Nepal Disaster: A Spiritual Perspective

What happened in Nepal this week has sent ripples of deep concern throughout the world for those who are affected. When something that powerful happens, it is time to look more closely at how we respond, what we feel, and why we feel that way.

The initial response is a gasp, a deep intake of breath. Think about that: the “wave” that rushed through the valleys of the Himalayas rippled beyond that moment into a global intake of breath. Suppose that global intake of breath is, in fact, an awakening!

And yet, in the next moment after that breath, subtly, a question arises: Why?

I think that is the wrong question. Asking why takes us out of the present moment and implies that something which has already happened could have been prevented, that it was not necessary, that people suffered without purpose at the hands of some mysterious - what - fate? But that simply is not true.

If it had not been necessary, it would not have happened. So it appears to me that we hit a wall once we ask the question why. The correct direction to go then is not forward into asking why, but backward into asking how so if we truly want to understand. In other words, what were the causes and conditions that made that wave necessary?

I’m not talking about the scientific causes and conditions though, like global climate change and melting glaciers. I’m talking about the cosmic forces that were at play in the moment that wave swept through. I’m talking about the necessity for global awareness. That is what this moment of awakening was all about.

You may feel inclined to ask but what about all those poor people who died? What about all those people who survived but lost everything and will continue to suffer?

What that suggests to me is that after global awareness of suffering, universal compassion arises. Can we embrace that lesson, that the two are necessarily inter-dependent?

Look, there is no denying that immense suffering appeared to have come out of nowhere to engulf us, but at least for that one moment, the (seemingly) endless international chaos and confusion we have been experiencing was interrupted by an intake of breath, a momentary reset followed by a subsequent wave of boundless human From a spiritual perspective, I see how those people who suffered to bring about this universal gasp are not to be mourned – they are to be celebrated! If you believe in the concept of free will as I do, you look at them as heroic. You acknowledge that they came onto this planet knowing the suffering they would endure, knowing what needed to happen, and then volunteering to take it on.

Knowing also that they would forget their purpose at the moment of their birth, when the veil of forgetfulness descends, because otherwise there would be no suffering and therefore no universal gasp of awareness, followed by universal compassion.

This is how the Universe works. These things are purposeful. The ancient mystics knew this. They passed it down to us in hidden teachings and in our DNA.

And now it is time to remember…