Some of my fellow vets who suffer from PTSD ( I don't) have found meditation very helpful. Therapy only gets you so far. At some point you have to take control. Thanks for the enlightening video.
Hey thank you for this video you are sharing my experience. I am recovering alcoholic who was diagnosed bipolar at 15. When I got sober 11 years ago I discovered counting breath meditation (the 11th step suggests prayer and mediation). My recovery has had a lot of elements in it but meditation I feel like really has been a powerful part of me discovering that like you said there's a cycle to everything and these things are temporary if we let them be. I still have depression and mania but after 11 years of loosely practicing meditation with a sober mind those peaks and valleys are manageable.
Have no fear. Your practical no nonsense self-disclosure is NOTHING like most "Professional" advice that comes from medicine or psychology. It, of course, is something realistic passed warmly from one stinking bag of skin to another stinking bag of skin. Thank You!
This is a super helpful video. For me, depression is like a jolt of hopeless despair literally out of nowhere and with no apparent cause, and yet it feels as real and true as anything. It’s very challenging getting to a place of evaluating not just thoughts but *feelings* as well.
After a lifetime of depression and suicidal thoughts, and over a decade meditating, I have finally come to understand exactly the same thing that you spoke of, which is how I found your videos. Trippy. But trippy is just a thought/feeling too ^_^
With me, zazen worked almost immediately, have been doing for 3 months as many times a day I can. I do not suffer or ever suffered from deep depression, but like everyone from time to time comes this worthless feeling caused by the demands and expectations I put on myself. Life changing zazen. Your video explains quite well the insight you get. Congrats.
On a similar note, perhaps related to zazen practice, depression stopped being paralysing for me when I learned to stop indulging in it. By which I suppose I mean I stopped getting caught up in the thought processes and feelings when they arise. It's still there if I care to look that way, but is just a part of my mental furniture and not something I need to get caught up in when it arises.
Thank you very much for this video. I relate very much to what you said. I am getting towards the final part of this video in my own experience. Had a very similar situation myself yesterday.
Dear Brad, after coming across this video by pure chance, I bought a copy of Hardcore Zen from Amazon. Finished it in 2 days. It is absolutely fantastic! You distill all the important wisdom of Zen into such pithy, funny, immediately useful anecdotes, explanations and guidance. In short, you rock!
I used to have this idea that I 'should' be feeling pretty positive and energized nearly all of time, not sure exactly where i got that from (family, society in general, consumerist culture?)That made me feel like I had fix/sort out/block any 'difficult/blah' feelings asap and not just let them be. in the same way I felt like I should hold onto the 'good stuff'. Zazen helps me see through that, but like you say it took a good while to get there.
Thanks for the vid brad! So your teacher Nishijima never mentioned if he ever dealt with it hey? Jundo once told me he sometimes sees the old dog (depression) lurking in the shadows. haha. Great vid.
Nishijima and I never discussed depression as such. But he was very interested in studying suicide. I always assumed that meant he also dealt with depression. Suicide is very common in Japan.
One thing I dont hear people talk about is that people who are practicing well are less likely to make stupid life decisions that can lead to depression and anxiety. For example, someone who has is living a balanced life and not pushed around emotions is less likely to do something stupid like blow next months rent on gambling or hookers. Or less likely to get in stupid arguments with people. Or less likely to overeat and get fat. Or less likely to spend too much time hiding in escapism with a video game. By simplifying your life you greatly reduce the triggers to that can kick off anxiety or depression. Its almost like a type of prevention.
I totally agree! One thing I've learned is how to avoid getting into situations that are likely to feed my depression. This includes simple things like eating better, getting more exercise, sleeping a proper amount, avoiding drugs and so on.
Most people with clinical depression don't have it as the result of life circumstances under their control. Often it begins in adolescence or young adulthood. And many of those kids or young people grow up in homes where learning meditation is not really an option. So it's a foreign idea to them.
Another nice discussion Brad. The person who insisted you qualify your discussion by stating you aren't a trained therapist, needs to grow the fuck up, remove the board from their ass and lighten up. People like that take ALL their own bullshit very seriously.
