Welcome to the 2020 issue of Raas Purnima

 by Sri Sandip Dasgupta

Dear fellow seekers,

Welcome to the Raas Purnima edition of our e-magazine. The last few months have indeed been very challenging for each and every one of us, living in this mundane world. Today, I will try to reflect what the pandemic has taught me about our faith in God.

Our life has changed dramatically since Mar 2020:

·         The use of masks and face shields has become extremely common.

·         The use of hand sanitizers has become ubiquitous.

·         We are all maintaining a safe distance between us.

·         We are washing our hands with soap more frequently. We are washing our clothes much more frequently with soap.

Now lets see why we have adopted these changes in lifestyle.

·         There is general belief that wearing a face mask will prevent us from spreading the Covid-19 virus, in case we are the carriers. Furthermore, we have been told that the use of an N-95 mask will prevent the inhalation of the virus in most cases.

·         Sanitizers are supposed to kill 99.999**% of viruses. So, cleaning a surface with a sanitizer is supposed to protect us from contracting the virus in case of contact.

·         The Covid-19 virus is believed to be spread through the air upto a distance of 6 feet. That’s why we are asked to maintain strict social distancing.

·         It is believed widely that washing our hands and clothes frequently will wash away any traces of Covid-19 that could be transmitted through contact.

When taking the above steps:

·         Do we step back and question whether the use of masks and face shields is indeed effective?

·         Do we question the efficacy of a hand sanitizer? Before using a sanitizer, do we ask the question how the efficacy of the sanitizer has been measured? Do we ask the question whether the 99.999**% includes Covid-19? Do we test whether a bottle of sanitizer is genuine or adulterated? As soon as we see a bottle (labelled Hand Sanitizer), we start squirting a few drops with the complete faith that any germs being transmitted will be destroyed.

·         Do we question the fact whether 6 feet distance is more effective than 5 feet of distance?

·         Do we check whether the soap we are using to wash our hands, is an anti-bacterial soap? Do we check whether the laundry detergent is indeed effective at killing germs?

All of these acts represent our faith in the various acts that we are engaging in – almost Absolute faith. But when we are asked to have faith in God, who is the Supreme creator of this jagat and all the jivas like us, who is also the protector of this jagat and jivas – we struggle to have absolute faith in Him. Sometimes we even question the existence of God – although our Master has clearly told us that the fact that we exist implies that God exists!

What the pandemic has taught me is that it is very easy to develop and maintain Absolute faith in the Lord – especially because we have demonstrated that we can easily develop (and maintain) faith in the use of masks, hand sanitizers, social distancing, washing hands etc. We just have to remember that Lord is our creator, sustainer and destroyer. The Lord is present in each and every one of us (including the Covid-19 virus – that’s where the inherent potency of the virus comes from), He is protecting us according to the world drama that He has scripted for us and is also the destroyer (He is the one who will come in the form of the destroyer and immunizer of the Covid-19 virus).

Joy Babathakur! Joy Babathakur! Joy Babathakur!