Journal of Depression and Anxiety
Open Access

How Spiritual Advancement can Prevent and Resolve Major Depression and Generalized Anxiety

Tristan Barnett^{* *}Correspondence: Tristan Barnett, Tennis Statistician at Strategic Games, Macquarie Park, New South Wales, Australia, Tel: + 61497783261, Email:

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Introduction

If someone is bullied to the state that they are suicidal then this is very serious. The victim should be compensated about 10 million dollars and the injurer should be jailed for about 40 years. Essentially workplace bullying could be considered equivalent to murder. The author has experienced psychosis, panic attacks, generalized anxiety disorder, depression as well as being suicidal in the years 2010-2019 as a result of workplace bullying.

The first real sign of the author’s improvement in health occurred on the 11^th Feb 2013, which was the day before enrolment for a course in a Bachelor of Social Science degree at Macquarie University, Sydney. At this point in time the author was also undertaking regular Hatha yoga sessions at Macquarie Gym. The author’s health continued to improve throughout 2013. This was assisted by weekly attendance at the Macquarie University Bhakti Yoga club, weekly visits to the Hare Krishna temple, Sydney and reading books of spiritual knowledge available at the Hare Krishna Temple. Throughout 2013 the author also had regular chiropractic and remedial massage treatments. However, the most effective method for resolving mental health came from regular visits to the Hare Krishna temple and daily chanting of the Hare Krsna Mantra: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. The author would continue the chanting of mantras by weekly visits to Govindas, Sydney in 2014. The author’s health significantly improved after reading the Bhagavad Gita as it is for the 3^rd time in May 2019, where the depression disappeared completely, the anxiety significantly eased off; and thus the author successfully came off antidepressant drugs. From the 26^th May 2019, the author became strictly vegetarian and no consumption of alcohol but still enjoys one cappuccino a day. Further on the 26^th June 2019 which coincided with the author’s birthday, the generalized anxiety disorder disappeared completely and the anti-anxiety medication was reduced to very low doses. From the 26^th June - 4^th Nov, 2019, the medication was tapered off completely.

This article will explain how such improvements for the author were possible which cannot be explained by science.

Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita is a conversation between Arjuna, a supernaturally gifted warrior about to go into battle, and Krishna – the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his charioteer. In the course of giving Arjuna all manner of spiritual and material advice, Krishna explains karma, the self, the Supreme Self, the purpose of yoga, the difference between our self and our material body, how our environment affects our consciousness, and how to attain the perfection of life. The Gita appears as a central chapter in the Mahabharata, the history of greater India. It is the essence of Vedic knowledge and one of the most important books of Vedic literature. Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna about 5000 years ago and through disciplic succession the Bhagavad Gita as it is gives commentary on the verses by Lord Krishna by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Pradhupada. Essentially the Bhagavad Gita as it is the highest authoritative text to explain the universe and the commentary is “almost” 100% accurate.

The Bhagavad Gita as it is was first published in 1968 by Macmillan Publishers and is now available in nearly sixty languages and is primarily promoted and distributed by followers of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Prabhupada's translation and commentaries of the Bhagavad Gita as it is considered by adherents to the ISKCON movement and many Vedic scholars to be one of the finest literary works of Vaishnavism translated into English [1].

It is thought (correctly or not) that Albert Einstein, himself, may have reflected by saying something like; “ When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous.

“When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-Gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it everyday.” - Mahatma Gandhi

