Prof. Seyyed Hossein Nasr is Muslim theologian and one of the most prominent Islamic scholars worldwide, who teaches at George Washington University. He brings a classical Muslim philosophical and mystical perspective to the realities created by Corona.

Tragedies are opportunities for regaining perspective and therefore as a form of grace. Fear of God leads us to run back to God. Fear can be positive by returning us to the abiding reality. Corona places us before the limits of our knowledge and invites us to reexamine how we have over-trusted science and technology. Separation from others forces us to a spiritual retreat. We are born alone and we die alone.

Going into retreat is a practice of death, to be alone with God. Having been nurtured by divine presence equips you to better serve society. Prof. Nasr walks us through an exercise of how to be with oneself. Delving into the depth of oneself, we discover the inner being of the other is nothing other than ourselves.

Table of contents:

00:19 Introduction

00:40 Is Corona affecting you?

01:34 Dealing with Fear

05:30 Is Covid-19 a punishment? 

11:20 Are the wrong people getting punished?

14:03 Spiritual retreat and connection to society

19:53 Recommendations for the lockdown

23:57 Pointers for learning to be with yourself

28:12 The other is none other than myself

30:08 Dealing with Loss

36:14 Can everyone live loss as a positive thing?

43:45 Different religions are different paths to the mountaintop - perrenialism and relations between religions

1:01:07 Prayer 

Dr. Seyyed Hossein Nasr is university professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University. He has written more than 40 books and hundreds of articles, many translated into a number of languages.