Earthquake Heartbreak

On 12 January 2010 at 4:43PM local time a massive 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated the Caribbean country of Haiti killing an estimated over 200,000 people. When a devotee of the Lord sees such catastrophes he is greatly heartbroken by the sufferings experienced by so millions of people. Even though a devotee is always relishing the great happiness of Krishna consciousness within his heart, his heart is so broad that it also encompasses the suffering of all the living entities who are so miserably entangled in the cycle of birth death. His is therefore greatly devastated to see the sufferings of the poor souls in this material world. This is why he is described as para-duḥkha-duḥkhī, one who is aggrieved to see the sufferings of others. And this is why he fully dedicates his life for flooding the planet earth with Krishna consciousness to bring the ultimate and permanent happiness to all living beings.

Heartbreaking Haiti Earthquake
January 12, 2010

Answers According to the Vedic Version

Question: How to Handle Depression?

Hare Krishna!

Thank you for you wonderful posts everyday. I have a question. Does a devotee ever suffer from depression? If yes then how should he/she go about handling it? In the practical world there are many factors that contribute to depression, work pressures, family, poor self-esteem etc. How does a devotee rise above such things?

There is another situation that I am currently facing. I am in a job that doesn't satisfy me at all. But it leaves me a lot of time to render service in the temple & concentrate on my Sadhana. But I feel depressed that I am not doing well in my career. What should my prayers & attitude be so that I can accept the situation that Lord Krishna has put me in & at the same time not be proud of the so called sacrifice that I think I am making?

I would really appreciate if you can keep my inquiry anonymous.

Your anonymous servant

Answer: Celebrate Your Situation. Accomplish Miracles, Heroic Soul!

While a neophyte devotee may sometimes become depressed and bewildered due to his past material conditioning, the advanced devotee never becomes depressed or bewildered under any condition because he sees all the good and bad conditions within this world to be the merciful arrangements of the Supreme Lord to help all living entities return to the Lord's transcendental as soon as possible. This does not mean that he becomes cold and calloused to the suffering of others. The pure devotee feels great pain in his heart to see the suffering of others and dedicates his entire life to relieving the suffering of all others. Because he is fully enlightened with spiritual understanding he has perfect understanding of the cause of their suffering and is thus not bewildered. Therefore he is able to always act decisively in a positive, constructive manner for relieving the sufferings of all others.

That you are detached from your job is not a cause for depression. That you are more attracted to devotional service should be a cause of great celebration. And now I am instructing you that you should do your job with great enthusiasm as an offering to Lord Krishna just as He is ordering you to do in the Bhagavad-gita. In this way you should make doing your job as part of your devotional service just as Arjuna did on the battlefield of Kuruksetra.

Whatever results come from your endeavors you should always see as the mercy of Krishna. In this way you will not become proud of being great. You should always think that you are nothing and that Krishna is great. But this does not mean that you should accomplish nothing. Rather as Krishna's instrument you should heroically accomplish unlimited miracles in the service of the Lord.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari