Category: General

The path to salvation, to liberation, to freedom, is a gradual path. Though there are rare cases of “instant enlightenment” as experienced by contemporary masters, yet upon deeper observation, many of them goes through a long period of depression before they come to awakening. The trigger obviously does not come from depression, as if that is truly the case, many millions of people in the world would have “got it”. It is surprising to know that 1 in every 18 people in US is depressed.

Depression can be a long term journey of darkness. It is a vicious cycle of negative thoughts and emotions, in  many cases, beyond the subjection of the patients. Medically, depression is generally caused by imbalanced of hormones in the body. Could the hormonal imbalanced be the effect of a psychological cause? There is an interesting research being made that reveals that depression is not the cause of negativity but rather it is the negativity of thoughts that brings about depression. In other words, depression is the effect of negativity. Any unchecked long term negative thoughts in our system can be a potential timebomb for depression to arise. Awareness or mindfulness can be an effective prevention for that. Again, I am sure there are many more other causes that we are not aware off that brought about depression. Nevertheless, preventive measure is always encouraged – and to start from where the source is – the mind – can be a very effective tool in curbing the problem.

When I start the journey of meditation, it does not take long for me to recognize that a major part of the mind is negative. It is also interesting to note that during meditation workshops, when we request participants to gauge their level of happiness, from the scale of zero to ten; the highest scale being happiness, many bring their score above five. But by the end of their meditative experience many confide that the mind is indeed negative. That tells how much we really know about the mind. Many participants mentioned that only when they meditate, their mind becomes restless. I would say that the mind is forever restless, always in the wanting to do something that is constantly in the future – meditation brings us into seeing that.

If a major part of our mind is in constantly negativity, are we any different from those who are depressed? Probably the only difference is that we are able to move on from our incessant thoughts. I am sure you will know what is it like to be depressed – when the thoughts replay itself like a broken record, again and again in a never ending drama.

Thus the very first step of training the mind is to see the meaninglessness of thoughts instead of giving it a reality. Not an easy task, but possible. Byron Katie’s The Work is one fine practice that resolves years of negative thoughts. Eckhart Tolle’s book, The Power of Now, begins the chapter with the title You Are Not Your Mind – indeed a very thought provoking statement. Here, I will like to clear the myth of what meditation is. To many faith, meditation is a no no journey. Even in some culture, particular in chinese, meditation is the doorway to insanity! On the contrary, I would say meditation is the way out of insanity – depending on how we define meditation. For me, meditation is not some kind of static practice, of emptying the mind, or trying to remove thoughts – but rather a way of developing good qualities of the mind that leads to freedom and peace. As my meditation puts it – it is not important to meditate, it is more important to know about what ideas are running in the mind; to be aware of that is meditation in action.

All the best to our life journey of knowing ourselves.

Nothing exists outside the mind. – Dogen

It is your turn now,
you waited, you were patient.
The time has come,
for us to polish you.
We will transform your inner pearl
into a house of fire.
You’re a gold mine.
Did you know that,
hidden in the dirt of the earth?
It is your turn now,
to be placed in fire.
Let us cremate your impurities.

– RUMI

The journey to Truth is not easy, not because the path is laden with difficulties or because it is only for the chosen few, but because our commitment to truth is not coming from the space of full integrity. We prefer to have the fish rather than to learn to fish. We prefer to move from a smaller prison into a bigger prison rather than having the wish of getting out entirely from the prison wall. We are not interested in knowing the cause and effect of our problems but rather wanting the desire to fix the problems. To work on the effect is to see the effect replaying again and again until we see the cause of our problem.

We are trapped and fed by the conditioning of our patterns. To move out from that trap needs a paradigm shift of perception, of a new way of seeing things. If we have been doing something the same way again and again and expect to experience a different result, it is tantamount to insanity.

To see the end of our problem is to see the cause of the problem. To keep fixing the problem or the effect is to keep the problem contained. Each time we give meaning to the problem we are making the problem real. Whenever we pay attention to the problem we are giving reality to the problem. Anything in life that we give meaning to, become our reality. It is a vicious cycle replaying itself again and again and there is no end to it. To recognize this pattern and to consider seeing it differently is the beginning step of moving out from the addictive cycle.

When we give meaning to the movie, we see the realness of the movie. If we give meaning to the actors we see realness in the people. When we give attention to the acting we see realness in the actions. When we give attention to realizing it is just a movie, an illusion, we see reality in that. Everything we focus on becomes our reality.  In the same way we can look at each issue in different perspectives. Each perspective gives its own reality. If we wish to come into the space of peace and freedom we have to consciously choose perspective that assists us in that direction. We have to acquire skills that lead us to it.

It takes wisdom to look at things differently. We may acquire new skills but if we do not have a new attitude towards the skill, we will be using the skill with our old habit, making no improvement from the previous. Yes, there is something new from acquiring new skills but yet there is nothing new in being. It is exactly like moving from a small prison to a bigger prison – still trapped in our old conditioning though we think we are able to move around a little bit more. We may have more money than before but that does not make us any different. We may be richer but that does not make us any wiser. There is nothing wrong to be rich if we wish to play the game of the world. But for those who wish to transcend their mind, then to recognize the nature of the mind in the midst of their richness is to bring spirituality into their day to day living.

Thus there is nothing wrong with poverty, rich, sick, good health, man, woman, anything you name it – but there is something wrong with the way we view the world – that is the source of our joy, freedom and peace.

Many are moving along this shore, few have gone over to the other side.