Bored and Sitting Alone

All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit in a room alone. 

Blaise Pascal

 

So as I sat down this morning, after I read/listened to some old entries that showed up as viewed today on my stats page, and  before I listened to any new stuff, I had this idea I was going to start today's entry with the above quote from Pascal that I was reminded of this morning.  Then, not being sure of what I would listen to, I decide on Eckhart Tolle and open up videos at random...finding this one. And guess what...he is referring to this very same quote. Serendipity! 

What I got from him related to the above quote:

• The mind constantly wants to be stimulated
• but it is important to become aware of the mind's demand for food...for stimulus.
• If the mind doesn't get to the point it is adeqautely distracted, we recognize that feeling of "pervasive unsatisfactoriness" that is always there beneath our constant distractions.
• All these distractions are subsititutes for the feeling of true aliveness.
• It is important to stop feeding the mind all the time and sit with yourself and allow boredom to arise without running away fom it. That is the first step of getting past it...if you don't run away from it, you can get through it.
• He quoted Pascal here
• To sit quitely in a room requires that you be connected to something deeper in you.
• Go through boredom into being.
• You need to break through that mental barrier or otherwise you will spend the rest of your life not being able to sit in a room alone.
• Come home to yourself! So that you can enjoy your own company...

Hmm! Well this is the entry that I read today that inspired me to use that quote: https://dale-lynwritin.blogspot.com/2017/09/another-video.html and this is the article I had published in 2017 on that quote: https://thewisdomdaily.com/author/nancyd/

Go figure. Anyway, I have been realizing that I need to work more on solitude and getting past my boredom.  I have been distracting big time and resisting boredom! Though I still practice and teach yoga, go for the odd walk with the dogs, and work a couple of mornings a week, I have been spending most of my daylight  here and time has been flying by in complete diversion. Evenings are spent  knitting, reading, or binging on Netflix as I snack on unhealthy food.  

Why? Because I am not comfortable with myself right now.  As I awaken a lot of samskaras are untangling, bringing  up a bunch of stored pain.  I am also dealing nonstop, it seems,  with all the suffering that is going on in this household, let alone in the world. The body also is noisy.  As a result,I don't like sitting still in a room alone. I want the  diversions and distractions. I am even making excuses for meditation. I am resisting doing what Yogis do. 

Sigh! I know the only way out is through.  Made it a point to show up in my studio every morning where there are no distractions or diversions, to just sit with what is there for an hour or so. Will carry that practice on into the evening as well. Boring maybe, but necessary.

All is well! 

Eckhart Tolle ( March, 2024) Stop Running from Boredom: Eckhart Tolle's Guide to fnding Peace in Solitude. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRXRnDYwePk