Question: My question is about depression. For quite some time I have been observing that the mind is like a sine curve; there are highs and there are lows. But the lows are more frequent and wider than the highs. Why it is so?
Acharya Prashant (AP): Lows are lows. The problem arises when the highs are also lows. Then all that you get is only lows.
In a sine curve you ought to have lows and highs. Now lows are lows, but it becomes tragic when the highs are also lows. What is sad and depressing is indeed sad and depressing, but what was supposed to be exciting and wonderful, that too turns out to be sad and depressing; then it is a betrayal of hope, then it is indeed twice depressing.
This is what happens when we make a bad deal. And the mind, though it thinks itself to be a very clever businessman, always makes bad deals. The mind is a trader, it gives away something and it wants something in return. Kindly see what it gives away, and what it wants. It gives its Essence away, it gives Freedom away, it gives Love away, it gives simplicity and sincerity away. And what does it want in return? It wants acceptance, it wants pleasure. But it gets defeated on both counts. How?
What you are attempting to give away, is something that cannot be given away; it cannot be traded. It is your Essence. How will you trade it? It cannot be traded. So you say, “I am prepared to give up my Freedom. I willingly want to be a slave.” But you just cannot give away your Freedom, howsoever hard you try. Could you give away your Freedom, you would not have felt any sadness in being a slave.
