Someone: Dear Bờm, does spiritual practice mean we must always live alone, in solitude, hidden away, as hermits?
Bờm:
The noble teaching says…
Like a lion unafraid of any voice
Like a breeze bound by nothing
Like a lotus unstained by foul mud
Practice solitude like a one-horned rhinoceros.
But
If you, my child
Finding a Good Friend
A companion dwelling in goodness and wisdom
Living together wisely
Overcoming every danger together
And find joy
Then…
Be joyful and mindful
Live together with that person.
(A summary of a few points from Chapter 1 of the Sutta Nipata)
Later generations studying the Buddha, without personal realization and relying only on scripture, did not fully understand. So they relied only on ideas like those in the first lines, reaching the line ‘Live in solitude like a rhinoceros with 1 horn.’
Thus, before finishing the lesson, they rush to escape in the name of letting go, choosing to live alone. They may spend their entire lives deep in forests or deserted mountains, rejecting society, community, and humanity. Yet they still evolve very little. It is all merely an illusion of separation.
Being alone is not bad. With a good intention, it can be very positive, because then we can devote ourselves full-time to spiritual practice, love ourselves, hold beautiful ideals for ourselves and all beings, and wish for liberation. However, carefully observe whether your intention is based on a pattern of escape. The very word “liberation” contains a certain percentage of negative meaning when it is based on the energy of “running away”… This comes from not yet understanding the design of this life: everything is a lesson. Escaping in the name of letting go means letting go hastily before learning the lesson.
While you are still “weak,” choose the practice of solitude. First learn to be peaceful and happy alone. After all, life only becomes terrible when a 2nd person “intervenes” in it. When there is only 1 of you, everything seems much “simpler,” doesn't it? Married couples understand this well: marriage has given them a “dream” of returning to the past, before they married, to be alone!
But ‘being alone’ can also be a stepping stone, so that when you are ready, you can walk alongside others, harmonizing your souls with one another, and continue evolving to new levels.
The Buddha allows you to walk together.
To achieve true harmony and true happiness.
Someone: Dear Bờm, but don’t we have to let go to become enlightened?
Bờm:
A person may “let go of everything,” live secluded in a forest for 10 years, and find peace, believing they are highly enlightened and awakened. Until, on some occasion, they return to family life and worldly life, and in fewer than 10 days feel ready to “explode,” want to “run away,” and continue “hiding away” to “be left in peace.”
That is not enlightenment, nor is it illumination. It is merely 1 very superficial state, without deep transformation, and a school of spiritual practice that refuses to face the real wounds within. That is not true peace; it is surface-level peace, also called false, temporary peace.
But that may be a temporary and necessary ‘stepping stone’ before reaching a far more progressive stage… True harmony within this very life.
Becoming a hermit is not the final step of evolution.
In other words, we need to learn to attain harmony and happiness within ourselves, happiness alone. We must first find true inner peace before we can hope to bring peace to the outer world.
Then, when two people who know how to be “happy alone” meet, they can build a “holy relationship” together and achieve “harmonious happiness.” It is a very progressive path. Traveling alone or with others is not the goal; it is merely a means to enlightenment. A person who has truly achieved inner harmony can choose to go alone or with others. That person already has fulfillment within.
Many people today travel “alone” without truly being in this state. They are merely “avoiding” something, or it is just a temporary “stepping stone,” like retreating briefly to an “oasis” to rest, recharge, reflect, and find inner peace…
Letting go is not running away; it is facing things so that you can graduate from your lessons. Once you have truly completed a lesson, you can let it go.
This universe is a universe of lessons. Everything around us is designed for us to learn them. When we go to school, if we have not finished a lesson, can we ‘move up a grade’? We must stay behind, study again, and retake the exam. Right? A lesson not yet completed will return, however much we run away, delay, or avoid it.
Even according to the Buddha, you need not abandon everything to become enlightened. He taught practicing the Noble Eightfold Path to attain enlightenment.
Renunciation is valuable, and sincere practitioners should always be respected. However, someone who still lives an ordinary life, does not endure hardship through extreme methods, continues contributing and creating value, respects traditional foundational values while joining in the fresh evolution of the present age, and practices in accordance with truth – such as practicing the Noble Eightfold Path, love together with wisdom, or something easy to say but hard to do, unconditional love – can still become enlightened.
Many people in India practice letting go in extremely radical ways, beyond what we can imagine, even with what we already know. But are they enlightened?
The key here is not “letting go”; it is the “lesson.” “Letting go” is merely one understanding at the initial stage: when we suffer and want to learn to escape suffering, we must let go of that suffering by letting go of what leads to it.
It is true to say this universe was created from ignorance. One day, with a very profound and progressive awareness… You will say this universe was created from love, and that will be true too.
Rebirth is an expression of that love.
Why? Because you are always given a “2nd chance” after each rebirth.
Cherish this life and sincerely learn its lessons. Everything in this world happens for only one purpose.
It is to serve your spiritual evolution.
Someone: So… Many people are confusing these things… Because they do not clearly understand the nature of spiritual practice…
Bờm:
It is okay. Everyone is at their own stage on the journey of evolution.
Respect others' evolutionary journeys absolutely.
