[2025 December DCTB Mindfulness Tip]
We are on the Path together. Even when we venture off on our own, we continue together. As relational beings, we interpret and experience reality in terms of self and other. As we dissolve into the pure Light, we discover there is no Other. Yet there you are, sitting there reading these words I wrote! And here we are, together on the Path.
We go off on our own for many reasons. In the northern hemisphere, it’s currently hibernation season, so it’s natural to want to isolate in our cave, resting.
There are times when we separate so we can more clearly see what is ours to deal with, and what burdens we have collected from others. When we are alone, it’s easier to put down what is not ours to carry. Then the practice becomes to not pick them up when we return to the collective.
Sometimes we run away. We may be in distress, and we don’t want anyone else to see. This is usually the result of a big attachment that has come to the forefront of our lives, and we don’t want to deal with it – being around others brings it to the surface, so we hide.
Other times our energy and emotions are out of control and we don’t want anyone to get hit by them, so we retreat until we have more control.
Occasionally we have confusing experiences to sort out and process, and we think we must do by ourselves.
Once in a while we do something foolish so we choose isolation as a form of punishment.
And there are times when it simply feels good to be alone.
If we quarantine ourselves from the world too much, we begin to think we are separate. We forget that we are all on the Path together.
The reconciliation of these seeming opposites – of the relativity of togetherness and of the oneness found in our aloneness – is at the heart of spiritual practice. On the one hand, we know no one can do our spiritual work for us. We must accept individual responsibility to discover the Truth, alone. On the other hand, we know we need help navigating the endless distractions and confusion of the world in order to discover Truth. We need others to find our way.
Even masters like Ramana Maharishi, who never formally studied with a teacher before his awakening, had the benefit of training imbued in the culture in which he was raised. Meditation was a common practice in India and Ramana Maharishi visited the ancient temples seeking connection to the Divine. Although when asked he would say the mountain Arunachala was his Teacher, he walked the Path together with all those who lived before him.
Ramana Maharishi would also say, “there are no others” when asked how to deal with other people. He said this not because the spiritual seeker should isolate. He said this so they would see the truth that we are not separate.
We cannot practice meditation and mindfulness for you, but you also do not have to do it alone. We can walk the Path together at Dharma Center of Trikaya Buddhism.
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