Group question: The question this afternoon has to do with solitude. We would like to know what the value of solitude is to the seeker of truth and why it is that some people seem to need more solitude or others less, and are there any problems or pitfalls with too much or too little solitude? Is it sort of like dreaming in the sleep stage? Do you need so much of it?

(Carla channeling)

I am Q’uo. I greet you in the love and in the light of the one infinite Creator. Thank you for calling us to your circle of seeking that we may offer our thoughts to you on the subject of solitude.

[Pause]

We are those of Q’uo and apologize for refraining from speaking. This instrument is experiencing flares of pain which temporarily removed the instrument from tuning. We shall proceed but we’ll attempt to be shorter than our usual lengthy discussion. This instrument feels that [inaudible] remains unlikely.

The uses of solitude are various. Thusly, there is not one clear answer to a question attempting to evaluate this condition. If the goal of the seeker is to assimilate truth, then certainly it may be seen that solitude has a part to play to some extent in this search. Perhaps looking at the question from the standpoint of what a seeker is working toward is helpful. If a seeker seeks to move its vibration more and more nearly into attunement with the one great original Thought whose vibration is called love, if the seeker already is feeling that it needs to seek more this growing attempt at a congruency between the vibration of the self and the greater Self, then the entity will look more favorably upon solitude and its right uses spiritually. If a seeker is considering itself as moving well in attunement, but needing the work of service for others, then the seeker will find solitude less spiritually appropriate. This is one clear and simple way of evaluating the spiritual uses of solitude in that, to be of manifested service to others, the servant usually must spend time with those others whom he serves.

However, within the cultural attitude—we correct this instrument—attitudinal ambiance which you enjoy at this space and time, it is very nearly guaranteed that those seeking solitude will not already be in a vibratory state congruent with the one great original Thought. It is probably that the entity may not even be seeking solitude for a spiritual reason, but rather seeking solitude as a surcease from suffering and pain of some kind. So let us look at the right use of this gift.

Perhaps the solitude which is often spoken of in your literature as the “desert experience,” or “forty days and forty nights in the wilderness,” in this situation, the seeker is in crisis. The seeker has been stimulated and its sensory systems overtaxed by wisdom, by sense perceptions, by the opinions of others. In this crisis, the seeker often typically must needs walk by itself in terms of sharing with another third-destiny entity the verdance and thirst of this journey.

As the old folk song says, “You’ve got to walk that lonesome valley. You’ve got to walk it by yourself. Ain’t nobody else gonna walk it for you.” This, my friends, is true to the best of our knowledge. You walk though the valley of the shadow of death as your holy work is quoted. And although you have your higher self and the inner planes, [entities] who come to your request, although in fact you are not alone ever nor cut off from the love of the infinite One, yet in terms of someone to help with the burden of the learning, each seeker perforce must do this work for and by itself.

The next great category of reasons people yearn for solitude is the category which is a dynamic of sensitivity. There are many to whom relating to the self has been in some way blocked. This usually occurs in the younger years of incarnation. Part of the young experience has caused the entity to seek solitude in order to be comfortable, for there is perceived the discomfort in company, and this discomfort builds up within such an entity. When such a one reaches a solitary place, there is the feeling of safety and of relaxation. It is almost as though the mind and emotions constituted another organ such as the lungs, and as the lungs need to breathe for the organism to live, so the entity must be solitary in order for the emotional and mental faculties to remain acute, for if this need is ignored, there is the equivalent lack of oxygen to the brain—that is, oxygen to the emotions and mind.

Such an entity is correct in assessing the need for solitude. However, it is well for a seeker of this character type to look well to the right use of solitude, for the potential is there for distraction and the lessening of the impact of this gift to the self by a lack of considered thought as to how to create within solitude.

“Create what?” this instrument asks us irritably. However we leave this a blank on purpose, for those who seek solitude are often given within that solitude, when it is used well, creations and fantasies of the heart, the mind, the emotions, and of the spirit.

Thusly, we say to those seekers whose way is solitary, be aware of the joy of this gift and if riches pour into you, pour them through yourself and into manifestation, so that that which has been given you and you alone in the darkness of the sanctum sanctorum within you may open-handedly allow such creation to occur through yourself and bless all who may hear or see.

