Understanding And Handling Anxiety and Stress - Based on Wisdom from Hinduism

By C.V. Rajan

This book offers you a totally different approach to understanding, handling, and even avoiding anxiety and stress.This book is NOT meant to offer scientific, modern, or psychiatric solutions. It will drive you to do introspection and question you on most of the current day lifestyles, goals, ambitions, and dreams. It can shake up your 'me-too' attitude to life, which everyone seems to have taken for granted as 'the norm'.

This book relies on age-old spiritual wisdom available from India, based on the teachings of its saints and sages in analyzing, understanding, and handling anxiety and stress. In its beginning chapters, this book deals with what anxiety is, what the causes of anxiety are, and how to know if you suffer from anxiety. Next, the book discusses the importance of acquiring mental peace in life and the factors that cause loss of peace in our lives.

You may find some shocking realities and revelations about our lives in general, from angles which many of us don't want to look at! We all want to have more joy in our lives with less associated pain. Are there any ways to get them? Yes. The subsequent chapter goes digging into it, with very down-to-earth examples, and shows you some practical ways.

The book continues to discuss, giving some practical examples, spiritually oriented values like contentment, morality, ethics, and principles to reduce anxiety and stress.

One stark reality is that some anxieties and stress that we face in our lives don't obviously seem to be connected anyway with our omissions and commissions. Why so? This question troubles many people. Indian faith deals with this question very convincingly through its spiritual concept -- Karma and rebirth, which is discussed in detail.

On one side we speak very highly of love and its positive role in life, but people also blame 'love' as something that potentially hurts! The next chapter does a critical analysis of the subject. Be prepared for some stark realities and revelations.

The book then proceeds to analyze debt, ways of avoiding debt, and the importance of simplicity in life to avoid stress.

In the last segment of the book, the time-tested and workable spiritual practices like worship, prayer, Yoga, meditation, and so on are dealt with in handling and reducing anxiety and stress.

The best tip for people to handle stress and anxiety is indeed revealed in the last chapter, which even many Indian believers are not aware of.

The author of this book is a spiritually oriented person, who writes extensively in English and Tamil. He is an avid reader of Hindu Scriptures and philosophies, and the lives and teachings of Hindu sages. He is a published author of short stories too. In his website 'Hinduism way of life', C.V.Rajan is consolidating and sharing all his writings on Hinduism under a single umbrella.

• Language: English
• Publisher: C.V. Rajan
• Release date: Feb 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201133498

C.V. Rajan

C.V. Rajan is a retired Design Engineer, now an avid spiritual seeker, living with his wife in Ashram at Amritapuri, Kerala, spending his retired life in quest of spirituality under the holy feet of Amma, Satguru Mata Amritanandamayi. He is an avid reader and a writer. Writing as a hobby started in him at the age of 20 and he became a regular short story writer in popular Tamil magazines during the seventies and eighties. He writes Tamil fictional stories with a pen-name Sandeepika. As his interest turned to spirituality in his late thirties, he became an avid reader of Hindu spiritual scriptures and also the lives and teachings of great Mahatmas like Kanchi Maha Swamigal, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Bhagwan Ramana Maharshi, Swami Sivananda Saraswathi, Papa Ramadas and his Sadguru Mata Amritanandamayi (Amma). In his early fifties, his Tamil articles started appearing in Sri Ramakrishna Vijayam magazine.  He has been writing in various websites on a variety of subjects during the past 18 years. Other than his mother tongue (Tamil) and English, he knows to speak, read and write Malayalam as well. Apart from original writing, C.V. Rajan also does considerable translation works across English - Tamil - Malayalam. He contributed in translation works at Ramakrishna Math (English-Tamil) and currently does it at Mata Amritanandamayi Math (Tamil-Malayalam-English). He is also currently engaged in translating some very popular Indian English Authors' books into Tamil in his spare time. C.V. Rajan maintains his own website hinduismwayoflife.com where  he is  sharing all his writings on Hinduism under a single umbrella.This site is aimed to be comprehensive source of basic info on Hinduism with all its facets to common seekers.  C.V. Rajan also writes Answers regularly in Quora (English) as well as in Quora (Tamil) on readers’s queries related to Hinduism, Life and Living, life experiences,etc. More than thousands of his answers are there in both the languages in Quora.

