I read this curious article about how some people have become seriously depressed after watching the movie Avatar. Not because it didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make them happy seeing the world portrayed in the film, but because the real world seemed so grey and lifeless afterwards.<\/p>\n
I say \u00e2\u20ac\u2122some people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 but it seems to be quite a few, judging by this article.<\/p>\n
My comment would be \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seen the film, although everyone else apparently has \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that yes, those movie-goers are quite correct, this world is indeed grey and lifeless but the good news is that there is indeed another world, an alternative reality, that you can enter through the spiritual practice of yoga. It is a factual world where you can walk around and enjoy yourself, with a self-illuminated sky, trees that fulfil all desires, and the most beautiful scenery in vivid colours. More than that, the relationships are never disappointing and the food is never the same twice.<\/p>\n
For thousands of years, contemplatives have been entering this world in their deepest meditation, coming back to external consciousness only to speak of it to others. It is so far away that it is inaccessible, even if one travelled at great speeds for years; but it is so close that it can be revealed within the heart. This world belongs to no single religious tradition, but the techniques of entering it can be learned by investigating the oldest writings on this planet.<\/p>\n
In the ancient Bhagavad-gita the supreme person of that world declares: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That abode of mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by fire. One who reaches it never returns to this material world.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Furthermore the same person declares: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am seated in everyone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s heart, and from me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
And the Vedas recommend the daily practise of meditation to take our innermost self higher. That self desperately wants another world because that world is the real home of the true self. And the best form of meditation is to focus the mind, for as long as possible and at one sitting, on a sacred mantra, a sound formula that connects the inner heart with the lost inner world.<\/p>\n