This morning a post on Insta caught my eye. It spoke about the Buchen Lamas. I clicked on the short intro video and was amazed to find that these were extra special Lamas, that were appointed by some king of the region to help get rid of some epidemic then. What the Lamas found was that people were suffering more because of the fear they lived in rather than the disease itself. So they developed some rituals in the form of dance to alleviate people from suffering fear. Now there are very few of these wonderful Buchen Lamas.
Do we need more of them? Now more than ever before? Definitely YES!
Maybe we can’t ask them to travel to our location and perform their ritual for us, but what we can do is take a lesson from their philosophy and implement it in our own unique way into our life and of those around us. Let us be our own Buchen Lama.
Let’s look at some ways in which we can fight and conquer fear.
- Be mindful: In my mindfulness sessions I was taught to be aware of myself and my surroundings. We practiced the basic yet very effective technique of See-Hear-Feel. So basically what we have to do is, focus our complete attention or be mindful about what we see around us , what we hear (sounds we can hear from near and or far), what we feel (cool sensation on skin if the fan is on, or a breeze is blowing). This practice can be done for 10 minutes or more and multiple times in a day. I have found that with this technique, I am able to focus on actual facts around me, about me and my mind does not wander to the unknown or assumptions. So, I am focussing on what is, and not what is not. It has also bettered my focus a lot.
- Let calmness be a practice: imbibe some form of calming techniques within your day. Could be meditation, could be a walk, could be a swim, could be singing, etc. Whatever calms you down, calms down your senses. We are increasingly feeling overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by information, by emotions, by activity (sanitizing, cleaning, wearing mask, etc.) by fear itself. So, to counter that, we need to inculcate habits that bring in the calm.
- Save the news for later: I consciously stay away from the news. I seek it only if I need something specific.
- Same goes for social media. When we use social media we see overwhelming accounts of who’s sick, who passed away, etc. Nothing wrong in sharing your sadness, but it’s up to me to decide to consume such information. Mind you, these bits of information or any for that matter can act as a trigger which might take you down a spiral bottomless hole. So, ask yourself “Is the trigger serving me, or am I serving the trigger?” This amazing question I learnt from Nir Eyal (https://www.nirandfar.com/indistractable/) when he spoke to Vishen Lakhiani of Mindvalley (https://www.mindvalley.com/) This is one of my favorite platforms for personal growth.
- Invest in your relationships: Talk to your loved ones, cuddle the little ones around you, speak to your peer group, your coworkers, your hobby group, anyone and everyone you know and have a bond with. Now is the time we need one another. Send a small message. Have a joint meditation or prayer meet. Join an online class together – this is increasingly becoming an amazing way to bond and do something together. When we interact with our loved ones we make sure we show them love and appreciation. Shower them with positivity, with love. Infusing positive and uplifting words and actions into our relationships will make the bond stronger and we will be helping one another stay away from fear.
- I found this article by Sadhguru especially insightful, it helped me understand fear. https://isha.sadhguru.org/global/en/wisdom/article/how-to-overcome-fear
All or any of the above will be effective and will work for you when you are consistent about them and the most amazing thing is that you can find your own way to fight and conquer fear. Whatever it is you choose to do, share it with others if it works for you. Once you are a Buchen Lama, help those around you to be one too!
