While writing a professional post on loneliness and US healthcare, I decided to write an extension from a spiritual standpoint — to answer the question “Were humans meant to be lonely?” I tried to find the answer in the writings in most major religions, and found that even though none answers the question directly, there are a lot of similarities in the responses.
One of the lines from the Sikh holy book, Guru Granth Sahib, states “Kis nal kije, dosti Sab jag chalan har”, meaning “With whom should one become a friend? All the world is leaving”. Does that mean we should not have relationships?
In Christianity, as the story of Adam and Eve illustrates, God intends for us to share our lives with other people. In a response to the question, a post describes: “Whatever the cause of loneliness, for the Christian the cure is always the same — the comforting fellowship of Christ. That loving relationship with our Master has reassured and encouraged countless thousands who languished in prisons and even went to their deaths for His sake. He is the friend who “sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24), who lays down His life for His friends (John 15:13–15), and who has promised never to leave us or forsake us but to be with us until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20)”.
In searching Islamic writings, several answers pointed to the same thing: “Those who believe, and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah. for without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction.” Surat Arraad 13 verse 28
“The first step to that, is the feeling of loneliness. People around might leave you, the world might leave you, but God does not”.
Sikhism’s holy book, Guru Granth Sahib, states “If you are weakened by the pains of hunger and poverty. If you have no money in your pockets, no one gives you any comfort, no one acknowledges your hopes, and none of your tasks are accomplished. If you then come to remember the Supreme God, you shall obtain the eternal kingdom.”
So it seems like most religions agree that the relationships humans make with themsleves are fleeting, but the one they can make with God is more permanent, and depending on the religion’s view of afterlife, more beneficial.
The classic Buddhist book, “The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying” has a very interesting passage — which is more suited to current time: “Sometimes I think that the most affluent and powerful countries of the developed world are like the realm of the gods described in the Buddhist teachings. The gods are said to live lives of fabulous luxury, reveling in every conceivable pleasure, without a thought for the spiritual dimension of life. All seems to go well until death draws near and unexpected signs of decay appear. Then the gods’ wives and lovers no longer dare approach them, but throw flowers to them from a distance, with casual prayers that they be reborn again as gods. None of their memories of happiness or comfort can shelter them now from the suffering they face; they only make it more savage. So the dying gods are left to die alone in misery. The fate of the gods reminds me of the way the elderly, the sick, and the dying are treated today. Our society is obsessed with youth, sex, and power, and we shun old age and decay. Isn’t it terrifying that we discard old people when their working life is finished and they are no longer useful? Isn’t it disturbing that we cast them into old people’s homes, where they die lonely and abandoned?”
What do you think?
