Hari Om Namaste and welcome to this episode where we'll talk about solitude.
In the modern world of connectivity and extroversion,
Solitude often comes with an air of taboo of loneliness,
Being a hermit,
And usually associated with monkhood.
But solitude is an essential part of our nature and serves as a balancing act to the constant extroversion of the senses and the mind.
Solitude is medicine for the soul.
It is food for the spirit.
We need this the most in the present times of uncertainty,
Technology addiction,
And all the noise in the online world.
Solitude offers us the much-needed space to reflect,
Look inward,
And heal.
We are easily influenced by others' opinions and stories,
But we lack the courage to walk the path alone and to face our own darkness and light.
So instead of looking inward,
We look outside for the answers,
We pin our hopes on others to make us feel better,
And we blame the external situations for our adversities and challenges.
Yes,
This external aspect of life does influence our inner state,
And vice versa,
It's always a dialogue between the two,
But we have no control over the external factors.
However,
We do have autonomy of our inner narrative.
And in this regard,
Solitude is a beautiful way to listen to our inner voice,
To silence the critic,
And to befriend the child within.
Solitude offers space for silence and stillness,
Which helps calm the turbulent mind.
We all need to retreat occasionally to rest,
Recharge,
And rejuvenate,
And we may not have that privilege and luxury to get away to a rusty cabin in the woods or mountains,
But we can always retreat to our inner landscape.
But if you're not used to this silence,
Stillness,
And withdrawal,
Then this experience can seem alien and uncomfortable initially,
And it is recommended to start small.
By first getting comfortable being alone by yourself,
And this happens in the form of limiting sensory input and the distractions.
And you'll notice that as the external chatter reduces,
All the repressed thoughts,
Emotions,
Memories,
They begin to surface gradually.
Even if one is not meditating,
But sitting alone in a room without any inputs and things to do,
This is a natural process.
And when this becomes uncomfortable,
We begin to find distractions with technology,
Interactions,
Food,
Which are part of life,
But then we also have to become comfortable to acknowledging all that is there within our deeper layers of the mind.
And in solitude,
Initially one might feel like a fish out of water,
Very uncomfortable,
A very foreign territory.
But remember that the mind is working against its usual pattern of distractions and stimulation.
All that we do,
Keeping in touch with others,
Browsing social media,
Watching television,
Enjoying food,
When we begin to moderate them and use them in a very constructive manner for our survival and growth,
We also begin to connect with the deeper aspects of the mind,
Our hidden thoughts,
Memories,
Feelings,
Desires,
Insecurities.
But when we go through this phase of discomfort and solitude initially,
We have to realize that it's a very temporary state.
And just like everything else,
It is not permanent,
And it fades away eventually.
With time,
You'll notice that you get comfortable with solitude.
You'll notice that,
Just like how the external world has different sounds which keep coming and going and shifting,
The same way,
Mind has so many thoughts which are nothing but internal sounds.
These sounds in the mind,
These thoughts,
They arise,
They stay in the consciousness and then they pass.
And just like the clouds in the sky or the waves in the ocean,
They come and go.
So the sounds in the outer world are external noises,
The thoughts in the mind are internal noises.
And we have to cultivate this awareness that we become a witness to these thoughts.
The more we get affected by these thoughts,
The more we label them as good,
Bad,
Right,
Wrong,
Positive,
Negative,
The more we are affected by it,
But then if we just take a step back in silence,
In stillness,
Then we begin to observe.
We become a detached observer and a seer of our thoughts.
And when we become familiar with this landscape of the mind,
We begin to dig deep into our own self,
We begin to access deep insight,
We begin to access intuition,
Innate creativity.
There is a fountain of strength,
Wisdom,
And creativity in all of us.
The only concern is we have spent most of our lives looking outward for answers and solutions.
And yes,
Even this podcast is one of those sources,
But the intention here is to encourage you to look within.
Because in solitude,
In silence,
In stillness,
We can find answers that no book,
Teacher or sources can answer for us.
And when we become comfortable in this space of solitude,
Magic happens.
We begin to truly flow with the silence.
We begin to embrace the stillness.
We begin to not fight with ourselves.
We begin to stop running away from our own mind.
And this is why it becomes very important whether we do it for the first time in the morning,
Or the last few minutes at night,
Or throughout the day,
Or maybe a quarterly or annual retreat.
But solitude is such an important aspect of the human condition,
And a very important step to evolve on the spiritual path.
What had started as a very uncomfortable journey when we sit alone with ourselves in solitude,
Moves into a space where we become at peace with ourselves.
And when we find that peace within,
We also become more at peace with others and the world.
We connect with the resilience that we have within us.
It's very natural to depend on others because we have needs.
But if we can connect to ourselves and tap into the source of strength within,
It can truly enhance our relationships and also give us that resilience to overcome adversity.
And with this,
We also become more present in daily situations.
We handle challenges with conviction,
And there is a sense of appreciation and gratitude for the blessing in life.
And as Blaise Pascal quoted,
All of humanity's problems arise from man's inability to sit alone in a room.
And this is food for thought because we are constantly surrounded by people and interactions and gadgets and all kinds of sense objects.
But when we take this time to sit by ourselves,
This is where the magic unfolds.
And we don't become a recluse in the process if that's the concern which comes to mind initially.
Rather,
We find that strength and clarity and we become more connected to life.
We become more connected to ourselves and hence we connect better with others,
With nature,
And there's more harmony within and around.
So,
To end this podcast episode,
I encourage you to take a moment of silence and be by yourself in solitude.
It can be as simple as a five-minute experience where you switch off all distractions,
Let all thoughts surface about this gem of solitude,
And then watch how that journey unfolds.
Wishing you a wonderful day ahead with silence,
Stillness,
And solitude.
Hari Om Tat Sat.
