Mental Health and Non-Duality: Depression, anxiety, trauma, addiction, low self-esteem (and how I may be able to help)

Also see my various other articles on mental health and spirituality here

WHICH OF THESE THREE GROUPS (SEE BELOW) DO YOU FALL INTO?

Some people come to this teaching quite depressed, with low self-esteem, and other psychological issues such as anxiety, varying levels of addiction, or just being in a psychological rut that they cannot seem to get out of. They look to spiritual teachings as a solution, and they look to self enquiry as a way out.

The truth is that ultimately the solution IS spiritual and self enquiry IS the way out. Without genuine self-realization suffering will inevitably continue on some level.

For some, all they need is self enquiry. This will cure them totally and fully. In truth this is all any of us really need.

However there are many seekers I come across who have psychological issues or life issues (issues with relationships, money, work, family) which (in their mind and in their experience) prevent them from deeply engaging with self-enquiry. These psychological issues and habitual tendencies prevent their self enquiry and spiritual practice from going deeper.

Sometimes this manifests simply as not having much desire to actually do or engage with self-inquiry despite having a relatively good understanding of the teachings.

For many years now I have been working 1 to 1 with apparent people to unblock these psychological issues and other life issues such as relationship issues, money issues and self-esteem/confidence issues. I am happy to say that my success rate is very high 😊 and I have guided many people to heal their deepest psychological wounds. Often this happens relatively quickly, just in a few sessions, but sometimes it can take much longer. It depends on the person, their openness to truth, their willingness to look at themselves and question their own beliefs, as well as our connection and their resonance with what/how I share.

I should say at this point that if you have deep psychopathology, such as psychosis or severe PTSD type symptoms or recurrent suicidal thoughts, then it is best to see a therapist who specialises in these areas and not me. Whilst I do have many years of experience treating people who have serious mental health issues, I’m not a qualified psychotherapist.

However if you have milder psychological issues that are getting you down, or if you feel you are in a rut, if you are having relationship patterns or other habitual tendencies that repeat themselves, if you have issues with your self-esteem and daily levels of happiness, then these are issues I can probably help you quite a lot with, especially if you have tried other things which have not worked.

(These are often the people that come to me! People have tried everything else that hasn’t quite yet worked!)

And often one-to-one sessions with me have resulted in a great opening, a great opening to happiness and love and connection, which is what the teaching is actually about.

I have found that the way I work with people varies quite a lot, it can vary a huge amount actually, as the way I respond depends on the person I am speaking with and the issues they are confronted with. I like to think that I meet people where they are and so each person hopefully receives the teaching that they need from me.

I would like to make a point here that this teaching is not about breaking you down, deconstructing and destroying you. That is the intellectual approach. Quite the contrary, this teaching is about building you up, connecting with what you actually are, which is something wonderful…and then going beyond that too, beyond any notions of a person who can connect with something greater than themselves. This is discovering the actual truth of what you are, which is total consciousness, total compassion, total love, total bliss, the end of suffering, Divine Oneness… And it is just simple Being devoid of any duality or illusion.

So perhaps you fall into one of these three groups:

1) If your self enquiry and spiritual practise is going well, then you probably don’t need me at all.

2) If your self enquiry is ok but could be better, or your motivation is lacking or your understanding is not quite there, then I would recommend you come to satsang meetings with me. These meetings provide a very powerful energy and environment in which not only are you energetically drawn much deeper (at least this is the feedback I get from people who attend satsang with me), but doubts and questions can also be resolved on the verbal and conceptual level too. Some people only need to attend a few meetings to have their doubts resolved, but others will need to attend many meetings regularly in order for the teachings to go in more fully and deeply and have the desired effect. There is a charge to attend these sessions, but if you cannot afford this charge, you can pay a lower amount or come for free if you message me first. In this way nobody is excluded from the teaching.

3) if you have psychological or relationship or life issues that are keeping you unhappy and distracting you/preventing you going deeply into your self enquiry, then consider booking a one-to-one session with me. There is a one-to-one fund available to partly or wholly cover the cost of this for people who are genuinely engaged with this apparent path but who cannot afford to pay for a one-to-one session with me – see my website tomdas.com for details. This fund is largely supported by donations from people who themselves have greatly benefited from 1 to 1 sessions with me and would like to see other people also benefit.

I write this in the hope that this information is helpful to you and benefits you on your journey.

If anybody reading this has had a good experience of one-to-one sessions with me, or of attending satsang meetings, or can otherwise vouch for what I’ve said above, please consider sharing this in the comments

Please also read and ensure you understand the Disclaimer here before booking any sessions with me.

Namaste & best wishes

Tom

🙏🙏🙏

Also see my various other articles on mental health and spirituality here

What is the best way to deal with suffering? | Spiritual Bypassing | Vasanas and conditioning

There are two basic paths you can take with suffering. One is pure Self-Enquiry, and just like any other phenomena that is arising, you say “To whom does this occur? To me. Who am I?, in order to direct your attention away from the suffering and the thoughts and go back to the Self.

However, with strong vasanas, strong suffering, you may need to go into Maya and solve these on the level of cause and effect. Just like any other practical problem in life, we can try to solve them on the level of life.

This video was recorded live during a Satsang meeting with Tom Das and put together by volunteers.

To see all the guided meditations see the ‘guided meditation’ playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/c/TomDasNonduality/playlist

For recommended reading for liberation see here: https://tomdas.com/2020/10/19/recommended-reading-books-for-enlightenment-liberation-and-self-realisation/

To attend satsang, see here: https://tomdas.com/events.

