Yoga and Depression

[drjay1966]

I came to yoga, for the most part, to deal with depression, so that, one might say, my goal is not to be enlightened but, rather, to be a typical unenlightened person who is not hobbled by this affliction--to get out of a lower state of consciousness rather than trying to achieve a higher one. I've had some success with this actually, and have found some great resources (particularly Amy Weintraub, with her workshops and book on the subject). I wonder though, if maybe it's all the same thing...if enlightenment might simply be a case of not being hobbled by one neurosis or another (or many, as is probably the case with most people). Any thoughts?
Dr. Jay

[Pandara]

Namaste Dr,

I am going to talk about depression from a Buudhist POV as it very much corresponds to the Yogic view as well, the two are actually inclusive, but I know the Buddhist philosophy best on the topic of depression.

In Buddhist thought depression happens in the first place due to being under the control of the ego, self-cherishment, attachment, anger, broken vows and pledges and having disturbed the minds of holy beings (Deities and Boddhisattvas) and your spiritual teachers in past lives. So in short depression is a karmic debt that you have to work through.

However, you can use depression to achieve enlightenment. By using depression to develop compassion and kindheartedness, you can purify this past karma. Depression is the demon that prevents your enlightenment.

I think from this you have already gathered that depression is a karmic situation whereas enlightenment is a process of evolution employing your karma and reincarnation to purify the soul in order to move into enlightenment. Depression is a state associated with the physical body and being in incarnation, whereas enlightenment is associated with the metaphysical state of the Soul.

Just my thoughts.

[YogiJew]

Dr. Jay,

i am happy that yoga has become a place to which you can go to find relief from your afliction of depression!

i would like to give some advice, thought, for your journy. dont view yoga as a place to find enlightenment, or not a place for enlightenment, or anything for that matter. yes, yoga for sure has its benefits, one of them being to put all outcomes out of mind. yoga should be a place for the here and now and to experience whatever comes out from it with mindful eyes. minfulness, the art of paying attention moment to moment as they unfold, is a central part of yoga. one of the main aspects of mindfulness is letting go of the outcome of whatever it is you are doing and being open to whatever unfolds in a non-judgmental way.

So for you Dr. Jay. just practice yoga and expereince it without attactment to any outcome. just go to your breath, enter the poses, meditate and experience it like a infant experiences a new sensation for the first time. let me know what happens.
Namasté


YogiJew

[Hubert]

Originally Posted by drjay1966

I wonder though, if maybe it's all the same thing...if enlightenment might simply be a case of not being hobbled by one neurosis or another (or many, as is probably the case with most people). Any thoughts?
Dr. Jay

It is not so. Enlightment is a higher state of consciousness, a kind of imaginative consciousness, where the soul is able to perceive other beings, entities, natural forces not by ordinary senses, but with the before mentioned imaginative consciousness. Imagine that you are blind, deaf, can't taste, smell and touch. Such an existence is darkness for the unenlightened, and such a person immediatly starts to sleep. The forces of one's soul are weakened by reliance on thye physical senses, thus they can't perceive anything suprasensible. By various practices (building concentration, awareness to higher than the average level, but not just by such seemingly technical endeavours but by moral practices, too) the soul becomes strong enough to perceive the suprasensible. First, only realities related to his own body, soul, are revealed, but slowly other things will become perceptible.
These are not hallucinations, as they can and should be checked by the ordinary senses. An enlighetend person will know when another person approaches, how this person's mood, thoughts are, by his/her "spiritual eyes", but one can open one's eyes and see that really happens, someone is really there. These checkings are only important in the beginning, as there exist spiritual realities what do not have any physical counterpart.
Enlightment is when the seeker starts to perceive the spiritual, as reality, when the seeker's "eyes" open. It is a waking experience.
This can be achieved by the practices mentioned before, and just as in case of someone who has learnt to read, the contents of a book open a new world he did not know before, the spiritual seeker develops the capacity to read the book of life. (with the difference that books contain mainly fiction, but the book of life is the same for all of us, and real.)

[louise molenkamp]

Originally Posted by drjay1966

I came to yoga, for the most part, to deal with depression, so that, one might say, my goal is not to be enlightened but, rather, to be a typical unenlightened person who is not hobbled by this affliction--to get out of a lower state of consciousness rather than trying to achieve a higher one. I've had some success with this actually, and have found some great resources (particularly Amy Weintraub, with her workshops and book on the subject). I wonder though, if maybe it's all the same thing...if enlightenment might simply be a case of not being hobbled by one neurosis or another (or many, as is probably the case with most people). Any thoughts?
Dr. Jay

Hi drjay,
hope you find all the answers you need to deal with your depression.
I know about that state of mind very well.
Please consider reading the book Vasistha's yoga from swami venkatesananda. Things will get clear.
uplifting thoughts, and cultivate the opposite will help too.
sending you love and light
Louise Molenkamp