Thursday, January 18, 2007

Aloneness Vs Loneliness


Gautam Budha insisted to his disciples: "Be a light unto yourself."

Ultimately we have to learn to live alone. We have to develop in each of us the capacity to guide ourselves through darkness without a companion : all alone.

That brings us to the aloneness vs loneliness debate. Loneliness is being deprived of something while aloneness is the presence of oneself. You start with loneliness and its height is aloneness i.e. you get so used to staying lonely that you get enconsed to it and you end up enjoying it (aloneness).

For furthur reading refer to this article by Osho:
9. Aloneness

2 comments:

Tomas Creo said...

I entirely agree with you. Most parts of your life you have to walk through the major roads all alone, but its always fun to have some company around. When the state of "loneliness" is critical for certain situations, I am really doubtful about anybody wanting to be "alone" in present society. In a world built on tech comm and relationships you either have to be a saint or a hobo to enjoy the state of "aloneness".

Anonymous said...

yup..nice one..