Fighting Anxiety and Depression: Four Great Practices _ Swami Sarvapriyananda

Fighting Anxiety and Depression: Four Great Practices | Swami Sarvapriyananda

Sri Ramakrishna

Oh lead us from the Unreal to the real leaders from darkness unto light lead us from death to immortality own peace peace peace dear friends we are in the midst of a crisis the whole world is gripped by the coronavirus  the crisis here in new york has become the epicenter of this vast city 

so busy at usual times is now silent and quiet and in the hospital's medical centers doctors nurses other medical workers are fighting desperately to save the lives of thousands of people tens of thousands have been infected the authorities are doing their best to control it 
at this time what spiritual practices are going to help us this is what I would like to speak about today can spiritual practices help us at this time, 

of course,

 they can,

 in fact,

 these are the times that spirituality is meant to let us not forget that the Bhagavad-gita was taught to Arjuna not in a Vedanta Society or in a mountaintop in an ashram it was in the midst of a great crisis in the battlefield where a terrible civil war was imminent in the midst of that Krishna taught the highest philosophy the highest devotion to Arjuna 

so certainly spirituality is helpful for us is of great great help and relevance at this time
 I hear the voices of

 so many people how there is the suffering of course in the hospitals there is the direct combat with death those who are infected are fighting for their lives and the doctors and nurses are trying to help them day and night but also across society, 

there are fear and depression and anxiety 
so many people are saying how they have lost their jobs we are all now forced to socially distance ourselves from each other and stay at home people are saying how it's difficult to cope with huge changes in their daily routine unwanted changes unwelcome changes in the midst of this depression outside depression inside just a little further event in downtown there's wall street where they are afraid of the economic depression and inside within all of us there comes these waves of mental depression 
how do we overcome this how can spiritual practice help us at this time 
I'm going to speak of four practices for great ways in Vedanta which are useful for us which are of great use to us great protection to us at this time of crisis
 what can these ways do for us how exactly the spirituality help us at this time Buddha speaks of the nature of suffering as a person who is hit by an arrow imagine the pain and the shock of being hit by an arrow and immediately after that this person unfortunate a person is hit by a second arrow 
now this first arrow is what the world throws at us coronavirus pain suffering disease disruption in life and the 
the second arrow is our reaction to our internal reaction to what is happening there's depression there is anxiety there is uncertainty about the future all of these internal reactions this is the second arrow
 now the Buddha says what spiritual practice can do is take care of the second arrow and alleviate and remove the suffering caused by the second arrow our internal reaction for the first arrow, 

of course, 

we have to take all practical measures to follow all the instructions that are given to us by doctors and by the public health authorities and that will mitigate the effect of the first arrow which is the virus itself and its effects on society and family and personal life 
but the real suffering is the reaction that we have inside there are these four practices to help us overcome that internal suffering the first one, 

of course, 

is the path of knowledge the path of Gianna of adroit Ave onto and inquiry into the self 
notice how to the same awareness there was normal life going along you go into a job taking care of the family and engaged in the normal expectations worries and Happiness and joys and sorrows of day-to-day life 
and then suddenly everything changed I'm reminded of William Butler Yeats beautiful poem on Easter 1916 we are again coming to Easter this year in April but Easter in 1916 in the middle of the First World War Yeats wrote this poem and where he says changed utterly change it always changed a terrible beauty is born 

so such tremendous James suddenly came and it came suddenly within a few days everything was turned topsy-turvy now 

