What is Freedom?
Dear friends,
People talk about freedom all the time. The general usage is that freedom is about being able to do what you want when you want to. But... (You knew there was a "but" coming, right?)
Where does whatever desire we have come from? Someone is free to take an addictive drug. But are they equally free to stop once the habit has set in? We are not free to do what we want until we are able to determine what we want. Desires arise and are essentially compulsive in that they demand to be satisfied or remain an “itch."
The large majority of our actions are conditioned by our own subconscious thoughts and desires. "I really like X." That's fine, but are you happy if you do not have X? And if not, then your well-being is limited by the availability of that object (or circumstance, or person, or…) So to feel better you are driven to deal with X. Are you truly free then?
In the classic novel Gulliver's Travels, a man finds himself shipwrecked and on a remote island. He awakes on the beach to discover he is tied down by thousands of tiny threads. The inhabitants are tiny, tiny people called Lilliputians. To them, those threads are heavy rope. You'd think Gulliver could just break them easily, but again, there are many thousands of them, so he is immobilized.
Our desires are like that. The thousands (millions?) of little threads of compulsions, desires, and likes and dislikes hold us down. We think that following our hearts' desire is a sign of freedom, but it completely depends on where that desire comes from. You cannot do what you want until you can want what you want.
May we each be free inwardly. In that state we are able to do as Spirit wills instead of following our own urges and subconscious drives.
Blessings,
David G., manager
For the Gang at East West