I agree with the positive effect of Zazen with regard to depression. Post a head injury in my late teens I felt I had a susceptibility to depression. Since practicing zazen daily, for varying time and quality, I no longer feel the same way. I do believe I have a greater resilience, not saying i did not possess resilience beforehand. Just don't seem to go into cycles anymore. So probably more than what I think it is down to. But what you choose to engage with . Not trying to change it.
Very interesting concept to define a passing thought like a person passing you by. Only natural not to pay any attention to what he/she might or might not say to you. Thank you for a cool video and hope you have a definitely non-depressed day
As a fellow non-mental health professional, I agree. From my experience it is helpful to choose the perspective that emotions, thoughts, feelings come up. It is constructive to not necessarily identify with them or perhaps own them as true. No suppression, no averting, no clinging. They just are. Agreed, easier said than done and valuable nonetheless.
Good video, thank you for sharing your experience with depression :) But what I don´t get is the point with: "Your thoughts are just thoughts. They are not you." But who am I when I just look at what´s going on in my head from the observer´s position? When I step back from my thoughts, isn´t it the same like stepping back from myself? Who am I if not my thoughts? I don´t really get this but nevertheless thanks again for the advice here
Penderstar "Who am I" is a very deep question. Years ago "I" couldn't sleep because "I" was worried despite "I" telling "me" it's counterproductive. So who was the real "I" in that situation? The worrying mind, or the "I" that couldn't rule the worrying mind? If the self you're now is producing suffering, then it's not worth keeping. It's worth transcending the ego. It doesn't mean it will disappear, but it will be relegated to its proper place: a tool, not a master. Who is the real master then? That's worth finding on your own. I guess losing the ego can also be described as finding more freedom about who you want to be: it's no longer confined by habitual patterns of thought and behavior; instead, you regain control; you will feel irritation - "I am free not to follow that path". A small buffer will appear between stimulus and your habitual reaction; inside that small pause is your opportunity for choosing a different path. A different consequence. A different "you". Your current confining ego is not worth worrying about losing. In fact, it's about time.
What are your thoughts about antidepressants? I know you can't give medical advice, but I take an antidepressant and somehow feel that I'm somehow failing and I will never be able to sit zazen "fully" as long as I am taking a drug that affects my mind?
This is a true, clear, lucid, simple, even beautiful, and very helpful take on things, well worth sharing with friends. Suzuki Roshi (70-0601, see cuke.com) says (edited slightly): "love has two sides. One is to give joy, and the other is to eliminate [suffering]-- to suffer with them. To make their suffering less, we suffer with him. We share their suffering. That is love. So love has two side: to give joy, to give something, you know. If he is very good, you know, we can enjoy joy of practice with him by giving good cushion, good zendo, you know, and something like this. But actually [to one who is suffering] Zendo doesn't mean anything. Whatever you give him, he will not accept it. “No, I don't need. I suffer a lot. I don't know why. Right now, you know, to get out of suffering is most important point. Nothing can help me. You cannot help me,” he may say. When you hear that, you should be like someone who is suffering, and you should suffer as he suffers. Actually, you will feel in that way-- if you see someone who is in suffer[ing], you will suffer too. That is because of your love, your innate love, your instinct of love, you share the suffering. That is love in its true sense. " And I guess that could apply also to ourselves. So when I suffer, I can share my suffering? Yup, I guess that is what zazen could be about, in that moment...
Sorry for pipping up again, but I just can't seem to help myself. It really does seem that the most interesting people are all just a little bet broken. Unfortunately pain, or dissatisfaction is the great motivator in our lives.
Thanks Brad for the cool video (: I also found that mindfulness is the single best tool to deal with my depression in the past - and painful thoughts and feelings in generell.
Yeah! i couldn't believe it when you said in another video that you were in your 40s a decade ago so I had to google ya. I always thought you were late 20s/early 30s
LukePettit I find this is a weird side effect of long-time meditators, they always look much younger than other people, I think it's because their faces are not as crunched up by tension, haha
Yes, after 20 years of zen practice, it was actually an Advaita teacher who finally got through with the message, distrust and ignore this voice, it is not your friend. A new wave of supplements are finally undergoing experimental study and rivaling SSRIs-- Saffron, for one, the other big one is called SAMe, see the Vice mag review of best brand. No, we do not have to be experts to make our own discoveries about how to heal our own brains, and it is good to question medical authority and Big Pharma if it is harming us.
