Life Of Solitude

[ranjitskohli]

Many people say that life of Solitude is essential for making Spiritual Progress.

I would say that indeed it is required, because when we continously live in this material world, we get so absorbed and carried away by the material energy. 1 hour of meditation will not be enough because we would anyways be spending majority of the time doing and interacting with people who are mostly settled in the material world and do not know or think of anything beyond that. I thinks so it is required to be aways and live life of solitude from time to time.

What do you say??

[scameter]

I think it's necessary, and I enjoy it especially in the right environment, but I don't think one should always and only be alone.

[Winfried]

I think interacting with other people is one of the key points of Spiritual Progress. But to me, the highest goal isn't redemption or anything, but to live a happy live and maybe learn a lot before I die.
Being alone from time to time seems to be one of the few things that keep me sane. But it shouldn't go so far that it harms my ability to interact with others. For if you don't interact with others, you won't understand the world around you.
But hey, I'm one of those guys who likes the material world.

[ranjitskohli]

I agree with you Winfried, but being too much involved with the material world will take you away from your state of stillness that is within each of us, because to interact to material world most likely and most of the cases you will have to get to their level so that they can understand you which can lead to effective interactins and accomplishment of the task in hand.

Even when we are interacting with the material world we should be deep rooted in being as Eckardt Tolle has said very correctly that our interaction with the world should come out of our stillness, bottom line to be an observer as much as possible and be vigilant about that state

[Winfried]

ranjitskohli,
your post has a tad of snobism in it. Not that I disagree with what you're saying, but stating "you will have to get to their level so that they can understand you" gives me the feeling you feel slightly superior to the people around you.
Is this a fact, or am I hallucinating again?

[ranjitskohli]

Winfried - ITs not that feeling superior to anybody, all I am trying to explain is that interaction between two entities at differrent level. If somebody is standing on the 10th floor and want to convey something to somebody standing on 1st floor, to make sure that the message is conveyed peoperly they should be if not on the same floor but atleas closer to where they are currently, or there will be misinterpretation of words.

Do you thinks if words are coming out of stillness will there be any ego centric identity, I think no, then there would not be any feeling or perception of being superior. That feeling can come only if they dont arise out of stillness and awareness.

Let me know your thought...

[Arctic-Stranger]

There are really two questions here. One concerns solitude as a practice, and one concerns solitude as a vocation.

Solitude as a practice is, I believe quite necessary for spiritual development. Whether it is an hour, or a deliberate five minute span, I really dont see how you can progress much if you dont have some time set apart.

Solitude as a vocation is much different. First, even in solitude there is plenty of room for interaction with others. I highly suggest visiting a monastary sometime. I spent a week at a Trappist monastery, where there is a vow of silence, and was surprised at how much talking I heard. (To be fair, I was there a few days after the Pope died.) But solitude was still the main theme of the day....ora et labora...work and prayer.

Not every saint is called to solitude as a vocation. Nor does solitude make you a saint. Personally I think that dealing with the ins and outs of everyday life is the stuff of sanctity, but then, I am not called to solitude as a vocation.

[...]

..there's a joke, quite a cosmical one, that goes like this:

Q: What do you have to do to get where you want to be?

A: Stand ín the circle.

[Starry_Canopy]

Is there a centre for the universe?

Does a circle need to have a centre? Maybe yes, as a circle, by definition, is the path that keeps always the same distance from a fixed point or centre.

Is the universe circular or spherical? Don't know.

Sorry for being so serious about your joke, ..., but I heard/ read J Krishnamurti's words once when he said that there is no 'centre' to existence/ no reference frame and this thing keeps intruguing me from time to time as to what he meant :)

[Arctic-Stranger]

According to a physist friend of mine, the centre of the universe is where ever you happen to be standing.

I finally began to understand a bit when he asked me where the center of the surface of a rubber ball would be located.

[Thomas Knierim]

Solitude and silence are very powerful practices. They are not for everyone. I consider them to be a bit of a luxury, since modern life tends to be neither solitary nor quiet.

Cheers, Thomas

[Michael]

The spiritual power of solitude and silence is recognised by every religion.Those who give their lives to this are greatly revered. So it seems to be a very important component of spirituality for all humanity.

However, I do get the feeling that the need of the world today is for spiritual people to live mundane lives and share their light with others.

Also is is true that solitude and silence can be very dangerous for people with certain mind sets and one of the most powerful learning processes is that of our inter-action with other people.

Solitude and silence in moderation except for the very exceptional few.

[...]

..life is what makes us progress spiritually. Placing importance on certain aspects of life can be beneficial for a while, but unless we can embrace all that life has to offer us, those aspects fall short of it's usefulness...

[...]

..you sure lead a far more interesting life than i am, but if solitude and silence equals peace then were not so different after all :lol:

[Starry_Canopy]

There is a view that solitude and silence are for reducing the turbulence in our minds so that they (our minds) become capable of recognizing the processes going on in them and seeing them as apart from who we are.

