Sri M said...

In Sadhana, it’s required to spend some period in solitude, especially in the beginning. Ramakrishna Paramahansa used to say that in the beginning of the Sadhana, one should protect oneself like the little sapling that is protected by surrounding it with a ring of thorny bushes, so that the cow doesn’t eat it up before it grows. But once it grows, there is no need of any such protection.