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 Post subject: Solitary Force
PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 11:06 pm 
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By Osho http://completewellbeing.com/article/solitary-force/
Quote:
Solitary Force
Loneliness is not the same as being alone

You must make a distinction between two words: lonely and alone. In the dictionary they carry the same meaning, but those who have been meditating, know the distinction. They are not the same, they are as different as possible. Loneliness is an ugly thing; loneliness is a depressive thing—it is a sadness. Loneliness is the absence of the other—you would like the other to be there, but the other is not, and you feel that and you miss them. You are not there in loneliness, the absence of the other is there. Alone? It is totally different. You are there, it is your presence; it is a positive phenomenon. You don’t miss the other, you meet yourself. Then you are alone, alone like a peak, tremendously beautiful!

Sometimes you even feel a terror, but it has a beauty. The presence is the basic thing: you are present to yourself. Alone, you are not lonely, you are with yourself. Lonely, you are simply lonely, there is no one. You are not with yourself and you are missing the other. Loneliness is negative, an absence; aloneness is positive, a presence.

If you are alone, you grow, because there is space to grow—nobody else to hamper, nobody else to obstruct, nobody else to create more complex problems. Alone you grow, and as much as you want to grow you can grow because there is no limit, and you are happy being with yourself, and a bliss arises. There is no comparison: because the other is not there, you are neither beautiful nor ugly, neither rich nor poor, neither this nor that, neither white nor black, neither man nor woman. Alone, how can you be a woman or a man? Lonely, you are a woman or a man, because the other is missing. Alone, you are no one, empty of the other completely.

And remember, when the other is not, the ego cannot exist: it exists with the other. Either present or absent, the other is needed for ego. To feel ‘I’ the other is needed, a boundary of the other. Fenced from the neighbours I feel ‘I’. When there is no neighbour, no fencing, how can you feel ‘I’? You will be there, but without any ego. The ego exists only in relationship.

Solitariness has a healing effect, it is a healing force. Whenever you feel that you are getting messed up, don’t try to solve it there. Move away from society for a few days, for at least three weeks, and just remain silent, just watching yourself, feeling yourself, just being with yourself, and you will have a tremendous force available which heals. Hence, in the East, many people have moved to the mountains, to the forests, somewhere alone, somewhere where there is nobody else to be bothered with. Only oneself… so one can feel oneself directly, and you can see what is happening within. Nobody is responsible for you except yourself, remember. If you are mad you are mad—you have to sort it out: it is your deed! This is your karma. The meaning is very deep. It is not a theory. Whatsoever you are it is your own work, so sort it out! Nobody else is responsible for you, only you are responsible.

So go into solitary confinement to sort out things, meditate on your own being and your problems. And this is the beauty: even if you can just be quiet, living with yourself for a few days, things settle automatically, because an unsettled state is not natural. An unsettled state is unnatural, you cannot prolong it for long. It needs effort to prolong it. Simply relax and let things be, and watch, and make no effort to change anything. Remember: if you try to make any change you will continue the same because the very effort will continue to disturb things.

It is just like sitting by the side of a river: the river flows, the mud settles, the dead leaves go to the sea; by and by the river becomes absolutely clean and pure. You need not go into it to clean it. If you go, you will muddle it more. Simply watch, and things happen. This is what the theory of karma is: that you have messed yourself up; now move alone.

So you need not throw your problems on others, you need not throw your diseases on others—you simply move alone; suffer them in silence, watch them. Just sit by the bank of the river of your mind. Things settle! When things settle you have a clarity, a perception. Then move back into the world…if you feel like it.


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 Post subject: Re: Solitary Force
PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 11:59 pm 
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StephenP wrote:
By Osho http://completewellbeing.com/article/solitary-force/
Quote:
Solitary Force
Loneliness is not the same as being alone

You must make a distinction between two words: lonely and alone. In the dictionary they carry the same meaning, but those who have been meditating, know the distinction. They are not the same, they are as different as possible. Loneliness is an ugly thing; loneliness is a depressive thing—it is a sadness. Loneliness is the absence of the other—you would like the other to be there, but the other is not, and you feel that and you miss them. You are not there in loneliness, the absence of the other is there. Alone? It is totally different. You are there, it is your presence; it is a positive phenomenon. You don’t miss the other, you meet yourself. Then you are alone, alone like a peak, tremendously beautiful!