When living in society, our minds are all the time active in response to stimuli from outside, especially from other human minds. Even if we shut our eyes and ears to those stimuli, the electomagnetic wave patterns that other minds create influence the electromagnetic wave patterns of our minds, because electromagnetic waves influence one another. These electromagnetic wave patterns are produced by thoughts and feelings and in turn produce them (the two are different aspects of the same phenomenon, neuro-transmissions in our brain). This creates too much of 'noise' for us to be able to be in our underlying true nature that is said to be beyond thought or feelings (steady state). This is said to be a hindrence in our initial attempts to find our true nature. This is similar to wanting to place large telescopes away from human habitation so that they do not receive too much 'noise' from human activity.

It seems that once we have discovered the knack of reposing in our true nature, it does not matter to avoid our own thoughts or the external stimuli that put them in motion. It seems that at that stage, we would be able to simply repose in our true nature as and when we felt like and observe the turbulence in our mind and those of others as ephemeral phenomena, like a 3-D movie. At that stage, we can mingle with society and help others find who we are directly or indirectly.

It seems that it is very worthwhile for us to find that inner state silence, solitude, pure being as it is said to be a more blissful state than we can ever imagine. Once we have learnt how to live from that state, it seems that we ourselves will ever be happy and spread happiness to others, too. We will also learn the truth aout our existence and the universe and become one with it as and when we transform to becoming persons who do not want to exploit others or seek egotistical gains through the powers of omnipotency, omniscience and so on.

Of course, one might opt for the pleasure of being with other people and immersed in a full life from a relatively more 'worldly' point of view rather than first gain the inner 'knowledge' and then return to it. Each one of us 'knows' what is the most suited to this life of ours; no one else can or should presume to tell us that. Whatever we choose, as long as it is true to our conscience, makes us happy and does not harm others is, I feel , the right choice for us.

[______]

..you sure lead a far more interesting life than i am, but if solitude and silence equals peace then were not so different after all
To paraphrase psyche from elsewhere: "I am you."

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

I spent much of my life in solitude, some due to an abusive childhood and some from an abusive marriage. As a child and teenager, I preferred solitude to the torturous alternative. Although some solitude is good to expand and process thoughts, it is the seeds of thought from others that is the potential to most fully enrich us all. The key is to gather good seeds and limit our exposure to weeds.

The section of this article that talks about Social-Sensory Deprivation Syndrome shows a concise list of effects of solitude:
Post Incarceration Syndrome (http://www.tgorski.com/criminal_justice/cjs_pics_&_relapse.htm)

and this gives is an article from:
Stuart Grassian, MD
American Journal of Psychiatry
November 1983
Psychopathological Effects of Solitary Confinement (http://www.prisoncentral.org/Prisoncentral/Mental%20Illness/Grassian/Psych%20Effects%20of%20Solitary/Index.htm)
I think the link to the section Disturbances of Thought Content answers how much philosophical progress can be achieved through a life of solitude.

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

psyche wrote:
a friend who has a regal cinema movie pass gave me a free ticket to a movie on august 16 i have yet to use it


I have 2 movie passes from a couple of times that I donated blood, but somehow I don't consider going to the movies as socializing. It involves being amongst people, but one can be quite alone in a crowd.

[Michael]

This is 'ouch' stuff. Thanks to psych and Elizabeth for the courage of their honesty.

Funny enough, I've got a couple of cinema tickets I was given at Christmas.
:blink:

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

:huh: So what we have learned on the thread about a life of solitude is that the motion picture industry can't even give away it's product?
:ph34r:

[Starry_Canopy]

Or is it that a motion picture can bring a lot of us into close proximity, but can't help break the ice as a good drink could? :D

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

:lol:

[namtso]

small example at the grocery store more than occasionally people notice me and they look very closely at the contents of my shopping cart

i can only assume that they see or sense something about me that arouses their curiosity and there is something to be learned by looking at my cart because i have achieved some mastery re vegetarian nutrition
Do you dress in clothing that is unique? Not normal in reference to the area in which you live? Wear prayer beads or something? I grew up in California and I've noticed very clearly that folks down here in Georgia don't talk as loud as the guys I grew up with in California. They seem to take it as arrogance or rudeness, and I guess that could be true. In any case, heads turn. My suggestion to you, just smile. Sometimes people will even strike up a conversation. If that's something you care to do. For me it really just depends on my mood at the time.

a friend who has a regal cinema movie pass gave me a free ticket to a movie on august 16 i have yet to use it
I look at the movie listings all the time but rarely go. When Peaceful Warrior comes around I'll likely see that. I just don't think there are that many truly good movies being made any more. If one does come out I'll go see it in the theater by myself. Walk in after the movie trailers have started, walk out during credits before the lights come up. Very sneaky, and anti-social of me.

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

You said that they look in your grocery cart at the grocery store. My first thought was that you must be quite thin. People are facinated by thinness, and want to be thin themselves but eat too much food. The diet industry has convinced the masses that by eating certain foods or certain combinations of foods, one will become thin, but it does not tend to work for most people (as the main issue for being thin is quantity of food, not content). So, since people are not achieving the results they want from reading books and magazines, and thinking they are following the rules, people look into the grocery carts of thin people to see what the answer is that works.