freedom

Chaupal , an informal meeting of motley group which meets once in a month in Mumbai and brain storms on a pre decided issue discussed Freedom .on 16th August 2009. What it means to you? As a participant speaker I did a random research and shot off a question on sms to a cross section of people .
‘Could you define What Freedom means to you in 1 or 2 sentences’. I carried these people into the discussion through their responses. The content clustering revealed-

70% respondents wanted to do things or live for self without fear or compulsion (internal or external) or conscience ! .
To be without apology or being able to act on subconscious mind .
Rest had various views--
Mind free of complexes, fear , prejudices, preconceived ideas.
Speaking one’s mind/expressing without compulsion.
A smaller subset viewed freedom as internalized responsibility in sync with larger good.
Freedom from reaction to life or living fearlessly
A myth.
Freedom from desires.
Self sustainability.
On the contrary kids wanted happiness and smile and share freely the heritage.

This by no means defines all but it surely kicked a dynamic question.
What is freedom ? and from what ?

Carefully observed, most people want a freedom to live life on their terms at a material, concrete level and only then arises the concern for the other. Maslowian pyramid of self fulfillment is a fact from human mind . But when all bodies live their own life , why this need for freedom?
As life evolves in opposites , perhaps examining the inimical BONDAGE will explain it.

So the human situation is where—
Absolute freedom is an utopia . All action and reaction is in context of humans and bound in spacetime. The genetic pattern and loading already sets the blueprint of behaviour and health.
So a fresh human life on planet Earth is biologically and physically bound, a part of its destiny is predetermined. So what remains is relative or perceived freedom.
And then starts a complex interplay of nurture and nature to influence the end product -a free or a bound mind.

Freedom is after all a metaphor , and mind is about abstracting this metaphor. Given the underpinnings of temperament , these metaphors are interpreted variously.
Imagine Krishna sermonizing Buddha ,instead of Arjuna (he was also a kshatriya ) in Mahabharata. I am sure at the end of it Buddha , would have given a respectful bow to Krishna and excused himself.
Examples galore where people have sought ways in life for the same goal.

Acting on this blueprint is Social, economic and above all religious influences creating what we call CONDITIONING of mind. Lives are spend in either following or fighting the maze of this conditioning.
Let us look at the precursors of it….
Religion assigned from birth is the strongest chain for the mind. It never allows people to be what they are. Providing a societal structure , it always exhorts to become something else. In the process pointing at weaknesses and creating guilt in Homo sapiens.
It is exactly what Freud broke ..Take off the guilt arising out of Victorian morality. Lot of later philosophers and psychologists in their own time focused on it.
Following close on heels are teachings ,some from evolved but mostly from half baked minds, which masses believe due to lack of critical thinking..
Rest all is experiential . Teachers , subjects , parents and media as the new influence
all mix up with one’s own desires , ambition and compulsions to create a real (or surreal) anxiety of being bound and not free.

‘Be this’ and ‘be that’ or ‘ become something’
An average child hears ‘no’ 400 times a day .
Such conditioned adult struggles all his life and probably
questions ,towards the end about the gain .

All this is known rhetoric ,then why bother?
Because the subconscious feel of being bound creates tremendous overt and covert misery.

Then why don’t people free themselves.
Fear and guilt add a burden to already existing chains.

Even if the heart desires ,mind is afraid of the unknown .
The fear of treading into an unexplored territory creates a blockade ,an inertia in most minds.
The heels are cooled in the shadow of false .erroneous tested world rather than walking on fire of doubts.
The known and experienced is safe and false sense of security makes them continue .
False because the mind forgets that what is being held to mind so dearly is also temporary and it all will end ,anyways sooner or later.
No body will live for eternity ,there is nothing to lose .Yet even if some one overcomes this fear ,guilt of going against the moralistic teachings and conditioning
halts them.

Average mind is unable to throw off these shackles And continues to languish in the chained prison of mind ,fantasizing for some illusory freedom.

Only a few minds in the history of mankind have had the guts of iron and nerves of steel to attempt to rise above the conditioning ,fear, guilt and taste the real freedom ,freedom of thought.
And they were persistent in discovering and going beyond SELF. The great movements set in by them ,helped the masses and glorified lives .
This is self actualization and its reflection shines us.

Is their a way to shape future?

Set the young minds free.
Train them in critical thinking .
Allow them to doubt and question. and wait for the change they bring.
For a future human who is ----

Fearless in mind ,self actualized and carries humanity forward.