Muzings by Muz

Q. I seem to be going through a dark night of the soul, forgotten by God. I find no solace in relationships. My last one is down the drain. And if I look at the way things are all over the planet it seems the world is going down the same way.  Have you any advice to stave off depression?

A.  There comes a time to each of us when we feel that we have been forgotten by God. But if we think about it, the situation is actually the reverse. It is at those times that we have forgotten God. If you are feeling weary and wiped out, listless and unable to cope, that is a sure sign that you have forgotten the Divine within. Debilitating prostration is the thief of time. And our lifetimes are very short. Don’t waste yours depressively.

 Depression is life expensive—not expansive. You cannot afford to wallow in depressive thoughts. If you are not ill, crippled or diseased, then what IS—at present—is fine. The external world is only mirroring your thoughts—not what actually IS. As you think downer thoughts, all your life energies will run in those channels, like water seeking its lowest level. And what is happening on the planet is only reflecting a similar way of thinking by the majority of people. Consensus misery is a mental choice. Especially when we buy into what the controlling media wants us to believe.

    What you experience may feel like a Dark Night of the Soul. But in this state your soul is simply resting as a fallow field, before the new sowing season starts. It is a necessary period of repose. Don’t sow negativity while the ground is preparing to become fertile once again. The doldrums will pass. And spring will come—so long as you don’t fixate on the past. Avoid hanging on to what has gone and ruminating over it.

    If you have lost someone dear, remember there can only ever be but passing pleasure in people and in outer things. Enjoy them when they are around, but don’t hang on to them. They too will pass away: and so will you.  Hold on to the only thing that always is. Seek the Source. Permanent joy is only found within. In the Self, that is—not in the sense-of-ego. It is only the ego-sense that whines about the condition it has created for itself. 

   If we buy into its whisperings, we are lost. Stop squandering this time of your life on a ‘poor-me’ attitude of wistfulness, sadness and despair. We cannot afford to allow one second of regret or depression to emerge in consciousness. Transform it instantly, before it gets a hold. If you hug a misery to your heart, it builds in strength and then takes far too long to winkle-out. As the sage Patanjali says, “Whatever troubles you, ponder on the opposite.” Create a new groove in Consciousness.

    In REALITY all is well. Don’t get caught in the unreal film-show of the world. In our deep selves we are one with silent joy. Visualise a sun shining in the centre of your being. Practice breathing in the Inner Sun!* Stay in it all day long. Chant Om Namah Shivaya as you work and walk. Become rock-like in your resolve to refuse all mental wallowing. Scotch it as soon as you feel it rising. Such thoughts are only passing emotional weather in the Clear Blue Sky of Consciousness. Identify with your permanent state—the Sky (your true state of Being) not the weather (your thoughts and emotions). You are not your thoughts: so don’t identify with them.

    Get up with God in your Inner Sun. Go to forests. Hug trees. Listen to the birds singing in praise of Creation. Absorb the strength and silence of the woods and know the same still joy lies deep in you. That is the Omnipresence. Be aware that the Omnipresence is working through you all day long. Don’t do anything yourself. Let everything be done through you. If you constantly remain aware of that, the joy will come again. Only then your life will change.

    ‘The Truth’ may or may not be ‘out there.’ But remember — Love is not out there. Realise that the only way you can have real everlasting love, is by BEING love. Sink into the Self—feel it— then rise and radiate it to the world.

   Start loving now. And don’t believe everything you think.

   Smile.   J

Q: Let me tell you my story. I had a really bad dyslexia problem which was so bad that I couldn’t even write my name. My mind was so garbled. I had a friend who was the absent- minded professor type. He started going to a Siddha Yoga group. Anyway, I could see the change in him. His word usage, memory and intellect just seem to get better. So I too started to chant. I chanted Govinda Jia Jia Go Pala Jia Jia. This chant burned the part of my brain that I had all of the problems in. I saw the blue light. Now my mind is super clear—-my memory, recall and retention is great. But the other part of the brain, like where you function in the present, like walking down a street, is still in the clouds. Its like the thinking part of the brain is clear but the real time part of the brain is still in the clouds. Can you help me?

    Is there a chant that I can do to open that part of the brain? Thanks.

A: Well, your condition is not too bad. I always tell people I have my feet firmly planted on the ground and my head firmly planted in the clouds!

    So, it seems that your left brain is fully operative, while the right brain hemisphere is dulled. To a degree this is normal, as the right hemisphere operates fully in the dream state at night and is only partially functioning in the daytime.

    However, having said that I suggest utilising the Mantric Alphabet to revitalise all areas of the brain and body. That is, intoning the Sanskrit phonemes of the Alphabet in a nasalised fashion.

   (If you are not familiar with this practice, you can find it on my Sound of Silence CD).

   When my Guru, Dr. Ramamurti Mishra (who was also a brain surgeon) was involved in a car crash, suffering a blood-clot in the brain, he lost the power of speech as well as becoming paralysed down one side of the body. Knowing best what to do, he mentally chanted the Mantric Alphabet constantly, so that the neural connections were able to re-establish themselves between both hemispheres of the brain. And finally he was able to walk and speak again (to a degree) which shows the power of these sound-units.

  I would also recommend chanting Gayatri Mantra (which is on the same CD) for clarity, and to supplement this with a course of natural vitamins, including selenium and magnesium.