"To be alone" doesn't mean to be physically separated from relatives, friends and neighbors or so called enemies, nor away from the TV, newspapers, books and other media of information or entertainment, nor from business or daily routines. Instead, "to be alone" means to remain unaffected in spite of them. It means we are not ruled by them, nor do we become dependent on them. Be not a slave. To be alone also implies freedom from thought, whether good or bad, since the field of thought is always a trap for our soul.

"A secluded place" means a quiet place without unwarranted disturbances. In reality, unless our mind is engaged in Love for God, there will always be disturbances -- even in the Amazon's jungles or central Africa. That phrase implies creating a fort around us, our surroundings and in all situations of life. This doesn't mean withdrawal from our duties, environment or the people around us, but being free from reacting to outer forces that destroy our peace of mind. No great achievements were realized without being alone in a secluded place and without full concentration on the target, which in our case is Love for God.

In Bhagavatam there is a story of an avadhut, a realized man, who had 24 gurus from whom he learned behavior that would please God and himself. One of the gurus was a young maiden of marriageable age who was visited by a party of a prospective bridegroom while her parents were away from the family farm. As she was husking paddy for their meals in a corner, the glass bracelets on her wrists made noise that was not considered a sign of nobility for a young maiden. She considered such noise disgraceful and broke the bracelets one by one until only two were left on each arm. As she went on husking even those two bracelets made noise, so she removed them and left one on each arm. From each single bracelet there was no more noise.

So we learn from this story that: 

"Where many dwell there is quarrel, noise and irritation and even between two people there is a chance for talk. Therefore one should live alone like the bracelet of the maiden."

If we are not vigilant in this material world, it may only make us more void of love for those around us.  We may know all the world’s statistics like a professor of world geography but get lost on way to our own home. Anything that helps us move toward true love, which is universal, is good for us all.

It is however an observed and experienced fact that we often get lost in the instruments, such as bodies, rather than the goal. It may sound strange to a soul unfamiliar with God’s ways that we need no instruments such as the body, mind, or intellect, to love. Where there is a need for instruments there is no love or God, and where there is true love there is no dependence or misery.

We should strive to remove the obstacles created by our ignorance or maya. Also, by good and judicial use of these instruments in the beginning,  we will overcome the need for these objects. What remains is ever shining “LOVE” that is totally free from worldly paraphernalia. This is the purpose of human life, here and hereafter.

May we see the hand of God in everything, in everybody and in all circumstances while walking on this Path of Love until we see everything as manifestation of one God, as all the branches of a tree are the manifestation of one seed. Then only will all the toys made out of sugar taste sweet whether they look like an elephant, a snake or a doll. For now in our arrogance, we taste only bitterness of the artificial forms made for our play. The Hindus call this a “Lila,” God’s play. Let us learn to play like Radhika or Miradevi.

--Swami Radhanandaji