In June 2022, some institutions were still discriminating against unvaccinated people. I wrote this to a teacher who runs a Buddhist retreat center that was requiring vaccination. Since we had previously met a few times, and I respected his work, I thought I might be able to reach him with an appeal to an understanding of collective karma, which he's written about extensively. He never responded.

Hi David,

The vaccines were not designed to protect anybody other than the recipient. They do not stop transmission or infection. From the beginning, the science was clear about this, though the public relations campaign convinced the public that vaccination protected others. But I had thought it was common knowledge by now – for instance, all of my triple-jabbed family members have recently gotten sick, by infecting each other.

There’s no plausible argument that requiring a vaccine will protect anybody else from becoming sick. It should also go without saying that you cannot become sick from somebody who isn’t infected, but some people seem to believe that “unvaccinated” = “sick”, or that vaccination status is a proxy for health (ignoring the many other factors that contribute to the immune system's functioning).

Becoming fearful and viewing others as vectors of disease – rather than vibrantly alive and inherently healthy beings – has been a devastating mistake for communities, especially Buddhist sanghas. Instead of reaching out to help relieve the massive amounts of suffering from the pandemic, I’ve seen communities become more insular, exclusive, and therefore shut off from the cries of the world.

The story of a war against contagion flows from the dominant culture, which seeks to subdue nature for human ends. The public has been manipulated into accepting a story of “virtuous vaccinated” vs “selfish unvaccinated”, as this essay from nearly a year ago lucidly examined. The perspective that we need to harmonize with nature, rather than dominate it, has been squelched from the public conversation, in favor of doubling down on the control program.

As far as the dharma goes, I cannot quote you a verse that would directly apply to this situation. But I think we’re all asked to interrogate the situation and apply some wisdom. These vaccines are not some ethically neutral ingredient – like a plant medicine you could harvest and make at home. No, they are genetically engineered, tested on animals, created in factories, shipped around the world, and distributed by for-profit corporations with records of criminal behavior. The corporations pay lobbyists, politicians, and regulators to achieve their goals. The corporations cannot exist without a greedy financial system based on delusions of infinite growth.

What is the impact of participating in this destructive system? Even if you believe the intentions of Big Pharma are good (which I obviously do not), I think it’s clear that the system is not conducive to the health of humans or the non-human world. As I said, it stems from a control program, which treats humans as machines to be converted into perpetual customers. To what extent should we engage with the system’s collective greed and delusion? From my view, we should participate as little as possible. If someone chooses to participate, I hope that’s their well-reasoned choice. But I would never require anybody to participate in a poisonous system, in order to meet with me.

I think we should apply this discrimination to every situation. As you well know, we are in ecological overshoot. Our continued use of fossil fuels is condemning all life to increased suffering. Nearly every use of energy contributes to future calamity, regardless of the good intentions of the user. By owning this computer and writing this email, I’m involved in the destructive system. I think my intention in writing is good – to cut through a pervasive delusion and urge compassion – but I’m under no illusion that my intention cancels out the physical impact of using all of this energy. Nor do I think that having peace of mind through blissful ignorance is a wise or compassionate path.

Huang Bo said, “Just accord with your conditions and exhaust your old karma and do not create new calamity.” In this complex, interconnected world that demands everybody conform to the whims of an industrial machine which is killing the planet, “not creating new calamity” is the most difficult task.

Take care,
Dave