Freedom, is probably the most abused word, after love, in the history of mankind and civilization. It is also one of the hardest concepts to fully comprehend. Is there really absolute freedom? If not, then what are we talking about? If there’s such a thing, then how can we become free?
Well, just like any other concept, we all understand different things when we talk about freedom. But I’ll break it down to mini pieces to make it more understandable. Free means not dependent from anything or anyone.
First of all let’s talk about the freedom of choice and individual freedom. When we say I’m free to choose what I want to choose. Here’s how it is. Your freedom is limited to the choices you have, which means you are free to choose between A or B, but you aren’t free, it’s not YOU that is free, it is the choice that you will make that is free. Let’s take it further. When you choose what you want and desire, in other words you use your freedom of choice to choose what you want! Is this really freedom? I mean you’re choosing based on your desire, which comes from the experiences that you’ve had, the teachings you’ve been taught, and the lessons that you’ve learned, but then again even if it’s solely your desire, you’re choice comes from that desire, which does not indicate freedom at all. Free men don’t have to make choices. The moment that you have to choose between A or B you are no longer free, you are free to choose any of A or B, but you ain’t free. Even if you have millions of thousands of choices, you still HAVE TO make a choice.
Is It Freedom When You Do What You Want?
I used to think that it is freedom but when I asked the following question, suddenly the concept of freedom changed. Why do you want what you want? That’s the question. Where does that desire come from? From God? You ain’t free. From the universe? You ain’t free. From parents? You ain’t free. From experience? You ain’t free. Is it greed? You ain’t free. I’m just saying wherever it comes from you ain’t free. Even if it comes from your DNA!!
We are the product of the experiences that we’ve had, and the experiences of our parents or the people that have influenced us, let it be neighbors, mentors online or whoever it is. And who are they? They’re the product of their experience and the experience of their ancestors! It goes on and on getting deeper in the history of mankind. Well mathematically each generation becomes more complex, for I contain let’s say thousands of years of experience, the next generation will have that and plus mine, which increases the complexity. The reason I’m explaining this is because this complexity makes it almost impossible for us to track and understand the motives behind our desires and rules. On the surface we might think we have the freedom of choice, but once we understand that our desires aren’t free we’ll change our concept of freedom.
Is There Anyone Free On Earth?
I’ve never seen any. As long as we’re alive we’re bound by our desires, rules and beliefs. Put it this way, we MUST eat! Are we free not to eat? Of course not! Is it absurd to bring this question to prove a point?! Of course not! We’re talking about absolute freedom, yet we must eat & drink…
In any civilization, let alone a nation, it’s impossible to be absolutely free, there are millions of rules to follow and obey! Not even politically, I mean the majority decides and then the very minority rules! This is the best that mankind can think of and accept at the moment, but it certainly isn’t freedom!
Look at it this way. Nature itself is not free. Look in the nature, is there anything free? No. Nature has its laws. Here’s a simple example, gravity. When we throw something from the roof of a building, does it fall freely? Of course not, it falls under the pressure of gravity and its mass.
Will We Ever Experience Ultimate Freedom?
I have no idea. I don’t even know what a free man would do? Probably just sit and hmmm sit….
I believe the easiest aspect of life in which we can understand how we can be free is the financial, and the only possible way that I can think of is not to have money at all, and not live in a society that uses money. Otherwise no matter if you’re financially rich, wealthy or poor, you’re attached to money, and HAVE TO do certain actions to keep or increase that money. So as a conclusion, what I understand is that in order to obtain ultimate freedom, we must get rid of desires and needs. Is it possible? I think not, but it’s just a wild guess. Basically what I’m saying is that being free is just an illusion. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I mean who said we must be free in the first place? But acting as if we’re free is actually a step back in our social evolution. If you truly wish to be free, good luck, but understand this, we aren’t meant to be free. Growth, learning, development, going forward, winning and all of the advancements that we’re witnessing are not the results of being free.