The Day the Music Died

While meditating this evening with the malaise of the Covad-19 weighing heavily on my mind, Don Maclean’s seminal song “The Day the Music Died” came to me.

In particular, these lyrics:

And the three men I admire most

The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost

They caught the last train for the coast

The day the music died

And they were singing

Bye, bye Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye

Singin' this'll be the day that I die

This'll be the day that I die

Time seems to have stopped or at least be suspended. Normal life is on hold. A time for reflection. It reminds me of a silent meditation retreat when all my distractions are gone and I have nothing left to do but observe. Observe the world around me and my reactions.

And though I have many more distractions during this crisis than I do during a 10 day retreat, life right now feels closer to the retreat than my work life which usually means constant activity - travel, phone calls, meetings and conferences.

This crisis seems to be universal – it does not discriminate. No matter what country you live in, what religion, what age, what ethnicity, what professional or the extent of your wealth, it is affecting us all. It’s really like the human condition and what each of us goes through. All of us at one time or other in our lives experience a sense of joy, suffering, fear, love, faith, discord, peace, anger, compassion, bondage, freedom, malaise … These are universal, human feelings and, like the Covad-19 virus crisis, happen to us all. Except at different times. Not this crisis – it is being experienced by all of us, right now. Universally. What an opportunity to come together!

Except for the people still in the silent meditation retreats.

A 30 day silent retreat at a Vipassana center ended March 14th. Upon “re-entering” the world, the meditators were told that everything changed. But which world is real? The inner world, which is hard to reach other than through silent meditation retreats, or the world that Covad-19 seems to have engulfed?

On that same day, March 14th, 2020, thinking about a small, self-centered business issue, I turned to the I Ching or Book of Changes (Richard Wilhelm translation, 1950) which is an ancient Chinese fortune telling tome. Rather than answering my question, the hexagram that came up (there are 64) was more a reflection of the times than my petty issue.

The hexagram was #41 Sun/Decrease states in part:

This [time] is out-and-out-decrease. If the foundations of the building are decreased and the upper walls are strengthened, the whole structure loses its stability. Likewise the decrease in the prosperity of the people in favor of government is an out-and-out decrease.

OK – I was looking for some relief and I seemed to get a dose of reality. I persevered:

Decrease does not under all circumstances mean something bad. Increase and decrease come in their own time. What matters here is to understand the time and not try to cover up poverty with empty pretense…One must draw on the strength of the inner attitude to compensate for what is lacking in externals…Even with slender means, the sentiment of the heart can be expressed…Anger must be decreased by keeping still, the instincts must be curbed by restriction. By this decrease of the lower powers of psyche, the higher aspects of the soul are enriched.

One of the basic laws of the universe called Dhamma is change. All things of this world, especially those perceived through the six sense doors (sight, hearing, smell, taste, feeling & mind), are impermanent. They arise only to pass, eventually. All things must pass.

So as the human race weathers this storm, together, optimistically but also realistically, I know or at least have faith from past experiences that this too shall pass. But what an extraordinary time that the entire world is going through, together, which hopefully will unite us regardless of our party affiliation, country religion or race.

Imagine that! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkgkThdzX-8

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