Meditating In The Time of Coronavirus

Dana Fuchs walked into the New York-Presbyterian-Columbia University Medical Center for her scheduled cesarean delivery at the beginning of April at the height of the coronavirus.  Her COVID-19 test, mandatory for all delivering mothers, came back “indeterminate”. She had to wait for a second test. “The hospital was entirely overwhelmed having just been forced to take all OBGYN patients from another nearby hospital that was out of beds,” Dana said in a Facebook post.

Medical staff placed her in an isolation room after a woman fainted. Dana worried about herself and the baby. Her husband couldn’t join until the delivery and she pushed aside her fears and began to meditate. It made her twelve hours of waiting easier.

Dana knows about meditation because she is in the teacher training program (TTP) at the Kadampa Meditation Center (KMC) in Manhattan. In her isolation, she opened her laptop and connected with practitioners all over the world. They gathered for a Tara Puja – a one-hour long session of prayer for the welfare of the world that occurs every four hours over a twenty-four hour period. “It kept my mind entirely peaceful at what would have otherwise been a very stressful and anxiety producing experience,” she said.

After she delivered her healthy boy, August West Mackall, Dana found a benefit to the coronavirus lockdown. All of the classes have moved online. So she and others, like me, who find that Kadampa Buddhism and meditation help to relieve stress and anxiety, can stay home and practice and take mediation classes.

Dana lives in Harlem and usually commutes ninety minutes to and from the meditation center in Chelsea, twice a week, for a two-hour class. “While the reasons for the transition from being at the center to now virtual classes is quite terrible, I am truly grateful for the convenience of being able to do classes virtually.” During the lockdown, Dana takes TTP classes in her home office via webinar jam while her husband watches the kids.

Michelle Valladares, Director of the MFA in Creative Writing at The City College of New York, is also grateful for the time saved on commuting to the meditation center because she lives in Brooklyn. She has practiced at the center for twenty-three years. “The drawbacks are that I miss meditating with my sangha (spiritual community) and in the gompa (the meditation room) which is very blessed and special,” Michelle said.

My uncle, Cesar Puello, introduced me to Kadampa and understands the benefits of group meditation. “You have to sit with them, be with them, meditate with them, then take that out into the world,” he said.

The lockdown and the fear of the virus have encouraged many to consider meditation. Robert Allen, editorial director of Macmillan Audio, recently had a phone conference with one of his key accounts. He asked his client if there were any new sales trends since the start of the pandemic. His client reported a spike in sales for audiobooks on spirituality and meditation.

The desire to find a soothing activity has led many newcomers to Kadampa meditation on the internet. Kadam Morten, resident teacher of KMC Manhattan, is grateful to be able to reach more people online than he has ever been able to at the center.  

“I can’t stop telling people about this unprecedented gift of dharma access that is available now and offers such wisdom and relief from anxiety, sadness, and anger,” Dana said. Meditation is not only for Buddhists. “Not everyone is open to this so I would just say to try and turn this time of isolation into a way of taking real self-care.”

“Meditation practice has definitely helped me get through the anxiety and sadness of this pandemic,” Michelle said. She has friends who have lost loved ones to COVID-19. “Meditation has given me techniques that help me develop a peaceful mind so that I can help others.”

Dana is grateful to have tested negative for COVID-19. “We must do whatever it takes to try to maintain a peaceful mind right now. This has to come from within because no matter what our external conditions, happiness and peace can never be found in external objects…when we train our mind through meditation to be peaceful, its a lasting peace that will always protect us from falling into despair.”

There are a variety of meditation classes to take at Kadampa New York City. Newcomers can join thirty-minute morning or afternoon classes and themed classes in the general program. For more information on virtual classes and other locations you can visit the website.