Renukaji,
Post #1 Renuka:
Many a times we see people or even right here in Forum saying they are feeling depressed and cant cope with life.Many of these people have a tough time adjusting with life but at the same time they are still very much into religion especially rituals to bail them out of their current situation.We had also seen in the past some members attribute their suffering to some curse of Kula Deivam etc and run to Forum asking members what Pariharams they should do.The common factor in all these people who have problems is religion!................................Is religion/spiritualism actually good for our mental make up or it has adverse effects or does each person react differently to religion?
Post #5 Renuka:
I think everyone is thinking depression is a feeling of sadness but in reality depression is much more than that.Its much more thanafeelingofsadness..1)Hopelessnes2)Helplessness,3)Worthlessness4)Not being in control......................Religion seems like slow poison that spreads the epidemic of depression across the Globe.
Think about it.
You said think about it. I thought about it and this is the result:
Different people cope with life in different ways. The method of coping with life chosen by an individual depends basically on 1)his own physical abilities 2) his mental abilities which comes with his experience and maturity which again depends on the path he has travelled since his childhood and 3) -- the circumstances --the kind of constraints the society/environment imposes on him.
Now let me expand on this. Suppose a person has recurring financial problems (just one of the examples). It may be due his poor health (item 1 above) lack of employability due to qualification, attitude, temperament etc.,(2 above) or lack of employment avenues (3 above). He feels that he has no control over any of these. He has tried to tackle (1) by a consultation with a good doctor without any result. With respect to (2) he is not even aware of his short comings because he thinks that he is perfect, that he is very capable in his domain, that he remains a gentleman while his boss and others in the work place are all demons, the society is ruthless etc., So there is no way of getting cured of this and he suffers it blundering his way from one employer to another and gathering nothing in the process. (3) He is basically from a small village and he finds the city where he competes with others a scary place. He finds even communication is a problem with every one speaking a strange language in a strange accent in the strange workplace. He has no solution for this environment induced stress on him. He did not know that he has an option to look at this new world around him with the fresh mind of a child which enjoys anything new with an exploring mind. He did not know that he can laugh at the funny circumstances which confront him as well as the funny self which gropes in the strange circumstances. So he is like a chicken let out in the midst of a vast forest not knowing which direction to take for his run for life.
If his upbringing (the period during which the value system gets formed) has imprinted in him a value system which encourages to retain his self esteem under all trying circumstances he would still be himself and move on and in course of time win. If , unfortunately, in his upbringing such a value is not there then he feels defeated early in the game and looks for an external solution to his liking.
Before proceeding further we should understand that what is given here is only one of a million specimens of example. There can be cases in which the circumstances/external environment (item 3) can be quite conspiratorial and be delivering shock after shock even on an individual who is physically and mentally strong. For instance there can be unbearable tragedies visiting an individual one after other without any clue as to why he has been chosen for such a special treatment by circumstances. In such cases the capabilities of the self are in a cloud and the individual looks to external solutions like the individual in the first case.
There can be many examples each with a strange mixture of misfortunes.
Now let us take a close look at religion and how it fulfills the role of a solution. With religion comes in the God concept. For an individual troubled by inexplicable (or so he thinks) misfortunes, God is the final refuge. He saves good people and punishes bad people (parithrAnAya sAdhunAm, vinAsAya dushkruthAm…….). I am good and I hope he will save me. My boss is bad and he will punish him. I feel I do not get enough love from people around. Those who love me also makes it conditional. But God is love personified. He will love me without any expectations even if I am a sinner. There are miracles happening. So my physical problems also can disappear if God wills it that way. God will help me earn profit in my business because I am his true devotee and am going to spend for good causes. God will get me my love in marriage because I as well as she prays to him sincerely for that. In short there is nothing that God can not grant. God is not only a KalyAna GunArnavam but also a AkhilahEya pratyaneekan.
So we have a troubled soul and a God concept which is a sanjeevani for every possible helpless situation. So the two together work well and make life livable in this world. It is a different matter that you have to get up in the morning, get ready to take your children to school, come back, take your breakfast and rush to your office with a packed tiffin box in the crowded suburban train fearing not only missing the stop where you have to get down but also the ibola virus the close proximity fellow traveler may be carrying. But when our man is down, his energy completely sapped by circumstances beyond his control, it is hope of a better tomorrow that makes the life livable and God is that hope. Religion is the intelligent explanation of that God concept because the free will in our fallen hero’s mind asks questions and look for answers at an intellectual level to fundamental questions. It may be like telling the child that Ummachchi searched and found your mother’s womb to place you safely until you are ready to come into this world. Each one of us want to hear such soothing stories. The child, as it grows up, understands that there is more to it than God placing her in the mother’s womb but enjoys the beauty and intellectual reasoning behind that story. Religion and God make our life not only livable, but also beautiful. The sometimes unrestrained love, sometimes transactional love, sometimes carnal love, sometimes fighting love, sometimes give and take love, sometimes love mixed with anger, sometimes pleading love etc., etc., which is all called by the name bhakti, according to me is necessary to make our life meaningful and less painful. Without it life is just the appam without sweetness.
So believe in God and enjoy your life.
And RRji said succinctly all this when she said:
Those who don't have full faith in God or full faith in themselves are prone to depression.This covers both theists and atheists.
If a person believes 'nadappathellAm nanmaikkE', then there is no chance for depression.
