Freedom n Boundary

As a small child I remember attending a debate on the topic; “Man is Born Free but everywhere he is in chains”. There was ‘for’ and ‘against’ discussion on this topic. As a child I don’t remember much on the discussion or whether ‘for’ was correct or ‘against’. But this phrase pondered my mind many times at different phases of my life. Let us try and analyze what exactly is freedom and what are these chains or boundaries.

There are few society bound chains on all of us, from our family, education, values, culture etc. These are healthy chains and are actually required for our overall growth and benefits.

But there are few chains which we put ourselves more often than others do. We try to conform to certain ideas, thoughts and when we do so, we are in fact slaves to those ideas and thoughts. Thoughts/Chains of resentment and guilt. These are the two emotions we keep holding. Forgiveness has power. Think about the chains which bound us when we fail to forgive: retaliation, isolation, revenge, retribution, reprisal, vindictiveness. Holding on to resentment calls for maintaining a constant supply of energy to the chains of defensiveness, suspicion, and anger.

Doing so takes up a lot of physical and emotional energy. We nurture our resentments like cherished pets. To be actually free, one has to break free from these chains. Forgiving yourself or someone else for the guilt or mistakes, but it does not mean one gets an opportunity to do the same mistake once again. Rather one should take it as an opportunity to correct oneself and become a better person, this is the best apology for the wrong deeds done in the past.

Freedom is the yearning of every heart. It is the quest of the human spirit. From the beginning of time, man has always searched for freedom in life. It is as if the seed of freedom is planted in the heart and soul. Every adventure of man has been the expression of this freedom; it has been the desire for, or the expression of his state of freedom.

Owning thousands of things doesn’t really make us free. Quite on the contrary, each object we own takes up not just physical but also mental space! And thus creates chains of attachment to materialistic goods. If one has to become truly free to travel in life and also have the internal capacity for creative thinking, declutter your life! This is one of the important ways to become free. Try it out today: Look at your cupboards, shelves and rooms and take note of all the things you hardly use but are still occupying some space. Start by giving these things away, either to relatives, charitable organizations, or to maids, drivers or sweepers, there are enough poor people in this country. It’s simple: The more we give, the lighter we feel from the chains of attachment to goods- and free we are.

“Your freedom ends where my nose begins”- is an old proverb. Our freedom guarantees us to do what is right, but not to throw mud on others or hurt them. Our freedom should not be hindrance in others freedom...freedom does not mean to do whatsoever I feel good, while it means live and let others live. These are the few chains, which we should respect and honor.

One can never truly be free because freedom has a price to pay and the price is giving up some of our freedom. But one can work to be free from all kinds of negative thoughts and emotions like, sorrow, grief, anger, greed and jealousy, as they are all illusions. These emotions are ephemeral. All the beings are bonded due to lack of knowledge but they get free and achieve liberation once they realize that the world is nothing but illusion. One who can surrender to Lord, and free himself form attachments to living and non living objects, can experience freedom. Once we get His unconditional support we gain freedom from fear, worry and despair.

On this independence day let us give off the chains that have bound us to the ordinary. We deserve the best and we shall get the best.