What is Freedom, Anyway?
As we in the United States celebrate Independence Day again, I am moved to take the concept it is built upon and put it under greater scrutiny.
What is it to be free? Here in America, we think we are free because we have the civil rights set in place by our forebears, the right to vote for our elected officials and the ability to move within the country as we please.
However, for those who have looked deeper into what “seems to be,” it is seen that our freedom has been appointed by something outside of us…namely our government. Is it really freedom when it is given from the outside? They…the powers that be…regulate all of it. They created the system we live within wherein we consider ourselves free, and comparing this system to those of more repressed countries is all that is required to keep our good citizens in a relatively non-questioning place where they accept as truth something that isn’t real. You see, within the world, freedom is just a concept, open to interpretation and subject to change.
The mind does the same thing. For those unique individuals who have awoken to the burning desire for spiritual liberation…true freedom…much work has to be done to uncover and root out all the ways the mind works overtime to trick them into complacency regarding their own evolution.
The trickery, manipulation, power struggles and sabotage we witness and judge in the outside world is only a reflection of what the egoic mind creates in its inner world. The battle wages within you and it is up to you alone to determine whether you will give in and admit defeat, or fight with courage and steadfastness until the very end, regardless of the outcome.
How strong of a spiritual warrior do you think you are? Strong enough to die to the Self for your cause of spiritual liberation?
Just as a soldier who goes to war in service to his country, you must initially go to war in the battle of polarization…in service to the Self. The soldier believes he fights for something good, something worthy and noble…freedom, itself! In reality we can see that there is no true freedom in the world. Yet, the soldier fights on. So must you continue to fight the inner war that rages within the polarized self of the lower mind, until such time as it is seen through, altogether. The ego doesn’t die, nor does it transcend itself; it is impossible. The battle is never won or lost. It continues to rage on, as it was programmed to do. However, after fighting valiantly, time and time again, while holding the focus of God in front of itself at the expense of the entire program of the lower mind, the program itself falls away by Grace, and this is where true freedom is experienced.
You, as a seeker, are not here to change anything. You truly aren't. The world, in all its complexity, hypocrisy and separation, functions exactly as it was programmed to. And this program of separation emerged out of consciousness, itself…out of you.
To win the battle which can't be won, one must first wake up to the understanding that, in highest Truth, there is no battle and never has been. The smoke and mirrors illusion of separation is a magical thing…we have been made to believe in something that simple doesn’t…can’t…exist at all.
So, what is freedom, anyway? Freedom is Real. It is a state of Beingness, not a condition under which you live. It is your birthright and awaits you patiently as the snake of the ego eats its own tail, devouring itself until it comes full circle. Keep fighting, warriors of the One. Fight relentlessly for what is Real. Fight for your eternal freedom.
Love,
Shusara