The Spirit Soul is Never Defeated: What is the best way to conquer depression???

[krsna]

Hare Krishna,

I wrote the following in memory of a late godbrother of mine, who took

a drastic remedial measure to solve his depression, and for all those

devotees who have unfortunately find themselves in some degree of

dejection in devotional service, some of who have written to us

personally. I invite devotees who think they are suffering from

depression to talk about it to others, on this group or in private

emails, so that devotees can try to help each other. In the medical

world, depression has been treated successfully in 90% of clinical

cases. Perhaps this is a topic that devotees should address and seek

serious solutions, of which professional help is the best remedy in

some cases. Thinking of these topics, I wrote the following essay:

The Spirit Soul is Never Defeated

 

Weathering the Dark Clouds that obscure the Brilliant Sky of Bhakti

 

Jiva souls are never defeated. The Jiva soul is full of eternality,

bliss and knowledge, and thus the soul never suffers any setback or

defeat. However, the spirit soul only appears to suffer reverses and

defeat, due to the marginal potency nature of the Jiva. The marginal

potency, or tatasta-sakti, is the constitutional position of the

spirit soul to have a tendency to go either way, to be attracted to

either the spiritual potency – or – (in our case) to be attracted to

the maya potency, due to the primordial mistake of wanting to enjoy

separately from Lord Krishna. At one point in time the unfortunate

spirit soul mistakenly decides to enjoy separate from Krishna, and

then he is thrown into this material world to enjoy an endless myriad

of temporary and illusory pleasures, which ultimately ends in

lamentable conditions, especially death, which appears to be a final

defeat of all hopes of the living entity.

 

Sometimes devotees will get frustrated in their devotional career, and

they may think that they are defeated, and a failure. This may happen

because they are unable to practice some of the regulations of which

they were committed to in the beginning of their devotional life.

Sometimes such devotees will succumb to feelings of despair and

hopelessness, and think they are finally defeated, and will give up

the fight. However, such devotees can avoid a defeatist attitude by

the proper understanding of steady and unsteady devotional service, as

explained in sastra. There is always a path to hope and recovery

despite the severity of any kind of setback in devotional practices.

 

I decided to write on the topics of steady and unsteady devotional

service, or anisthita, because a friend of mine took his shortcomings

too seriously, and he was too hard on himself, and he ended in taking

his own life. I took it that he was despondent because of his apparent

failure in devotional practices, or following regulations. There may

have been several cases like this, where devotees lost all hope and

took the extreme measure of ending their lives. Many other devotees

become disheartened by apparent weaknesses, and instead of a material

body suicide, they may commit spiritual suicide by giving up Krsna

consciousness, because they do not understand the fact that unsteady

devotional service can afflict many, if not most devotees. Some

devotees are more afflicted by these anomalies than others, and it

does not mean that the whole process is hopeless for the many, and

only feasible for the few.

 

Older devotees are often hard on themselves when they fall short of a

monk's values and standards. They began as brahmacaris, or

brahmacarinis, like disciplined monks, and later get married, and it

seems that it's often difficult to maintain the monk standard. Most of

us old-timers began Krsna consciousness in temples, in the 70's, and

we followed rigid scheduled activities, which we fully enjoyed and

were able to execute. It may be that some of us are unable to follow

in the same way, one reason being old age, and another being depressed

over the unharmonious atmosphere in temples due to infighting over

Srila Prabhupada's teachings, like on the guru issue, and other

issues. Some devotees became alienated because of this and are lacking

in association because of isolation, and suffering various degrees of

depression and guilt. These descriptions of unsteady devotional

service is to encourage devotees to not give up because of periodic

weakness, to not give up in the course of vacillating service, by

understanding the widespread occurrence of unsteady devotion in most

of neophytes.

 

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur writes in his Madhurya Kadambini

that in the stage of bhajana-kriya, there are two types of devotional

activities, steady devotional service, nisthita, and unsteady

devotional service, anisthita. The science of the 6 stages of

unsteady devotional service is fully described in this small book.