I invite you to notice that this happened in front of in our awareness the same awareness which was aware of normal life 
is the same awareness that is aware of this, 

a tremendously changed life is the awareness itself affected this awareness which is not the body not the mind the body and the mind appear in this awareness which we are this awareness which we are is it affected by the virus affects the body affects the functioning of the prana is affected by depression or anxiety depression and anxiety come and go in the mind 
are we aware of a mind which was free of depression yes 
are we aware of the mind in which there are depression and anxiety yes 
so that which comes and goes is not inextricably tied to I the awareness this consciousness 
if it is not tied to consciousness if consciousness is not bound to this anxiety then consciousness is actually free of this anxiety it is free of this depression when there was don't depression the consciousness was illumining that that frame of mind that state of mind when there is a depression or anxiety notice that the same consciousness is illumining that depressed that cloudy mind and again when the depression and anxiety will go away as it will in a few days A few weeks time the consciousness will continue to be human that 
I am that consciousness 
I am NOT that mind
 this is very obvious and this consciousness according to a traitor Vedanta is one in all beings in the minds joining in the minds of all beings men and women old and young healthy and sick the same consciousness shines unaffected 
the Sun shines unaffected by the clouds of various hues passing over it the ashtavakra says my I am an infinite ocean of consciousness in this ocean the world our lives there like a little boat notice 
I am the ocean and my life and this whole world is like the little boat in me it's not that I am like a little spark in a vast and uncaring universe Radha the whole universe appears in consciousness now think of this consciousness as an unlimited ocean and this world as a little boat floating in this ocean and it floats according to its own logic swans of Athena propelled by causality by karma sometimes it goes up things are very very good going well sometimes it goes down little things are not going 

so well coronavirus Nama mastiha he/she nota what is the attitude of the ocean towards the boat which is sailing in such erratic ways the ocean is patient it is not impatient Nama mas the assertion of that the ocean is not bothered by the movement of the boat even deeper my Ananta Muhammad o vichyssoise bhagat ah ah de tu vas Tamar to Nami Rodina varsity and the infinite ocean of consciousness and in me this the world arises as a wavelet the wave arises let it subside I need a gain nor lose anything notice the wave is actually a part and appearance in the ocean whereas the boat is something different from the ocean 

so we have gone to a deeper level where we realize this world of appearance which is appearing in our consciousness is actually not apart from consciousness think of it at three levels the world appears to you the awareness or two consciousness one deeper level the world appears in nude consciousness and third the world is nothing but you

Sri Ramakrishna

the consciousness in I the consciousness the world appears and this appearance is nothing apart from MIDI the ocean like consciousness when the wave arises is the ocean increased thereby no the water belongs to the ocean nothing is added to it when the waveforms subsides back into the ocean is the ocean decreased or diminished thereby no the same water remains similarly let birth come let death come let health or sickness come let riches come or poverty come I the consciousness in which to which they appear in which they appear and which they are not different from I am neither increased by their presence nor decreased or diminished by their absence no me Dean of Arkady I'm not increased not diminished even deeper my Ananta mom although wish-a-wish phenomena fickle Panna at Ishaan toad Iraq are hated Eva Hamas theta Ostrava crossings in Mead infinite ocean of awareness the world is not even a way which its imagination it sits in appearances imagination, 

with Shuang Naumova Kalpana you see the wave is actually one can even think that something is happening when the wave comes and the wave floats along and it'll subside into the ocean you think that something is going on but when you say it's an appearance imagine an ocean which is absolutely calm there is no wave at all a vast limitless ocean of awareness that is what we are formless consciousness in itself is formless though forms appear and disappear in it and at Ishant forever at peace beyond the possibility of disturbance, 

this is how I persist from eternity to eternity actually, 

it's poetic language to talk about eternity time and space space are both appearances in consciousness 

so this is the tremendous vision of Advaita and the beauty is what the waiter says it is true right now it's always true somebody asked that at this time are you seriously expecting us to think about in practice Advaita Vedanta yes as waiter Vedanta is not some intellectual game as some clever the philosophy that we indulge in once a week and everything when everything else is fine but then when things are disturbed and we are under stress and anxiety,

 we will eat we have no time for it no not at all that is this is the time for a greater when do you go to a fire

do you go to a fire thinking let me first become warm then I'll go near a fire no it's only when you're cold that you really need the fire we need it when we are suffering we are under stress in and under fear and anxiety then this comes to our rescue the old story about I'm going to take a bath in the ocean I'm going to swim in the ocean when the waves have subsided that'll never happen this is the time for Advaita I remember about 15 years ago in the Himalayas I'm gonna go three about 10,000 feet up we use used to go I and other monks we used to go to this old sod whoo Punjabi salut who would teach ashtavakra to the monks every day from about 3:30 to 4:00 I think of 4:00 to 4:30 he would teach this ashtavakra to us and one day he looked at us holding the book in his hand he looked down we're sitting at his feet and then he said sort of reflectively yes of Maharaji