Book preview

1.  A quick word about this book

Let me state at the outset that this book has nothing to do with any scientific approach associated with modern psychology or psychiatry to tackle anxiety and stress.

Having anxiety and stress is part and parcel of everyone's life and until it tends towards serious mental disorder, it need not be considered a problem to be brought under psychiatry for medical intervention.

Much spiritual wisdom available in Hinduism coupled with spiritual practices can work wonders in the human mind in obviating anxieties and emotional stress before they turn into serious psychological disorders.

Modern lifestyle across the globe is being driven by the motivation to be a 'success' in life by all possible means. The measure of success mostly seems to be an economic success, discounting so many other things that were once part and parcel of peaceful living.

Ambition bordering on greed, superfast drive to achieve great goals discarding time-tested moral values, pressure from family, peer group and society to succeed and boast about one's success, a general tendency of eulogizing the rich sans ethics and demeaning the simpleton valuing principles and morality—these are some real factors causing immense anxiety and stress on people.

These issues, which are seriously associated with the human mind, can be tackled better through spiritual wisdom. That wisdom comes through religion and this book banks on Hinduism for its guide. This book is not meant to offer any 'modern' spiritual advice that discards faith in God or Guru. Whatever ideas discussed in this book are essentially based on abundant spiritual wisdom available in Hinduism shared by numerous saints and sages.

Please don't get scared that this is a religious book meant to preach.  People from any other religion with an open mind can grasp many useful insights from here.

The spiritual exposure offered through this book can lead the reader into introspection that boldly questions the evil of modernity. This book will help you to pause, look back and introspect. Through divine grace, it can pave the way for you to lead a life considerably freed from anxiety and stress, if only you are bold enough to act on what you grasp from this book.

Several topics discussed in this book in fact had appeared as individual articles written by me in some popular blogging sites of the past. Some titles may also be currently available in my website hinduismwayoflife.com.

I will be extremely glad to receive your feedback on this book through your comments.

C.V. Rajan

For a Quick brouse, here is the table of contents for this book

1. A quick word about the book and contents

2.  What is anxiety?

3 .  What are the causes of anxiety?

4.  What are the evil consequences of anxiety?

5.  How to know if you have anxiety/stress?

6.  Why Stress? Why and how do we lose peace of mind?

7.  We know, But we can’t!

8.  How to have more joy and less pain in life

9.  Moderation is the Key

10.  Contentment - the antidote to  stressful living

11.  Role of morality, principles and values in reducing Anxiety and Stress

12. The Karma and Rebirth Concept of Hinduism -

13.  Why love hurts so much

14. Emotional Stress in married life - Partners with diametrically opposite qualities

15.  Debt & Anxiety: Is it possible to live without borrowing money?

16.  How to deal with people who have anxiety?

17.  The role of Faith in God, prayer and surrender in handling Anxiety and Stress

18. Yoga (Yoga Asanas) and their use in reducing stress

19.  Japa (Chanting of Mantra) as an effective tool for calming the mind

20.  A Beginners Guide to Pranayama and Meditation

21.  The role of Mahatmas and Avatara  Purushas in curing anxiety and stress

About the Author

Afterword- Samarpanam - Sadguru Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma)

2.  What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a worry, concern, mental disturbance, nervousness or unease happening in the mind in the present, about something possibly happening or not happening in the near or distant future.

Emotional stress is the feeling of psychological strain and uneasiness produced by situations of danger, threat, and loss of personal security or by internal conflicts, frustrations, loss of self-esteem and grief.

Let us first delve deeper into Anxiety first. In chapters 5 and 6, we are dealing with Stress more in detail.

Can you ever claim that you never had any anxiety in your life?

No one can, because anxiety is part and parcel of human nature. It cannot be wished away easily.

Is anxiety totally bad?

Not really. Some amount of anxiety in us on certain matters is necessary. But if our mental health, balance and wellbeing are going to be affected by anxiety because we do not know how to manage it and keep it in control, then it is bad indeed.

