This path toward openness, which finds its natural expression in devotion and surrender, is one that we must travel for ourselves.

We cannot rely on friends or lovers; we cannot trust parents; we cannot expect help from society.

There is no one ‘out there’ who can really fulfill us. Externally we may say, “I have many friends and family. I have my work,” but internally we are very much alone.

Nor is this being alone a sign that something is wrong ‘here’, so that we need to go ‘there’.

It is mostly human nature to be alone.

But this loneliness is also a sign that on our own we can make a fundamental change.

Taking our loneliness as a teaching, we can see that our need for ‘something’ cannot be satisfied through lesser truths or transient, selfish loves.

 Footsteps on the Diamond Path