Briefly, the stages are as follows: 1. false confidence, 2. sporadic

endeavor, 3. indecision, 4. struggle with senses, 5. inability to

uphold vows, and 6. enjoying facilities offered by bhakti. I remember

when I first became aware of this book by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti

Thakur, it was when Dina-bandu Prabhu came to our California devotee

community, and gave class, and he described the contents of this book

that he helped to translate in Vrndavana, India. Dina-bandu Prabhu

explained that most all devotees go through these stages of unsteady

service, and he has experienced that it happens all over India, it

happens all over the world, as a common occurrence for all neophyte

devotees, and we should not become so discouraged because of the

realities of these stages.

 

So when a devotee experiences one or more of the 6 stages of unsteady

service, like "struggle with the senses" or "inability to uphold

vows," that does not mean that such a temporary struggle is a

permanent character flaw, chiseled in stone into the ledger of his

devotional profile. Temporary struggle does not mean he is marked for

life. Yet, he [or she] may tend to think this way, they may judge

themselves too harshly over temporary difficulties. Others may judge

them callously, as it is the tendency of neophyte devotees to think

oneself is better than others, just because of external endeavors,

like one's ability to do sadhana and service more than others. And,

because the devotee with such a difficulty tends to harbor shame and

guilt, he/she may inadvertently avoid the association of other

devotees, fearing their judgment, thus making matters worse. Often the

beginner devotee has the flaw of "false confidence" and thinks himself

better than the older devotee who is in the stage of "sporadic

endeavor." We will give more information on this phenomenon in a

latter post.

 

We should understand the reality of unsteady service as something that

most souls go through. There are only a few exceptions, who, because

of a prior superior devotional birth, or some reason, they are able to

skip the unsteady process and go straight to pure devotional service.

But, most of us are not the exceptions to the rule.

 

This is nicely described in this passage about Jayananda Prabhu, from

the essay- "A Modern Saint"

 

"In Vaisnava scriptures, such as Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura's

Madhurya-kadambini, we learn that a conditioned soul progresses

through stages of sadhana-bhakti (devotional practice) before

attaining spontaneous love for God. The new bhaktas (devotees) at the

San Francisco temple would often struggle with their material desires

and their daily spiritual practices, falling in and out of Krsna

consciousness. Surprisingly, no one remembers Jayananda in the role of

a "new bhakta." He took to Krsna consciousness naturally and

effortlessly. He relished all aspects of Krsna consciousness --

chanting on his beads, singing in kirtana, eating prasadam, performing

Deity worship, and so on. He would often remark, "Krsna consciousness

is so sweet." - (From "A Modern Saint" by Bhayahari Dasa)

 

Most neophyte devotees are not so fortunate like Jayananda, and go

through some of the stages of unsteady devotion. Often these

difficulties make devotees more determined to overcome the obstacles

in the path of devotion, and while appearing to be unsteady, they are

always thinking of Krsna and Prabhupada and how to overcome such

difficulties. And ultimate success is always possible, by the simple

function of thinking of Krishna and Srila Prabhupada at the time of

death, and getting spiritual success, no matter what struggles one had

previously on the path. And therefore, we must not be deterred or give

up because of seemingly inevitable unsteady devotional stages, but we

should maintain an attitude of perseverance even in the face of

deficiency and even hopelessness, because there is always hope, and we

should understand that the soul is never defeated, especially those

great souls who gave their lives and service to Srila Prabhupada and

Lord Caitanya's movement.

 

Sometimes the devotee will become overcome by unsteady devotional

service, and he may think, "I am a failure, I am defeated." This is

the not fact. Just because there are dark clouds, which shadow the

eternal bright sky of Krsna consciousness, and sometimes there are

gray and depressing, overcast days, and the brilliant sun of Krishna

is obscured temporarily. This does not mean the devotee is a failure

and he is defeated. He is only in a temporary setback. Temporary means

a short time, or a few years, or many years, or whatever the amount of

time, it is all temporary illusion. Despite the dark clouds, it is

certain that someday the bright sun of Krishna will burn away the fog

and dark clouds, and the sky of Krsna consciousness will burst forth

in brilliant all-pervading light, once more.

