One thing that helps me when I'm feeling gloomy, down and depressed for whatever reason (can be a "programmed reaction" to some stimulus, but it can also be for no discernible reason at all), is just to remind myself that "this, too, shall pass". It's pretty straight-forward, and yet surprisingly difficult. I mean, we all KNOW from multiple experiences that we can be totally depressed, and suddenly feel very happy and content, within weeks, days or even hours. And yet we always forget that, and allow things to throw us into misery even though we KNOW that in hindsight we will just shake our heads about our silliness. Not that there are not real reasons for being depressed, but as Joe said, more often than not, it's just an internal state we choose to indulge in.
Your post reminded me of an old wisdom story, which I believe was originally of Sufi origin, but perhaps older. It can help to bring things in perspective:
A king was getting old and of course, worried and concerned about death. One day, he could not sleep the whole night long; he was continuously thinking of death. He has killed thousands of people himself; he has been a great conqueror – what has happened to him? Why has he become so cowardly? The death of the other does not matter to you, but your own death matters.
In the morning, he called his wise men and asked them: ”If I fall into a situation where you are not available to advise me and I don’t see any way out, I would like you to make a small suggestion that I can put under the big diamond in my ring.” The ring was made with an opening device, so he could look underneath the diamond and read the message.
They were at a loss. This was something very difficult – just one sentence, for millions of situations. How can there be one answer for all the questions? Only a man like me can say, ”Yes, not only that – there is only one answer for all questions; there cannot be even two.”
They were worried and puzzled, but one old man suggested something and that appealed to them, so they brought it to the king. He was not to see it – the condition was that he was not to see it. He was not to open it just out of curiosity. He was to open it in a real danger, when there is no other possibility for him, when he cannot figure it out, when he’s simply stuck and knows nothing about what to do. Only in such emergencies, when life is at stake should he open the ring and read the message.
And by chance, the time to read it came very soon, just after fifteen days. The neighboring country invaded. They had been invaded by this king many times, defeated many times. They were boiling with anger and violence and humiliation and insult. For ten years, they had been training their people and this time they were determined: ”Either we take over the kingdom of the enemy or we are not going to come back home alive.”
And when somebody, even if he is beaten, has such an idea in the mind, he’s no longer weak. He is far stronger than your strongest people.
They fought as the king had never seen anybody fight… because the king and his soldiers were just fighting to defend, but the enemy was fighting to gain self-respect. They had lost their integrity, and even at the cost of life it had to be regained – even if the whole country dies!
The king lost the war. Somehow he escaped to the mountains on his horse, but the enemies were following. He was alone and he could hear many troops of horses following him and the noise was coming closer and closer. He was running as fast as the poor horse could run, because he was wounded, almost at the point of death. But the greatest difficulty came when they reached the end of the road – that road was not going anywhere! It only came to this spot where tourists used to come. It was a very scenic situation, but it was death to the king – he could not go anywhere.
Underneath, there was a rocky valley thousands of feet deep. If he jumped into it, he would be finished. And he could not return because it was a small road….
Then he suddenly saw the diamond shining in the sun, and remembered, opened the diamond, read the message. The message was very small but very great. The message was: ”This too will pass away.”
Just let the idea sink in your heart: This too will pass away. So there is no need to be worried. In life, there is nothing permanent.
Everything is changing. You could not have thought, fifteen days before, that you would be in this situation. You cannot think what your situation will be after fifteen days. Don’t be worried: This too will pass. Everything passes by.
It had a great effect on the man. He relaxed, he forget all about those people following him. He said, ”I have never come to this spot. It is perhaps one of the most beautiful spots around the capital and I might have missed it if I had not been defeated by the enemy. This beauty is worth losing the whole kingdom for.” He enjoyed the beauty… and after a few minutes he became aware that the noise of the horses and the enemy coming was receding: ”Perhaps they have moved into some other part of the mountains, but certainly they are not on this footpath.”
He gathered his armies, he fought again. He won his kingdom back, and when he was received at the elephant gate of the capital, the whole capital was just festivity. Everybody was rejoicing the victory. Flowers were being thrown on the king from every house, from every place. People were dancing, singing, playing on their instruments. And for a moment the king said, just inside himself, ”It is not so easy to defeat me.” And he saw a subtle ego arising with all this reception and celebration.
Again, the big diamond was shining in the light and he remembered it. He opened it. He read it again: ”This too will pass.” He became silent. His face went through a total change – from the egoist he moved to a state of utter humbleness.
If this too is going to pass, it is not yours.
The defeat was not yours, the victory is not yours.
The death was not yours, the life is not yours.
You are just a watcher. Everything passes by.
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www.sott.net