 I to astray hey o Swami's these verses of the Ostrava credit are weapons hot metal bar adjustments in DotA / cochlear OTA OTA Aika Maha Mataji you are armed with a sword and the enemy comes and gives you a couple of slaps and you come back weeping what's the fun in that you're armed with this knowledge with this great insight into our own self the enemies of fear and anxiety and terror and depression they beat us up and we come back beeping and we are helpless no you are not helpless you are heavily armed against these enemies 

so these verses these ideas are our Armour God is the greatest our but the greatest shield against the suffering inflicted by the world go to pada 

so today we are talking about higher the way - tava crime called a pada to go to pada who wrote the famous commentary on the Mundaka Upanishad the famous man - Arika now there's an interesting little detail that we often fail to notice the Mundaka Upanishad as we all know is about looking at the three states of waking dreaming and deep sleep and becoming aware that these three appear and disappear - one consciousness this one consciousness is independent of and underlying these three states of waking dreaming and deep sleep 

so this one consciousness is called the fourth waking dreaming deep sleep and that one consciousness is figuratively called the fourth 

so this is the basic idea behind the Amanda key open 

so most of us think of the Manduca finisher as the classic text which investigates the three states of waking dreaming and deep sleep but that's not true actually go to father he says in the Mando Kirk Erica there are only two states we normally have only two states dreaming and sleeping deep sleepers sleep and both waking and dreaming got a father calls it dreaming waking is also, 

a dream is also a dream then what is real waking real waking is becoming aware that I am that fourth of that consciousness that underlying shining reality why does he call waking and dreaming both dream he says even the waking state if you examine it is very dreamlike something is appearing to consciousness and we are involved in that and that's common to both waking and dreaming in the waking state we see things we hear smell taste touch things and we come from an external world in contact with sense organs and 

so the consciousness is involved in this is waking in dreaming the mind generates by itself all kinds of thoughts all kinds of imaginations and the consciousness is involved in that it seems to be engaged with that is dreaming in both cases consciousness is engaged with appearances both are called a dream because that which is false appears to consciousness, 

there's the very definition of a dream and in deep sleep the appearances sees there's blankness and that is deep sleep 

so for goda pada, 

the waking state is as much of a dream as the dream the state now usually it's a bit little difficult to catch because 

 we are so solidly convinced that the waking state is out there and real and the dreams are in our mind and unreal but it is at times like this that adroitly Vedanta invites us to take a look at what is happening many people are telling me that life has become surreal suddenly life around their own lives and drives of people around them and around the world which is being brought to us by the media whole, 

the world has suddenly become strange and different and dreamlike 

so notice as long as the state lasts notice how strange life has become how dreamlike and unexpected and weird life is and after a few days because it's the very nature of a human of our human Constitution we adapt in a few days this state of lockdown will begin to see him more and more normal this will become the new normal for some time and then when you look back upon the life which disappeared a couple of weeks ago our normal life of 

so many years and decades when you look back about that will seem dreamlike big crowds busy streets packed subway you know under the ground in Manhattan schools and colleges and lecture halls full of hundreds of thousands of people the Broadway shows were that all real the restaurants all packed with people in the evenings I'd back walks crowded was that all

