Depression and Disappointment

What I love about the Buddha’s teachings is that they are so logical, so reasonable, so complete, so provable …everything links up!

We are human, and governed by three negative emotions (desire, aversion and ignorance/indifference) and the three wisdoms (kayas).

We are human, and so we’d like a little more of this, and a little less of that, and we’re not really interested in them over there…

We are human, and so we desire.

We don’t get what we want, and so get frustrated.

We get frustrated and so get disappointed.

We get disappointed and so get depressed.

This depression affects our subtle body,

and so we carry around this weighty residue.

We may have to diet…

 Most of the time, life does not pan out as we expected. How can it? Was there supposed to be a master plan? How do we know what to expect? Are we judging by what’s around us? Most of that is confused! When young, we were indoctrinated with so much, so quickly, that we didn’t realise there are other options in life.

If we are depressed and disappointed, maybe what was expected wasn’t for us! If we are not fitting into the norm, did we really want the norm?

Essence cannot be depressed or disappointed. It’s enlightened! It has only empathy and compassion. So it’s the ego – that clinging mind – that has the expectations, and so gets the disappointments and thus, the depression…that’s logical.

But does this help? Not really, because we still feel this way.

No, we don’t! That feeling is a residue in the subtle body, which leaves us feeling a constant anxiety. We pick up on this residue and continue the feeling, and around we go, heavy hearted (I should know!).

We have to use logic, reasoning and…gratitude. If you haven’t got your limbs hanging off, or you’re hanging from a cliff by a tuft of grass, or you’re being eaten by piranhas…you’re okay! Of course, we don’t have enough. We never will.

We may feel lonely, in despair, fed up, worried about something. Look, you can only do what you can do, and complete that. Don’t react, as this is merely karma playing itself out. Just say, “Hello, good-bye!” Any reaction on our part merely deepens the karma and creates even more suffering. It stops when we stop!

It’s a matter of making friends with, and accepting, who we are and our lot, and then doing the same for others. We need confidence, and that comes from knowing awareness of our true nature. That’s the important thing, for without that, nothing would be known. So, recognising awareness is the start of waking up from the duality of awareness’s projections.

Recognising awareness of awareness, merely look, see, and drop everything. That very emptiness of dropping everything is essence. Know that, know confidence! This is not a feeling of being empty: quite often, we feel ’empty’ inside, and could mistake this for depression. It could be that we have a moment where desire is lacking, and we feel it should be filled with ‘something’. Ego feels uncomfortable when it doesn’t have anything to cling to. Just become familiar with that.

With this true confidence, joy is guaranteed. Knowing this, and that there is nothing else but your true nature and pure essence, be at peace. This worldly existence has no reality: just a seeming reality…an illusion.

Once we get a glimpse of joy, we will know that this is the true nature of all sentient beings.

Then compassion and empathy naturally arises. That is when love starts. Love is the expression of reality.

So you are happy, and have always been so…for no reason other than knowing essence. Disappointment is merely karma dripping away what is no longer needed. It’s time to give up holding on, and let go. Depression is being weighed down with likes and dislikes. People continue like this day in and day out, because they can afford to keep covering up their depression and disappointments with the acquisitions of this material world. But it’s there, in everyone.

We have nothing but that which ego is holding together.

For those who are happy, have compassion.

For those who are unhappy, have empathy.

Being is beyond happiness and unhappiness.

It’s time to look more closely at our life, and take responsibility. Whatever suffering we have experienced will give us the empathy to help others, even just by listening. In helping others, we will find happiness. It’s the same with devotion. Devotion is taking to heart, and having a deep appreciation for the teachings, because they work.

The Buddha’s teachings really do work, as they are logical and complete in every situation.

This a short video on the subtle body practice.

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