Always, always remember that — at any time, for any problem; “l’m not the body, not the mind Immortal Self I am! I am Existence-Knowledge-Bliss, Bliss Absolute!” Simply blow depression away. If you feel discouraged or depressed, shout at the top of your voice: “I am blissful! I am joyful! I am easeful!” Affirm your true nature. You are nothing less than that.
Don’t constantly hypnotize yourself day after day. Do you think you will enjoy saying, “Oh, I am a sinner. I am no good at that life. I am a terrible yogi,” and so on. You are not those things, but if you keep thinking that way you will appear to become that. As you think so you become. Think that you are great, and you are great. Think that you are hopeless, and certainly you will be hopeless. It is the thinking that makes you so. Always have positive thinking. Don’t give room for negative thinking. Even if such thinking comes into the mind, don’t give it room to develop. Don’t contemplate it. See the bright side of it.
As I recently said, people who rush for gold go through tons of crude rocks. lf they concentrate on the crudeness of that they will just throw everything out and forget their search. Fortunately, their eye is focused on the few ounces of gold hidden behind that crude dust. Never lose sight of that gold in you. You might have accumulated a lot of dirt and dust; it doesn’t matter. Take time to clean it out. Put the emphasis on the goal, the gold you are looking for. When you plant something thousands of weeds grow around it, but you constantly take time to pull them out so that the plant will grow well. The seeds of peace have been sown in you long ago. You have them always. Know that. Know that you are that pure, supreme, blissful Self. The Bible calls you the image of God. The Hindu scriptures call you Atman. Buddhism calls you the Buddha. Constantly dwell on this. Don’t give room for all these superficial, temporary, momentary depressions. Things will come and go. Nothing is permanent in this world, but you—the Self behind the body and mind—are permanent. That True Self is immortal. Put the emphasis on that real you.
When you play soccer, you kick the ball around; the ball is tossed. It goes through all the changes, but you are playing. You enjoy the movements of the ball; those movements make the game possible. Likewise, think of your mind as your soccer ball. Let it go up and down, let it jump; but you enjoy that jumping. Just as you normally enjoy saying, “Hey, l’m happy!” you should learn to enjoy saying, “Hey, l’m unhappy today!”
Changes are to be admired, appreciated, and enjoyed. Life without depression would be boring. Yes, it is true. Imagine if everything goes on smoothly, smoothly, smoothly, day after day. Do you think you will enjoy that life? No, not at all because there is no contrast, no change. To enjoy beautiful writing on a board, the board should be a dark color because the chalk is white. You can only enjoy the white writing because there is something dark behind it. Don’t forget that. Life without these contrasting factors would be very dull. Nature always has these two sides. lf you want to be able to enjoy both the pleasure and pain you should not get caught in either of them. Be the witness.
When do you enjoy a play? When you sit in the audience you enjoy the hero, the heroine, the villain. ls it not so? A play without a villain or a problem is no play at all. lt is boring; the audience will walk out. Life is like that. Don’t ever look for only one side of the coin. There are always two sides, but you are the user of the coin. You are neither the tail nor the head; you simply use it. You can use your pain and use your pleasure but stay mentally aloof. No matter what happens you are just a witness. You see it happening; you know it is happening. You are the knower. “l know l was happy.” “l know l am unhappy and l know l will be happy again.” “Today l know l am sick, but l know l will be all right tomorrow.” The common phrase is “l know.”
We really do know. We are the knowers; we are the seers. Affirm that truth always. Apply this when you are in a depressed state. Don’t just sit and dwell on your depression. Jump up, shake it off and say, “Hey! l am a lion, not a mouse! These troubles are all just temporary. l have come across things like this before. lt will go away.” You can heal yourself of all mental difficulties this way. Your mind is a fantastic machine. There is a beautiful part of the mind — the powerful part of the mind which can always get you out of any problems. Use that part — the brilliant part, the bright part. Don’t succumb to the other side of the mind. When you are always using that bright part of the mind, you experience Sahaja Yoga or Sahaja Samadhi. Sahaja means natural. Naturally you are in samadhi. Naturally you are tranquil, you are balanced. Even in the midst of a lot of activity you are balanced. You can do that even now. Try it!
(from the IYTA Newsletter, August, 2012)