Thursday, September 17, 2026

Thursday, September 17, 2026

Spending some time with yourself makes the time you spend with others more pleasurable and playful. Similar to nourishment; solitude is one of the basic necessities.

When you’re alone, at first you confront distractions from past and future floating in your mind. You mull over them. This is followed by self-enquiry. More often than not, you realize whatever recent “wrong” happened did not have much to do with her, him, or them, but with you. The negativity feel is ultimately a reflection of your own inner landscape. Slowly the thought settles and you’re back to your normal self. Only in silence can you mull over things and be fair to yourself and others.

When you sit still quietly, pondering what you have encountered, how it has affected you, and how you have affected others as the consequence of your interactions, it leads to self-understanding and self-improvement. Self-reflection and great thoughts grow out of silence of self-awareness.

Whatever peace and contentment you’ve within you, you have gained by spending time with yourself. The stillness, silence, and solitude make you conscious of inner spaciousness. Silence outside you becomes the stillness within you so that you can experience your aware self. 

For a week, conduct an experiment with yourself. Practice sitting still in silence and watch what emerges from it. For the first couple of days, as with breathing exercises and meditation practice, thinking will interrupt you, but the more you practice the more you will notice the empty space. Spaciousness will feel neutral, having no quality. Keep going back to it and watch how wise thoughts will begin to arise in the empty space. There is wisdom contained in your mind. It directs you to positive actions and speech. 

How is this possible? Remember, deep in your heartmind dwells your Authentic Self that is peaceful, content and joyous. Also called Awareness, it is the Cosmic Intelligence within you – discerning, warmhearted, unperturbed. Hidden behind ten thousand passing thoughts there is this vast space similar to brilliant blue sky behind the passing clouds.

You also experience this when you journal. You pour out your thoughts and feelings on the pages of your notebook. Then your wiser self takes over. You are no longer your restricted egoic self. The words that pour out spontaneously at the end of your writing come from Awareness, from that is behind the thinking mind. After a page or two it is not your ego-self writing, but your unconstrained, unbidden Awareness.