Facets of Freedom

By A Vedanta Kesari Presentation

Freedom is the only condition for growth. But freedom also brings responsibility. Again in the context of self-discipline what is true freedom - freedom of the senses or freedom from the senses? Finally ultimate freedom from all bondages say the Hindu Scriptures is the highest goal of life. These and many more aspects of the idea of freedom are the subject matter of Facets of Freedom. The book tries to explore various aspects of freedom in its widest sense. It contains 30 illuminating articles by eminent writers monks and others.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jul 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9781329410909

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Contributors

Chapter One

Freedom: Inner and Outer

SWAMI ATMASHRADDHANANDA

Everyone Seeks Freedom

In his well-known arati hymn to Sri Ramakrishna, now sung in numerous temples and homes, Swami Vivekananda begins by addressing him as the ‘breaker of bondages’ (khandana bhava bandhana). What an apt description of what we seek all through life—breaking the bondages of all kinds!

One of the terms frequently used in Sanskrit literature to describe the state of our earthly reality is bhava bandhana (the knot of relative existence) or bhava sagara (the ocean of relative existence) or simply bhava, relative existence. Indeed, to exist is to be dependent and all dependence is a bondage. The world in which we live is one of interdependence. Our physical existence, for instance, depends on five elements of Nature plus certain vital factors such as food, potable water, air, shelter, hygiene, security (physical, political or financial) and so on. One cannot live without fulfilling these needs. Of course, one can live on bare minimum of these, but they are needed nevertheless. In this sense, life is a dependent reality. It is a simple, commonsensical fact; one does not need to discuss it at length.

Though we live a dependent life thus, we also, in midst of all our bondages and joys, seek something which is independent. We seek something free, and fulfilling. Says Swami Vivekananda,

We struggle hard to attain to some goal and then discover we do not want it. This dissatisfaction we are having time after time, and what is there in the mind if there is to be only dissatisfaction? What is the meaning of this universal dissatisfaction? It is because freedom is every man’s goal. He seeks it ever, his whole life is a struggle after it. The child rebels against law as soon as it is born. Its first utterance is a cry, a protest against the bondage in which it finds itself.¹

From the moment we raise our cry at birth, till we die, life is a series of attempts to free ourselves from ‘bondage’. A grown-up tries to free himself from bondages as much as a child tries to free himself from bondages. The concept of bondage may differ but both, and all those in between these two, are trying to come out of bondage. As Swamiji poignantly puts it:

Everything that we perceive around us is struggling towards freedom, from the atom to the man, from the insentient, lifeless particle of matter to the highest existence on earth, the human soul. The whole universe is in fact the result of this struggle for freedom. In all combinations every particle is trying to go on its own way, to fly from the other particles; but the others are holding it in check. Our earth is trying to fly away from the sun, and the moon from the earth. Everything has a tendency to infinite dispersion. All that we see in the universe has for its basis this one struggle towards freedom; it is under the impulse of this tendency that the saint prays and the robber robs. When the line of action taken is not a proper one, we call it evil; and when the manifestation of it is proper and high, we call it good. But the impulse is the same, the struggle towards freedom. The saint is oppressed with the knowledge of his condition of bondage, and he wants to get rid of it; so he worships God. The thief is oppressed with the idea that he does not possess certain things, and he tries to get rid of that want, to obtain freedom from it; so he steals. Freedom is the one goal of all nature, sentient or insentient; and consciously or unconsciously, everything is struggling towards that goal. The freedom which the saint seeks is very different from that which the robber seeks; the freedom loved by the saint leads him to the enjoyment of infinite, unspeakable bliss, while that on which the robber has set his heart only forges other bonds for his soul.²

In the above words, the entire gamut of freedom has been covered. And what a sweeping overview of life it is!

Facets of Freedom

In practical, day-to-day life, freedom assumes many forms and colours. Let us explore some of them.

First of all, everyone wants the freedom to exist. This means good health, regular and proper food, sufficient clothes, secure and comfortable place of living, and other amenities needed for a healthy living. Basic although they are and yet how many millions are deprived of these vital needs! Millions live in abject misery and deplorable conditions, year after year, generation after generation. The first freedom, therefore, is the freedom to live a decent, comfortable living. This includes various forms of freedom—political, economic, scientific, cultural and so on.

Again, in order to earn this freedom, one needs education, money, and opportunities and fulfil other socio-economic conditions. One should be properly equipped, physically as well as mentally, to be free at this primary level of freedom. This involves making right choices and struggling hard to fulfil what one dreams to ‘have’.

While this is an important and vital part of freedom, there is another, and higher, side to freedom. This freedom is the freedom to live a morally upright life. Called dharma in Sanskrit, dharma is the sum total of all values and higher modes of living. Without following these higher values such as honesty, truthfulness, absence of jealousy, anger, greed, and so on, no man can live a meaningful and fulfilling life. Not only that. Without the foundation of these values, even the freedom to live a decent and comfortable life cannot continue for long. Dharma is the basis of both material as well moral well-being. Says Vyasa, the celebrated compiler of Mahabharata,

I say with my arms upraised [as a symbol of a firm declaration] that dharma alone is the giver of [true] enjoyment and wealth, and yet no one seems to listen to me!