Sometimes you even feel a terror, but it has a beauty. The presence is the basic thing: you are present to yourself. Alone, you are not lonely, you are with yourself. Lonely, you are simply lonely, there is no one. You are not with yourself and you are missing the other. Loneliness is negative, an absence; aloneness is positive, a presence.

If you are alone, you grow, because there is space to grow—nobody else to hamper, nobody else to obstruct, nobody else to create more complex problems. Alone you grow, and as much as you want to grow you can grow because there is no limit, and you are happy being with yourself, and a bliss arises. There is no comparison: because the other is not there, you are neither beautiful nor ugly, neither rich nor poor, neither this nor that, neither white nor black, neither man nor woman. Alone, how can you be a woman or a man? Lonely, you are a woman or a man, because the other is missing. Alone, you are no one, empty of the other completely.

And remember, when the other is not, the ego cannot exist: it exists with the other. Either present or absent, the other is needed for ego. To feel ‘I’ the other is needed, a boundary of the other. Fenced from the neighbours I feel ‘I’. When there is no neighbour, no fencing, how can you feel ‘I’? You will be there, but without any ego. The ego exists only in relationship.

Solitariness has a healing effect, it is a healing force. Whenever you feel that you are getting messed up, don’t try to solve it there. Move away from society for a few days, for at least three weeks, and just remain silent, just watching yourself, feeling yourself, just being with yourself, and you will have a tremendous force available which heals. Hence, in the East, many people have moved to the mountains, to the forests, somewhere alone, somewhere where there is nobody else to be bothered with. Only oneself… so one can feel oneself directly, and you can see what is happening within. Nobody is responsible for you except yourself, remember. If you are mad you are mad—you have to sort it out: it is your deed! This is your karma. The meaning is very deep. It is not a theory. Whatsoever you are it is your own work, so sort it out! Nobody else is responsible for you, only you are responsible.

So go into solitary confinement to sort out things, meditate on your own being and your problems. And this is the beauty: even if you can just be quiet, living with yourself for a few days, things settle automatically, because an unsettled state is not natural. An unsettled state is unnatural, you cannot prolong it for long. It needs effort to prolong it. Simply relax and let things be, and watch, and make no effort to change anything. Remember: if you try to make any change you will continue the same because the very effort will continue to disturb things.

It is just like sitting by the side of a river: the river flows, the mud settles, the dead leaves go to the sea; by and by the river becomes absolutely clean and pure. You need not go into it to clean it. If you go, you will muddle it more. Simply watch, and things happen. This is what the theory of karma is: that you have messed yourself up; now move alone.

This is so peregrinesque.

So you need not throw your problems on others, you need not throw your diseases on others—you simply move alone; suffer them in silence, watch them. Just sit by the bank of the river of your mind. Things settle! When things settle you have a clarity, a perception. Then move back into the world…if you feel like it.
Meditation without an agenda. That's GP Walshesque. :lol:
Big words of, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.
Try to read the text with his voice and demeanor in your head. :)

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:ugeek:


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 Post subject: Re: Solitary Force
PostPosted: Thu Sep 19, 2013 3:17 am 
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Solitude is the most powerful of thinking tools.

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 Post subject: Re: Solitary Force
PostPosted: Thu Sep 19, 2013 3:51 am 
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Posts: 444
Absolutely fucking beautiful, StephenP. Thanks for posting.
StephenP wrote:
By Osho http://completewellbeing.com/article/solitary-force/
Quote:
Solitary Force
Loneliness is not the same as being alone

So go into solitary confinement to sort out things, meditate on your own being and your problems. And this is the beauty: even if you can just be quiet, living with yourself for a few days, things settle automatically, because an unsettled state is not natural. An unsettled state is unnatural, you cannot prolong it for long. It needs effort to prolong it. Simply relax and let things be, and watch, and make no effort to change anything. Remember: if you try to make any change you will continue the same because the very effort will continue to disturb things.
Nice.

