HOW TO CELEBRATE UNCAUSED DEPRESSION?
Hi Friends,
One of my previous posts, Series 37: Uncaused Depression is a sign of Spiritual Growth; Embrace it, Celebrate it! (please click here to read) has been widely read. I have received many queries through social media as well as direct mails, all of which I have responded. Based on the kind of thoughts that the post has provoked, I am inclined to devote this post on the "how to" aspect.
That's important, since my premise, borne out by my own experience and that of several others, is that you must not shun or try to fight depression, anxiety, despair, meaninglessness. Rather you must feel all of that closely and passively without resistance. This is first step towards a life of bliss and joy. Your depression will dissolve. It may sound unbelievable but that is the truth of existence.
What is passive observation of this apparent psychic pain? It is to step back and look closely at what it's doing to you, to your body, your heart beat, your breathing, and to the sum total of your existence. You must do this without any mental analysis. There will be a temptation to attribute this suffering to external causes. Even if you are sure that external causes are causing this pain, feel it without analysing the cause.
This is very important. For, 'analysing' is the favorite activity of the mind. It will just love to oblige you with complicated analysis. Remember, you are not the mind. You are only you - being. The mind is a tool available to us, like any other organ: arms, legs, ears etc. The moment we slip into the belief that the mind is all important, to the extent of getting identified with the mind, we have lost the plot. And we have moved far away from FUNDAMENTAL HAPPINESS.
At this juncture, it will help to do a recap of Series 34: Psychological Depression Vs Uncaused Depression (please click here to read).
Once you muster the courage to honestly acknowledge and observe your inner pain, you will notice moments when it just dissolves, giving you the opening to FUNDAMENTAL HAPPINESS. The pain will come back. Don't worry. It takes time to fully dissolve. There will be a few ups and downs.
In time you will reach a point where you no longer fear your depression or anxiety. Rather, the moment you observe the familiar pain return to you, you welcome it! For, now every time you closely and calmly notice this pain, you will see it dissolve and give way to bouts of JOY! That's the beauty.
Which is why I say: embrace it and celebrate it!
The difficulty to do this arises from the way our brain is wired. The moment we sense any pain, our brain signals us to move away from it. This is necessary for our physical survival.
But the laws of spirit require us to move into this pain. It's not as illogical as it seems. Humanity has accumulated this pain by neglecting spirit, by excessively focusing on the physical world. So much so, that this inner malaise has become an embedded part of human consciousness. Hence, the only way to undo this is to refocus our attention to within us and discover the JOY within.
These thoughts take time to get assimilated. Which is why I suggest that you keep going back to earlier posts. My book: ARE YOU REALLY HAPPY? has it all at one place. Take your time. Don't rush. Quietly observe your existence. You will be surprised to see the results.
Cheers!
Deepak Chatterjee
www.facebook.com/ChatterjeeDeepak@Deepak33C
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Friday 24 October 2014
FUNDAMENTAL HAPPINESS Series 43 - HOW TO CELEBRATE UNCAUSED DEPRESSION?
Saturday 11 October 2014
FUNDAMENTAL HAPPINESS Series 42 - WE LIE SO EASILY!
WE LIE SO EASILY!
Hi Friends,
Summary of previous unmissable posts: (please click here)
The Only Permanent Cure from Depression - Series 41: (click here)
The Only Permanent Cure from Depression - Series 41: (click here)
Almost all of us have lied sometime or the other. As children, as adults, while in responsible positions, for petty or serious reasons. That is human.
We do not realize, but only humans have the propensity to lie. We can deliberately be dishonest. No other living form has this weakness. At least we are not aware whether there is an equivalent of lying among, say, monkeys or chimpanzees or other higher mammals.
All will agree that there are degrees of lying. Various cultures have supported lying for a good cause. For instance, not conveying to a terminally ill person about his impending death, and the like. I'm not getting into the morals. There are arguments on both sides: the right to know about one's health condition versus the needless mental agony one undergoes upon learning of an incurable disease.
But what about the lies that we indulge in for a variety of other reasons:
Category 1:
Worse, we can lie with more serious consequences; I place such instances in Category 2:
Before you proceed further it will be worthwhile to reflect upon the occasions when you may have indulged in both the categories of lies listed above. Just ponder for a while; there is no harm! And you know, lists are by no means exhaustive.
Coming now to the first category, one can argue that most often such lies are harmless. But what does it do to the person who indulges in such 'harmless' lies? Is no one getting harmed? Think!
Yes, if you have been following this blog, you will be quick to understand that by telling such lies, we only 'harm' ourselves.
It is not physical or psychological harm. The 'harm' is at the level of spirit. We move away from authenticity. We are removed from the FUNDAMENTAL HAPPINESS within us. On the contrary, we add to the accumulation of unhappiness inside us. And we spend our lives trying to run away from this unhappiness.
Readers of this blog and those who have read ARE YOU REALLY HAPPY? will recall that we need two simple abilities to move higher in spirit and lead joyful lives: authenticity and courage.
Apart from being inauthentic, whenever we hide behind such 'harmless' lies, we are often closing our eyes to some unacceptable reality about ourselves.
