Open Towards Love

LLEWELLYN VAUGHAN-LEE explores love in the time of coronavirus, and how those of us with a spiritual practice can turn the results into action, bringing care and compassion into our communities.

- LLEWELLYN VAUGHAN-LEE

Suddenly we are all thrown together into a time of anxiety, fear for the health of family, friends, loved ones and neighbors, and for the economic distress caused by this pandemic. While some countries have a strong safety net, many live pay-check to pay-check, or even day-to-day, the rickshaw driver without customers having nothing to feed his family. This is the reality of the global crisis we are all encountering. It is also a testing time for those of us who are fortunate to be rooted in a spiritual practice, faced with the simple opportunity to open towards love rather than contract into fear.

There is a story that when the Mongol hordes of Genghis Khan were sweeping across Central Asia, destroying cities, massacring the population, fearful dervishes ran to the great mystic Shams, the teacher of Rumi, shouting, “The Mongols are coming, the Mongols are coming!” He calmly replied,