I have been playing with this for the past few months. I haven't been doing it for the 3 wk period Osho suggested, but at least once a month (sometimes twice), I will put aside a day (sometimes 2) on weekends where I sequester myself in my apartment and do not interact with anyone.

An important distinction to make here is that even if I read a book, watch a film, check e-mails, or listen to music, I am still distracting myself from myself, so I do none of these things. The one concession I make is that I occasionally allow myself to read anything I am studying around that time for my own spiritual development (which includes reading these forums). But i'm thinking I might even cut that out next time I do my 'hermit thing'.

Don't get me wrong, there are still other things to do, like cooking my dinner or whatever, but I try to cut out distractions where possible. Most of the time is spent just sitting on my couch doing nothing and seeing whatever my mind does, or meditating, or doing some 'releasing' (ie 'letting go' as described by Flow, 'Grinus, and others around here).

Depressed, needy, angry, self-pitying, spiteful, jealous, or otherwise fucked-up thoughts or feelings would invariably pop up - seemingly of their own volition - when I do this (especially on the 2nd day, which would make the 2-day stints particularily fucking interesting!). This would actually give me something meaty to sit down and 'release' on, which is really useful. Interestingly, I did another 2-day stint last weekend, and for the first time came out of it having experienced absolutely NO negative feelings whatsoever (except whatever I deliberately triggered while 'releasing'). I guess this MIGHT mean that i'm becoming more & more at peace with myself (and my inner demons, all of which which I now view - ON A VISCERAL LEVEL - as allies that are only trying to help me, and who only need to get on board with my vision for where I want my life to go - BTW, props to GP Walsh and his videos over @ The Balls Project for giving me some interesting food for thought on this subject that I suspect has contributed to this shift). But anyways, we'll see how it goes......

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"I will not grow in the light, until I pass through the darkest caverns of my heart..."

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 Post subject: Re: Solitary Force
PostPosted: Thu Sep 19, 2013 4:55 am 
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http://www.naturalfreedom.info/viewtopi ... ness#p2317

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 Post subject: Re: Solitary Force
PostPosted: Thu Sep 19, 2013 8:58 pm 
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Interesting.

I LOVE being alone! I have always loved being alone. I am a very introverted person by nature. But interestingly I am also a social person. I like meeting people and hanging out with people.

The thing is, afterwards I always needs some alone-time. Lots of it! I need it to reflect on things, to think about what has been said and what has happened.

In the past I made one big mistake while being alone and reflecting: I used to GRAB things. I used to HOLD ON to thoughts and emotions instead of letting them just pass by and wash out. This made me slightly depressed, jealous, angry and obsessive at times...

Now I am leaning to just let them go. In other words to just allow them. This is a BIG DIFFERENCE. Thoughts and feelings still come up but I don't really do anything with them anymore. I just watch them go by. This is a way more relaxing way to live. It just feels better.

I am still learning but I am getting the hang of it... ;)


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 Post subject: Re: Solitary Force
PostPosted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 9:58 am 
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Thanks for posting this StephenP. Been thinking about checking out some Osho, this definitely makes me want to read more.

From Oswald Spengler:
Quote:
The more solitary the being and the more resolute it is in forming its own world against all other conjunctures of worlds in the environment, the more definite and strong the cast of its soul. What is the opposite of the soul of a lion? The soul of a cow. For strength of individual soul the herbivores substitute numbers, the herd, the common feeling and doing of masses. But the less one needs others, the more powerful one is.


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 Post subject: Re: Solitary Force
PostPosted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 12:16 am 
I can identify in experience with what the article suggests. I have a frame of mind that I'm in at certain times and it only takes seconds or minutes of alone time to realize what's going on in my mind. What to do.

I do enjoy solitude.

Edit: I make the jump in mindset that I've been looking for if I dedicate more significant amounts of time to myself.


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 Post subject: Re: Solitary Force
PostPosted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 10:22 am 
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I've seen that what stops me of growth is myself (ego).
Even in silence I noticed I TRY to maneuver my way through things, that is futile and only disturbs what it is I'm in.
It creates a marry-go-round...I move, but cover no real ground.
Stuck in limbo, my energy depletes itself believing it is fighting the battle, but there is no battle.

This article put into words my realizations of the past couple weeks.


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