Sri Ramakrishna

real it seems 

so dreamlike none of that seems to be there now 

so the life which we left behind two weeks ago that very soon will seem a dream like this seems dreamlike now when we get adapted to it within a few days of weeks it this will seem real and the life which we left behind will seem dreamlike again by the grace of God within a few weeks or months the old life will slowly come back to us things will become normal 

so-called normal that encodes and then this period of the times of the coronavirus this will seem dreamlike again that did this really happen did the world become 

so strange and difficult what I am driving at here is the point that God ado makes her 

so-called waking life his ha is very dreamlike it's not very different from our experiences of Dreams when we are experiencing it seems very real when it fades away into memory and then we compare dreams and memories of waking memory Supremes and memories of baking seem very similar to us but the consciousness to which they are appearing that consciousness is the reality what was real was that all life which has changed was that reality is this false or is this real and that who that is it was a dream God our Father would say both our appearances our common sense approaches that are also real this is also real and then once the things become normalized we will again quickly forget and go on with our quotidian life of daily life and that's how samsara goes on but Advaita says pause stop for a minute and notice how dreamlike these appearances are these appearances are dreamlike but that to which these appearances appear you the consciousness you are the reality 

so this is the first great practice the noticing the discernment the inquiry which leads us to the realization and this infinite ocean of consciousness not affected by the even the greatest changes in external life in personal life and even in internal mental life all of these storms come and go I am the infinite blue sky of consciousness infinite blue sky I'm talking poetically of course consciousness is colorless 

so this is the first great practice of tremendously useful most practical people would say it's theoretical it is most practical it gives peace and strength and joy immediately all the fog of confusion of anxiety is blown away immediately what pain what anxiety what confusion now the second practice just the opposite direction 

so a material energy one says I am Brahman Vivekananda could say that it does not come 

so easily to us 

so I say not I but now my lord thou my lord Nahum too-hoo too-hoo this is the way of devotion there is a great power we cannot deny it we cannot deny it in this world suddenly see how this tiny little invisible thing has changed our lives across nations and continents in spite of all our power and riches and technology dramatically changed our lights on lives almost overnight 

so this invisible little thing similarly spirituality devotion to God is another invisible the thing even more powerful which can rescue us which can protect us at At this point somebody may have asked the question but just a minute aren't these two separate different paths I am Brahman and I am this little sentient being who worships Brahman who worships God which one should I take aren't the contradictory they're actually not contradictory but even if they were

 so what one can actually hold on to both one can hold on to one or the either or both of them and Swami Vivekananda he said to an American woman here he said, 

madam always have two sides always keep these two sides knowledge and devotion after all why should it be contradictory these are two ways of getting at the same reality what is the way of knowledge which says I am Brahman which realizes which notices that I am that unaffected infinite consciousness the other is the path of devotion I am this being this body-mind and awareness all bundled up together and I recognize this last presence this existence consciousness which is now God to be the creator preserver and destroyer of this universe there is this tremendous power there is this power according to whose will everything in this world goes on not even as Sri Ramakrishna would say not even a leaf can shake or tremble without the will of without the knowledge of God and this power is benevolent though we may not understand it though it may seem strange to us and difficult to us ultimately this power is benevolent it is protective one great way of overcoming anxiety and depression and fear is to appeal to this power to pray and to love and to surrender to God one of the most beautiful sutras in the Nara the Bhakti Sutra which I like very much it goes like this surveyed Asura Bob Harvey no miss Cinta de Bhagwan eve of Virginia serve ADA at

all times sir baba veena in always nice chin TT free from anxiety and depression what do you do Pavani of a Virginia Virginia fit to be worshipped should be worshiped who Raghavan Lord Ava alone 

so at all times in always free from anxiety and depression worship the Lord the Lord alone God alone anxiety cinta the word in Sanskrit and Hindi and many Indian languages it stands for worry and anxiety there is the old verse which goes cinta T Tazawa cotta tin Tata Tata Cheeta Neeraj even Ducati Givi them to give them Cinta GV Tom he what does it mean the anxiety is compared to the funeral pyre that burns up dead bodies,

 so anxiety is like that fire that burns up dead bodies but anxiety are worse than that funeral fire why but that funeral fire burns up only dead bodies but anxiety burns up the living - 

