Depression

September 24th, 2007

We’re saddened to hear of actor and writer Owen Wilson’s apparent suicide attempt on August 27th. So many struggle with depression and the feeling that life is too difficult, too painful to go on. Our hearts go out to Mr. Wilson and to everyone who bears this burden.
We experience two ways of helping the heart out of depression. One is to energize the height of the heart. Sometimes depression comes when the sense of idealism has been covered up, when you have forgotten or denied the greatest ideal you can imagine; it’s so great you can barely imagine it. People always say, it’s not going to happen, be realistic, forget about it, it’s just a dream. But such dreams are the life of the heart, for without them, the heart becomes crushed. When we energize the height of the heart, it also gives a strong sense of optimism, that things will turn out right.
The second way is to energize the depth of the heart. The sadness of depression is felt in the depth of the heart, so if we follow this approach, we don’t fight the sadness; instead, we go deeper into it. We actually try to turn up the intensity. Feel the sadness, the longing of the heart so completely that you feel the whole world could drown in your tears. And an astonishing thing happens: the feeling gets wider, deeper, more nuanced, more profound. It begins to include all feeling: joy, sacredness, peace, exaltation — the sadness is still there, but it is now bearable, because these other feelings provide so much richness and energy to the experience.
We have found this approach to be a powerful way of transforming your relationship to depression, so that it ceases to be an obstacle to your fulfillment, becoming instead a catalyst to your spiritual growth.

Puran & Susanna

Entry Filed under: Health, Meditation