 

Actually, the soul is never defeated, the soul is sat-cit-ananda, full

of bliss, eternity and knowledge. But, unfortunately, that same soul

is being dragged around this world, encased within an illusory body,

which is driven by the unbridled mind. Evidently, it usually takes a

certain amount of time to fully train the mind to always be Krsna

conscious. The untrained mind will meanwhile continually make wrong

decisions due to the illusory energy, and the soul seems to suffer

with the reactions from karma, and sufferings that are due to the

identification with the material body. If he thinks he is the body,

and thinks he is defeated, and decides to commit material or spiritual

suicide, that is not his real soul doing this, that is only the

identity with the body. It's kind of like identity theft. Maya steals

our real identity of being a pure servant of Krishna, and then she

covers the soul with illusions, and makes us think we are these bodies

of flesh and bone, thus we suffer a false defeat and shame.

 

The principle of unsteady devotional service means that most devotees

will take a certain amount of time to undergo a "gradual process" in

order to truly advance in Krsna consciousness. Srila Prabhupada once

said that it took him 30 years to perfect his japa. I believe he said

this in humility, and in order to give us an example of how Krsna

consciousness is a gradual process, and not to become discouraged if

it takes time to become truly advanced. Srila Prabhupada also said

that even if his disciples appear to be fallen away from Krsna

consciousness, they are still his disciples, provided that they do not

fall into meat eating. Then, at that point, they are no longer a

disciple. This shows how merciful Srila Prabhupada is, and how he

understands that some disciples will experience unsteady devotional

service, but they are not in a hopeless condition.

 

Even some great Vaisnavas in our history experienced a period of

clouds of illusion on the path of devotion, in the early part of their

devotional career. Some of these stories will be told in a later

posting, along with more information on the 6 stages of unsteady

service. Hare Krishna, Ys Vishoka dasa

[Devarsirat]

This is one of the nicest letters I have read so far here on AF. It shows compassion and understanding by the writer. It makes clear that those various types of unsteady devotional service are an accepted part of the whole process and that no one should ever become dispondend about his present unsteady position. Very nicely written it will give hope and renewed enthusiasm to those devotees which suffer from feeling stuck and depressed. A very nice contribution to the forum.

 

 

Hare Krishna,

I wrote the following in memory of a late godbrother of mine, who took

a drastic remedial measure to solve his depression, and for all those

devotees who have unfortunately find themselves in some degree of

dejection in devotional service, some of who have written to us

personally. I invite devotees who think they are suffering from

depression to talk about it to others, on this group or in private

emails, so that devotees can try to help each other. In the medical

world, depression has been treated successfully in 90% of clinical

cases. Perhaps this is a topic that devotees should address and seek

serious solutions, of which professional help is the best remedy in

some cases. Thinking of these topics, I wrote the following essay:

The Spirit Soul is Never Defeated

 

Weathering the Dark Clouds that obscure the Brilliant Sky of Bhakti

 

Jiva souls are never defeated. The Jiva soul is full of eternality,

bliss and knowledge, and thus the soul never suffers any setback or

defeat. However, the spirit soul only appears to suffer reverses and

defeat, due to the marginal potency nature of the Jiva. The marginal

potency, or tatasta-sakti, is the constitutional position of the

spirit soul to have a tendency to go either way, to be attracted to

either the spiritual potency – or – (in our case) to be attracted to

the maya potency, due to the primordial mistake of wanting to enjoy

separately from Lord Krishna. At one point in time the unfortunate

spirit soul mistakenly decides to enjoy separate from Krishna, and

then he is thrown into this material world to enjoy an endless myriad

of temporary and illusory pleasures, which ultimately ends in

lamentable conditions, especially death, which appears to be a final

defeat of all hopes of the living entity.

 

Sometimes devotees will get frustrated in their devotional career, and

they may think that they are defeated, and a failure. This may happen

because they are unable to practice some of the regulations of which

they were committed to in the beginning of their devotional life.

