Solitude essential for seekers of God

Householder devotees would often approach Sri Ramakrishna and express great concern about their spiritual life. Deeply worried, they would ask him whether it is possible for householders to realise God. Sri Ramakrishna would invariably assure them that it is certainly possible and would suggest that it is absolutely necessary to live in solitude, at least for some time, depending upon one’s capacity. He would say that one could stay for one month or one week or even for one day and every such effort would be beneficial. He would explain the extraordinary benefit of such practices using an example from daily life. He would say that if milk is mixed with water, it becomes totally one with it and it is no longer possible to identify the two liquids separately. But, milk can be converted into curd. But for that to happen it must be allowed to remain absolutely still in a corner or a secluded place. After the curd is formed, it can be churned properly and butter can be extracted from it. If the butter is kept in water, it will not get dissolved, but it would float.

Thus if a spiritual aspirant lives in solitude, he is away from the familiar or distracting atmosphere of his normal dwelling place. Otherwise, constantly living in the same place amidst influences which invariably cause pleasure and pain, all his efforts to call on God do not yield much results. But, when he practices spiritual disciplines intensely in solitude, he slowly develops a deep spiritual bent of mind. When he returns to the world with such a bent of mind, he lives in the world and performs all his duties but does not get immersed in the world. His identity is not completely lost. In spite of his responsibilities, he is able to retain his spiritual tendency and continue his Sadhana. Hence, living in solitude is an extremely important discipline for seekers of God.