What Defines a Human

From the Bhagavad Gita as it is our bodies are composed of both material and spiritual. The material body contains the gross body (earth, water, fire, air and space) and the subtle body (mind, intelligence and false ego). But above all these elements there is the spiritual soul. There’s no life in the material elements, life is the spiritual soul which is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. The soul contains two parts the individual soul and the Supersoul (a plenary expansion of God). The soul is one ten thousandth the size of the tip of a hair and is located in the heart, and cannot be measured under laboratory conditions. The material body is currently dead. The thing primarily keeping it alive is the Supersoul or consciousness (energy emitted by the Supersoul). The amount of kilojoules obtained from energy is disproportionately low compared to the amount of work we do in a day. At the end of this life we reincarnate into another body depending on our karma. Ideally you want to achieve a spiritual body and escape the re-birth and death process and hence travel the entire universe with Krishna in total bliss – that is our purpose in life. Three quarters of the universe is spiritual. There are 8.4 million species of life including 400,000 species of humans (based on our level of consciousness). Every form of life contains an individual soul and a Supersoul. The soul gets inside the atom and is the smallest unit of life [1].

Types of Yoga

The word yoga means to connect – the individual soul with the Supersoul. Yoga can be classified into four types: Hatha Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Bhakti Yoga. Yoga is typically known amongst Western society as Hatha Yoga and this is generally the way society is introduced to yoga by performing postures in a gym. Karma Yoga generally applies to our working lives; where carried out properly one should not become attached to the results of their work but rather all the work is done for the Supreme and owned by the Supreme, and thus the living entity has no reactions of lamentation or hankering. Jnana Yoga is about knowledge of the absolute and typically applies to knowledge that we obtain throughout our educational experiences. The problem with Western society is the knowledge taught at secondary and tertiary level is focused on ‘material’ knowledge rather than spiritual or true knowledge. The highest form of yoga is Bhakti Yoga (which also integrates elements of Hatha, Karma and Jnana Yoga); and this is a complete devotion to the Supreme. Religion could also be considered a form of Bhakti Yoga since religion generally involves worshipping a Supreme. However, the highest form of Bhakti Yoga is Krishna Consciousness (also known as the Hare Krishna movement). This involves regular chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra, Kirtan, Arati, reading and understanding the Bhagavad Gita as it is and abstaining from material sense gratification of smoking, gambling, and intoxication, meat-eating and illicit sex [1].

By following a yoga process one can progress in spiritual life and increase their level of consciousness.

Types of Life

Typically, there is plant, animal and human forms of life. But there is a higher form of human life known as demigods but still have a material body (they are not God, which is purely spiritual). Demigods are quite capable to walk through walls, walk on water, have healing powers and foresee the future. Jesus for example was likely to be a demigod. Angels are a higher form of life than demigods. Through quantum tunneling it is proven scientifically that a human can walk through a wall with a very low probability. The highest level of consciousness for a human is walking through a wall. There is material as well as spiritual consciousness. To walk through a wall you would need 100% spiritual consciousness. Being elevated off the ground, walking on water and sex with God has been achieved by man/woman. Note that sex with God (or spiritual sex) is a higher form of pleasure than material sex. As stated in the Bhagavad Gita as it is progress spiritually and material sex becomes distasteful [1].

Discussion and Conclusion

The author’s yoga process (mainly through Jnana yoga by reading the Bhagavad Gita as it is 3 times) eliminated the major depression and the generalized anxiety completely. The author does not believe that someone can be cured of a generalized anxiety disorder without spiritual advancement (and in particular not just reading but actually understand the commentary of the Bhagavad Gita as it is).

This article has demonstrated how spiritual advancement (which cannot be explained by science) can resolve mental health disorders, in particular major depression and generalized anxiety. Hence there is evidence to suggest that many mental health disorders can be resolved through spiritual advancement and in particular reading and understanding the Bhagavad Gita as it is. If mental health disorders can be resolved then the reverse of preventative measures for mental health disorders could also be obtained through spiritual advancement.

Therefore, advice for medical doctors is to read and understand the Bhagavad Gita as it is and teach this knowledge to patients. Therefore, it could be argued that the best and optimally the best solution to resolving/preventing major depression and generalized anxiety disorder is to read and understand the Bhagavad Gita as it is.

Note that the mental health disorders for the author were caused by workplace bullying, and hence this issue should be taken more seriously, in particular regarded as a serious criminal offence (possibly even murder) as it can cause one to suicide.

References