As a counterpoint, for what it's worth, in my personal experience, 4 of my fellow practitioners at the zen center I lived at committed suicide.( In addition to this, the therapist affiliated with the zen group,who i saw, to cope with this tragic series of events & stuff, also committed suicide.) Just sayin. You're mileage may vary. *To be clear, not knocking this video, Brad, psychotherapy or the Buddha Dharma. 🙂👍
I can stop my depression instantly by doing Zazen. But there is something, that pulls me back into depression as soon as I stop sitting. May be I am just giving up too early
Just do zazen every day (30 minutes to 1-2 hours (with breaks)). And see a therapist. And maybe read the Pali Canon; there's a certain clarity about the words of the Buddha that I really enjoy.
thank you for your making these videos
it is much appreciated....
YOU ARE VERY QUALIFIED TO TALK ABOUT YOUR OWN LIFE.
Some of my fellow vets who suffer from PTSD ( I don't) have found meditation very helpful. Therapy only gets you so far. At some point you have to take control. Thanks for the enlightening video.
Thank you!
Thank you for your service.
This is so good thank you Brad for authentically opening what you are saying is so true. I have much experience with it.🦋🕊🌹 much love to all
Hey thank you for this video you are sharing my experience.
I am recovering alcoholic who was diagnosed bipolar at 15.
When I got sober 11 years ago I discovered counting breath meditation (the 11th step suggests prayer and mediation).
My recovery has had a lot of elements in it but meditation I feel like really has been a powerful part of me discovering that like you said there's a cycle to everything and these things are temporary if we let them be.
I still have depression and mania but after 11 years of loosely practicing meditation with a sober mind those peaks and valleys are manageable.
And I personally don't take medication.
Yes we like to say don't believe everything you think 😂
Like a bass player, your timing is impeccable. This video is what I needed to hear at the right time (right message, right time :-)). Thank you!
SYNCHRONICITY MY FRIEND
Have no fear. Your practical no nonsense self-disclosure is NOTHING like most "Professional" advice that comes from medicine or psychology. It, of course, is something realistic passed warmly from one stinking bag of skin to another stinking bag of skin. Thank You!
Thanks!
Wonderful, lovely,pal,....I'm less pressed down!!! Thanks pal
This is a super helpful video. For me, depression is like a jolt of hopeless despair literally out of nowhere and with no apparent cause, and yet it feels as real and true as anything. It’s very challenging getting to a place of evaluating not just thoughts but *feelings* as well.
After a lifetime of depression and suicidal thoughts, and over a decade meditating, I have finally come to understand exactly the same thing that you spoke of, which is how I found your videos. Trippy. But trippy is just a thought/feeling too ^_^
The world is a trippy place!
@@HardcoreZen I wouldn't be depressed if it were... or maybe I would notice, if I weren't depressed...
I seriously work on my depressions since 5 years and Zen was and is a big helper because I think it do nothing on me.
Love your new stuff Brad, really innovative, love the books too
With me, zazen worked almost immediately, have been doing for 3 months as many times a day I can. I do not suffer or ever suffered from deep depression, but like everyone from time to time comes this worthless feeling caused by the demands and expectations I put on myself. Life changing zazen. Your video explains quite well the insight you get. Congrats.
On a similar note, perhaps related to zazen practice, depression stopped being paralysing for me when I learned to stop indulging in it. By which I suppose I mean I stopped getting caught up in the thought processes and feelings when they arise. It's still there if I care to look that way, but is just a part of my mental furniture and not something I need to get caught up in when it arises.
Thank you very much for this video. I relate very much to what you said. I am getting towards the final part of this video in my own experience. Had a very similar situation myself yesterday.
I am glad I could help!
Dear Brad, after coming across this video by pure chance, I bought a copy of Hardcore Zen from Amazon. Finished it in 2 days. It is absolutely fantastic! You distill all the important wisdom of Zen into such pithy, funny, immediately useful anecdotes, explanations and guidance. In short, you rock!
