Being Alone

This quote from "Sit Down and Shut Up" is interesting. It's in reference to the explanation to an old zen monk story where the student realizes he's not only alone in the universe, but no one else even knows he's here.

Other people may be able to get some rough idea of what we think and feel.  But no one else can ever be "aware" of you in the truest sense.  Only you can know what you really think, feel, and experience.  Yet a lot -- perhaps even all -- our conflicts are based on the assumption that whoever we've disagreed with thoroughly understands what it is we're trying to tell her.

You are are freaking out, fret not, it's all good (as usual there are two apposing points of view in zen).  We are the universe and the universe is you.