The inspiration for this article came into my inner space with this thought – how important it is for anyone to be his or her own energy source! To me, it is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity for basic survival in this increasing complex world where we are constantly inundated with choices, distractions and unconscious temptations. Unfortunately, we were neither trained by the school system nor society to find our own energy source. Quite often, it is only when we finally hit the wall of reality and suffer from depression then we start seeking the right answers to the real problem. Our future generation can avoid this unnecessary suffering if they are given the right understanding at a young age.
According to a new research by World Mental Health (WHM) published in Biomed after interviewing over 89,000 people in 18 countries across the world in July 2011, it is found that depression affects over 121 million people worldwide. At its most severe, depression can lead to suicide and is responsible for at least 850,000 deaths every year. Depression is a significant public health concern across all regions of the world and is strongly linked to social conditions.
From a spiritual perspective, depression is nothing but a collection of negative thoughts which we speak to ourselves. When we suppress a thought or emotion, the memories of these suppressions go directly to the 3rd energy center (Manipruraka chakra). When this energy center is poisoned with negativity, our actions will have an unconscious violence like plucking at something, destroying things, misbehaving with our body, fighting with our self and others. The clinical name for this negative attitude is depression.
Here is a simple test to gauge if you are dependent on others for your own happiness. Answer these 3 questions.
Do you constantly seek others’ approval? Do you build your self-image based on others’ opinion?
Do you feel depressed when you don’t get enough attention from the people you expect to get it from?
If you have a “Yes” in any of the above questions, be very clear you are building your entire self-image like a fragile castle from a stack of cards. These cards are like the certificates of approval you collect from your family, boyfriend/girlfriend or spouse, teachers, friends, boss, colleagues and anybody you meet. All these cards are nothing but attention given to you in some form or the other. Based on these certificates of approval, you then feel happy and settled inside. If one person responds to you differently or gives a different opinion, the whole castle comes crashing down and you feel devastated with negativity.
When you are so dependent on others for your well-being and happiness, there is every possibility that you will fall into depression if they don’t play their part well. People who suffer from depression are actually suffering from attention-need. Everything they do is designed to get them attention. For e.g. when they buy something for themselves, they seek the kind of reaction they will get from others than the utility value of the item. Only when others approve of them do they feel that they are worthy. When one person withdraws his or her approval, they find themselves feeling depressed. The depression is the result when they are not able to handle the reality; they don’t get the attention from the people they expect to get it from. People with depression have forgotten that their energy source lies within them. No amount of anti-depressant medicine and psycho-therapy will cure the depression unless they are shown the truth that their energy source lies within them. Fundamentally, when people fall into depression due to attention-need, they actually lock up their energy in negative thoughts which could be used for their own expansion in life.
In our relationships, we constantly have expectations of others and how they should behave. If we look deeply, most of our relationships are actually transactions – “If I do this for you, you should do this for me”. This is not love, it is a business deal. This is the unspoken undercurrent in most relationships today. Society also teaches us to center in respect, not love. The truth is when we are centered in love, respect will be earned naturally as a side-effect.
Here are a few practical tips to get you started in finding your own energy source:-
- Awareness of your motivations. Life responds to the space your carry inside, not just the actions you do. So it is important to look in and become aware of your driving motivations when you do things for others. It should always come from a deep energising pure love, not out of fear or greed for receiving something in return.
- Be your own inspiration. Don’t make others the source of your energy. Don’t depend on others for your psychological survival. When you are dependent on others for your happiness, you are giving control of your life. Be your own inspiration because real joy is not possible when you place your center on someone else.
- Avoid fostering dependency in relationships. It is impossible to make another person totally happy, don’t even bother. Even if you do succeed in making someone feel happy, you are allowing them to depend on you for their happiness. This will only satisfy your ego and foster dependence. It is not a sound foundation for a lasting relationship.
- First find your fulfilment. Your priority in life is to find your own fulfilment within yourself and make sure this fulfilment has nothing to do with the people around you. Let it be just a bubbling energy inside you, irrespective of the conditions and the people outside of you.
- Connect with your being through meditation. Meditation makes us aware of our attention-need and takes us to the depths inside ourselves at the being level that will help us rise above any problem in life. With meditation, a space opens inside us and we experience these things clearly for our self, whatever your age may be. Meditation can show us how to find the energy source within us. If we are sincere in doing the meditation, we can simply harness the energy inside us and come out of depression. We begin to experience a flow of love emanating from our own being. Through meditation, we make space in our life to discover the truth.
- Understand love and energy. If we can just love without a reason, it is pure love. Pure love is not dependent on anything outside, it is dependent only on yourself. Pure love is about overflowing of energy from the heart energy center (Ananhata chakra), without asking anything in return. When we can love without a reason, we can love anything and anyone that comes our way, we will experience tremendous inner energy and beauty. We simply exude beauty and grace regardless whether we are physically beautiful or not. When we are brimming with love, we just become LOVE and simply the fragrance of compassion just fills the air, everyone and everything around us. We will be able to take up more responsibilities to serve people out of the overflowing energy in us. Love is the food for our bio-memory.
In essence, be your own energy source which is the best thing you can do for yourself, for others and the world. The depression rate in the world will be reduced drastically if everyone is given this right understanding through conscious parents, spirituality-centric schools and institutions. As Buddha’s last message to humanity: “Let you be your own light unto yourself”. Namaste 🙂