Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | guru-ji.com | June 20, 2015
Depression is a common problem of modern times. Both the rich and poor suffer from it. According to the World Health Organisation, by the year 2020, depression will become the second leading cause of disease in the world. Many solutions have been prescribed for the problem of depression but most have proved to be ineffective as a complete cure. They may offer temporary relief but fail to resolve the problem permanently.
Meditation is often advised to treat this problem of depression. But meditation focusses on the heart, and modern science has established that the heart is merely an organ that pumps blood, whereas many kinds of depression stem from the mind. It is the mind that controls the heart and not vice versa. In many cases, depression is non-physical and the heart is physical. How can a physical organ resolve a non-physical problem?
We also often hear about physical techniques to counter depression. But the reach of physical techniques is confined to the body and does not extend to the mind. How can these physical techniques then address the issues of the mind?
Many kinds of depression are the result of non-acceptance of reality. The real solution to this problem is then acceptance of reality. While non-acceptance creates the problem, acceptance of reality will solve it.
Our world is one of freedom, competition, challenge and clash of interests. This nature of human life is bound to create problems. No one is exempted from this process. This being so, to de-stress, learn the art of stress manage ment rather than trying to eliminate the stress.
A person may become sad upon facing a loss in business or feeling discriminated against at work. He may give in to anxiety and frustration if he suffers a loss in an election, his love marriage turns into a problem marriage or if he is offended by criticism. In all such cases, a person becomes negative because of being unaware of the real cause. He attributes the cause to another person and holds this person responsible for his difficulties. He fails to realise that all these are due to the law of nature. If you attribute the cause of the problem to the divine law of nature, it will arouse no negativity but when you attribute it to a person, it brings on negative thinking. This is because the law of nature is not your rival, whereas you see a person as your competitor.
When you attribute the cause of your problem to a rival, it will invariably arouse negative thoughts and cause anger. But when you attribute the cause to the law of nature, because it is not your rival and is equal in its treatment of all, it will lead to introspection.
When you follow nature-based thinking instead of man-based thinking, you will try to discover its wisdom and will realise that whatever has happened is for your betterment. It was to activate your mind and enhance its creativity. It was a means of developing a realistic approach, fostering incentive, making you realise your mistake and helping you to re-plan practically.
When this thought comes to you, your mind will automatically change from negative to positive. You will be grateful towards the law of nature for bestowing this blessing in disguise. What transpired was for your benefit and not to your detriment. This thought will eliminate your stress and you will be able to live normally. This is a good way to help de-stress the mind.