(Follow this link to see the March 2024 Priory Newsletter where this was recently published.)

– Thich Nhat Hanh

This short teaching about embracing loneliness is part of a talk Thay gave on the 13th of December 2012, during the winter retreat in Plum Village. Loneliness has been a constant presence in our lives during these restrictive pandemic times, and Thay’s teachings on this topic should provide much needed comfort and understanding.

Here is a link to the video of the talk on Youtube (it is well worth watching!): You can watch the short teaching here.

This transcript has been edited for readability and was originally published on the Plumvillage.app website on April 2, 2021. It is used here with permission.

Last time we spoke about home. We know that once we are home, we no longer feel lonely. If you’re at home, you feel warm, comfortable, safe, fulfilled. So home is a place where loneliness disappears. But where is home?

The Buddha said very clearly that home is in us, and that there is an island that you have to go back to: the island of self. This is a practice, not a theory.

Loneliness is the ill-being of our time. We feel very lonely, even if we are surrounded by many people. We are lonely together. There is a vacuum inside of us, where you don’t feel comfortable. We try to fill the vacuum by connecting with other people.

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Continue reading this article on the Plumvillage.app website or you can watch the short teaching here.