Hi friend who suffers from the doldrums, depression, or the deep dark of despair.

I hope you get this, or a friend who cares sends it to you.
I just wanted to reach out to you to tell you that I understand you’re in anguish of some sort, and to offer whatever spiritual support I can offer.
As you might or might not know about my consort Carter and me, we are BIG believers of prayer, and first thing I want to say is that we will continue to pray for your recovery from this momentary lapse of balance in your life that you’re experiencing. We both know what it feels like to be in the darker realms of life, believe me. He with a horrendous divorce and child-custody battle with his ex-wife, and me with my addictions. Matter of fact, we have a saying in AA I’ll share with you that is totally true:
Religion is for people who want to go to heaven.
Spirituality is for people who’ve already been to hell and back.

Dark or Light---we all have, many times---the Choice

So, with this said, I’m going to share with you my “take” on depression.

We in the yoga world believe that any negative emotion humans suffer—whethersadness, darkness of doubt, fear of the unknown, or just plain depression—all of it is the result of simply “forgetting who and WHAT we are.” And that is, simply put, that we are part of God. Metaphorically, we are akin to being a microscopic cell of God‘s body, and whatever is happening to us in this life is for our greater good and understanding of that, that we are part of the unpredictable, cosmic, ineffably chaotic yet functioning, mystical force some call God. I and other yogis prefer to refer to this Supreme Force by the scriptural name, the “Atman,” the Supreme Self, the Higher Self (as opposed to the lower self, the “ego” that gets us humans into trouble quite often, if not reigned in by understanding and discrimination).

This kind of talk may or may not interest you. But if it does I have lots of sharings, talks, essays, meditations, groups to join and study with, insights to perk oneself up with, etc, so check out other posts on Lordflea, or write me for recommendations, if you wish.

There is an entire WORLD of spiritual seekers around the globe, in all its corners, who are just like you, who have gone to a dark place and found for themselves the answer: that God is within their very own heart and soul and mind. But it’s easy for us humans to forget what our roles, as the “most intelligent mammals” are, here on Earth. Some of us, quite humanly, get confused, or lost along our journey to re-cognizing we are part of God’s consciousness. Some of us even end up crashing on the rocks of life.

getting lost along The Way

Of course, if you think the above is all a bunch of malarkey, feel free to just laugh, call me silly, shrug it off and dismiss my sharing, and please, just blame it on my artistic, yogic eccentricities, for truly, this philosophy (ancient-yogic scriptural-based, not mine) is the focus of my life’s work and my life’s purpose. But if what I share rings a bell and you want to know what has been my life’s Great Comfort, it is the pure, true fact (after much searching and debunking) that I am ONE, not separate, with the Spirit of a Divine Consciousness.

A more secular, doctor-author (in the book I finished last night) called it “the uberconsciousness, the superorganism who kept this from descending into chaos.” Quote found in Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, who teaches at Stanford U.

Written for you, in loving kindness, and great compassion for a fellow human who suffers,
lordflea
ps.
Perhaps one of your parents was an alcoholic, addict, work-alcoholic, or lacking somehow? Perhaps you might also benefit from attending ACOA (Adult Children of Alcoholics) 12-Step meetings, because I discovered, as a mature woman, that a lot of early damage from the family-disease, which alcoholism or addiction is, was resolved by attending, regularly, these specific-targeted meetings. They are anonymous and available all over the entire world!—for only $1 donation a meeting, if you happen to have it.
We call depression, in the 12-Step recovery rooms, “SELF-CENTERED FEAR” …. there’s no whys or reasons for it … it just happens as a result of living without proper nurturing. Like a plant that withers without sun, soil or water, which you may or may not have experienced in your early life. No blame on your parents. Just the facts of life. I’m very close to my elderly mom now, but her role in how alcoholism affects the family was the “enabler”not the drinker, and yes, she was as “dis-eased” and dysfunctional, spiritually, as my dad was, who was the drinker. Everyone in a family where there is addiction, gets affected. Everyone.