Ignorance and Suffering: Insights from Tibetan Medical Philosophy on American thought in the 2020 Pandemic

During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, we Americans have entrusted our safety and wellbeing to our most reckless and responsible citizens alike. The puzzling reality of American health care is that although U.S. medical technologies are foremost in the world, public deficits in scientific knowledge and a confusion about the value of “individual freedom” versus “public health” hinder efforts to contain the spread of COVID‐19. Today, expert advice surrounding the dangers of the coronavirus and theimportanceoffacemasksshouldbetakenwith the utmost seriousness. By July 22, 14 million people are known to have been infected and as the number grows, it is increasingly important that we, as a national public, educate ourselves and others about scientific developments concerning COVID‐19 to slow this crisis. The theory of confronting ignorance to avoid prolonged suffering is hardly a new concept, having existed for thousands of years in ancient Tibetan‐Buddhist texts. In this essay, I apply some Tibetan‐Buddhist fundamentals to our present context and argue that an understanding of how ignorance leads to suffering—and a sense of individual responsibility to overcome personal ignorance—is direly needed in our present context. I am by no means claiming to offer a fix‐all for everything wrong in America, but I hope that popularizing concepts from an ancient yet evolving philosophy will help us deal with public and personal health in manageable and practicable ways.