To book a 1 to 1 session with Tom see here: https://tomdas.com/nondual-spiritual-counsellor/

Intense fear during meditation, when staying with the I AM

Dealing with deep layers of fear and conditioning

Q: Sometimes when my meditation becomes very deep and I stay with the I Am, there comes a sense of the whole world becoming very dark together with a sense of losing myself into something really bad and dark. My body starts to react strongly as well, and it feels like some kind of primal fear arising.

This video was recorded live during a Satsang meeting with Tom Das and put together by volunteers.

To attend satsang, see here: https://tomdas.com/events.

Mental Health, Healing Trauma and Addiction, Emotions and Non-Duality

I’ve created a playlist containing a series of videos on above topic, take a look! Click the playlist icon on the top-left to see all the videos. Please don’t forget to like and subscribe to support these videos, Namaste!

Spiritual, Emotional & Non-Dual Guidance & Counselling

Tom is the only one [teacher] I’ve seen who doesn’t come from his point of view, he always comes directly from the silence and meets the seeker exactly where they’re at. If they need a practice, he has it, if they already have one but are stuck he knows how to move them, if they’re just beginning he knows how to guide them…it’s wonderful to see.
Danny, UK

To arrange a 1 to 1 session with me please contact me via the contact page.

I offer 1 to 1 sessions either in person or via zoom. These sessions can be a wonderful way of clearing apparent blocks and confusion and can provide a much needed short-cut on your spiritual journey.

My Approach

I meet you wherever you are in your journey and guide you from there – whether you’re completely new to this or are a seasoned seeker, whether you want to focus purely on non-duality or instead want to heal emotional issues, deal with practical aspects of life or explore relationship issues.

Even if you don’t have a specific question or issue in mind, I often find I can intuitively feel where you are and advise you accordingly.

Guidance

Here are just some of the many things I have helped guide those who have approached me:

  • Total Freedom – right here, right now!
  • Clarity around the teachings with a focus on ending suffering in daily life
  • Awakening & enlightenment experiences: making sense of what may have happened to you and where to go from this
  • Going ‘in and out’ of enlightenment – why this is happening for you and what to do about it
  • Reconciling various traditional approaches such as Buddhism, Christianity, Gnosticism, Zen, Advaita, Vedanta as well as non-traditional approaches such as law of attraction, new-age teachings, direct teachings, neo-advaita, etc.
  • Dealing with practical issues such as various aspects of daily life and earning money
  • Relationship issues eg. with partners, family and children
  • Not really feeling happy, peaceful, whole & complete despite intellectually understanding the teachings
  • Healing emotional trauma and distress
  • Resolving addictive or habitual egoic tendencies (vasanas)
  • Addressing various issues related to being a ‘spiritual seeker’, eg:
    • a sense of isolation or loneliness
    • loss of interest or passion for various pursuits
    • other more specific issues such as psychic and energetic experiences.

Cost

Cost for an online 1 to 1 session: £75 for 1 hour; £50 for 30 minutes
Cost for in-person 1 to 1 meeting (in the London area, UK): £100 for 1 hour

To arrange a 1 to 1 session with me please contact me via the contact page

Disclaimer

Meetings and sessions are not intended as a substitute for professional therapy, medical care, or legal advice. Please consult a licensed professional in these matters.

Testimonials

Tom is the easiest person to talk to and he gave me the support I needed.
Outi, Finland

Tom’s teaching is unique. His guidance is a non-dual lighthouse emitting a bright light-beam across life’s turbulent expanse to steer the seeker from crashing on the rocks of ignorance, misunderstanding and delusion, to reach the shore of Timeless Being.
His gift is discerning where the individual seeker is at and what is required specifically for that ‘individual’ to support them in their thirst for freedom from suffering. His maturity, as a guide, is evident in how he can appreciate the wisdom teachings, the ‘treasure in the field’,  in traditions not generally associated with non-duality.
This breadth of understanding sets him apart from the smorgasbord of spiritual snake-oil merchants, pedlars, ‘evangelical’ non-dual purists and genuine teachers which, in practical terms, allows a welcoming and genuine spirit of inclusivity for anyone attending his satsangs.
Gerry, UK

I find Tom’s teachings clearer, simpler, and less encumbered by BS than just about anyone out there whom I have encountered. I’ve had teachers from Alan Watts to Adi Da, to Andrew Cohen, and others. Tom has the least ‘baggage’ I think…
Your words always affect me like a clear, clean breath of fresh air in the midst of what is often a lot of misconception and gobbledygook about what there is to ‘attain’ and all the rest of it.
Carl, USA

I chanced upon Tom’s website at a very interesting time in my journey. I had studied traditional Vedanta for many years. I had some good understanding about the concepts and was doing some serious self inquiry or Atma Vichara. That’s when I started tying myself into all sorts of knots. I wasted a lot of time confused by concepts and was in a very frustrated place until I spoke to Tom.
I believe things happen for a reason and you meet the right people at the right time in the journey. Within a couple of sessions, Tom was able to help me unravel some of these knots. As the layers started peeling off and more layers and depth opened up the journey started taking a different shape. Throughout this, Tom was able to ask just the right question and clarified many concepts that would have otherwise taken a life of their own.
I found his teaching style refreshingly down to earth and humble and since he was able to speak from his direct experience, it made everything so real and relatable.
Arvind, India

Click here to read more testimonials