Are you depressed? Is it because your job doesn’t pay you well enough? Or because your spouse and children do not listen to you? Or because your talent goes unnoticed and you are not valued enough? Or is it because of how your body and looks are deteriorating by the day? You are not alone. If you look around you will find that every individual is entwined in the same set of four worries—health, finances, relationships and/or status/position. In the physical world, the root of all these problems is an unfulfilled expectation. While the actual reason for this is the basic nature of soul and it’s not being able to find solace.

Unfulfilled expectations gradually pull one into depression, where the person hopes and tries to fulfill his/her expectations and while they never get met, the body ages...hair become grey, skin wrinkles, senses dull and then one day the breath also stops. The expectations still not met and so birth is taken to fulfill them.

Expectations are directly proportional to one’s ego. The higher the ego, the more one expects from him/herself and the things/people around, and when those expectations are met, he/she goes into depression. Medically, it is seen as an imbalance in specific hormones in the body which is triggered usually by psychological factors, age-related changes and in some cases owing to mental instability. Yoga says, this is because of avidya, which is lack of knowledge of reality. Everything in the physical world is unreal and is in passing. Basic nature of physically manifested world is destruction. Every second, all that is around us is getting destroyed. Actually, what we get depressed about doesn’t exist.

The interesting thing about expectations is that there is no limit to them. King Yayati enjoyed youth and its related pleasures for a thousand years and even after these thousand years, with all the women, food and wealth of the world, his desires and expectations were still not met and he realised that there is no way they could be met by further indulgence.

Expectations can never be met, the more you have, greater is the expectation from it. And the irony is, that whatever you have in the physical—be it health, wealth, relationship or power—it will also leave you one day, and when it leaves the disappointment will be directly proportional to the pleasure it brought with it, all this is because of avidya. To give you an example, I knew a man who had a very loving wife. She cared for him and kept him happy and healthy. At sixty, she left the body, and the husband could not take it. He went into depression. A healthy man, he died of a heart attack within a month. Everything in the physical is temporary, it is foolish to keep expectations from it. King Yayati, realised this and so returned the youth back to his son, and went in search of that which is permanent, which does not grow old or cease to satisfaction, to bliss. And that reality, only a Guru can show you by giving you the experience of what you desire and expect, and gradually change those desires and simultaneously lower the ego, so the expectations too fade away.

I detail here a simple kriya which when practiced in the presence of your Guru, instantly alleviates all kinds of depressions, giving you the experience of bliss, an instant glow is an added benefit. Sit in a comfortable position with spine erect. Close your eyes and paying reverence to the energy of Guru, take your awareness to the centre of the chest cavity. Become aware of light pink lotus at this point, become aware of a soft pink light emanating from this lotus and filling up your entire body. Gradually let this light grow to fill up your immediate surroundings, the entire planet and eventually all of creation. Now become aware of your Guru and connect with him/her in this light pink light (if you do not have a Guru, you can become of aware of the image on website, www.dhyanfoundation.com). Gently holding the hand of the Guru, drop all awareness, let go. Let there be no thoughts or movement beyond this point. Whenever you feel like, open your eyes looking first at the centre of the palms. Write to me about your experiences.

—Yogi Ashwini is the Guiding Light of Dhyan Foundation and can be reached at dhyan@dhyanfoundation.com