Leona: It’s so true that there’s no difference between self-isolation and socializing. I would love to see a satsang on that theme! The loneliness-thought is really prominent right now, with me and most of the people I know. I think that is one of the most hardwired bits of ignorance and responsible for so much suffering. Those of us who know what it is and who we are very fortunate indeed, but for people who don’t, this little time-out blip seems like a huge catastrophe.
Sundari: When we talk about the non-difference between isolation and socialization, we are talking duality and non-duality, satya and mithya. The Self cannot isolate, because there is only itself, and there is nowhere it is not. It is never lonely, cannot be, even when the jiva feels lonely. And that’s what’s so amazing about Self-knowledge, that both realities can co-exist without touching each other. Or even be in opposition to each other. It’s okay for jiva to feel the need to connect, it’s built into the program, for most. But the question, as always, is: Does the need propel the mind to seek outside itself for succour or is it its own wellspring? Sometimes it does feel like the spring is dry, but it never really is, feelings being as unreliable a means of knowledge as they are.
We can say, “I am feeling lonely,” without being identified with the feeling, just missing human connection or touch. So people going on about “what we learned from isolation,” are they talking about the jiva? There is nothing to learn about anything as the Self; it’s really quite boring. But the jiva may indeed have learned that it is true to its nature and loves experiencing “isolation” as all-oneness; it’s not loneliness. Or to its surprise may learn that it actually misses its “fellow human beings.” It’s always both/and in mithya. But if you think you are a person and “part” of the human race, then this time for you has many challenges indeed. A samsari must face their innate aloneness at this time. Loneliness is part of the human condition when we believe we need others to be whole or we do not know we are the fullness that knows the “loneliness” thought/feeling.
~ Much love, Sundari
