The pain of loneliness🔗

The seed has to break and give way; only then can the tree happen. Any process of transition will be both painful and joyful - a 'sweet pain'!

Understand: before any birth, pain has to happen. Before the tree happens, the seed has to suffer the pain. The seed has to break and give way. Only then can the tree happen. Any process of transition will be both painful and joyful. I can say, it will be a 'sweet pain'!

When you start letting go of your social identity, you will suffer the pain of loneliness. This is what is meant by tapas. To feel the pain of loneliness, you don't have to go and sit in a forest. When you let go of your social identity, you will go through the same pain of loneliness.

During the recent religious persecution that happened on our organization, I saw the same thing happening with many of my devotees! This was an intense tapas period for our whole organization, because we were being reduced to nothing - socially, financially, and in every way.

I can say, it was the kind of tapas that even experienced yogis will be afraid to undergo! Our organization was being targeted in every way for no reason, my ashramites were being abused, our social status was zero.

During that time, many people whose social identity was dependent on me - who had come to me because THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM was a good brand to be associated with – started to feel the heat. Their social status was threatened by the persecution; their identity was collapsing. So, rather than drop their identity, they chose to drop THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM. Unfortunately, they didn't realize that they had dropped out in the first few minutes of the race.

The beauty of such a crisis is that it exposes to you the exact place where your ego is hiding, the exact spot where you have pinned your identity. At such times, if you can remember that whatever has been taken away from you is not YOU, you will experience only freedom, not pain.

Remember, whatever is really You cannot be taken away from you. Only the ideas which you are holding on to can be taken away; only your social identity has been taken away!

Such a crisis is actually a beautiful opportunity for transformation. At such times, whatever is happening in you, you can just remember, 'Is it really happening to me? All the things which I am going through, is it really me? Or is it just my social identity that is being destroyed? Am I really only this identity?'

If you have this awareness, you don't even need to go through any sadhana or practice or any technique. If you can remember, just this remembrance is enough; you don't need a separate technique or method or tapas to awaken yourself.

Of course, I am not saying it will be easy to be aware. Whenever you fall out of awareness, it is going to hurt! Even at such times, if you can just witness the pain of losing what you felt to be one part of yourself, if you can just witness the pain of loneliness; you will see a new strength happening in yourself.

For the first time, you will see yourself stripped of your outer identity, your social identity. If you can go through that and come out, you will be succeeding in a huge tapas.

When THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM returned from my fifty three days of illegal imprisonment after the religious persecution on my organization, I can say that one thing made me really happy: all my ashramites who had withstood this whole cyclone of sensationalism, who had found the strength and the faith to stand strong even when their social identity was collapsing, had become transformed into beautiful, powerful and intense beings.

I could see that their entire consciousness had shifted to a new level. They had witnessed death in a way, and survived it. It is not an easy joke! To see oneself in isolation for the first time is not easy.

But understand - aloneness is our nature.

Whenever you feel the pain of loneliness, undergo it totally, with total acceptance. You will move from loneliness to aloneness, to kaivalya - aloneness that is complete. Accept and welcome this loss of personality, whenever it happens. You will see that you will give birth to yourself as individuality.

Courage of Tapas

If the click happens at the right time, even if it is one click, it is enough to lead you to enlightenment.

A small story:

One day a rich man received a palm leaf manuscript with a needle without an eyelet. The palm leaf said – 'After death, your whole wealth, not even one needle, will come with you. So realize the impermanence of wealth. Nothing will stay with you. Nothing will come with you when you are going to the ultimate place.'

This was a strong blow and a shock to the rich man. That shock or strong blow became a click and that man dropped everything. He threw away everything in that very moment. He left his home and become enlightened. His name was Pattinathar.

This was an intense click, and not only that, when the click happened, Pattinathar decided to alter his day to day life in tune with the click. He was courageous enough to tune his life with that click.

When the click happened he did not think, 'Okay, I will maybe until my life ends, keep that much money in my bank balance'. No. Nothing. No second thought. He did not bother about anything. He only had one thing in his heart.