"SRAMANA, sramana. This is closely allied to the word shaman, and a shaman is the holy man in a culture that is still hunting, it isn’t settled, it isn’t agrarian. There is a very strong and important difference between a shaman and a priest. A priest receives his ordination from his superiors. He receives something from a tradition which is handed down.

A shaman doesn’t. He receives his enlightenment by going off into the forest by himself to be completely alone. In other words, a shaman is a man who has undergone solitariness. He has gone away into the forest to find out who he really is, because it’s very difficult to find that out while you’re with other people, and the reason is that other people are busy all the time telling you who you are, in many many ways, by the laws they impose on you, by the behavior ruts they set on you, by the things they tell you, by the fact that they always call you by your name, and by the fact that when you live among people you have to be in a state of ceaseless chatter.

But if you want to find out who you are before your father and mother conceived you, who you really are, you almost have to go off by yourself. You go into the forest, and stop talking, and even stop thinking words, and be absolutely alone, and listen to the great silences." - Alan Watts

Guys, I can't help but thinking about Watts' words and how they relate to MGTOW. We talk about women a lot, which is fine because of how much we are brainwashed in modern society. We talk about cool possessions, gaining wealth, traveling, and vacations.

But sometimes I think it really is important to be completely alone. I mean totally alone, with no internet and cell phone for days at a time if you can. Not uttering a single word, and just sitting. Meditating. I am getting to a point in my life where you all have helped me move on past women, that my desire for solitude is growing. And it feels really good when it comes. When we are away from people in a "ceaseless chatter," we can gradually turn off our own inner voice, and just be.