Why are We So Depressed?

Sat Naam everybody,

Each of us is tasked with being Someone. There is no avoiding this.

We are caught here in a reality that is characterized by Duality, even if we understand that the ultimate reality is Non-duality. We experience birth and death. We feel we are the dash between our birth year and death year.

Two sides of the metaphorical coin EXIST. Period. You cannot have a fun day, I commented one day last week, if you have never experienced a NOT FUN day.

Fun Day!

Not Fun Day!

And, you are often asked to choose a side, most of the time. Who are you going to follow? What are you going to do to earn money? What are you going to eat? How will you use your resources?

“If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.” —Neil Peart, 1980

So this leads us to the conclusion that, no matter what we do, what we say, what we think, how we feel, there will be a contingent of other someones who vehemently, or casually, deny our testimony. Our ego will take the hit, our minds will ruminate, and we will suffer.

Lately you can’t even put a sign on your lawn without feeling like maybe somebody will set fire to it in the night. Much less speak about your experience at the dinner table! Heaven forbid we speak our truths! Let’s not offend anybody! Let’s just GET ALONG.

We can choose to live our lives actively trying to gain the affection and adoration or approval or at least acceptance from the others in our lives, or we can choose to live our lives according to a model we devise ourselves. Either way, you will incur wrath, or disdain, or ridicule, from other people.

Of course that model we create can be like that of a locust, or like that of a bee. Or it might be quite unique; in fact, it must be unique. Nature does not make perfect copies of any form. None of us should endeavor to be like somebody else.

We are rarely pure souls and/or True Sages in this life. But we have many examples of True Sages alive or recently alive today than perhaps ever before in written human history. Ramana Marharshi, Anandamayi Ma, Swami Ramdas, Neem Karoli Baba, Nisargadatta Maharaj, H.W.L. Poonja (Papaji), Adyashanti, Eckhart Tolle, Robert Adams, Michael Singer, Neale Donald Walsh, Thich Nhat Hanh, Don Miquel Ruiz, Alan Watts, Gangaji, Deepak Chopra, Paulo Coelho, Wayne Dyer, Caroline Myss...and many more both known and unknown, are able to lead us to the truth of our nature if we only take the time to look for it.

But even once one has awakened to the truth, one realizes it is not the enduring type. And even if it has become mostly enduring, we still might suffer feeling we have to live in a world where we feel unloved, unrecognized, shunned, or forgotten. We have been sold a bill of goods that in order to earn a spot of respect, we must make a difference, move a mountain, do things right, or show up and shine.

It is to this point I write today. It is a falsehood born out of Mahamaya, a Hindu Goddess of Illusion. What? You say you do not believe in Hindu gods? You might want to look again.

We need to find a way to awaken out of the state wherein we imagine we ARE the False Self, otherwise known as Ego Identification. This is necessary for children and sometimes young adults and oftentimes everybody till they die, but it is not necessary for YOU. You do not have to continue to live thinking her veil is the truth of your existence.

What can we do to wake UP?

A true teacher is like the Sun. The Sun shines on everyone, no matter who they are. This is one of the reasons our ancestors worshipped the Sun.

Hang around the teachers of this world. If you have the time and money, go to a retreat or ashram, go regularly to a Satsang, go to be in the presence of a Sage.

If you don’t have the resources, why, there are books. There are YouTube videos. There are zoom retreats. There are CDs and DVDs in the library and available for sale, cheap. If you are serious about Self-Realization, find a teacher and stick with them for awhile. Don’t run from one teacher to the next. That can be fun, but it will not be a boon to your awakening. And choose your teacher wisely. Today it is joked that there are more teachers than students. Sound healers, tarot card readers, astrologers, everybody’s got a method they’re selling. Find the right sage that you respect, that you resonate with, and stick with them. Follow their teachings. Do not fall into reading every book about awakening. That’s just more knowledge. To awaken, drop that path, it does not work. Find a teacher of the Direct Path of Self-Realization and listen, listen, listen.

There is nothing to do for it all but to meditate.

Another direct path, is Self-Inquiry, Atma-Vichara. This is an important practice. It can take years and years to get this. Or it can take a few weeks or months. You can shorten this if you practice all the time. Find your sage, follow their teachings, AND practice self-inquiry.

Question everything. Whatever you do, think, feel—question: Who is this thinking this or doing this? This will weaken the mind, which is nothing more than a collection of thoughts about the past and future. You will become humble. You will find humility. A big ego will quit this quickly. Ego doesn’t like this path one bit.

The third direct path is self-surrender. A true devotee practices all three. Follow a teacher, practice self-inquiry, and surrender to the One self. Let go of everything…your possessions, your body, your thoughts, your life…surrender it all to God. Give it all to God. When you can really do this, you will no longer have anything to worry about. You will do what you’re supposed to do, in a harmonious way, and you will feel happy all the time. When we approach the whole thing from a clear position of Wholeness within it, there is no resistance. There is only Love.

Our suffering comes from resistance to the form of the present circumstance, or moment. Drop the resistance, drop the suffering it creates.

“When the time comes, when you can sit in a chair by yourself and become absorbed in the infinite and feel bliss, that is your true nature. Realizing that there is nothing in this world that can give you bliss, nothing, then you’ve made headway on the spiritual path.”—Robert Adams, 1992

So who is beating yourself up because the world doesn’t like your personality, because the people in your family don’t see the religious or political landscape the way that you do, because your old friends don’t seek you out anymore, when your loved ones act like you don’t matter? A true spiritual being cannot be moved off the path by these observations. Nothing can ever hurt them because they have surrendered it all and identify with nothing but pure awareness, the only true reality.

So look at what you’re doing! Are you only happy when things are going your way? When your preferences are being met? When your mind is occupied with distractions, with drugs, with sleep?

Who is happy? Who is sad? Who is anxious? Who is afraid? Who is whining? Who is forgotten? Who is unloved? Who is respected?

Your life is your life and you can do whatever you want. Awaken the love within you, awaken the peace within you, live in the moment, stop obsessing about the past and future; try to understand that all in the universe is Love. You are not only loved, you ARE LOVE.

Sat Nam,

Andrea

P.S. Images were made by me with the AI Arta app, so I do not violate copyright laws using images pulled from the internet.