On Solitude - by Thaniyo Thero

The first question is: “I would love to learn more about the Buddha’s words on solitude. I know the Saṅgha is one of the three jewels, but what about someone who isn’t in an environment that includes people who follow the Dhamma? Does avoiding others become then beneficial to the path of awakening?”

So yes, obviously not hanging around people who are not interested in the Dhamma is going to be beneficial if you want to actually learn about the Dhamma, and to hang around with people who are interested in that practice. Then it will encourage you and benefit you. If you can find people who actually know the Dhamma, who have practised it, then obviously that’s going to be even better. Because, just because other people are interested in Dhamma doesn’t necessarily mean that that is the best kind of people to be hanging around with. Because they might be completely wrong. Their understanding of what Dhamma is might be completely off. But you know, you’ve got to start somewhere. At least don’t hang around people who have got absolutely no interest, no interest in trying to find out what the truth is, no interest in being authentic and honest with themselves.

So if you can find a group that at least questions, each individual questions their own intentions, their own behaviours, that is a good person to be around, and a good group to be around. But generally, you won’t find that in groups. You might an individual who’s authentic, and if you can recognise such an individual, try and make friends with them. There are many teachers out there, but just because someone’s a teacher doesn’t mean that they know what they’re talking about. So you have to find someone who is authentic, and you can only do that with whatever authenticity you have, for yourself. So if you want to find people who are authentic, find people who are practising, well, you’ve got to start doing those things. And in that way, you will be able to recognise those qualities in others. Because if you’re not doing those things for yourself—being authentic, practising, keeping the precepts, being honest with yourself—then you will not be able to recognise that in others.

So, as long as you’re doing that, you will find a group, you will find others that will match that, in a way. You’ll be able to avoid those who do not match that, it’ll be very clear to you. So yes, solitude is important, but solitude without authenticity, without yourself making choices for yourself to not break the precepts, keep the precepts, to keep sense-restraint, that is more important. Solitude will happen in and of itself, later on, but you have to be authentic first to practice, keep the precepts. And naturally you will start to choose directions in your life which move away from unwholesome people, unwholesome behaviour, unwholesome contexts, unwholesome environments, and you will gravitate toward the opposite.

And in a way, if you can be authentic yourself and practice whole-heartedly what the Buddha has instructed, you will be creating an environment around you, so you don’t really have to go that far to seek out a suitable environment. That environment is you, in a way. Your behaviour is the environment. You want to get away from an unwholesome environment, start being wholesome. Start acting wholesomely. Renounce all the bad things in your life, and you would be in a suitable, secluded place, secluded from unbeneficial things. So it’s got nothing to do with people, necessarily, it’s got to do with you, and the choices you’re making in life. So I hope that answers your question in terms of solitude.