The spiritual path can be lonely. Not everyone feels the urge to seek at the same time. You look around and it seems no one else can relate to how you feel. We may want to retreat from acknowledgement of all those deluded people out there, by feeling smug. Judging them less enlightened.
Or we may fall into despair. We look around and notice we are aboard a sinking ship of Earth, and no one seems to notice or care.
Sometimes we get the idea we must walk alone. There is a place for solitude and quiet contemplation. And to look in the heart and ask what your part in the whole thing is. No one can know this for you. But this question does not arise in a vacuum. Is is embedded in the context of the whole situation.
Our modern society gives us the opportunity to isolate ourself. This is a wonderful privilege and achievement, but a not viable way to live all the time for most humans. We are deeply tribal creatures. Solitary confinement is a punishment and even a torture.
So, reach out. Don't be shy. Get help. The spiritual wisdom of the ages is available to anyone with access to the interweb. The spirit world abounds with entities who wish to assist. And lonely people are everywhere, not realizing they have what you need and you have what they need. Or maybe they just feel shy. They have received the message from our culture that, baby, you are are your own, or else you are weak and 'co-dependent'.
What you need is a Sangha, or supportive spiritual community. Thich Nhat Hanh says, "The next Buddha will be a Sangha." Enlightenment is a group project. Instead of a guru, maybe you need to find a guru-p!
“Two thousand five hundred years ago, Shakyamuni Buddha proclaimed that the next Buddha will be named Maitreya, the ‘Buddha of Love.’ I think Maitreya Buddha may be a COMMUNITY.”
–Thich Nhat Hanh
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