When we look for a precise example of what it means that “Happiness comes from within, and can never truly come from without,” I think that a perfect example for this would be the polar opposite experience of happiness, which is loneliness.
For starters, there is a huge difference between a loner and the feeling of loneliness. The loner doesn’t feel lonely, and often feels irritated when he can’t be alone. He or she usually work best and feels most productive when he or she is able to be alone. Loneliness, on the other hand, is the feeling experienced when one is sad and not okay in being alone.
Studies have shown that the original belief of psychologists that the internet would help relieve people from the feelings of loneliness was wrong. Their original belief was that the loneliness that is driven by an individual’s paralyzing shyness would now end. However, instead, it has now been proven that the power of anonymity within social media has a huge amount of lonely people communicating, without ever being freed from their pain of loneliness.
Let us take this a step further. Loneliness is never relieved by the presence of another. Lonely people experience loneliness even at a wedding, while sitting at a table of friends, semi-listening to their friends’ conversations.
In this lecture we are going to explore loneliness and how to overcome loneliness, from the perspective of Jewish mysticism.
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Here is a link to the written notes of this lecture, which will be available until October 15, 2016, after which you can email TheJewishMind@icloud.com to request them:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4614078/50.%20Nitzovim%205776-%20The%20Lonely%20Soul.pdf
