I have been feeling quite down due to a lot of factors, and I think resorting to philosophy and reading excerpts from religious books has helped me quite a bit..
In almost all books of the Eastern philosophy trend, I have noticed a leaning towards a fatalistic attitude. For example, the essence of the Bhagvad Gita has been summarized as below:
"Whatever happened was for good
Whatever is happening is also for the good
Whatever will happen will also be for good
What did you lose of your own that you are crying for?
What did you bring with you that you have lost?
What did you create that has been destroyed?
Whatever you possess, you have got it from here
Whatever you have, you have it here
Whatever belongs to you today, it belonged to someone else yesterday
And tomorrow it will belong to someone else.
CHANGE IS THE RULE OF NATURE"
I have not pursued Western religious texts and modes of philosophical thinking in detail. Is their attitude also similar? I would like to learn more about the attitude of different cultures to life.
Please note that I have no formal background in philosophy, and I am just a layman trying to learn more.
Have a nice day ahead 
Hi ganesh.
Western religious philosophy does preach that sort of fatalism and lack of acquisitiveness, but there is a countervailing tendency toward acquisition. Jesus said that famous quote that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
One need only look at the Vatican to see how seriously the Roman Catholic church takes that message. I believe that they have parsed the sentence so that it now means something like "It's OK to be rich and glory in it, as long as some of it is donated to the Church".
There are a lot of prayers in Christianity that ask for peace of mind and the ability to accept what cannot be changed, etc. but the reality is that most Christians pursue money with single-minded determination and are happy to die rich. If Heaven can't be bought it can't be much good.
| ganesh wrote: |
| Please note that I have no formal background in philosophy, and I am just a layman trying to learn more. |
Well, for the record, what you're looking into isn't philosophy. It's religion. In the past people made no distinction between the two, but nowadays (starting from, oh, the 1700's or so) we've started separating them.
If you're looking for a pick-me-up... don't bother with philosophy. Trying to find happiness by studying philosophy is like trying to cure the flu by reading Grey's Anatomy.
Religion, though, that might help. Just... be careful. Keep an open mind, but not so open that the wind whistles through it.Sorry Indi, I have to disagree with you on this one. I don't think turning to religion is a good thing at this point. As I see it, all it would be doing is to provide a crutch. Also when a person is really down, they are much more vunerable.
Problems need to be dealt with, or at least admited to. Sometimes counselling can help. I have done counselling myself in the past, and I've found that most people feel much better just by talking through their problems. I've often been able to put a different perspective on things.
You may find meditation helpful. T'ai Chi is also very good for calming the mind
If you are really down and feeling depressed, you may benefit from seeing your doctor.
Well, meditation is also highly based on certain religious doctrines. If you really want to go for the down-to-earth approach, just see your doctor and maybe get some counseling.
personally i feel that there are several things that may help and its choosing whats best for you that matters. Some would benefit from councilling and others may benefit more from religion and meditation, whilst others would find that dealing with their problems directly may be of more use.
My Advice: Really think about what would help you best, maybe try them out and hopefully you should feel better.
[quote="Arnie"]Well, meditation is also highly based on certain religious doctrines.
Although some religions do advocate meditation it is not religion based. You can meditate witthout invoving religion.
last time I forgot to add to deal with your problems one at a time. Don't move on to the second one until the first one is resolved. If you try and deal with them all at once, you'll finish up a wreck!!
In the words of Terry Goodkind "Think of the solution, not the problem".
Religion and Philosophy are welcome things.
I found a myriad of emotions in both.
| woundedhealer wrote: |
| Problems need to be dealt with, or at least admited to. Sometimes counselling can help. I have done counselling myself in the past, and I've found that most people feel much better just by talking through their problems. I've often been able to put a different perspective on things. |
Yes, problems have to be dealt with, but I find that talking to God makes me feel better. I have found that there are things I can tell Him that I can't tell anyone else. I also feel that He gives me ways to fix my problems. I've learned to look at my faults and try to change them. I'm not perfect, not by a long shot, but I can change what I don't like about myself. And yes, I look to God to help me do that. | woundedhealer wrote: |
| Sorry Indi, I have to disagree with you on this one. I don't think turning to religion is a good thing at this point. As I see it, all it would be doing is to provide a crutch. Also when a person is really down, they are much more vunerable. |
Er, you've managed to misread both my post and the original post.
1.) i wound never, under any circumstances, suggest religion as a cure for anything... except intellect or rationality. What i said was that philosophy is not a pick-me-up. Religion might be - many people swear by it, and it's apparently already working for the original poster. But... you have to be careful with it.
2.) Your recommendations to the original poster are... a little late. There's not really much point in advising them not to turn to religion. They already have. For example, the comment "...and reading excerpts from religious books has helped me quite a bit...", and the mention of the Bhagvad Gita (aka, "song of god").
3.) Depending on the type of depression, counselling can be as much of a crutch as religion or anything else. People can, and do, get addicted to counselling. If the depression is clinical, counselling will at least (hopefully) identify that, and (hopefully) guide you to the right steps to rectify it. But if the depression is simply an existential crisis, counselling won't help a squat.
4.) Tai chi? Maybe to aid with agitation or stress... but depression?Guys, Thanks for your feedback upon my thoughts. It was also interesting to note the discussion that ensued.
I think, after observing the responses, that 'depression' is a very loose word interpreted differently by different people. At one extreme is the suicidal depression case in which it is essential that a counsellor be seen right away. Otherwise, at different junctures in the depression phase, resort must be taken to different things (say, initially friends and family members, followed by philosophy, and later, if it gets really worse, religion -- if one believes in god, that is!) to get out of the rut and begin to lead life normally again.
Anyways, I am feeling much better now.. and thanks for your responses too.. Have a nice day ahead | ganesh wrote: |
I have been feeling quite down due to a lot of factors, and I think resorting to philosophy and reading excerpts from religious books has helped me quite a bit..
In almost all books of the Eastern philosophy trend, I have noticed a leaning towards a fatalistic attitude. For example, the essence of the Bhagvad Gita has been summarized as below:
"Whatever happened was for good
Whatever is happening is also for the good
Whatever will happen will also be for good
What did you lose of your own that you are crying for?
What did you bring with you that you have lost?
What did you create that has been destroyed?
Whatever you possess, you have got it from here
Whatever you have, you have it here
Whatever belongs to you today, it belonged to someone else yesterday
And tomorrow it will belong to someone else.
CHANGE IS THE RULE OF NATURE"
I have not pursued Western religious texts and modes of philosophical thinking in detail. Is their attitude also similar? I would like to learn more about the attitude of different cultures to life.
Please note that I have no formal background in philosophy, and I am just a layman trying to learn more.
Have a nice day ahead |
Lemme rewrite this quote:
"Whatever happened was for evil
Whatever is happening is also for the evil
Whatever will happen will also be for evil
What did you lose of your own that you are crying for? Sanity
What did you bring with you that you have lost? Sanity
What did you create that has been destroyed? Everything
Whatever you possess, you have got it from evolution
Whatever you have, you have it here
Whatever belongs to you today, it might have belonged to someone else yesterday
And tomorrow it may belong to someone else.
