Loving the Virus

A few days ago while I was cleaning my kitchen I listened to a podcast of the ABC’s Heaven Forbid program, called ‘What Buddhism Offers the West,’ initially broadcast on 9 February 2020.

One of the panellists was Venerable Dr Juewei Shi, a director of Nan Tien Institute’s Humanistic Buddhism Centre and lecturer in the Institute’s Applied Buddhist Studies program.

She suggested that we try to love the coronavirus.

The next day, while I was cleaning my bathroom floor, I listened to Episode 43 of Thersa Matsura’s podcast Uncanny Japan, one of my favourite go-to podcasts for fifteen-minute blocks of cleaning.

Episode 43, initially broadcast on 14 November 2019, was about the Great Horned Master, Tsuno Daishi. His image, printed on paper and stuck on a house or a front gate, is used in Japan to ward off epidemics and illnesses.

Tsuno Daishi

Take that coronavirus.

I wondered what other spiritual protections were available. I decided to do some further online research.

Since there’s a patron saint for nearly everything, I hoped to find a patron saint for increasing supplies of toilet paper, but unfortunately there isn’t one.

I did, however, discover Saint Roch. He’s the patron saint of dogs and invalids, and provides protection against plagues and contagious diseases.

Saint Roch and his faithful four-legged companion, blessing a plague-ridden town

Saint Roch could be the perfect go-to saint to invoke against the coronavirus.

Meanwhile I’m trying to follow the Venerable Dr Juewei Shi’s advice.