On Depression and Worry

[quoting]

421. Learn above all things not to worry. Be happy, and make the best of everything. Try to raise yourself and help others. Contentment is not incompatible with aspirations. Optimism is justified by the certainty of the ultimate triumph of good, though if we take only the physical plane into account it is not easy to maintain that position. One' s attitude in this matter depends chiefly upon the level at which one habitually keeps one' s consciousness. If it is centred chiefly in the physical plane one sees little but the misery, but when it becomes possible to centre it at a higher level the joy beyond always shines through. I know the BUDDHA said that life was misery, and it is quite true on the whole with regard to the manifested life down here, yet the Greeks and Egyptians managed to extract much joy even from this lower life by taking it from the philosophical point of view.

422. We never lose anything by making the best of things, but gain very much in happiness and in the power of making others happy. As our sympathy and our love grow we shall be able to receive within ourselves all the streams of emotion and of thought which come to us from others, and yet we shall remain within ourselves unaffected, calm and joyous, like the great ocean which receives the waters of many rivers and yet remains always in equilibrium.

423. The inner life of an aspirant ought not to be one of continual oscillation. Outer moods change constantly because they are affected by all sorts of outside influences. If you find yourself depressed, it may be due to any one of half-a-dozen reasons, none of them of any real importance. The physical body is a fertile source of such ills; a trifling indigestion, a slight congestion in the circulation, or a little over-fatigue may account for many conditions which feel quite serious. Even more frequently depression is caused by the presence of some astral entity who is himself depressed, and is hovering round you either in search of sympathy or in the hope of drawing from you the vitality which he lacks. We must simply learn to disregard depression altogether-- to throw it off as a sin and a crime against our neighbors, which it really is; but, anyhow, whether we can succeed fully in dispersing its clouds or not we must learn simply to go on as though it were not there.

424. Your mind is your own mind, into which you should allow entrance only to such thoughts as you, the ego, choose. Your astral body is also your own, and you should not allow in it any sensations except those which are good for the higher self. So you must manage these vibrations of depression, and absolutely decline to give harbourage to them. They must not be allowed to impinge upon you. If they do so impinge they must not be permitted to effect a lodgment. If, to some slight extent, in spite of your efforts, they do hang about you, then it is your duty to ignore them and to let no one else know that they even exist.

From The Inner Life - Part I - C. W. Leadbeater (1910)

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In these tumultuous times, we are ceaselessly buffeted by a seemingly endless stream of powerful stimuli. Many of them produce a negative reaction in the human's emotional and mental bodies. The foregoing is posted as a reminder that we are charged with controlling our own thoughts and emotions. With practice, one can literally develop an immunity to bad news. In truth, there is no such thing as "bad news". Whether news we receive is classified as 'good' or 'bad' depends entirely upon how we respond to it. Since we are the ones who do the "classifying", it stands to reason that we are the ones who are responsible for our depression, or our joy, as the case may be.

This is something that you can experiment with on your own, if you so choose. Try monitoring your responses to stimuli you may receive. Process the stimuli, reflect upon it. Then monitor your response. If you are about to feel something negative (i.e., sadness, doubt, fear, anger, depression) consciously work to cultivate an opposite, or higher emotion.

Constant depression and worry can create weak points in the subtle vehicles. This can result in blockages to important centers of force, or a weakening in the immune system. These provide a doorway to illness and disease.

No one's advising us to become cold and heartless. We are advised to simply develop an equilibrium regarding all matters put before us, by never getting too high, or too low, in response to external stimuli.

So, worry not. Worry is an invention of man. With illumination gradually comes the knowledge that there really is nothing that is truly worth worrying oneself about.

~ g