For instance, say, I have not been up to the mark in an assignment. The way I have handled a job may have been questioned.
What do we do in such cases? Damage control? For your survival, it may truly be the best thing to do. I'm not suggesting that you declare to the entire world how you have erred in judgement or messed up an assignment. Can we at least accept privately that we have made an error of judgement or have miscalculated, or may have been inadequately prepared for the job?
Such truthfulness about our failure may cross our minds, but what do we focus on? On, how to protect ourselves, make others believe that "it was not our mistake". Don't we do this very often? We are so compulsively engaged in trying to convince others: "we were not wrong" that, in time, we convince ourselves that we made no mistake! Ironically, much of the world does not take our defensive arguments. And, instead of protecting ourselves, we suffer even more.
All of us get into such situations. Next time, try admitting to yourself what your inadequacies were - honestly. Stay with the feeling of embarrassment. Facing this pain is better than suffering the consequences of a protracted damage control.
Finally, let us think about the more dangerous lies: the category 2 kinds, listed above. What prompts us to do so? Very often we indulge in such lies not so much to protect ourselves, but to harm others. Just reflect, how often we would have lied to just demean someone else, for petty reasons.
The only reason that I can think of is the collective human misery that humanity seems to carry within - the human malaise. We are mostly oblivious of it, and it comes out in the most nasty ways.
I have elaborated upon this aspect in my book: the maximum harm and suffering to human beings has been caused by fellow human beings, through wars, persecution, hatred, religious/ethnic identities, and often due to plain lies.
If this is not the reflection of the basic human unhappiness, then what is? Just quietly acknowledging this, opens us to movement towards more spirit in our lives and towards FUNDAMENTAL HAPPINESS!
Read on!
But what about the lies that we indulge in for a variety of other reasons:
Category 1:
- to avoid embarrassment
- to hide our inadequacies, failures, in-capabilities
- to gain favours
- to become popular, impress others etc.
Worse, we can lie with more serious consequences; I place such instances in Category 2:
- to deliberately malign someone else, often causing harm
- to gain unfairly at the expense of another person
- to settle ego battles, often prompted by jealousy
- to play politics, often at the cost of someone else
- to scheme against someone with the intention of causing harm even when you have nothing to gain etc.
Before you proceed further it will be worthwhile to reflect upon the occasions when you may have indulged in both the categories of lies listed above. Just ponder for a while; there is no harm! And you know, lists are by no means exhaustive.
Coming now to the first category, one can argue that most often such lies are harmless. But what does it do to the person who indulges in such 'harmless' lies? Is no one getting harmed? Think!
Yes, if you have been following this blog, you will be quick to understand that by telling such lies, we only 'harm' ourselves.
It is not physical or psychological harm. The 'harm' is at the level of spirit. We move away from authenticity. We are removed from the FUNDAMENTAL HAPPINESS within us. On the contrary, we add to the accumulation of unhappiness inside us. And we spend our lives trying to run away from this unhappiness.
Readers of this blog and those who have read ARE YOU REALLY HAPPY? will recall that we need two simple abilities to move higher in spirit and lead joyful lives: authenticity and courage.
Apart from being inauthentic, whenever we hide behind such 'harmless' lies, we are often closing our eyes to some unacceptable reality about ourselves.
For instance, say, I have not been up to the mark in an assignment. The way I have handled a job may have been questioned.
What do we do in such cases? Damage control? For your survival, it may truly be the best thing to do. I'm not suggesting that you declare to the entire world how you have erred in judgement or messed up an assignment. Can we at least accept privately that we have made an error of judgement or have miscalculated, or may have been inadequately prepared for the job?
Such truthfulness about our failure may cross our minds, but what do we focus on? On, how to protect ourselves, make others believe that "it was not our mistake". Don't we do this very often? We are so compulsively engaged in trying to convince others: "we were not wrong" that, in time, we convince ourselves that we made no mistake! Ironically, much of the world does not take our defensive arguments. And, instead of protecting ourselves, we suffer even more.
All of us get into such situations. Next time, try admitting to yourself what your inadequacies were - honestly. Stay with the feeling of embarrassment. Facing this pain is better than suffering the consequences of a protracted damage control.
Finally, let us think about the more dangerous lies: the category 2 kinds, listed above. What prompts us to do so? Very often we indulge in such lies not so much to protect ourselves, but to harm others. Just reflect, how often we would have lied to just demean someone else, for petty reasons.
The only reason that I can think of is the collective human misery that humanity seems to carry within - the human malaise. We are mostly oblivious of it, and it comes out in the most nasty ways.
I have elaborated upon this aspect in my book: the maximum harm and suffering to human beings has been caused by fellow human beings, through wars, persecution, hatred, religious/ethnic identities, and often due to plain lies.
If this is not the reflection of the basic human unhappiness, then what is? Just quietly acknowledging this, opens us to movement towards more spirit in our lives and towards FUNDAMENTAL HAPPINESS!
Read on!
Deepak Chatterjee
chatterjee.deepak33@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/ChatterjeeDeepak
@Deepak33C
If you are following this blog through email, the post that you receive in your in-box does not have the blog archives and other features. At times the formatting is not good. For a better view you can see the entire blog at:
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