The phrase “Let’s be free” left me contemplating.
It made me wonder about the word freedom…is it “freedom from something” or is it “freedom to do something”, or does the word actually represent both?
Freedom from – has a sort of reactive quality, and in my life I have found that if there was a charge around something and hence a desire to “run-away / lash out / react”, it often indicated that I actually had to stay in it for longer…there were lessons for me to learn until I could actually feel completely balanced inside, unstirred. The art had to be to recognize my upsets and understand them, so that they could be transformed.
My friend Jesse Carliner talked about India in a similar way. He initially found the chaos in India a struggle and when he stayed long enough to embrace India for all its beauty and he felt no resistance, he knew his time in India had served its purpose. He could move on! FREEDOM – FROM…did not become a reactive response, because he had waited until his triggers had all fallen away and thus lost their significance.
Freedom to – appears to have more of a creative quality behind it, and thus this freedom has a sort of dignity behind it. For example we as human beings want different things in life, have different curiosities and different hobbies and interests, and yet we live shoulder to shoulder with our fellow humans with differing aspirations.
For me this has been more about overcoming the very strong human tendency to fall victim to blame, complaint and judgement when our choices are dramatically different to another’s perception of what is right and wrong. It can be so easy to buckle under this type of pressure and lose sight of our own freedom.
We are all born to play differing roles in life, and thus our innate need to retain our freedom with dignity is of utmost importance. As long as we choose not to interfere in the choices that others make to live their life, and quietly and lovingly make our own contribution, following our own truth, this is our birthright!
Such an individual, if accompanied with the power of consciousness, does not follow the tyrant like demands of the mind…instead this type of human being has done the arduous work of looking at the folly of their own mind – its tendency to control manipulate judge and intimidate etc. etc. and learned how to dis-identify from its power.
The mind always feels it knows best… but in an unknowable world the mind in fact can never know… When it acts as the Master, we can be sure that we are on a path of suffering and dismay. In this situation we have no freedom at all and do not even realize that is the case! We are servants to doctrines, conditionings and beliefs collected from the journeys of our lives…and our minds cleverly disguise this as a set of ideals!
When I read the “New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle, in 2007 I felt liberated at the realization that my mind and “me” were not the same person. This separation was such a huge part of my awakening, and an exhilaration that I will never forget.
Later on, when I read “In Search of the Miraculous: Healing into Consciousness” by Mada Eliza Dalian in 2008, I had been finally blessed with the practical tool to help separate me even further from my mind.
In fact with Mada’s wisdom, I have been able to experience dis-identification of many aspects that actually created my ego- mind and have been able to step out of the movie of separation, feeling alone and not belonging.
This in an ultimate sense is real freedom- a freedom that is light and expansive, because somewhere inside is a knowing that all of life can be trusted. True freedom is full of bliss and joy and can only see unconditional love…and for this to be reclaimed, a better exploration of the mind is absolutely necessary.
