The Covid-19 crisis delved deep into our souls and brought out thoughts, reactions and feelings we knew nothing of. Some plunged into the meaning of existence and thus looking for answers, step foot on the path to their spiritual enlightenment. Others couldn’t overreach their own stereotypes and see Covid-19 as a test, so they reacted with blind aggression.

Second year deep into the pandemic and some are experiencing a moment of truth and refinement. These times are an opportunity for the true self to crystalize, said Birali Myumyun, head of the Center for Spiritual Instruction and Counseling for the Muslim Denomination.

“I remember the time I spent in the hospital with this disease, he said. – People forgot about their ethnic and religious differences and tried to help the ones who were sicker, even in the smallest of their everyday needs, as the medical staff did not have the capacity to take care of all the patients in time. So patients with more "experience" in the hospital were trusted to stop the IV drip of other patients in the same room. This situation was very odd and it would have been unacceptable for a medical establishment, if the times were different. The doctors were on top of the world for every patient who has survived and begun to recover little by little - the process was very slow and almost imperceptible to the patient. “

Clinical psychologist Dr. Velislava Donkina points out that one of the important repercussions of Covid-19 is the societal and personal regression.

"When faced with stressful events and difficult times, the human being responds to the threat of the external environment. Such situations reveal whether a person is capable keeping his sanity and self-control, or not, she said. - Extreme accusations, great fears, suspicion and threats reveal that in realitywe are very hurt and are having very hard times. The state at the same time tries keep things under control and to organize the crisis situation by telling us what to do. So we put ourselves in the position of a child. And this, combined with fear, leads to regression.In fact, the epidemic has shown us that we are immature - as if we are in our teens and in a state of learned helplessness.”

When Heaven and Life have been fighting over a sick man’s life for days on end, and he finally gets better and takes off his breathing apparatus, he truly realizes what a blessing health is. And he rethinks his relationships with others - disputes and differences fade, questions arise about the meaning of human existence, trust in God is strengthened so that man does not give in to fear and move forward.

„One of the cases I'm working on is a 21-year-old man who surprised me with this sentence: 'The best thing in my life happened during the epidemic,' said Birali Myumyun. - I asked him what happened. And he told me that he had stopped going out and he had started to think about our existence and about the meaning of life. “All this made me start reading books, to take an interest in religion, because we see that life loses its meaning at some point,” he told me. It is the realization of the existence of the hereafter that raises one’s hope and enables his life potential to recover and start working in support of his vital endurance in order to move forward, and not to give in to the fear and anxiety, which worsen the condition of many patients."

In moments of hardship even those who deny the existence of a higher power resort to prayer. The same thing happened in the hospital, where doctors and patients called on God for help where they were helpless.

„The doctors did all that was up to their expertise, but at the same time who decides whether a man stays or goes, Birali Myumyun wonders. - And the message is that man is not almighty. He is not the one who makes the choice between life and death. You may have reached very high levels of technology, civilization, but your relationship with God actually determines your morals, ethics, and values. The everyday dynamics degenerates man and cultivates in him the negative qualities of the ego, which result in aggression, when something is forbidden or not given to him.

But now we have stopped for a while.“

Compiled by: Diana Tsankova /interviews by Tsveta Nikolova, Hristo Botev channel, BNR and Gergana Hrischeva,Horizont channel, BNR/

Editting: Elena Karkalanova

English version: Elizabeth Radkova