There is that to be considered which is inclined towards the negative path of service to self in most desires for solitude, and the threads or the strain of this can be picked out and discovered by the seeker, that the times of solitude may become more productive. And we use the term “productive” to include, first of all, the lightening of the planetary consciousness. These service-to-self portions or threads or melodies, entwined within the tapestry of incarnational experience in solitude, occur naturally. This tendency to desire to be distracted is an artifact of the blockage of energy which is almost inevitable within the dense chemical distillery of the human frame.

The exhaustion of living occurs frequently, and certainly more frequently as the physical vehicle becomes more aged and less able. This is not to say that it is always service to self to allow the self to be distracted. Occasionally, and more for some than others, such distraction within solitude is salutary and salubrious, for this method enables one who is uncomfortable to achieve a more pleasant state of mind. However, the seeker may look carefully at the service-to-self entity’s habit and custom of considering the self separate from all else. Solitude, you see, is among many other things, an illusion. There is no solitude in a full, teeming, living creation. The force of life about all is unbelievable, literally. You cannot even imagine how crowded the universe is. It bursts with life.

You dwell within a deep, deep illusion. Out of the unknown, yet felt, glory of the great Self within, you come to a realization that you wish to walk what this instrument would call the “King’s Highway.” You put your pack on your back, your walking stick in your hand, and you set out with one tunic and one pair of sandals. Your situation grants to you one opportunity after another to so choose your environment and your actions that you may be the most aware of the love of the infinite One, and may be most able to be a channel for that infinite vibration to others. It is completely dependent upon each situation, each entity, as to the appropriate amount of solitude. There is no one best way, just as there is no one best path.

However, there is one form of solitary practice [which] deserves notice above all else, and that is the solitude within in which one turns to the holy of holies within the self. In meditation, a link is sought in spiritual solitude. Through that solitude the seeking soul stretches out its purified desire, and the silence answers in thought too poignant, too profound, too deep for words. Treasure those moments with the infinite One, and know that each moment wherein the Creator has been sought is lightening the consciousness of your people and doing needed work in establishing the generation of an ever fuller light upon your sphere.

We would at this time transfer to the one known as Jim. We are those of Q’uo and we leave this instrument with thanks in love and light.

(Jim channeling)

I am Q’uo, and greet each again in love and in light through this instrument. May we say that it is a privilege to be able to utilize each instrument present in the dissemination of our thoughts and opinions in response to your queries. At this time we would ask if there may be any further queries to which we may respond.

You didn’t say anything about when people are depressed and like to be off by themselves. I was wondering about that.

I am Q’uo, and am aware of your query, my sister. The second designation of the conditions that one may experience that would cause the seeking of solitude is that in which the entity is greatly sensitive to the movement of the world about it and feels, in a sense, easily jostled by the disharmonious vibrations, and which seeks the condition of solitude as a means whereby a refuge can be taken and the life pattern explored in a less threatening environment. The condition of depression, as you have called it, is a special example of this sensitivity that has been distorted by an imbalance of personal experience and the difficulty in processing a catalyst to clear the, shall we say, line to the inner self. When an entity experience—we correct this instrument—experiences the condition of depression, there is [at] the one time over-sensitivity and yet there is the distancing or numbness, shall we say, to hope and to faith which causes the entity to feel the despair that will, at some point, cause the entity to retreat into a smaller, safer and solitary environment, much as the turtle retreats into the shell when danger is perceived. An entity with the feeling of despair in the mental and emotional energy systems oftentimes attempts to lick its wounds, shall we say, by seeking solitude.

Is there a further query, my sister?

No. Thank you very much, Q’uo.

I am Q’uo, and we thank you, my sister. Is there a further query?

[Pause]

I am Q’uo, and we thank each for offering the support for this circle of seeking and for searching the heart for the part each has to offer in bringing this query to us. We are full of gratitude at the opportunity to be with you in your seeking and to share with you that which we have found helpful in our own journey. At this time it is our great and joyous privilege to please the instrument known as Carla with a shorter than usual session. We realize that we speak at great lengths more frequently than not and we are happy that we are able to, at this time, offer a more succinct answer to your query.

We shall take our leave of this group at this time, leaving each, as always, in the love and in the light of the one infinite Creator. We are those known as Q’uo. Adonai, my friends. Adonai.