This morning I was continuing my "feel sorry for myself" state that I was in last night. I was thinking that I don't want to be self-centered and I was a little upset that knowing this, God had not taken that trait away from me. Then I thought, maybe there is a link between seratonin and thinking of others as opposed to oneself. So I began googling. I wondered which comes first, lack of seratonin making one more self-centered, or does self-centeredness cause the depression and loss of seratonin....hmmmm......I couldn't find any scientific articles I could understand but I found this Buddhist page which I found very interesting.
The following exerpts came from this website: http://viewonbuddhism.org/depression.html
The following message appeared in a Buddhist discussion forum, where self-centeredness was discussed as a possible important factor in depression:
"Having myself experienced extreme, regularly to the point of suicidal, depression, I think I can understand your point of view at least to a certain extent. But on the notion of self-centredness, I'm afraid I have to agree. From my own experience, coming through a massive clinical depression and coming through to the other end, cured, I believe self-centredness to be the very cause of depression. And not just depression, but every ailment in the world as we know it. The irony is, I can only see this NOW, with hindsight, looking back at my mindstate when I was depressed: "ego all the way, me me me, MY problems, MY depression, MY past, MY MY MY MY..." That very self-absorbed, self-centred fascination with my own ego and its agenda mindstate is exactly what kept me trapped in that depression for so long. It's only when I started to consider that maybe -- just maybe -- as one of the 6 BILLION people on this planet, other people had problems FAR WORSE than mine, that the clouds began to part. And when I realised that I was being very selfish and WASTING my life in a state of -- excuse me, but there are few better terms -- mental masturbation.
All I was doing was feeding my ego, indulging its little whims and woes, and feeling sorry for myself. What was I doing for humanity? Nothing. And yes, that is self-centredness in its highest -- or should I say lowest -- form.
Of course, the great curse of the ever-nourished ego -- the root of all depression -- is that when you're IN that state, you CAN'T SEE it for what it is. It's like the people stuck in the Matrix (the film). They wouldn't believe it if you told them they were living in a dream. You have to wake up for yourself, then you see it."
Joshua Bryer
Similarly, the Buddha himself said:
"We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think.
When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves."
TWENTY-FOUR BRAND-NEW HOURS
By Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat Hahn, Coutersy of Plum Village Practice Center, France Every morning, when we wake up, we have twenty-four brand-new hours to live. What a precious gift! We have the capacity to live in a way that these twenty-four hours will bring peace, joy, and happiness to ourselves and others.
Peace is present right here and now, in ourselves and in everything we do and see. The Question is whether or not we are in touch with it. We don't have to travel far away to enjoy the blue sky. We don't have to leave our city or even our neighborhood to enjoy the eyes of a beautiful child. Even the air we breathe can be a source of joy.
We can smile, breathe, walk, and eat our meals in a way that allows us to be in touch with the abundance of happiness that is available. We are very good at preparing to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma, and we are willing to work very hard to get a job, a car, a house, and so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive at the present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive.
Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy, and serenity. We need only to be awake, alive in the present moment. ...
