| | |  Health & Beauty | May 2009 
Karmic Aspects of Flu
 Dr. Marc Ehrlich - The News
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I can remember the first time I had a taste of what living in Mexico City was going to be like.
Recently moved into my apartment, I had brought with me the mentality of Austin, Texas, a smaller city of nearly 400,000 residents.
Despite having lived through the tough times of New York City during the '70s, I quickly adapted to life in this Texan town.
I had been in Mexico City for less than a month. Out of habit, I left my car unlocked in front of the apartment and the radio was stolen. I had a car stolen from in front of my house in Brooklyn, so such things weren't new to me, I had simply forgotten.
I realized then that I had to redo my "Austinized" chip to include the realities of urban life. Then in 1982, my savings in dollars were converted to "Mex-dollars," something I couldn't understand. The government actually took my meager savings and gave me a bunch of pesos! In 1985 came the devastating earthquake.
We then had to suffer intolerable levels of pollution, hyperinflation and a new urban phenomenon of "robachicos." This form of big-city terrorism involved having your child held captive in a supermarket until you paid for the perpetrators' groceries. Once paid, your child was released. Year in and year out my wife and I vowed to move out of this city. Yet, we are still here after 29 years.
Life in Mexico City includes kidnappings, economic woes, and now the swine flu. The measures being taken to protect the populace are extreme, to say the least, even in a city that has been bombarded with one crisis after another.
And if the threat of a dangerous disease wasn't enough, we had an earthquake this past Monday. Sooner or later, we need to contemplate the source of all this turmoil.
Karma is a term that is used to describe the flow of events between causes and consequences. Karma is quite simply the psychological and emotional results of what we do.
We do not cause karma. Rather, we direct it as a result of how we act. It is similar to the wind that pushes a sailboat. The boat doesn't create the wind. The impact of this force in conjunction with the movement of the sails allows the boat to navigate its path. Change the movement of the sails (our behavior), and we alter the course of our path.
From a karmic point of view, which obviously does not contradict or invalidate the explanations provided by microbiologists, epidemiologists, infectologists, and related professionals, this epidemic is a consequence of previous actions. The disease process contains a message regarding the manner to correct the causes.
What do we know about this epidemic?
It affects everyone equally. We are all exposed and vulnerable. The law of karma would have us question if our tendency to exclude, discriminate, segregate and subjugate others has generated this powerful compensatory mechanism. Has the absolute democracy of the influenza virus come as a correction for our tendency to think of ourselves as somehow better than others for reasons unrelated to our true essence as human beings? Do we need to be reminded that despite the power and status and possessions we believe define us, we can be weakened and defeated by a virus?
Even if we wash our hands, wear our face masks and avoid public places, we can still be exposed to this influenza strain. There is a reality that goes beyond our individual effort. Has our egocentricity led to problems for our society such that we have unleashed a chain of consequences terminating in this public health disaster?
One's personal belief and philosophy of life will help them understand the reality of what is happening. And since we can't go to the movies, restaurants or the gym, we may as well spend our time contemplating the personal meaning of our current challenge.
Stay healthy. |
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