Sometimes such devotees will succumb to feelings of despair and

hopelessness, and think they are finally defeated, and will give up

the fight. However, such devotees can avoid a defeatist attitude by

the proper understanding of steady and unsteady devotional service, as

explained in sastra. There is always a path to hope and recovery

despite the severity of any kind of setback in devotional practices.

 

I decided to write on the topics of steady and unsteady devotional

service, or anisthita, because a friend of mine took his shortcomings

too seriously, and he was too hard on himself, and he ended in taking

his own life. I took it that he was despondent because of his apparent

failure in devotional practices, or following regulations. There may

have been several cases like this, where devotees lost all hope and

took the extreme measure of ending their lives. Many other devotees

become disheartened by apparent weaknesses, and instead of a material

body suicide, they may commit spiritual suicide by giving up Krsna

consciousness, because they do not understand the fact that unsteady

devotional service can afflict many, if not most devotees. Some

devotees are more afflicted by these anomalies than others, and it

does not mean that the whole process is hopeless for the many, and

only feasible for the few.

 

Older devotees are often hard on themselves when they fall short of a

monk's values and standards. They began as brahmacaris, or

brahmacarinis, like disciplined monks, and later get married, and it

seems that it's often difficult to maintain the monk standard. Most of

us old-timers began Krsna consciousness in temples, in the 70's, and

we followed rigid scheduled activities, which we fully enjoyed and

were able to execute. It may be that some of us are unable to follow

in the same way, one reason being old age, and another being depressed

over the unharmonious atmosphere in temples due to infighting over

Srila Prabhupada's teachings, like on the guru issue, and other

issues. Some devotees became alienated because of this and are lacking

in association because of isolation, and suffering various degrees of

depression and guilt. These descriptions of unsteady devotional

service is to encourage devotees to not give up because of periodic

weakness, to not give up in the course of vacillating service, by

understanding the widespread occurrence of unsteady devotion in most

of neophytes.

 

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur writes in his Madhurya Kadambini

that in the stage of bhajana-kriya, there are two types of devotional

activities, steady devotional service, nisthita, and unsteady

devotional service, anisthita. The science of the 6 stages of

unsteady devotional service is fully described in this small book.

Briefly, the stages are as follows: 1. false confidence, 2. sporadic

endeavor, 3. indecision, 4. struggle with senses, 5. inability to

uphold vows, and 6. enjoying facilities offered by bhakti. I remember

when I first became aware of this book by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti

Thakur, it was when Dina-bandu Prabhu came to our California devotee

community, and gave class, and he described the contents of this book

that he helped to translate in Vrndavana, India. Dina-bandu Prabhu

explained that most all devotees go through these stages of unsteady

service, and he has experienced that it happens all over India, it

happens all over the world, as a common occurrence for all neophyte

devotees, and we should not become so discouraged because of the

realities of these stages.

 

So when a devotee experiences one or more of the 6 stages of unsteady

service, like "struggle with the senses" or "inability to uphold

vows," that does not mean that such a temporary struggle is a

permanent character flaw, chiseled in stone into the ledger of his

devotional profile. Temporary struggle does not mean he is marked for

life. Yet, he [or she] may tend to think this way, they may judge

themselves too harshly over temporary difficulties. Others may judge

them callously, as it is the tendency of neophyte devotees to think

oneself is better than others, just because of external endeavors,

like one's ability to do sadhana and service more than others. And,

because the devotee with such a difficulty tends to harbor shame and

guilt, he/she may inadvertently avoid the association of other

devotees, fearing their judgment, thus making matters worse. Often the

beginner devotee has the flaw of "false confidence" and thinks himself

better than the older devotee who is in the stage of "sporadic

endeavor." We will give more information on this phenomenon in a

latter post.

 

We should understand the reality of unsteady service as something that

most souls go through. There are only a few exceptions, who, because

of a prior superior devotional birth, or some reason, they are able to

skip the unsteady process and go straight to pure devotional service.

But, most of us are not the exceptions to the rule.