Thank you!!
Thanks Brad, very clear and helpful.
Very useful. Thank you.
I used to have this idea that I 'should' be feeling pretty positive and energized nearly all of time, not sure exactly where i got that from (family, society in general, consumerist culture?)That made me feel like I had fix/sort out/block any 'difficult/blah' feelings asap and not just let them be. in the same way I felt like I should hold onto the 'good stuff'. Zazen helps me see through that, but like you say it took a good while to get there.
Thanks for the vid brad! So your teacher Nishijima never mentioned if he ever dealt with it hey? Jundo once told me he sometimes sees the old dog (depression) lurking in the shadows. haha. Great vid.
Nishijima and I never discussed depression as such. But he was very interested in studying suicide. I always assumed that meant he also dealt with depression. Suicide is very common in Japan.
One thing I dont hear people talk about is that people who are practicing well are less likely to make stupid life decisions that can lead to depression and anxiety. For example, someone who has is living a balanced life and not pushed around emotions is less likely to do something stupid like blow next months rent on gambling or hookers. Or less likely to get in stupid arguments with people. Or less likely to overeat and get fat. Or less likely to spend too much time hiding in escapism with a video game. By simplifying your life you greatly reduce the triggers to that can kick off anxiety or depression. Its almost like a type of prevention.
I totally agree! One thing I've learned is how to avoid getting into situations that are likely to feed my depression. This includes simple things like eating better, getting more exercise, sleeping a proper amount, avoiding drugs and so on.
Most people with clinical depression don't have it as the result of life circumstances under their control. Often it begins in adolescence or young adulthood. And many of those kids or young people grow up in homes where learning meditation is not really an option. So it's a foreign idea to them.
Another nice discussion Brad.
The person who insisted you qualify your discussion by stating you aren't a trained therapist, needs to grow the fuck up, remove the board from their ass and lighten up. People like that take ALL their own bullshit very seriously.
I agree with the positive effect of Zazen with regard to depression. Post a head injury in my late teens I felt I had a susceptibility to depression. Since practicing zazen daily, for varying time and quality, I no longer feel the same way. I do believe I have a greater resilience, not saying i did not possess resilience beforehand. Just don't seem to go into cycles anymore. So probably more than what I think it is down to. But what you choose to engage with . Not trying to change it.
Thank you.
Hi friend.....I'm pressed de ep Ly sorta, kinda while of course praising God, giving thanks.......good to listen, pal
Very interesting concept to define a passing thought like a person passing you by. Only natural not to pay any attention to what he/she might or might not say to you.
Thank you for a cool video and hope you have a definitely non-depressed day
Thank you!
As a fellow non-mental health professional, I agree. From my experience it is helpful to choose the perspective that emotions, thoughts, feelings come up. It is constructive to not necessarily identify with them or perhaps own them as true. No suppression, no averting, no clinging. They just are. Agreed, easier said than done and valuable nonetheless.
Thanks! That approach is the only one that has ever worked for me at all.
It's the seeing that frees.
Good video, thank you for sharing your experience with depression :)
But what I don´t get is the point with: "Your thoughts are just thoughts. They are not you." But who am I when I just look at what´s going on in my head from the observer´s position? When I step back from my thoughts, isn´t it the same like stepping back from myself? Who am I if not my thoughts? I don´t really get this but nevertheless thanks again for the advice here
Penderstar
"Who am I" is a very deep question.
Years ago "I" couldn't sleep because "I" was worried despite "I" telling "me" it's counterproductive. So who was the real "I" in that situation? The worrying mind, or the "I" that couldn't rule the worrying mind?
If the self you're now is producing suffering, then it's not worth keeping. It's worth transcending the ego. It doesn't mean it will disappear, but it will be relegated to its proper place: a tool, not a master.
Who is the real master then? That's worth finding on your own.
I guess losing the ego can also be described as finding more freedom about who you want to be: it's no longer confined by habitual patterns of thought and behavior; instead, you regain control; you will feel irritation - "I am free not to follow that path". A small buffer will appear between stimulus and your habitual reaction; inside that small pause is your opportunity for choosing a different path. A different consequence. A different "you".
