An uncommon way to beat Loneliness (2019)

Following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Questioner: It appears that when one is trying to escape from loneliness, the reading of spiritual book or practicing some meditation techniques is also not considered as the right thing to do. Could you shed some light on this?

AP: When the intention is to somehow escape from loneliness rather than go to the root of loneliness, rather than come face to face with loneliness, then anything that one does is just not honest. Honesty does not lie in turning one’s face away from the facts of one’s life. That is obvious, right? And if the fact of one’s life is ‘loneliness’ then one has to figure out what ‘loneliness’ is. One has to squarely look into the eyes of ‘loneliness’, one has to strike a conversation.

Instead of that if one finds an alternative then the alternative would remain a valueless one even if it is a so called ‘holy alternative’. Please remember that real holiness lies only in basic honesty.

If from a centre of dishonesty one is turning towards holy books, then the books remain holy, but one’s approach to the books, one’s attitude to the books does not remain holy.

How will it benefit you if you touch a holy book in an unholy way? When you escape from your loneliness, instead of…