Following dharma means living a righteous life. Wealth, comfort, success and the likes of it cannot satisfy us forever. Why? Here are some answers to this vital question in this age that worships worldly pursuits:³

Wealth, fame and power are exclusive, hence competitive, hence precarious. Unlike mental and spiritual values, they do not multiply when shared; they cannot be distributed without diminishing one’s own portion. . . . From the competitiveness of these goods to their precari-ousness is a short step. As other people want that too, who knows when success will change hand? . . .

Viewing life from this angle, one realises that ‘freedom to have’ is not everything that we really wish in life. ‘Freedom to be’ is a higher freedom. It is not sufficient to have all the comforts and other blessings of life; one should have the freedom to be, be a free man or woman. A prisoner, however well-fed and well cared for, is a prisoner after all. He is bound and restricted. A bird in a golden cage is a captive bird nevertheless.

The Highest Freedom

Freedom, in its highest sense, therefore, is spiritual freedom. Political and economic or gender freedom cannot satisfy our deepest longing for freedom. Our hankering for freedom is invariably connected with our desire to be happy always. Freedom and happiness go together. Swamiji says,

Then there is the desire to be happy. We run after everything to make ourselves happy; we pursue our mad career in the external world of senses. If you ask the young man with whom life is successful, he will declare that it is real; and he really thinks so. Perhaps, when the same man grows old and finds fortune ever eluding him, he will then declare that it is fate. He finds at last that his desires cannot be fulfilled. Wherever he goes, there is an adamantine wall beyond which he cannot pass. Every sense-activity results in a reaction. Everything is evanescent. Enjoyment, misery, luxury, wealth, power, and poverty, even life itself, are all evanescent.⁴

Added to this is another problem—all happiness is met with, ultimately, death! We seek eternal happiness and therefore eternal life. As death snaps away our happiness, we have to fight a battle with death as well! This takes the quest for freedom to a deeper, higher and transcendental level.

According to Hindu tradition, mukti or ultimate liberation is the goal towards which everyone is naturally heading to. We search or hanker after many things in life only to find that nothing permanent can be found in this life. It is after many, many experiences, may be after many births, that a desire for liberation takes birth in our hearts. Says Sri Krishna in the Gita (7.19),

बहूनां जन्मनामन्ते ज्ञानवान्मां प्रपद्यते ।

वासुदेवः सर्वमिति स महात्मा सुदुर्लभः ॥

At the end of many births (of striving), the knowing one makes Me his refuge, realising that Vasudeva is All. A great soul of that type is rare to find.

Freedom is a dominant factor in whatever we ultimately seek in life. Says an authority on spiritual matters:⁵

What is freedom? We hear of four types of freedom: Freedom from want, freedom from fear, freedom from restraint of speech, and freedom from restraint of worship. But all these are limited freedoms, however essential they may be. They refer only to man’s social life. All modern democratic states guarantee these freedoms to their citizens. But they do not necessarily guarantee the freedom of the soul. The soul of man is bound by the fetters of his instincts, emotions and beliefs. Even when he has all the freedom he wants in society, unless he feels that he is a free individual within, how can we call him a free man? We need something more. It is only when we realise that we are souls, will real longing for true freedom arise in us. Then alone will real spiritual life begin for us. The first sign of spiritual awakening is the change in our attitude towards ourselves. We then discover that we are neither bodies nor minds but souls—centres of consciousness.

What is the way to know our spiritual nature and realize our inherent free nature? Yoga or the ways to discover our unity with the ultimate Reality. Yoga or the Way to Freedom has been described in four ways: Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Raja Yoga and Bhakti Yoga. These yogas are not watertight compartments but are complimentary to one another. Yogas are pathways to perfection called freedom. Speaking of the meaning of Yoga, Huston Smith, an eminent authority on world religions, says,

The word yoga derives from the same root as does the English word yoke, and yoke carries a double connotation: to unite (yoke together), and to place under disciplines training (to bring under the yoga, or ‘take yoke upon you’). Both connotations are present in the Sanskrit word. Defined generally, then, yoga is a method of training designed to lead to integration or union.⁶

Freedom, O Freedom!

In its widest sense, the word freedom contains a profound meaning. What do we want by seeking freedom?

First, we want being. Everyone wants to be rather than not be; normally, no one wants to die. . . None of us take happily to the thought of a future in which we shall have no part.

Second, we want to know. Whether it be scientists probing the secrets of nature, a typical family watching the nightly news, or neighbours catching up on local gossip, we are insatiably curious...

The third thing people seek is joy, a feeling tone that is the opposite of frustration, futility, and boredom.

