Chapter 9 how to overcome loneliness

Our whole life is all about escaping from loneliness, isn't it? In relationships, we use others to cover up our loneliness; everything we do, the pursuit of knowledge, the accumulation of experience, etc., is a distraction to escape from Empty and lonely. Q: How can I overcome loneliness? K: Can you overcome loneliness? Whatever you overcome, you have to overcome it again and again, don't you? What you understand will end, but what you overcome will not end.This combat process only makes the one you fight stronger. Now, what is loneliness that most of us notice? We know it, and we run from it, don't we? We run from it in various forms of activity.We're empty, alone, and we're scared, so we try to cover it up with something - meditation, seeking God, social events, the radio, drinks, or whatever you will - and we'd rather do something else than go Face it, be with it, understand it.Whether we escape through the idea of ​​God, or through alcoholism, the escape is the same.So long as one escapes from loneliness, there is no great difference between worshiping God and indulging in alcohol.From a social point of view, it may be different; but psychologically, this kind of person is running away from himself, running away from his own emptiness, and his running away is seeking God, which is the same as the alcoholic.

It is very important not to overcome loneliness but to understand it, but we cannot understand it if we cannot face it, face it, and keep running away. And our whole life is all about escaping from loneliness, isn't it? In relationships, we use others to cover up our loneliness; everything we do, the pursuit of knowledge, the accumulation of experience, etc., is a distraction, used to escape the emptiness and loneliness.So, these distractions and escapes, obviously, have to stop.If we want to understand something, we need to pay attention.And if we are afraid and want to escape with other distractions, how can we concentrate on loneliness? So, when we really want to understand loneliness, when we concentrate on it, we will find that as long as we do not understand the most basic cause of the heart Creativity wouldn’t exist because of the fear—and when we get to that point, all forms of disagreement will end, won’t they? A lot of people laugh at loneliness and say, “Oh, that’s only for middle-class people. Gosh , do things, forget about it!" But what the emptiness cannot be forgotten, neither can it be put aside.

So people should really understand this basic thing that we call loneliness, we have to stop all avoidance; but escape does not stop in worrying, in seeking results, in any act of desire.People will surely find that without understanding loneliness, any kind of activity is just a process of distraction, avoidance, self-isolation, which only creates more conflict, more sorrow.It is very important to see the facts clearly, because only in this way can we face loneliness. Then, if we think about it more deeply, whether we think loneliness is a fact or a letter, problems arise.Is loneliness a fact? Or is it just a cover-up for something different than what we think? Isn't loneliness a result of thought? That is, thoughts are expressed by words based on memory, and don't we also use words expression, thought and memory, to see what we call "loneliness"? So, naming this state can lead to fear that prevents us from looking at it more closely; and if we don't name it, it's up to the mind Is the state of birth lonely?

Indeed, there is a difference between loneliness and loneliness.Loneliness is the end of self-isolation.The more aware you are of yourself, the more isolated you are.Self-awareness is an isolated process.But loneliness is not isolation.There is loneliness only when loneliness is over.Solitude is a state in which the mind knows immortality only when both outer influences and inner memory influences have ceased altogether.But to get there, we have to understand the process of loneliness, of isolation, which is the ego and its activities.So self-knowledge is the beginning of stopping isolation, and the same is true of loneliness.

Seattle August 6, 1950