Garden Variety Depression and Anxiety can be helped by Mindfulness-Awareness Practice
The Buddha, in the second of his famous Four Noble Truths taught that suffering arises from craving and clinging to temporary things. When we don’t get what we want, we experience aversion or hatred towards what happens instead. It is out of ignorance that we get caught up in these two—desire and aversion—so ignorance can be said to be the root of all suffering as well. These three are called the “three poisons.” According to Buddhist thought, all painful emotions are the result of these. For those who believe in rebirth, as I do, the three poisons are also what lead to karma and rebirth as ordinary living beings in the wheel of suffering (samsara.)
We usually take our thoughts very seriously and are unaware of how the movement of energy in our nervous systems, coupled with inputs to our five senses, generate thought fragments based on our deeply embedded habits of reacting with desire, aversion and ignorance. Then, thoughts and concepts arise, and these concepts eventually turn into painful emotions. We blame other people or ourselves for our problems because the workings of our minds are invisible to us. We lack perspective, so we point the finger.
Basic mindfulness-awareness meditation works because it eventually allows us to see our thoughts and thought fragments bubble up again and again. Being wise to what is going on we gradually decrease our fascination with them, we bring our attention back to our outgoing breath instead. This style of meditation temporarily pacifies our endless wanting mind. Over time, painful emotions gradually weaken their grasp on us.
In my personal experience, mild to moderate depression can be reduced in frequency, severity and duration by mindfulness awareness practice and contemplative practices, and the tendency can potentially be eliminated through other practices tailored to the individual. I am inclined to believe that severe depression (Major Depressive Disorder) and manic depression (Bipolar Disorder) are physical illnesses that will not likely resolve through meditation. They will require some kind of medical approach.
As is well known in the modern field of cognitive-behavioral psychology, many people with chronic or relapsing depression and anxiety benefit from therapy that challenges a person’s entrenched beliefs about the world. For example, tackling directly concepts like, “I’m a useless bother to everyone in my life,” or “the world is a hostile place,” can reduce depression. Thoughts like “Something bad is always likely to happen.” etc, can be reduced, and anxiety can diminish. Anxiety is usually centered on thoughts about the future and depression on thoughts from the past, but this is not always the case.
Getting to the Root
If you see one drowning person after another being carried downstream in a river, you should definitely save as many as you can. But, wouldn’t it be more effective to go upstream and stop people from falling into the water in the first place? That’s what Buddha would say.
Mindfulness-Awareness practice, or meditation combined with therapy, can help one gain insight into the fundamental essencelessness of our thoughts and concepts. Gazing at the instantaneous formation of our treasured beliefs about the world without judgment reduces how seriously we take them. The gaps between thoughts lets some sunshine in.
