“Our language has wisely sensed the two sides of being alone. It has created the word loneliness to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word solitude to express the glory of being alone.” ~ Paul Tillich, via Solitude
“Joy comes from living fully in the here and now, no matter what the circumstance. To live like that I must give up wanting things to be different. The hardest is to give up wanting things to be different.” ~ Robert Kull, Solitude
“To be fully human we need to cultivate a relationship not only with other people but also with our deeper selves and with Spirit. Solitude can be a powerful context and catalyst for this process.” ~ Robert Kull, Solitude
“Even if our efforts of attention seem for years to be producing no result, one day a light that is in exact proportion to them will flood the soul.” ~ Simone Weil, via Solitude
“Life is a mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved.” ~ Adrian Van Kaam, via Solitude
“Deep peace and harmony seem to arise when I surrender to the flow of the world, not when I’m analyzing it or staying busy to shut it out.” ~ Robert Kull, Solitude
“No wonder I’m a perfectionist – always hoping that if I do things well enough I’ll finally feel loved and accepted. So much of my activity is driven by pain: if I can just do it right, I won’t hurt anymore. The trap is that it works – temporarily. For a short time I do feel better, but then self-criticism sets in again and I need to accomplish something else – perfectly.” ~ Robert Kull, Solitude
“I feel I somehow own myself and have the right to control what I do and feel and what happens to me. From there it follows that the world is mine to do with as I wish. But I didn’t make me, nor do I own me or the world. I’m just part of the flow of existence.” ~ Robert Kull, Solitude
“Sometimes, I actually experience that there is no outside or inside, that the weather and my feelings are a continuum, that the world is not, cannot be, against me since there is not separation between us. I am the wind and rain. In those moments I feel peace and joy.” ~ Robert Kull, Solitude
“It isn’t actually non-doing that generates anxiety, but rather fretting about doing or not doing. When I’m simply in the moment, without worrying about what I ought to be doing, my mind is at ease. It’s when I try to microplan everything that my imagination runs amok – because I can’t really know what will happen.” ~ Robert Kull, Solitude
“Anxiety is part of our human condition, and we need to learn to treat it as an old friend, or least a familiar acquaintance. Many therapists say to do something to avoid anxiety, but in such endless activity much of our experience – joyful and painful – is lost. Seems like a hard bargain.” ~ Robert Kull, Solitude
“And that’s the trick. Somehow in looking back, almost any situation seems to have been ok. The challenge is to live that acceptance in the present, not just in memory.” ~ Robert Kull, Solitude
“In many cultures, solitude is recognized as an opportunity to journey inward; in our culture, spending time alone is often considered unhealthy because we tend to believe that meaning in life is found only through relationship with other people. But to be fully human, we need relationship not only with other people but with the nonhuman world, with our own inner depths – and with Something Greater. For me, that nonmaterial Presence is mysterious and sacred. It can be experienced, but not defined. And I’ve learned that in coming into a deeper relationship with my self, I develop the capacity to connect more deeply with others.” ~ Robert Kull, Solitude
“There is nothing to be worried about. You will disappear like a snowflake in pure air. You are not going to die, you are only going to disappear. Yes, you will not be found in the individual form. The form will disappear into the formless – the snowflake into the pure air. But you will be there and more so. When the river disappears into the ocean, it is not dying – it is becoming the ocean, it is spreading, it is becoming bigger, huge, enormous, infinite.” ~ Osho, The Art of Living and Dying
“Make the child aware of the mystery. Rather than giving the answer it is better to make the child aware of the mysterious that’s all around, so the child starts feeling more awe and more wonder. Rather than giving a pat answer it is better to create an inquiry. Help the child to be more curious, help the child to be more inquiring. Rather than giving the answer, make the child ask more questions. If the child’s heart becomes inquiring, that’s enough; that’s all parents can do for the child. Then the child will seek his or her own answers in his or her own way.” ~ Osho, The Art of Living and Dying