Depressed devotees

It’s not uncommon to see devotees suffering from depression and other similar conditions. Even more common are devotees who, although not clinically depressed, are unhappy with their lives. Why?

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It’s not uncommon to see devotees suffering from depression and other similar conditions. Even more common are devotees who, although not clinically depressed, are unhappy with their lives, despite having been chanting for several years. How can it be so?

Of course, if one is a pure devotee, he or she can be happy even in prison, but for most of us, a proper environment is necessary. We are not complete materialists who want to enjoy life without any spiritual touch, but we are also not pure devotees who can be happy in any circumstance. Therefore, although we are chanting and learning the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, we still need a proper material environment to keep our mental balance. Without it, we can easily fall into lamentation, despite our spiritual achievements.

How many devotees that you know are happy in their family life or are well situated in the renounced platform? There are surely a few, but many others are unhappy in this regard, be it by being in family life but not happy with it, or being in renounced life but secretly desiring something else.

A second question: How many devotees that you know live in natural environments, close to the land? Probably not many again. Most of us live in small apartments in the cities, frequently not even in good neighborhoods.

Another question: How many devotees do you know are satisfied with their work? In other words, how many are working in the areas they have an inclination and talent for? That’s another problem; most of us are working in jobs we don’t like, frequently in quite terrible environments, just to make ends meet. Even when we have the opportunity to work on something connected with Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, it may still not be according to our nature.

Finally, how many devotees do you know who are able to live healthy lives, taking good care of their diets, having access to natural foods, having time to exercise, and so on? And how many devotees that you know can reconcile all these points, being happy in family life, living in a natural environment, working according to their talents, and maintaining a proper diet based on natural foods? The number will probably not be very high.

That’s exactly the challenge. Most people nowadays live in big cities, in completely artificial environments, living in places they don’t like, working in jobs they don’t like, eating all kinds of cheap, unhealthy food, and being unhappy in their relationships. The only things that keep them going are the pick-me-ups for instant sense gratification and the hope of achieving a better position in the future. Devotees are frequently also caught in the same environment, and this takes a toll on our spiritual life.

Fifty years ago, Prabhupada was speaking about the importance of simple living and high thinking, promoting the positive effect that life in natural environments and engagement according to one’s talents and inclinations, healthy relationships, and healthy living have in terms of happiness and facility for spiritual advancement. Although it’s possible to practice Krsna Consciousness in any circumstance, living in a proper environment and surrounded by like-minded devotees makes things much easier. On the other hand, living in a polluted city, working in some unpleasant job, and being surrounded by materialists make the task much more difficult.

Often, we blame ourselves or other devotees for being lax in our spiritual practice, being depressed, committing different mistakes, or simply not being able to cultivate good qualities, but this has a lot to do with the environments we are living in. Just like a plant that thrives in a certain type of soil but struggles in a different climate, our spiritual practice can become much harder when we are not inserted in a proper environment. As long as we are living in artificial, consumeristic environments like everyone else, it will always be difficult to practice Krsna Consciousness. We will be just like an avocado tree, which needs lots of water, trying to grow in the desert.

One of the greatest challenges we have in our generation is precisely how to find models of workable communities where devotees can live close to each other, work according to their inclinations, cultivate good relationships, and advance in their spiritual practice. Such communities may appear in different shapes and forms and be implemented in different stages, but finding this secret formula will not only help us to advance much faster in our spiritual lives, but it will also allow our movement to spread much faster.

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