Take a moment and think it through. Keep it simple. What does being "free" mean to you? What is the opposite of that?
Notice, I am not asking, "Do you feel free?" Is your response to the question "Are you free?" really answering the question "Are you feeling free?" There's a big difference. The question, "Are you free?" is about how you identify with the 'being' of your essential nature. Is this nature--are you--free or not?
If you're having difficulty answering this question, or if you've decided that you are not free, consider this one: "Do you have free will?"
What does that mean to you? To me, "free will" means that, in any given moment, I can be aware of having a choice before me, and I have the freedom to make one. When I am conscious of this free will, I identify myself as being free. No matter whether I feel free or not.
When I think, "I am free," and I really believe/know that, I tend to orient myself in a direction which will help me eventually (or maybe right away!) feel free; even though I may not feel free at all at the outset.
I think it is a habit to believe that we are not free, and therefore experience many moments in our life during which we feel enslaved, without the freedom to choose our responses to what life brings our way. In my opinion, this is an error, an illusion, a habitual way of thinking which is not logical or in accordance with the reality of the state of being human. I know from experience that I, as a human being endowed with free will, am essentially free, and always free to make choices.
What you think is what you get. If the habit is to (consciously or unconsciously) think/believe "I am not free", you will eventually (sometimes immediately) feel that you are not free. And, since our habit is to base ourselves--our concept of who we are--on our feelings instead of our reasoning, our feelings will end up convincing us that we actually are not free, even if that is not in accordance with the reality of our deepest being.
On the contrary, if we become accustomed to thinking/believing "I am free," we will end up by feeling free, sooner or later. We all feel better and happier when we feel truly free/released/liberated, so I think this sense of freedom is something worth aspiring to, through developing our awareness of it.
I, personally, want to think and believe "I am free" because I know from experience that it has a positive effect on my whole being. It rings true, and it coordinates my whole mind, body, and soul in a way that makes me happy. To me, this is a good reason to practice developing the new habit of thinking which relies on my understanding that I am free--under any and all circumstances.
It's my choice to realize that I am free or not, just as it is your choice to realize your own freedom or not.
All it takes is discernment, and one thought, "I am free"; and then deciding to follow through on that thought over time.
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I have a student who, after I explained this, exclaimed in some frustration, "But it can't be so simple!"
I think it is this simple.
It's as simple as making a fist through the conscious intention to make the hand tight, and then releasing the fist-squeeze by thinking/willing the hand's release.
To think "I am not free" is like making a fist/cage for our whole self (body/mind/soul), while to think "I am free" releases the whole of who we are.
The difference, perhaps, lies only in the imagined/believed simplicity of releasing a hand. We may think that creating/releasing a fist is simple because we can literally see the hand, and think of it as something small and isolated, but is it really? Isn't a hand as infinitely complex in its minute details as any other organism? And, isn't it just as connected to the rest of the body as any other part, or parts put together?
If we can make and a release a fist through a simple thought, we can do the same for the whole body.
What is not always a simple matter, though, is to set aside the belief that it isn't this simple for long enough to try it out and experience positive results!
It's my choice to realize that I am free or not, just as it is your choice to realize your own freedom or not.
All it takes is discernment, and one thought, "I am free"; and then deciding to follow through on that thought over time.
---
I have a student who, after I explained this, exclaimed in some frustration, "But it can't be so simple!"
I think it is this simple.
It's as simple as making a fist through the conscious intention to make the hand tight, and then releasing the fist-squeeze by thinking/willing the hand's release.
To think "I am not free" is like making a fist/cage for our whole self (body/mind/soul), while to think "I am free" releases the whole of who we are.
The difference, perhaps, lies only in the imagined/believed simplicity of releasing a hand. We may think that creating/releasing a fist is simple because we can literally see the hand, and think of it as something small and isolated, but is it really? Isn't a hand as infinitely complex in its minute details as any other organism? And, isn't it just as connected to the rest of the body as any other part, or parts put together?
If we can make and a release a fist through a simple thought, we can do the same for the whole body.
What is not always a simple matter, though, is to set aside the belief that it isn't this simple for long enough to try it out and experience positive results!
Yes, I am free, and yes, it is that simple.
It makes me smile!
Awesome and very self empowering to read.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your positive feedback - I'm so glad you find this self empowering, like I do!
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