Welcome back to Buddhist solutions for life's problems, where we talk about how to use

SGI-Nitran Buddhism to navigate daily life. I'm Jihichali and this episode was produced

based on a number of requests we've had from listeners in the last few weeks to address the global

pandemic of COVID-19.

I'll be honest, this was a really hard one to write.

We usually start each episode with a specific problem we're trying to use Buddhism to solve.

But with COVID-19, even defining the problem was hard because there are just so many questions.

Here are a few that I've heard from friends and family in the past two weeks.

Why is this happening? Will I lose my job? What if I can't pay my bills? Should I go to the doctor to get tested if I'm feeling sick?

How long should I quarantine for? Should I postpone my wedding? Should I visit my family or stay

away? Is our health care system going to be able to handle this?

When will it end? What do I say to friends who are paralyzed by anxiety?

Should I admit that I too am overwhelmed? What is going back to

normal even look like? I could go on and on, but since there is just too much to

address, I decided to go to the root of it all and address the following two questions.

1. What does Buddhism say about global crises, why they happen, and how to stop them from happening in the future.

And two, what can I do right now to generate hope and take the best action for myself, my family,

and my community?

I called up four people to help me through these questions.

Two good friends who practice Buddhism, Jenny and Nathan, and two Buddhist experts, Kevin

and Naoko, who helped me break some of this down.

Because I'm in New York and like much of the country and world, working from home,

...