so being free from anxiety Sarada at all times see to think about God,

 we have always been told to think about God all the time it's very difficult it's almost most of the time we are not thinking about God 

so one way is to begin first by limiting our thought they say they shock all of us - at Karla at this time for the next 15 minutes or the for the next half an hour I shall only think about God maybe I will repeat the mantra maybe I will pray to God may be able to look at the picture of the icon of the Lord and 

so I'm binding my thinking in this time from starting here ending here at least this much if I cannot think about God all the time let me think about God let me make an intention self-aware that at this time I shall think about God and nothing else other thoughts will keep coming in all right but I am aware I made the intention that at this time I will think only about God 

so I push out all those other thoughts at this PlayStation 

so when I am in this corner of my room where I worship the Lord here I will not think about anything else other than God when I am in the temple or church or mosque I will think only about the Lord and nothing else I make up my mind not even about coronavirus 

so I will think only about the Lord you see the problem is way the media and the Internet which are tremendously useful at this time but they are bombarding us with news and it's a depressing kind of news and what Narada is telling us to do the opposite bombard yourself or thoughts of God with love and devotion and surrender to the Lord and at least if not always if not everywhere then Sometimes in someplace was too 

so and this time and this place I will think about only my lord in this form in the form of Krishna or Rama or Ramakrishna in this picture on this image or in this the space of my heart 

so Tybee mind by time and space and object and use these

Sri Ramakrishna

neither time nor space nor object our God but these can be used the mind cannot think without time-space and object

 so they must use time space and object to think about God sorry Bob Harvey ADA in always whichever way appeals to you as Shiva as Kali as Durga as Rama or Krishna or Rama Krishna or Jesus in whichever way as Allah or father in heaven, 

whichever way appeals to you whichever is our own tradition we can think about God in those ways serve of hevene but also apart from this theological approach in God the Lord is imminent in all beings 

so in the father and the mother in the husband-wife and child in your colleagues in people around you the Lord is present in all of them, 

in fact,

 it's the Lord alone who appears not imagination that is the truth when we think about people as flesh and blood when we think about people as persons this is actually imagination this is our error is the divinity alone which is appearing as a person and in that body of flesh and blood one thing,

 I keep hearing especially in a place like the United States especially here in Manhattan which is very busy and crowded and small apartments multiple times I heard over the last few days that you people are telling us WOM you say that this is time to you know get used to being alone and withdraw inside and find peace what peace rather I am there's 

so many people in the apartment we are never used to staying with 

so many people, 

everybody had his or her routine husband wife children 

so each had their own place of work or study and they would meet only for a short while every day but now everybody has crowded the schools and colleges are closed and in little apartments, 

people are crowded I'm I was hearing about different 

so people who have to take care of others five or six people in a tiny apartment and on top of that there is the dog also now instead of treating this as an imposition this is an opportunity to serve the Lord serve up Havana in all these ways by your cooking for them you're doing the laundry for them or just the education of the children somebody was saying that now I have to homeschool my ten-year-old and I've forgotten how to do fractions 

so it's not working - with it 

so these are the different opportunities to serve the Lord in all the members if you cannot do it in a wider scale like our health workers are doing 

so doctors and nurses are now soldiers in this war against the virus but if not all of us are going to be soldiers in the war but those who are in any capacity wherever you are even a few words of encouragement even online whether you are chatting with somebody speaking with somebody a few words of encouragement positivity a smile just as the virus is infectious a positive attitude is also infectious this is what you can do it's a great service Sarva Bobby in worship the Lord imminent in all beings there is 

so this is the second great practice that we can do the third one is something that we learn from Patanjali the great master of meditation she tells us there's control of the mind we can we consider it very difficult meditation we can consider it very difficult because the mind is difficult to control we want to think about God but all sorts of other thoughts crowding and how can we continuously think about God for one hour more than that for all the time it seems very difficult Patanjali tells us no actually there is a secret to controlling the mind the secret is this the nature of the mind is such that it can only think of one thing at a time at every the instant there is one written one movement of the mind one thought or feeling or perception idea memory but only one instant one only is possible now for deep meditation for prayer for being centered in God all that we need to do is take care of that one instant and one sort and then the next instant and the thought corresponding to that 

