"There is a solitude of space
A solitude of sea
A solitude of death,
but these
Society shall be
Compared with that profounder site
That polar privacy
A soul admitted to itselfโ
Finite infinity."
Emily Dickinson
"That state is close to the Buddhist practice of mindfulness meditation:
a state of awareness and concentration where you maintain your focus on the present moment,
while calmly acknowledging and accepting your feelings, thoughts and bodily sensations."
"Buddha drew the same distinction between social and psychological solitude that we saw above.
He considered physical seclusion to be the most important, and saw psychological solitude state of non-attachment where the mind was kept free of negative thoughts and emotions.
For him, the โgoodโ reasons to seek solitude were to reflect or examine yourself, to support spiritual growth or simply for the contentment of being alone."
"researchers have found many of us dislike being left alone with our thoughts, and would rather do almost anything else.
So you might have to push through some internal resistance to discover what mindfulness can do for you.
Focused contemplation isnโt exclusive to Buddhism. In the fourteenth century, an anonymous Christian mystic wrote a work called The Cloud of Unknowing,
encouraging the faithful to pursue reflective solitude and contemplative prayer as a way to get to know God better."