The Zen Path Through Depression

Our mind feels as though it isn’t working right. It is difficult for us to form thoughts, to speak, even to make simple decisions. We feel a mental exhaustion, and our memory often doesn’t seem to work. There is a slowing of our body and mind.

Intense emotions are present in us: hopelessness, worthlessness, and a profound and unexplained sadness. We feel that we are all alone.

But before we seek solutions, we must look at the naked feelings themselves. Facing depression lets us look closely, for perhaps the first time, at the deepest problems and feelings in our life

We have a fundamental choice. We can run from these feelings, which will only make them stronger. We can try to fit them into a framework of belief—either our own or someone else’s. We can see depression in moral terms and believe that it is a sign of weakness. We can view it in medical terms and seek treatment with a physician. We can believe it is psychological and seek in our past for the answers.
Or, before seeking any concept or explanation, we can do as Buddha did and look at things as they are. We can look compassionately at what is happening to us in depression. We can examine ourselves without running, without fighting, without preconceptions, before any thought of a solution.