so the great insight is focused one thing at a time it's a cliche almost a slog and one thing at a time but it's a deep secret it's a very very a powerful key to our psyche you don't have to worry about the world you don't have to worry about what's going on in the family or everywhere else at all the time at this moment, 

only one thing calls your attention and just take care of that one thing at a time one rickety at a time whatever is an arising point that towards God I like the serenity prayer very much some of you know the serenity prayer that Oh Lord give me the courage to change the things that I can change the patience to bear the things that I cannot change and the wisdom to know the difference very beautiful prayer this actually it removes a lot of tension and anxiety and depression courage to change the things that I can change the patience to patience to bear the things that I cannot change and the wisdom to know the difference 

so at every moment one thought is appearing let us also think which the thought is more important is more pleasant more ennobling more sublime than the thought of God for those of you are we are initiated into a mantra think about it mantra one thought the one mantra repetition of the mantra compared to that which another thought is more important something maybe urgent you may have to do it but otherwise this general worry this general anxiety feeling of helplessness and anxiety about the future what good does it do patiently bear the things that we cannot change and then use the power of thought to think about God to repeat the mantra when we think about it no thought in the world is actually more important than the thought of God and the mind tricks us into being continuously engaged with the world and fruitlessly 

so increasing our unhappiness and we spread that unhappiness around rather moment to moment that one grit tea when it arises directed to God next moment another thought arises it makes sure it is about God it could be the mantra it could be a prayer it could be a Persian it could be reading about the Lord or the Saints those who are enlightened beings whatever anything that keeps the mind engaged with God serve up hevene also means in all ways it need not always be meditation it need not always be prayer it need not always be say singing about the Lord a combination of these things as it appeals to you but keeps the mind the brick tea as it arises from moment to moment engaged with the Lord there will be no space for anxiety the beauty of the mind is it takes on the color of the ceramic richness beautiful story about what a person was dying cloth in different colors 

so you bring some clothes to him he will put it in a which color do you want red and put it in a bucket till the cloth will come out red which color do you want blue and him puts it another bucket and the cloth comes out blue 

so whichever the color you dip the cloth of the mind in the mind takes that color after some time the mind begins to repeat the name of the Lord automatically and finds joy in it one thing at a time that's the great lesson we learned from Patanjali yoga and the fourth great practice that we can do is one way of overcoming fear and anxiety is to be concerned about the welfare of others Swami Ranganath Ananda gee I really liked the saying of his

he was the 13th president of our order you would say what is spirituality when I close my eyes I find peace within when I open my eyes my attitude is what can I do for you if you can honestly hold on to that the attitude in words God and peace or a hum broom has

Sri Ramakrishna

me whichever you like and when we are engaged with the world my only motive is can I be of service to your family to the community to the colleagues at work can I be of service definitely one will get peace definitely one will get joy anxiety and fear and depression will never come near us 

so to overcome the effects of the second arrow the first error, 

of course, 

we must take care of by all practical measures this real suffering comes from the second arrow and to overcome the effects of the second arrow these are the four great practices one asked me to my lord,

 not I but ow remember survey da servo coven is Cinta de Praga wanna baggage Ania three one thing at a time focus for others the welfare of others over mine these four great practices if we keep our mind to them they will definitely and noble we make our minds full of light and joy most of all we take refuge the feet of the Lord, 

we understand that everything in this universe moves by the will of great power by the will of Ishwara 

so I pray to Shri Ramakrishna holy mother ma she Radha Swami Vivekananda may they bless us or divine mother we are thy children please bless us in this time of crisis please protect us ever and ever our communities families our nation's protect us to bless us day in and day out may thy gracious face be ever turned towards us 

Oh, Shanti Shanti Shanti hurry um-- 

that's at Sri Ramakrishna Aparna must 

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