Message from the Gospel – 19. Solitude Is Necessary

In Message 5 we saw that discrimination and dispassion act as protective shields against bad tendencies such as lust and greed. How to acquire discrimination and dispassion? Practising spiritual discipline in solitude and the company of holy people are the two options. Sri Ramakrishna had explained the importance of both of them.

MASTER: "Haven't you seen the trees on the foot-path along a street? They are fenced around as long as they are very young; otherwise cattle destroy them.  But there is no longer any need of fences when their trunks grow thick and strong.  Then they won't break even if an elephant is tied to them.  Just so, there will be no need for you to worry and fear if you make your mind as strong as a thick tree-trunk.  First of all try to acquire discrimination.  Break the jack-fruit open only after you have rubbed your hands with oil; then its sticky milk won't smear them."

"I said to Keshab Sen further, 'How can the worldly man be cured of his serious disease unless he goes into solitude?' A worldly man is suffering from delirious fever, as it were. Suppose there are pickled tamarind and jars of water in the room of such a patient. Now, how can you expect him to get rid of the disease? Just see, the very mention of pickled tamarind is making my mouth water! (All laugh.) You can very well imagine what will happen if the tamarind is actually put in front of me. To a man, a woman is the pickled tamarind, and his desire for enjoyment, the jars of water. There is neither end nor limit to this desire for worldly enjoyment. And the things are in the patient's very room. Can you expect the patient to get rid of the delirious fever in this fashion? He must be removed for a few days to another place where there are neither pickled tamarind nor water-jars. Then he will be cured. After that if he returns to his old room he will have nothing to fear. 'Woman and gold' cannot do any harm to the man who lives in the world after attaining God. Only then can he lead a detached life in the world as King Janaka did. But he must be careful at the beginning. He must practise spiritual discipline in strict solitude. 'Woman and gold' will not be able to harm you in the least, if you go home and lead a householder's life after increasing your spiritual strength and developing love for the Lotus Feet of God through the practice of spiritual discipline in solitude.”

"A man sets milk in a quiet place to curdle, and then he extracts butter from the curd. After once extracting the butter of Devotion and Knowledge from the milk of the mind, if you keep that transformed mind in the water of the world, it will float in the world unattached. But if the mind in its 'unripe' state – that is to say, when it is just like liquid milk – is kept in the water of the world, then the milk and water will get mixed. In that case it will be impossible for the mind to float unattached in the world.” 

"Live in the world but, in order to realize God, hold fast to His Lotus Feet with one hand and with the other do your duties. When you get a respite from your duties, cling to God's Lotus Feet with both hands – live in solitude and meditate on Him and serve Him ceaselessly."

"By turning the mind within oneself one acquires discrimination, and through discrimination one thinks of Truth.  Then the mind feels the desire to go near to God, and after realizing God, you can without any effort gather four fruits, namely, dharma, artha, kama, and moksha.  Yes, after realizing God, one can also get, if one so desires, dharma, artha, and kama, which are necessary for leading the worldly life."

“He who has attained God knows that it is God who has become all this.  Then he sees that God, maya, living beings, and the universe form one whole.  God includes the universe and its living beings. Butter goes with buttermilk, and buttermilk goes with butter.  If there is a thing called buttermilk, then butter also exists; and if there is a thing called butter, then buttermilk also exists.  If the Self exists, then the non-Self must also exist.”

“He who is realized as God has also become the universe and its living beings.  One who knows the Truth knows that it is He alone who has become father and mother, child and neighbour, man and animal, good and bad, holy and unholy, and so forth."

It may not be possible for everybody to go into solitude as and when they like. In life, sometimes we are surrounded by people and at some other times we are alone. Suppose, a situation arises that leaves us alone. Do we have the mental balance to accept that peacefully or does it make us restless? Often, we see people complaining that they are lonely. If they can understand the importance of solitude and learn to utilize it to their advantage, they will be able to consider it as a blessing. The purpose of solitude is to acquire discrimination and dispassion. May the God Almighty shower us with the wisdom to look upon our moments of solitude as an opportunity to practice dispassion and discrimination and enable us to utilize those moments to the fullest.