The Ideal of Solitude in Early Indian Buddhism

This paper is intended as a study of some aspects of solitude in Theravāda Buddhism. The Buddha took a keen interest in solitary ways of living, which were the ideal in some of the earlier ascetic movements in India. However, he modified these ways in line with his new doctrine of salvation, the so-called Middle Way, which advocated more balanced forms of ascetic practices. In analysing the diverse conceptions of solitude, this paper draws on the earliest texts of Buddhism, in particular on the collection of the Buddha’s discourses, which are included in the first “basket” of the Pali canon, the Suttapiṭaka. In these texts, a distinction can be observed between three different stages of solitude, which are closely intertwined: a) “physical solitude”, i.e. living in remote places far from community and society, b) “mental solitude”, as the gradual abandonment of all attachments, and c) “ultimate solitude”, which represents the supreme state of the final liberation of one’s existence (parinibbāna).