These are what people really want. . . .A distinctive future of human nature is its capacity to think of something that has no limits: the infinite. This capacity affects all human life. . . To state the full truth, then we must say that what people would really like to have is infinite being, infinite knowledge, and infinite bliss. They might have to settle for less, but this is what they really want. To gather the wants into a single word, what people really want is liberation (moksha)—release from the finitude that restricts us from the limitless being, consciousness, and bliss our hearts desire.⁷

This Infinite Being-Knowledge-Joy is called sat-chit-ananda. The highest definition of freedom, therefore, is to this inherent, pure, ever-free, ancient-yet-modern truth of our being. All bondages of Karmas and samskaras drop off when one realises the atman. All our actions, responses, plans, struggles, all our worship and spiritual disciplines converge at this eternal hunger of ours—to know our real Self, the Satchidananda.

‘Facets of Freedom’, this year’s spotlight issue, endeavours to explore various aspects of freedom in its widest sense. A whole range of freedom-related issues, mundane and spiritual, have been discussed. Our thanks to all our contributors who have most enthusiastically and kindly contributed to the making of this issue!

References

1. CW, 1: 335

2. CW, 1: 109

3. The World’s Religions, Huston Smith, Harper-SanFrancisco, 1991, p.15-16

4. CW, 2: 71

5. Meditation and Spiritual Life by Swami Yatiswarananda, Ramakrishna Math, Bangalore, p. 554-555

6. The World’s Religions, p.27

7. World Religions, p.20-21

Chapter Two

‘Freedom, O Freedom!’ is the

Song of the Soul

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

Freedom: the Basis of Universe

The question has been raised as to from whom this universe comes, in whom it rests, and to whom it goes; and the answer has been given that from freedom it comes, in bondage it rests, and goes back into that freedom again.¹

The first inkling of life on its higher level is in seeing this struggle within us to break the bond of nature and to be free. ‘Freedom, O Freedom! Freedom, O Freedom!’ is the song of the soul.²

What is it we all seek? Freedom. All the effort and struggle of life is for freedom. It is the march universal of races, of worlds, and of systems.³

Everything that we perceive around us is struggling towards freedom, from the atom to the man, from the insentient, lifeless particle of matter to the highest existence on earth, the human soul. The whole universe is in fact the result of this struggle for freedom. In all combinations every particle is trying to go on its own way, to fly from the other particles; but the others are holding it in check. Our earth is trying to fly away from the sun, and the moon from the earth. Everything has a tendency to infinite dispersion.

All that we see in the universe has for its basis this one struggle towards freedom; it is under the impulse of this tendency that the saint prays and the robber robs. When the line of action taken is not a proper one, we call it evil; and when the manifestation of it is proper and high, we call it good. But the impulse is the same, the struggle towards freedom. The saint is oppressed with the knowledge of his condition of bondage, and he wants to get rid of it; so he worships God. The thief is oppressed with the idea that he does not possess certain things, and he tries to get rid of that want, to obtain freedom from it; so he steals.

Freedom is the one goal of all nature, sentient or insentient; and consciously or unconsciously, everything is struggling towards that goal. The freedom which the saint seeks is very different from that which the robber seeks; the freedom loved by the saint leads him to the enjoyment of infinite, unspeakable bliss, while that on which the robber has set his heart only forges other bonds for his soul.⁴

All are our fellow passengers, our fellow travellers —all life, plants, animals; not only my brother man, but my brother brute, my brother plant; not only my brother the good, but my brother the evil, my brother the spiritual and my brother the wicked. They are all going to the same goal. All are in the same stream, each is hurrying towards that infinite freedom. We cannot stay the course, none can stay it, none can go back, however he may try; he will be driven forward, and in the end he will attain to freedom.⁵

Dependence and Independence

The Vedas say the whole world is a mixture of independence and dependence, of freedom and slavery, but through it all shines the soul independent, immortal, pure, perfect, holy. For if it is independent, it cannot perish, as death is but a change, and depends upon conditions; if independent, it must be perfect, for imperfection is again but a condition, and therefore dependent. And this immortal and perfect soul must be the same in the highest God as well as in the humblest man, the difference between them being only in the degree in which this soul manifests itself.⁶

Freedom means independence of anything outside, and that means that nothing outside itself could work upon it as a cause. The soul is causeless, and from this follow all the great ideas that we have. You cannot establish the immortality of the soul, unless you grant that it is by its nature free, or in other words, that it cannot be acted upon by anything outside. For death is an effect produced by some outside cause. I drink poison and I die, thus showing that my body can be acted upon by something outside that is called poison. But if it be true that the soul is free, it naturally follows that nothing can affect it, and it can never die. Freedom, immortality, blessedness, all depend upon the soul being beyond the law of causation, beyond this Maya. Of these two which will you take? Either make the first a delusion, or make the second a delusion. Certainly I will make the second