What is freedom to you
Post date: Jan 19, 2016 2:43:29 AM
When we talk about freedom, we have our own perceptions and expectations of it. Sometimes we are not willing to see that what we think of as freedom might not be our true freedom. If a person says: I want freedom, the freedom to travel, freedom to explore, freedom to buy anything that I desire, freedom to chose who I want to be with today and who I want to be with tomorrow. The freedom to live the way I want and the freedom to be and do anything.. This is a form of freedom for sure. Another person will say: I want freedom, my freedom is having money to do anything I want to do and acquire anything I want to have. This way I can be what I want to be and this is my perception of freedom. I will be happy when I get what I want. This is another form of freedom for another person. Then another person might way: Freedom for me is being free from all that binds me to things, people and this reality and so on. When we look at it, we can see that most are similar, the person is wanting freedom to live the life that they want in this world. We can also look at freedom as external and internal. Some want or are aware of external freedom only while the others want both. Internal freedom is something that the person finds when they are freed from ego. External freedom is something that is somewhat entangled with ego desires and fears. Most of the time we don't see this, as this seems to be the dream for many people; to have the money and materialism so they can live free and be happy.
There is purity in this dream too, the desire to explore, live and express yourself, that is the desire of the eternal spirit wanting to express itself through us and create and live in harmony with creation. But if you observe or talk to people who have these kind of dreams, we can begin to see that some of them are controlled by their ego with its desires and fears. They feel the urge from their spirit so they think that what they are desiring is what their true self wants without realising that the ego is urging them within to fulfill its needs too. There are two parties desiring to express itself through us, one is spirit and the other is ego. When we observe: they only see the rosiness that is painted over their eyes by their ego and they think what they are feeling and seeing is the real thing and will argue with us if we make an attempt to bring any awareness to the ego parts of their dreams.
It is not just our ego that influences us, there are so many external influences that affects our thinking since our childhood which makes us believe that the external freedom is what we desire. For many, this thinking becomes dominant in their life so through that whatever they create in their minds becomes the dream of their life. So from their childhood they work hard to achieve this dream without realizing that part of this dream is run by ego and they might not be happy when they get there as that might not be what their true purpose in life is.
Some of us that are wanderers who are wanting to do what we like and be what we want without any attachments or bondage to anything or anyone. For them, they feel the freedom in this way of life, they wants to be like birds who are free to fly around. Some are not willing to see that there might be an ego trap in there for them that is covered with the "word" freedom. We also see wanderers that have freed themselves from the clutches of ego and are experiencing their life to the fullest.
Most of us who have not figured out that ego is running the show for us need to go through what we are experiencing until we become fed up with the life of running from one place to another searching for the joy and freedom that we think what we want which most of the time does not last for very long. We do experience the joy of our achievement but then that only lasts for so long till that is taken away or we get tired of it and want to go searching for the next thing that can bring us happiness and joy.
Many think that the freedom is the "ability to jump from one thing to another" which does not bind them to anything; there is no attachment in this way of living and there is a feeling of freedom with that thinking and life style. But what they don't realize is that it is a false sense of freedom that ego brings in through that thinking and way of life as there is some form of fear within them that is not allowing them to see the truth of their thinking. The ego is covering that fear with the rosiness of freedom through fantasies but what they are really doing is running away from themselves. They are not willing to fully commit to their spirit to see this truth and heal themselves. They must be willing to heal themselves or the ego will take them for a joy ride and get them stuck somewhere.
As we observe, some never realize that what they are after is a wild goose chase in the name of freedom and continue on this habit throughout their whole life. There are some who begin to feel the pain of the chase and want a solution and for others they see this only when they are faced with a painful scenario that will get them to see the error of their thinking. When this happens both types begin to understand that there is another form of freedom that cannot be taken away from them and that freedom lies within. This is us finding our eternal spirit and receiving its guidance to see the truth. This is where the true freedom lies where we are freed from the ego and its desires and fears.
Then there are some of us who have gone through some form of ego dismantling through their spiritual awakening that are still struggling to fulfill their dreams; they are the ones who are more loving, caring, who hold their morals, ethics, spirit values but they too are still working to reach their purpose and are confused as to why they cannot get what they want. The reason is that, they have their spirit guiding them and are urging them to see the holes in their dream. Meaning how much of their dreams, desires are hijacked by ego and to let go of those parts and surrender themselves to spirit. By surrendering and understanding their desires they can be free from ego's version of dreams and find their true dreams. They might notice that some of what they are after is not working as they wanted and they keep asking why their spirit is not supporting them? The reason is that part of their dream is ego driven and that will not be supported by spirit. To understand and get where they need to be, they must be more aware of themselves and their expectations by letting go of the rigidity to holding on to one thing and let the spirit guide them to their freedom and dreams. Through this experience, they have let go of ego as well as fulfilled their purpose here on earth.
There are many of us that are under some form of influence of ego. First thing is to recognize that we are being manipulated then we can keep an eye on ourselves by bringing in more awareness to our thoughts and actions so that we are not being controlled. The more we live according to the laws of spirit the more we are able to release the influence of ego from us. When we are freed from the ego then we can experience our true self and the desire of the eternal spirit which expresses itself through us in this world. Freeing from ego is the true freedom where there are no boundaries or attachments or bondages. After reading this, where do you stand with all this and what freedom do you want?
To freedom!
Pavithra
Some find their purpose and freedom through spiritual journeys.. here are some books that might help you to get a better understanding of personal freedom and purpose.
