Depression is a common problem of modern times. Both the rich and poor suffer
from it. According to the World Health Organisation, by the year 2020, depression
will become the second leading cause of disease in the world. Many solutions have
been prescribed for the problem of depression but most have proved to be
ineffective as a complete cure. They may offer temporary relief but fail to resolve the
problem permanently.
Meditation is often advised to treat this problem of depression. But meditation
focuses on the heart and modern science has established that the heart is merely an
organ that pumps blood, whereas many kinds of depression stem from the mind. It is
the mind that controls the heart and not vice-versa. In many cases, depression is
non-physical and the heart is physical. How can a physical organ resolve a non-
physical problem?
We also often hear about physical techniques to counter depression. But the reach
of physical techniques is confined to the body and does not extend to the mind.
Many kinds of depression are the result of non-acceptance of reality. The real
solution to this problem is the acceptance of reality. While non-acceptance creates
the problem, acceptance of reality will solve it.
Our world is one of freedom, competition, challenge and clash of interests. This
nature of human life is bound to create problems. No one is exempt from this
process. This being so, to de-stress, learn the art of stress management rather than
trying to eliminate the stress.
If you attribute the cause of the problem to the divine law of nature, it will arouse no
negativity, but when you attribute it to a person, it brings on negative thinking. This is
because the law of nature is not your rival, whereas you see a person as your
competitor. When you attribute the cause of your problem to a rival, it will invariably
arouse negative thoughts and cause anger. But when you attribute the cause to the law of nature, because it is not your rival and is equal in its treatment of all, it will
lead to introspection.
(a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage make notes on it
using headings and sub-headings. Use recognisable abbreviations
wherever necessary.
Answers
Depression:
It is a common problem in modern times. It affects both rich and poor. The WHO predicted that it would be the second leading disease in 2020.
Meditation:
Many solutions for depression have mostly turned out to be ineffective as a complete cure. One of the solutions is meditation. But the main focus of meditation is the heart while depression according to study stems from the mind.
Heart vs Mind:
The heart has only one job which is to pump blood. Mind is the one that controls the heart. Heart is a physical organ. But depression is a non physical problem which stems from the mind. Therefore heart has nothing to do with depression and hence cannot be completely cured with the help of meditation which focuses mainly on heart.
Solution for depression:
Depression is mainly caused when one cannot accept the reality. Therefore the only solution for this problem can be accepting the reality. It cannot be cured with physical techniques.
Reality:
Everyone in this world faces competition, challenges and clash of interests. No one has got exemption from any of these things. If we could learn the art of stress management , depression can be solved.
Law of nature:
It is not the law of nature that is causing the problem. It is us who see a person as our rival and thing of negative thoughts and get angry. If we could attribute the cause to the law of nature then it will be an equal treatment of all.