Sometimes, especially when you first start out, the spiritual path can feel lonely. 

Maybe you don’t have friends or family that share your beliefs. Or perhaps you feel you don’t have much in common with others around you. 

In fact, you may even find that you feel more loneliness after actively starting out on your spiritual path. (If this is the case – it won’t last forever so don’t be disheartened by it or give up!)

In 1962, when talking about starting on a spiritual path, Dr. George King said:

“So we lose our so-called friends and what happens. Other friends come who are real and true and lasting and honest and good. Far greater friends than ever we had before. We might feel our times of loneliness. Before a man gets illumination, he must go through a period of loneliness. We’ve been through this period. Stark, terrible loneliness. But out of this comes a greater companionship than ever we have experienced before. So we do not lose by this.”

The feeling of loneliness is unpleasant. But we have control over our minds and we can, through practice, overcome this feeling, or at least detach from it to the extent that it does not overwhelm and hinder us.

This control over the mind is difficult, and takes lifetimes to really master, but we all can take steps towards it.

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Like you, and no doubt everyone else on Earth, I have gone through periods of loneliness and sadness. 
There’s no quick fix to make everything alright, but I have found if I don’t dwell on my feelings and I instead focus my energy on something positive, I begin to feel better. 

I remember a time when I moved to a new place and was on my own. 

Even though I was on my spiritual path and I was a part of a community, I still got homesick.

It felt easy to sit and think about everyone I missed – my friends and family. But dwelling like this didn’t make me feel good. 

When I instead kept my mind and body busy working on something else, I felt better. 

I started fixing up my new place and meeting people at my new location. This made me feel like I was accomplishing something good. 

In time, the loneliness faded and I started feeling positive about where I was. 

Mars Sector 6, a Cosmic Master who spoke through the yogic mediumship of Dr. King, took it further, saying:

“Break away from your own troubles by concentrating upon the sufferings of others.”

I was also doing spiritual practices to send healing out to the world, so no doubt this too helped me detach from the loneliness I was experiencing.

Something you can try

Yogi Masters are able to completely control their minds. Dr. King talked about how he would stare at a keyhole – something simple and uninteresting – and concentrate on this for several hours. During this time he would think of nothing else. 

It’s an incredible feat and even though we can’t accomplish something like this (try it and let me know if you can!) we can start small. 

A good way that anyone can take steps towards this type of mind control is to begin by simply focusing on the breath. 

Pick a time to do this when you’re unlikely to be interrupted. Focus on your breath and allow it to become deeper, without straining. Concentrate on making the in and out breaths the same length. Do this for a few minutes at a time. 

With regular practice, even an incredibly simple exercise like this can begin to produce results. This exercise is actually the essence of the first of a series of breathing exercises Dr. King taught in his book “Contact Your Higher Self Through Yoga.”

Have you ever had a situation where you could shift your mind from something negative to something positive? Let me know about your experience.