Acharya Mahaprajna
In his outer environment, man is not alone. He lives a collective life in the midst of others. But he is not collective in all respects. Only he who, in the midst of practical relationships, has yet a distinct awareness of his inmost being, can keep himself free from the problems arising in the flow of collective life. While facing outward problems, he is yet inwardly free from them. In the outer environment, living in the midst of a community, he yet remains alone in his mind, and while leading a busy outward life, he is yet free from pre-occupation in his heart of hearts.
A social being demands and extends cooperation. He cannot live alone. Society runs through mutual cooperation. However, while living a social life, people clean forget this truth that ultimately a man is alone. A meditating sadhak should always keep this truth in his mind. He must practise this anupreksha again and again. A man who firmly realizes that the soul is alone, the individual is alone, is not perplexed when no cooperation is forthcoming because his consciousness is fully permeated by the bhavana of aloneness. He will not break up even under adverse circumstances If this bhavana is not well established in his mind, on finding that he has been abandoned by all, he will go mad. It so happens because the individual fails to remember the eternal truth that man is essentially alone. He does not realize this truth, does not conduct himself in accordance with it. If his mind is permeated with this truth, he will not be demoralised by any happening. He will pull himself together.
When all offered cooperation, it caused no surprise. Now that all have abandoned us, withdrawn their cooperation - this, too, should occasion no surprise. The really surprising thing is that though such events occur every day, yet a man, closing his eyes, continues to ignore the truth. "I am alone." This is the anupreksha of aloneness. Attachment arises in duality; in the absence of duality, it dissolves. There is an Upanishadic saying:
"What delusion or grief can come to a man who keeps alone,"
Through sustained practice of the bhavana of aloneness all attachment to the body, material equipment, etc. weakens. Association with others is a practical necessity - we cannot ignore it. But at the same time we also must not ignore the truth that ultimately, the soul (the self) is different from all others. Only by strengthening this feeling of discrimination can a sadhak keep free from the bondage of the body, even while keeping in body yet.
The soul, capable of knowledge and intuition, is eternal, everlasting. I am the soul. The other fortuitous substances are different from me. I am not those fortuitous substances.
Do not be so attached to others as to lose all sense of your own individuality. In this bhavana of aloneness, a sadhak perceives himself to be outside all activities.
Plotis has said: "He flies high who flies alone;" Nami Rajrishi says: "Communion is suffering."
When there are two, communion takes place in words, not when there is only one.
The queens were grinding sandalwood. The tinkling of their glass-bangles pierced the ears. Nami Rajrishi said, "Stop it;"
The queens removed all their bangles except one and continued grinding sandalwood. No sound pierced the ears now.
Nami Rajrishi said, "Have you stopped grinding sandalwood?"
They answered, "No, it is being ground."
"Then," said Nami, "Why is there no sound of bangles?"
The queen said, "Because we are wearing only one bangle each. A single bangle makes no sound."
On hearing this, Nami Rajrishi was immediately enlightened and started on the path of sadhana.
At all places, a sadhak should experience aloneness. Not in imagination only, but in reality, one's existence is solitary. One is essentially alone. The day one is immersed in the feeling of aloneness, peace itself begins to knock at one's door.
