Understanding Depression

"My chief negative emotion is depression. What causes it?"

"Follow carefully. Your understanding rids you of the problem. Depression occurs when you catch a sudden insight into the emptiness of your life. A man thinks he is happy with all his business and social activities. But he catches a glimpse that it is all an act, which depresses him. It is like dreaming about a palace and waking up in a mud hut.

"And the cure?'"

"Be willing to see through your pretensions of having a Purposeful life. This is an awakening shock. But when we abandon a pseudo-purpose when we have nothing left of the false self, a true purpose enters the life. Then depression is absolutely impossible."
"I don't know what you mean by pseudo-purpose. There Is nothing wrong about building a business a career or having. A happy home.»"No) of course not. Go ahead and be a successful business man or homemaker or whatever else you want on the worldly leve. Be as outwardly prosperous as you like. But don't think it can add anything to your interior life. You must not use worldly success as a means of psychological identity) such as picturing yourself as an important person. This creates anxiety. Remember you live in two worlds the material world of business and homes and the spiritual world. Keep each in its place. If you try to use exterior success to find your True Self you will fail and fall into depression. You cant paint the outside of your house and expect the living room to look any different.)'

"Is this why successful people like movie stars often live so unhappily?'"

They get depressed because they catch a glimpse of their inner poverty. This frightens them, for they fear there is nothing besides this showy sham. There is something else. We find it by daring to abandon the false. Then, we have no problems whatsoever with our exterior affairs. This is what the New Testament means by seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven. But no one really pays attention, do they? That is why everyone suffers from depression. Work with these ideas so that you don't suffer."

Let's pause to inquire into the reason for our investigation of negative emotions. 'Why spend so much time discussing unhappiness? The reason is: it finally awakens us to the very life we seek. We cannot become happy by altering our exterior affairs any more than we can improve our handwriting by getting a new pen. The understanding of unhappiness brings happiness. To see what is false is also to see what is true." We are exactly where we have chosen to be. But we belong where our original nature longs to be
Vernon Howard