Let us say, you are about to write your examinations. You are anxious to score distinction in all the subjects. Your future depends on how well you are able to perform in the exams. Naturally, this anxiety helps you to study well, wake up early in the morning for your study, be focused on your goal and not waste time on the Internet, playing computer games or watching movies.

A design engineer is making the design and drawings of some new machinery. Right from the beginning of the project, he is anxious that the design should come out perfectly without any error. He is concerned that at no point of time in the future anyone should find a mistake in the design, which may lead to costly reworks in manufacturing. This anxiety makes him ensure that every drawing is made correctly, dimensions are checked thoroughly and documentation is made with total clarity.

Thus, a certain amount of anxiety is essential for us to do an excellent job.  If that anxiety is not there, it is an indication that we are insincere; we are half-baked; we lack commitment; we have no self-esteem; we are not trustworthy.

Thus, having an anxiety to do things right has the touch of spiritual quality. That is why Danish philosopher Kierkegaard (1813-1855) has said that anxiety can be an avenue to stand in relation to God. This is why he wrote, Whoever has learned to be anxious in the right way has learned the ultimate.

In Thirukkural, 2000-year-old wisdom book in Tamil, saint-poet Thiruvalluvar says:

Anjuvathu anjamai Pedhaimai Anjuvadhu

Anjal Arivaar Thozhil       (KuRaL 428)

MEANING:

Not to fear what ought to be feared is folly; wise people do fear what should be feared.

Only when anxiety takes over us and makes us incapable of proactively solving or overcoming the expected future problems, or accepting an inevitable future occurrence, then anxiety becomes a psychological problem. If our present is getting gravely affected by worries of the future, then it is a danger signal. Psychologists say that anxiety and depression have a close correlation.

In the Hindu epic Valmiki Ramayana, we may notice that Lord Rama, despite being a divine incarnation, was gripped by anxiety when his consort Sita was abducted by Ravana. Ramayana vividly portrays how he became emotionally very disturbed, crying aloud, running here and there like a mad man searching for Sita, asking trees and rocks whether they had seen Sita and so on. He had to be consoled and positively counseled by his younger brother Lakshmana.

But did Rama succumb to his emotional disturbance? Did he slip into depression? Did he get dejected and take up the life of a hermit? No. Once the initial period of anxiety was overcome, he started looking for every avenue to locate Sita. He entered into a friendship with Sugriva and by mutual helping, he could get the assistance of Sugriva’s close associate Hanuman to locate Sita at Lanka and also the entire force of Vanara Sena to fight for him against Ravana.

Rama definitely went through lots of stress in his quest for Sita. Think of the extent of stress he went through, vividly described in Ramayana, during the course of the war with Ravana. Remember the extent of mental agony and stress he had to undergo when he asked Sita to prove her chastity by jumping into the fire?

The point is that even when God comes to earth in human garb, He too may have to go through anxiety and stress. What really matters is how He demonstrates through his own life how these are to be overcome by proactive actions. We read itihasas like Ramayana and Mahabharata only to learn lessons from them and apply them in our lives for our own betterment.

3 .  What are the causes of anxiety?

Anxiety can occur in us in various ways. We can group them into a few categories:

1.  We wish, hope and expect certain things to happen positively in certain ways. But we are worried – what if it does not happen that way?

Example:  A person has to catch a flight at 7 PM. He has started well in advance from his house, but somewhere on the way, there is a traffic jam and his taxi is moving extremely slowly.  Now anxiety grips the person. What if there is an extraordinary hold-up in traffic? Will he miss the flight?

2.   We do not wish certain things to happen in the future. We are worried – what if it happens?

A person who loves his mother (who is living in a village) receives a phone call that she is hospitalized due to some serious ailment. Even though his mother is old, he does not want her to die. Gripped by anxiety, he rushes to his village by train praying and wishing that his mother should not die.

3. The chance of something happening or not happening is very slim, but we are gripped in anxiety imagining things not happening or happening contrary to our expectations.

Example: A girl has studied quite well and prepared adequately for writing the examination. But suddenly she is gripped by anxiety. What if the question paper