fear that will help us take care of ourselves and others, and follow the lockdown and social distancing norms.

Let me give you an example. One of my friends once asked me to suggest a good breed of dog to intimidate outsiders and strangers coming to his house. So, I told him that for his house any breed of dog would do, because people are not afraid of any particular breed. They are afraid of the 14 injections that they will have to take if they get bitten by the dog! (This incident happened when anti rabies vaccine required taking 14 injections around the stomach region!). Fear stops people from going near a dog, just like the fear of coronavirus will make us adhere to lockdown and social distancing norms.

But fear is okay only to that extent. Beyond that if the fear turns into panic, then it will affect your health. Fear should guide you to do the right thing and not cause problems for you.

Finally, you ask about employment. Employment and the fate of the economy are biggest cause of worry among people all over the world these days. So great is their stress that some are even willing to put their life at stake to keep their job or to boost the economy.

But what can happen? There are two possibilities: The pandemic might die down completely within a few months. In such a case, nothing will happen and we can get back to the way we were. Across the world, governments, industrialists, and other experts and innovators are constantly striving to bring life back in order. Work is happening to discover medicines and vaccines for Coronavirus as well as to minimize damage to the economy. And so, chances are that things will come back on track sooner than later.

But even if we think of the worst-case scenario, wherein we are not able to find a medicine or vaccine on time and the crisis continues for a longer duration, don’t worry. Sure, for some time things will be a bit difficult. But remember, you will not be the only one affected. Professions in every sector of the economy, and every person doing all kinds of jobs will be affected, because that’s how strongly we are linked to one another within the economy.

And therefore, there is a very good chance that other innovators and scientists will soon come up with brilliant, breakthrough technological inventions to resume work. Who knows, we might develop the technology to enable us to be present in another location without leaving our homes using technology like 3D hologram! Other advanced technologies that are being experimented and are under development, such as teleportation (which means the ability to travel instantaneously between two locations without crossing the intervening space) might also get introduced! 

You might laugh when I say this, but remember that everything that we have invented so far and everything we find common today was at one time a fantastic dream or science fiction. About 150 years ago if people were told that in future, we would be able to travel thousands of kilometres in one day and be back home by the end of the day, would they have believed it? And yet, inventions like the aeroplane, which were an object of fascination some time back, are now routine. Regular business travelers don’t even realize they have traveled half way around the world and back in a few hours!

So, don’t think that things will be bad if the pandemic lasts long. Our fear and worry are rooted in the fact that we get attached to the current way of doing things and we see everything based on where we are today. Also, most of us are unable to think that something better will come. We have so many brilliant scientists, and technology is so advanced and at such a peak that what will come will be a much better version of what we have now. And even that will soon become common and a way of life. The nature of employment will change and our manner of travelling and communicating will change, and the change will be for the better. I agree that all the great inventions and our improved life and lifestyle will come at the cost of the tragic loss left behind by the Coronavirus pandemic. But as sad as that is, it is a part of the change that is coming.

All I want to tell you, and everyone else, is to not be afraid. The world will not end. In fact, this is an opportunity to make the world even better. For now, we just need to take care of ourselves and our family and cooperate with the system as it tries to come out of this situation."

— Acharya Mahendranath

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