On Depression
From The Inner Journey Home by Almass, p. 174-175:
We are living in unprecedented times when sorrow, shock, terror, and fear fill the emotional atmosphere. Nothing is certain. The common humanity that one could rely on has lost a solid ground. Vile and unkind behavior spills everywhere. Gut-punches of racism are at the ready. To light has come the certain awareness of senseless black murders finally caught on video-tape. As the black community has said, this is nothing new. What is new is they are being captured on iPhone video. With a virtual mad-man at the helm and in charge of our country, policies that are compassionless are the standard of the day. And with all of this comes, for many, a thundering depression, sadness, a grief that is unshakable. We all grieve and find ways to not be submerged in this torrent of heartbreak. And for some this evokes the very important necessity of anti-depressant medication to buoy up the spirit of those sensitive to depression. As my teacher remarked, if you are in a depressed state, positive states evoked through practice will not remain, Essence states will disappear quickly, and slide into the waters of depression and anxiety. Progress cannot be sustained in the presence of depression. Those who have this metabolic need must find the resources to lift their state, as their own metabolic capacity might not be able. Below are the wise words of A.H. Almass regarding depression.
“When the body suffers from some kind of biochemical imbalance, one’s inner state becomes disturbed. As a result, it has been found that many difficult inner conditions, such as some types of depression, anxiety, and phobias, some forms of schizophrenia, etc., are due to such chemical imbalances, and that some pharmaceutical drugs can help alleviate these conditions by redressing the imbalance. It seems that the soul is not able to experience and develop all of her potentials when such limitations are present. For example, it is not easy for the soul to feel light and optimistic when it is suffering from a chemical depression, regardless of how much inner work she does. The manifestation of the soul’s potential inner states and capacities requires that the chemistry of the body be healthily functioning. This physical limitation can become a limitation in the experience of some essential aspects, even essence in general. …For instance, the brain and nervous system need to be healthy for the optimum experience of the soul.”
