If you’ve read my previous posts, you’d know that desperation got me on the spiritual path — which materialized straight out of isolation.
I learned Ekatva during those dark days when everything that could go wrong, did. It started out with my need to avoid everything — including people or should I say, especially people, lol. Because only by shutting myself off from everything and everyone, was I able to be authentic — not needing to put on a “happy face” when I was truly and thoroughly miserable from within.
But what I learned was that although “Ekatva” means “aloneness” or “soleness” [in Jainism], Ekatva transcends the mere physical state of being alone. It is a state of being alone or detached — not just physically but also mentally — from worldly attachments, emotions, and inner desires.
Anyone on the spiritual journey at one point or the other MUST learn Ekatva — because it is the single-most essential or should I say, mandatory step to becoming self-aware and reaching the ultimate state of enlightenment or salvation.
Because only in aloneness, can we transcend the influences of material possessions and external attachments. And only in aloneness, can we focus on our inner self — the one that is hidden not just from others, but also from our own selves because of the external forces that influence us.
[And if you practice Jainism like I do, Ekatva is the only way to reduce past life karma and prevent new karma from forming].
