Why Coronavirus is Nature’s Way of Schooling Us

When I was in my early 20s, I went through a health crisis where I felt the ground shaking beneath my feet. I didn’t know what’s going to happen, I was feeling fear and darkness of things falling apart.

Facing death and uncertainty my life halted from everything I had been doing. 

Before this, I was a very busy and ambitious person trying to get ahead with my goals in life. Then when this happened (it didn’t happen like immediately it was a process) but then the diagnosis came and that was the peak of my  understanding that I could not continue in that same direction that I’d been heading in.

I felt like life was somehow stopping me in my tracks so that I would listen. So that I would open up to something I could not hear before.

In this talk (see video) I talk with Maddi Cheers about the insights that came to me from this transformation I had undergone. 

We continue to talk about how we are now undergoing a similar situation on a global scale with coronavirus. 

And just as it was a pivotal time for me, that led me to a higher understanding of myself, and of life- it can be such a time for all of us. 

Watch the video to get inspired find hope and hear about the infinite possibilities ahead!

In the interview, Maddi brings her wisdom of nature from the Indian tradition, and I speak of the laws of connection that I have learned from the wisdom of Kabbalah. Together we illustrate the process that nature is leading us in.

Here are 4 fundamental truths we covered in our talk:

1. Nothing is a coincidence

Nature is a living breathing system. We are part of it. Everything that happens to us is part of the process of life that is unfolding. Though we may not see the connection between all things, it does exist.

In nature, nothing is random. It operates according to very determined rules. Every creature has its role in the bigger picture, and it all comes together harmoniously.

Except there is one creature in Nature that is out of sync with this system.  You guessed it…IT’S US! All other levels of nature (inanimate, vegetative and animal life) are all instinctively operating according to Nature’s laws.

Human beings are the only species that has a relative “freedom” to behave in a way that is independent of the natural system.

This freedom was given to us so that we would consciously attain the higher mind of Nature. We are meant to be the only creature that is not instinctively connected, but consciously!

This is where we are headed, but for us to consciously and willingly choose to change, we have been on a path meant to show us how imbalanced our state of separateness truly is.

Equipped with our bigger brains and “freedom”, we have almost but destroyed the planet! This is because we as humans do not inherently sense our connection to Nature. The Indians certainly did, they lived in harmony with Nature, they respected it and felt its higher intelligence.

Yet the more evolved we became, the bigger our ego grew, and with it our sense of separateness, greed and misaligned action that has brought us to the brink of destruction.

2. Coronavirus is Nature’s way of schooling us

Coronavirus is a peak in this process of awareness.

Never before have we gone through such a crisis where every person on the planet is concerned about the same thing, sharing the same thoughts and aiming for the same goal.

Obviously we are being taught HUGE lessons here!

To summarize some of them: 

We are all interdependent. Our actions influence other peoples, and we are influenced by them. Therefore we must be responsible for one another (even when coronavirus passes). 

Nature is influenced by us. Look at what just a couple of months have done to reduce air pollution, clear the water and revive life all around the planet! How amazing. We have been wanting to stop destroying our ecosystem for so long, and Nature swooped in and showed us how.

We don’t want to work so much. A lot of people do NOT want to go back to working and hustling as much as before. Many people prefer to work from home, and to spend more time doing what they love, be with their family and take the time to JUST BE! (it’s also way better for the environment, and as research shows- our productivity!!)

Women have a big role to play in organizing a better humanity. Female leaders around the world have been heralded as they managed the coronavirus with noticeable success. Women are more able to let go of their pride, and open up to change. They listen to others’ ideas and are more empathetic, all qualities that are necessary to achieve the balance and healing our planet requires.

Now is a time of change. Coronavirus may be just the beginning. We have entered a long term process where we will have to find the balance with Nature and achieve our higher level of development as human beings. We were not born to work to achieve material goals, exhaust ourselves and miss out on the greater potential that is within us for spiritual growth. Nature will not let that happen. Coronavirus will not leave until until we have learned the lesson it has come to show us.

3. What we need to change 

To start shifting our mindset and moving toward the change that needs to happen, we need to work on our connection mindset. 

Because ultimately that is where the magic happens, that is where we can discover our greater potential. 

Just as animals can move together with impeccable accuracy and harmony in nature (schools of fish, flocks of birds)…humans too need to develop that sense of connection to that which is outside of us. 

Interestingly it is social isolation itself that can help us do that. Because, when we are locked inside, connecting virtually, we are being trained to connect to others above the physical level. 

This is pointing us in the right direction because (thought we are mostly unaware of it) we are connected by an inner network of thoughts and intentions, and that’s what we need to become more sensitive towards. 

Ultimately we will feel that we are all one, and that each one of us can connect to this greater system without the use of technology. 

We don’t really need the internet to relay information. We have the potential to do so naturally. The internet is helping us visualize what that would be like, but it’s in our potential to develop our own internal network. 

4. Where we are headed 

As dark and scary as things may look, what we have waiting for us is greater love, harmony and happiness. 

When we look back we can see how unhappy our old world was. Not only was the imbalance causing huge damage to the environment, but loneliness, anxiety and depression were skyrocketing. 

Inequality was the norm and violence, war and strife were simply unbearable. 

All these things stand to change, and Nature is helping us!! 

Coronavirus is helping us experience our oneness, our shared humanity and our humility in the face of Nature’s power. 

Our leaders find themselves humbled by a force greater than them, and that is a good thing. 

We do not need more ego-driven plans for the future. We need a new, heart-centered, agreement to LEARN from Nature about what our societies must look like. 

Kabbalah describes this future society in the writings of Yehuda Ashlag as a society where people are mainly occupied with learning, spiritual development, and connection. 

The small number of people who need to work to supply the necessities do so, and yet we spend most of our time doing what makes us truly human. 

We are moving ahead into amazing times, and if we consciously want to change, this transition will be so much easier and more pleasant.

What have you been feeling that you want to change in your life due to coronavirus?

Please share your thoughts in the comments! Let’s put our thoughts to action and dream this together! 

Author: Tal Mandelbaum
Tal Mandelbaum is a trained social psychologist, a spiritual teacher and a mom of two. She teaches online courses and workshops for women who want to experience a deeper level of spirituality, and for mothers, who want to have a calmer, healthier more consciously connected pregnancy and motherhood.