 

This is nicely described in this passage about Jayananda Prabhu, from

the essay- "A Modern Saint"

 

"In Vaisnava scriptures, such as Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura's

Madhurya-kadambini, we learn that a conditioned soul progresses

through stages of sadhana-bhakti (devotional practice) before

attaining spontaneous love for God. The new bhaktas (devotees) at the

San Francisco temple would often struggle with their material desires

and their daily spiritual practices, falling in and out of Krsna

consciousness. Surprisingly, no one remembers Jayananda in the role of

a "new bhakta." He took to Krsna consciousness naturally and

effortlessly. He relished all aspects of Krsna consciousness --

chanting on his beads, singing in kirtana, eating prasadam, performing

Deity worship, and so on. He would often remark, "Krsna consciousness

is so sweet." - (From "A Modern Saint" by Bhayahari Dasa)

 

Most neophyte devotees are not so fortunate like Jayananda, and go

through some of the stages of unsteady devotion. Often these

difficulties make devotees more determined to overcome the obstacles

in the path of devotion, and while appearing to be unsteady, they are

always thinking of Krsna and Prabhupada and how to overcome such

difficulties. And ultimate success is always possible, by the simple

function of thinking of Krishna and Srila Prabhupada at the time of

death, and getting spiritual success, no matter what struggles one had

previously on the path. And therefore, we must not be deterred or give

up because of seemingly inevitable unsteady devotional stages, but we

should maintain an attitude of perseverance even in the face of

deficiency and even hopelessness, because there is always hope, and we

should understand that the soul is never defeated, especially those

great souls who gave their lives and service to Srila Prabhupada and

Lord Caitanya's movement.

 

Sometimes the devotee will become overcome by unsteady devotional

service, and he may think, "I am a failure, I am defeated." This is

the not fact. Just because there are dark clouds, which shadow the

eternal bright sky of Krsna consciousness, and sometimes there are

gray and depressing, overcast days, and the brilliant sun of Krishna

is obscured temporarily. This does not mean the devotee is a failure

and he is defeated. He is only in a temporary setback. Temporary means

a short time, or a few years, or many years, or whatever the amount of

time, it is all temporary illusion. Despite the dark clouds, it is

certain that someday the bright sun of Krishna will burn away the fog

and dark clouds, and the sky of Krsna consciousness will burst forth

in brilliant all-pervading light, once more.

 

Actually, the soul is never defeated, the soul is sat-cit-ananda, full

of bliss, eternity and knowledge. But, unfortunately, that same soul

is being dragged around this world, encased within an illusory body,

which is driven by the unbridled mind. Evidently, it usually takes a

certain amount of time to fully train the mind to always be Krsna

conscious. The untrained mind will meanwhile continually make wrong

decisions due to the illusory energy, and the soul seems to suffer

with the reactions from karma, and sufferings that are due to the

identification with the material body. If he thinks he is the body,

and thinks he is defeated, and decides to commit material or spiritual

suicide, that is not his real soul doing this, that is only the

identity with the body. It's kind of like identity theft. Maya steals

our real identity of being a pure servant of Krishna, and then she

covers the soul with illusions, and makes us think we are these bodies

of flesh and bone, thus we suffer a false defeat and shame.

 

The principle of unsteady devotional service means that most devotees

will take a certain amount of time to undergo a "gradual process" in

order to truly advance in Krsna consciousness. Srila Prabhupada once

said that it took him 30 years to perfect his japa. I believe he said

this in humility, and in order to give us an example of how Krsna

consciousness is a gradual process, and not to become discouraged if

it takes time to become truly advanced. Srila Prabhupada also said

that even if his disciples appear to be fallen away from Krsna

consciousness, they are still his disciples, provided that they do not

fall into meat eating. Then, at that point, they are no longer a

disciple. This shows how merciful Srila Prabhupada is, and how he

understands that some disciples will experience unsteady devotional

service, but they are not in a hopeless condition.

 

Even some great Vaisnavas in our history experienced a period of

clouds of illusion on the path of devotion, in the early part of their

devotional career. Some of these stories will be told in a later

posting, along with more information on the 6 stages of unsteady

service. Hare Krishna, Ys Vishoka dasa