“*Depression is the truth of the body, just as meaningfulness is the truth of the spirit. The one does not exclude the other. It seems as though life, like Janus, has two faces.
There is truth in spiritual beliefs and disciplines. I do not claim there is none. But there is also truth in depression. I suspect we need to hold both truths. Otherwise depression is always frightening – whether it is our own or someone else’s. There is truth in the view that life is meaningless and that everything is ultimately transient; it is a fact that one day we will all die, and so far no one has managed to demonstrate in any pragmatic way the existence of the spirit after death. To some extent it is also true that we are, in the end, alone, enclosed within our separate body and psyche; and the experience of universal unity is a subjective state, perhaps even a subjective illusion, rather than a physical reality. In a similar way, immortality is a subjective experience, not an empirical fact.*”
— Liz Greene, Dynamics of the Unconscious, Vol. 2
When I read the above, something in me responded very strongly. Probably because of the way Liz Greene puts it – linking depression with the truth of the body. Endogenous depression is viewed as the beginning of spiritual awakening; it is the alchemical nigredo – that dark cloud that envelops the initiate and takes away the light and joy of life. I imagine that this is exactly how the soul incarnating into the world of matter feels – it grows heavy. It grows sad from the separation from the Source.
I am also reminded of Jung’s words that depression is like a woman in black. “If she appears, do not chase her away. Invite her in, offer her a place to sit, treat her as a guest, and listen to what she wants to tell you.” Liz Greene’s words are the words of this lady in black – life is meaningless because everything you love and are connected to will, at some point, disappear. It will be gone. This is not only our own body, which is here now and then returns to what it is made of – earth – to participate in the cycle of life. Here, too, are the bodies of those we love, which are here now and will also not be here one day. This is the truth of our earthly body – separate, dense, mortal, and, deep within itself, alone.
The two truths – of the spirit and of the body – are one of the most basic oppositions we must unite. And, as is usually the case with the uniting of opposites, we must first differentiate them, see them separately as the two sides of one whole. This means believing that life has meaning from the perspective of the eternal and of the development of that which does not die – the soul. But also acknowledging that life has no meaning, because everything we build and feel connected to will one day be destroyed. Both truths are equally valid; it is not only one of them.
The irony is that the stronger the depression, the greater the need for the strength of the spirit in order to pass through the initiation into the depths of the dark psyche. The more strongly we hear the heavy truth of the body, the more strongly we need the uplifting truth of the spirit in order to cope with grief and mourning. The challenge here is to avoid spiritual bypassing by maintaining the dual attitude that sees both parts at once. If we are too one-sided in our search for meaning, the other part of the equation – meaninglessness, dying – will be rejected and invalidated. I am reminded of Osho’s words that even faith in God can become a means of escaping the painful realities of our lives.
Thus, the truth of the body is a truth that depresses, confronting us with the reality of our impermanence, transience, vulnerability, and fragility. But the encounter with reality is a good thing, a very good thing – that is why in Melanie Klein’s theory the depressive position is regarded as an expression of mental health. It is said that in the eyes of the wise there is always a little sadness. If we allow ourselves to hear what the woman in black has to tell us and pass consciously through the blackness of depression, we will be able to alchemize it. We will unite the opposites and turn them into something priceless – into love that is beyond duality.
For it is precisely the body that is the vessel for the mixing of opposites on Earth. It is what creates the condition for us to become individuals – separate and at the same time connected.
Kameliya Hadzhiyska
Note: The quotations are translated from Bulgarian and are not presented as verbatim citations.
