The Correlation Between Buddhism and Clinical Depression

I am not a spiritual person. Culturally, I am Jewish, but I grew up only around Christian kids, and they thought that I was going to hell for not believing in Christ. Needless to say, there is a lot about Judaism that didn't really stick with me. I still love lox and cream cheese, Woody Allen, complaining, and imagining that I have a degenerative neurological disorder. This is the depth of my Jewish faith. Ultimately, I am agnostic because saying I am atheist is as big of an assumption as saying that the earth was created in 6 days. Even so, I have a gut feeling that there isn't a higher being, and all this existence stuff happened coincidentally due to nice weather, which usually makes or brakes most things anyway.



Unlike some non-religious people, I am very tolerant of other people's views and religious traditions. I think it's cute when boys go to Church on Sunday ( this is not ideal ). In my mind they still believe in fairy tales, with an innocent naivete. No matter how ridiculous it is to not eating bacon, or how completely moronic it is to celebrate an egg-laying bunny, people have the right to practice their beliefs without being ridiculed. It's a shame that the world isn't more accepting of the various conflicting religious views that exist, many wars could have been avoided, many lives spared, many boring and pointless arguments omitted.


I have been thinking about Buddhism recently . It's my religious flavor of the day. I think this is because I'm depressed. The definition of the Middle Way (the journey to enlightenment) is emptiness, and there is a point of depression that is very zen, when one is completely empty, and therefore suffering ends. I feel that all monks must be depressed too. Why else would anyone wear the same thing every day? Buddhism is ideal for people who are disenchanted with their lives, and have basically given up on certain goals and expectations that they once had in their youth.


The aspect of Buddhism that attracts me is that very little of the religion (or philosophy) has to do with an external higher being / bearded man (which is strange because I love beards) and more to do with one's inner being. It's a little narcissistic in that sense. I like practicing Buddhism when depressed because it can be done in isolation, without structure, bibles, gift giving, community, or effort. Buddhism is really just a point of view, and that view is not caring about anything anymore, to the point of complete apathy, and therefore being free of desire, other than the desire to go to the beach and drink whiskey, which is actually a need. Buddhism is really the perfect religion.