<\/p>\n
\u201c*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.<\/em><\/p>\n 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 \u2013 whether it is our own or someone else\u2019s. 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.*\u201d<\/em> When I read the above, something in me responded very strongly. Probably because of the way Liz Greene puts it \u2013 linking depression with the truth of the body. Endogenous depression is viewed as the beginning of spiritual awakening; it is the alchemical nigredo<\/a> \u2013 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 \u2013 it grows heavy. It grows sad from the separation from the Source.<\/p>\n I am also reminded of Jung\u2019s words that depression is like a woman in black. \u201cIf 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.\u201d Liz Greene\u2019s words are the words of this lady in black \u2013 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 \u2013 earth \u2013 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 \u2013 separate, dense, mortal, and, deep within itself, alone.<\/p>\n The two truths \u2013 of the spirit and of the body \u2013 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 \u2013 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.<\/p>\n 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 \u2013 meaninglessness, dying \u2013 will be rejected and invalidated. I am reminded of Osho\u2019s words that even faith in God can become a means of escaping the painful realities of our lives<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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 \u2013 that is why in Melanie Klein\u2019s theory the depressive position is regarded as an expression of mental health<\/a>. 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 \u2013 into love that is beyond duality.<\/p>\n 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 \u2013 separate and at the same time connected.<\/p>\n Kameliya Hadzhiyska<\/strong><\/p>\n Note: The quotations are translated from Bulgarian and are not presented as verbatim citations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201c*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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":152866,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[646],"tags":[687,685,661,683],"class_list":["post-151313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spiritual-intelligence","tag-depression","tag-liz-green","tag-mental-health","tag-spiritual-transformation"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\u2014 Liz Greene, Dynamics of the Unconscious, Vol. 2<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
\n