Everyone is alone. Alone with their thoughts, problems, joys and sorrows. Everyone is born alone and helpless, and leaves this world in similar fashion. And yet, everyone is together in this aloneness: sharing experiences, ideas and support. We are born into a family, move through life with friends, and leave with the support of our loved ones at the end. These two realities of aloneness and togetherness are completed by a third, all-pervading reality of oneness in Spirit.
Spirit is the link between energy and matter. Spirit is also the underlying connection between aloneness and togetherness. One can be completely and utterly alone, but perfectly happy and at peace. Or one can be together with others and feel miserably lonely. In his poem, I Am Lonely No More Paramhansa Yogananda writes “I am not lonesome in the chamber of loneliness, for Thou are always there. I am lonely amidst an uproarious crowd where Thy Silence slips away in noise like a fast-footed, startled, large-eyed deer.”
The perfect balance of being “alone together” is the blend of living, serving and worshiping God with others doing likewise. Then all spiritual practices, experiences, karma and aspirations are all blessed by the combined strength of our mutual efforts. All of life is happier, stronger and better with friends seeking God.
This week some 24 Ananda Portland friends completed Paramhansa Yogananda’s 9-Day Diet Cleansing and Revitalizing Diet. Instead of being together on a retreat, we all went about our busy lives, connecting on Zoom and Whatsapp to share the experience together. Obviously the abundance of fresh, whole foods plus abstinence from the usual suspects like sugar, starches and caffeine yields many healthy benefits. But some of the deeper blessings of this practice include: an increased feeling of lightness and energy in body and mind, strength of discipline and power of will, and freedom from attachments and habits.
The experience of doing something “alone together” has been a unique and enjoyable blend of self-effort and will, with the conscious, tangible support and encouragement of friends. Although our circumstances vary, together we find ourselves stronger, more joyful and increasingly aware of greater realities than our own. Together in Spirit is the greatest reality of all: to see oneself in others, to feel their realities deeply inside, and to behold the one spirit of God shining through every form. Then, no matter our circumstances, we feel the presence of God guiding and blessing every footfall.
painting by Nayaswami Jyotish
In the last analysis we are never alone. Paramhansa Yogananda promised “to those who think me near, I will be near”. Jesus said “I will be with you always, until the end of time.” (Matthew 28:20) And Sri Krishna offers these precious words in the Bhagavad Gita: “One who beholds My presence everywhere, and all things dwelling equally in Me, he never loses loving sight of Me, nor I of him, through all eternity.” (Chapter 60, stanzas 30-32)
So often alone, but at last together with God we march on to final freedom and bliss. In his divine life, music, and writings Swami Kriyananda emphasized the need to “go on alone” seeking and living for God, holding nothing back. When we seek and love God this way, with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, we blaze the final trail to oneness in Spirit alone, but ever together in Spirit.