Your current confining ego is not worth worrying about losing. In fact, it's about time.
Also, the very fact that "you" can step back from "your" thoughts proves you are not your thoughts.
thank you!
What are your thoughts about antidepressants? I know you can't give medical advice, but I take an antidepressant and somehow feel that I'm somehow failing and I will never be able to sit zazen "fully" as long as I am taking a drug that affects my mind?
This is a true, clear, lucid, simple, even beautiful, and very helpful take on things, well worth sharing with friends.
Suzuki Roshi (70-0601, see cuke.com)
says (edited slightly):
"love has two sides. One is to give joy, and the other is to eliminate [suffering]-- to suffer with them. To make their suffering less, we suffer with him. We share their suffering. That is love. So love has two side: to give joy, to give something, you know. If he is very good, you know, we can enjoy joy of practice with him by giving good cushion, good zendo, you know, and something like this.
But actually [to one who is suffering] Zendo doesn't mean anything. Whatever you give him, he will not accept it. “No, I don't need. I suffer a lot. I don't know why. Right now, you know, to get out of suffering is most important point. Nothing can help me. You cannot help me,” he may say. When you hear that, you should be like someone who is suffering, and you should suffer as he suffers. Actually, you will feel in that way-- if you see someone who is in suffer[ing], you will suffer too. That is because of your love, your innate love, your instinct of love, you share the suffering. That is love in its true sense. "
And I guess that could apply also to ourselves. So when I suffer, I can share my suffering? Yup, I guess that is what zazen could be about, in that moment...
Sorry for pipping up again, but I just can't seem to help myself. It really does seem that the most interesting people are all just a little bet broken. Unfortunately pain, or dissatisfaction is the great motivator in our lives.
Being intimate with suffering helps a person be more compassionate potentially.
excelent vid brah. mirin content. do more. liked.
Thanks Brad for the cool video (:
I also found that mindfulness is the single best tool to deal with my depression in the past - and painful thoughts and feelings in generell.
Thank you!
Hey those books aren't arranged alphabetically.
That caveat is a pretty big caveat for a lot of people ;)
you look half your age mate
27?
Yeah! i couldn't believe it when you said in another video that you were in your 40s a decade ago so I had to google ya. I always thought you were late 20s/early 30s
Wow, I thought you were in your late 20s or early 30s as well.
LukePettit I find this is a weird side effect of long-time meditators, they always look much younger than other people, I think it's because their faces are not as crunched up by tension, haha
Could be!
yup being a human sure is depressing
Yes, after 20 years of zen practice, it was actually an Advaita teacher who finally got through with the message, distrust and ignore this voice, it is not your friend.
A new wave of supplements are finally undergoing experimental study and rivaling SSRIs-- Saffron, for one, the other big one is called SAMe, see the Vice mag review of best brand. No, we do not have to be experts to make our own discoveries about how to heal our own brains, and it is good to question medical authority and Big Pharma if it is harming us.
Acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine can also be useful. I like Xiao Yao Wan- "Free and Easy Wanderer" as an emotional detox.
As a counterpoint, for what it's worth, in my personal experience, 4 of my fellow practitioners at the zen center I lived at committed suicide.( In addition to this, the therapist affiliated with the zen group,who i saw, to cope with this tragic series of events & stuff, also committed suicide.) Just sayin. You're mileage may vary.
*To be clear, not knocking this video, Brad, psychotherapy or the Buddha Dharma. 🙂👍
I can stop my depression instantly by doing Zazen. But there is something, that pulls me back into depression as soon as I stop sitting. May be I am just giving up too early
Indeed, it is kind of frustrating.
Just do zazen every day (30 minutes to 1-2 hours (with breaks)). And see a therapist. And maybe read the Pali Canon; there's a certain clarity about the words of the Buddha that I really enjoy.
U don't luk like Brad Pitt but Tom cruise
Depression is caused by eating a poor diet. Cut out meat dairy sugar alcohol drugs processed foods. Add vegetables, whole grains, beans, fruit, water, sunlight.
I'm sure that couldn't hurt.