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 Man’s Search for Freedom?

“Freedom is awareness. Freedom is to be yourself.”

When we talk about freedom or independence, we usually think of getting freedom from something—freedom from anything outside. To a child, it’s freedom from parents and their instructions. Sometimes, parents seek freedom from their children’s responsibilities by looking for alone time, not away from the children but from the responsibility. There are many examples we may recognise in our daily lives.

Freedom has three major classifications. First is freedom From, which we just discussed—a child seeking freedom from parents. Second is freedom, such as a child wanting the freedom to play sports and learn to dance. Although Freedom For is another type of freedom, it also falls under the category of freedom from something outside. Then there is a third classification, Just Freedom, which is an experience that brings joy and fulfilment, often achieved through self-expression and self-realisation.

So, if you think deeply about freedom from something, you get the freedom to leave something behind. To gain something, you have to leave something. What you leave is the responsibility. We want to get away from responsibilities. If you refuse to take your duties, someone else has to pick up that slack. That means you are passing that duty to someone else’s hands. That’s why ruthless leaders like Hitler and Timur ruled over many people. People left their responsibilities and gave their power to these ruthless leaders. You became their slaves. Instead of gaining freedom by leaving behind the responsibility of their duties, they entered into the pool of slavery.

Another example is fake gurus, whom people follow with utmost faith because they don’t want to take responsibility for their lives. By choosing to follow these so-called gurus, they not only surrender their freedom but also become their slaves. These gurus have created a culture of enslavement. Their followers, in their quest to avoid responsibility, willingly become enslaved.

Responsibility is the mirror image of freedom; it’s a profound connection. We often fail to take responsibility for our actions and their consequences in our relationships. A child holds his father responsible, and a husband holds his wife responsible. An employee holds his employer responsible. A servant holds his master responsible. If you are not free, it means you are the slave of others. Slave of their thoughts, dreams, ideologies, and beliefs. One person’s freedom is often at the expense of another’s. This slavery exists under different names worldwide. Freedom is courage. The courage to fight against slavery comes in various facets. In society, it’s crucial to respect each other’s liberties and find a compromise that allows everyone to exercise their freedom without infringing on others’ rights.

Responsibility is a sign of interdependence, our choice to remain connected and not independent. We should not expect independence but interdependence. Interdependence comes with freedom. If you become puppets of others and give all the strings to them, you will forfeit all the threads of freedom. You must not have any strings to be slackened. If you do, you become a sufferer, and your suffering leads to slavery. And if someone else is responsible for your suffering, they are also responsible for your happiness; if both things, on the other hand, mean you are not functioning, then you don’t have a purpose.

To truly understand and achieve total independence, one must realise that freedom is awareness; it is the freedom to be oneself. Once you are aware of yourself, you can break free from the shackles of bondage and ignorance and cease to be slaves of others’ dogmas. This inner awareness is the key to liberation from the chains of others’ expectations and beliefs, a powerful realisation that empowers us to be our true selves.

You should observe the process of your thoughts, and gradually, you are freed from your cravings, your aversions, and ignorance; you are aware that you are not Hindu, Christian, or any other caste or creed; you experience your thoughts, and then, you experience your are not your mind, you only experience total awareness, that’s freedom. This happening or occurrence is of the inner world. A person free from the innermost level of consciousness is not seeking freedom from the outside world. It will accept the existence of natural phenomena as they are.

Once you realise inner freedom, your awareness of yourself, and the freedom to be yourself, you will understand that you are not fully independent outside. You are interdependent; interdependence is the phenomenon of the outside world, where you never wrestle against others, the natural world, or existence. You must be free only when you are fully aware, and then, you can surrender. Surrender to the truth, and that only happens when you are free. 

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