Loneliness to solitude

A BBC loneliness experiment with a sample size of 55,000 found that 40 percent of people in the age group 16-34 felt lonely. In fact, for people above 75 the percentage of people who felt lonely dropped to 27. In the era of connectivity, loneliness is becoming a growing public health concern.As the malady cuts across age groups – some studies maintain the middle-aged are the worst affected – the problem goes beyond income, connectivity and social contact. In this milieu, old fashioned concepts like trust, reciprocity and shared vulnerability are remembered with nostalgia.A more philosophical approach sets all these things aside and gets to the root of the problem. In this view, loneliness is a fundamental condition of life. We are born alone, die alone and in the period in between live like an island unto oneself. In this sense every being is unique and each one’s experience completely subjective. Even as we function in accordance with rules of governance and social norms it is possible to feel a sense of loneliness.The sanctity of the sacred springThe existential philosophers attributed this to the fact that life as such had no meaning or purpose. The quest for these were often misleading. Desires became the purpose and their insatiability made the whole exercise meaningless. Those western thinkers who were influenced by oriental thought suggested going beyond the ego as an antidote. Art, music and even nature were all seen as beyond the normal manifestations of ego. They were expressions of unique thought processes and were perceived equally uniquely by the viewer.The same idea took the form of compassion for the more spiritually inclined. Gautama Buddha and his followers believe that all of us are the expression of the same underlying influence or will,  which some call God, and everyone’s suffering is our own suffering. Compassion comes more easily and the idea of shared suffering mitigates loneliness. Compassion becomes a form of ethical existence with both meaning and purpose.In the Indian view, when consciousness stems from the misconception that the self is an isolated fragment, cut off from the universe, there is loneliness. This is rooted in the ego and when the illusion of separateness from the universe dissolves, the loneliness becomes solitude and gives joy. This is the ultimate purpose of yoga and is called Kaivalya. Loneliness may be a normal state. Solitude is a striving, a purpose, and an end in itself. Older adults perhaps understand this better.

Source: Deccan Herald