Our soul yearns for freedom. It is its very essence. That is why, perhaps, so much emphasis has been laid on this aspect, even in our socio-political environment. Whenever we want to punish someone, we tend to curtail his freedom at various levels. The freedom of movement is what comes first in our mind at a grosser level. Our social values and the whole framework of law are based on the premise of curtailment of freedom through various rules and regulations.

Let us understand the essential meaning of freedom. There are two prepositions which can be attached to the word ‘freedom’. These are ‘freedom of’ and ‘freedom from’. The first one is associated with our rights e.g. freedom of movement, freedom of speech, freedom of expression and so on. These are all very well enshrined in our constitution. Here, we are only discussing about the later aspect i.e. ‘freedom from’.

Freedom is just a state of being. It is the freedom from almost everything, which we have accumulated over our past. Essentially, it’s freedom from the psychological past, which continues to guide, govern and shape our present.

Past and future - these are the two great monsters, which occupy our mind-field almost every time. To get rid of these, we have to take recourse to invoke the power of present moment. Our conditioned mind only knows how to delve in the past or to remain anxious about future. Past is called a ‘ghost’ in Hindi language. It is a real ‘ghost’, which will never leave you from its clutches on its own. It always tries to prevail upon you, making you its slave. And we, helplessly, continue remembering what we did, how we lived, how we felt under the influence of past. The past is more like a bottomless pit. The more you delve into it, the more it attracts you - never allowing you to feel and experience the joy of present. The same thing is true of future. Such are the fanciful garments of future that we are easily tempted into their domain. It is the projection of past that gives us the illusory feeling in future.

We have to first conceptually understand that we are not just mind. We are intrinsically infinite and limitless. The very nature of our mind is sky-like, endless, unfathomable and infinite. The fleeting clouds in the sky obscure its pure and pristine nature. In the like manner, our thoughts hide the pure and radiant nature of our mind. It is the freedom from thoughts that can reveal our very essence. It is the freedom from past and future through which we can reconnect with the ever-glorious present of what is. This unbiased, non judgmental and innocent observing presence can manifest the stark reality in its primordial form.

LISTEN TO YOUR INNER VOICE

We have noticed that our mind is a chatterbox. It is continuously busy in thinking one thing or the other. It doesn’t know how to break free from the clutches of time. We are not wrong if we say that mind is nothing but a manifestation of time. If time is there, mind is there. As we transcend the time dimension, we enter a state of no-mind. Our scientists have proved that on an average, fifty to sixty thousand thoughts flash through a human mind. Some four billion bits of data is being bombarded each minute within the gray cells of human brain. Such is an enormous work load to which our mind is subjected to. The only way to silence the mind is to listen to the voice within, without evaluating, labeling and passing judgments and at the same time watch the thinker. This unbiased act of observation suddenly segregates the real self which is observing both the thought and the thinker. It is this real self which is pure awareness. Having segregated this self, it may choose to get establish in the present moment - silently and passively watching the whole scenario, yet remaining untouched by it. It is like assuming the role of an audience in a drama - the artists are busy acting out their respective roles while the anchor is directing the show. All this while, audience just remain passively aware of both of them as a silent observer - enjoying the drama, without being a part of it and without passing any judgment - just flowing with the rhythm of the moment.

BE THE MASTER OF YOUR THOUGHTS

Most of the thoughts are repetitive. Be especially attentive to them as they have occupied our mind over a long period of time. To dissolve their momentum, we have to be keenly aware of them impartially. They may be right or wrong; you may or may not agree with them - it really doesn’t matter at all. What matters is your witnessing attitude, which can extract the energy from these compulsive thought - patterns and use the same for penetrating deeper layers of consciousness. As you watch a particular thought without bias, you immediately severe your identification with it. It, then, has no power to exercise its control over you. You become the master of your thought. You are no longer taken over by its impulse. This concept of giving impartial and unbiased attention to a thought is more a matter of your own choosing. This very act of conscious choosing will sustain your presence. There will, no doubt, be moments when you will find that you are not able to maintain your attention in the present moment. It is like the movement of a pendulum, making to and fro motion from one extreme to another. However, if we are attentive enough, we may choose to come back to this point. We may not allow our attention to be drifted away and start listening to the voice in our head all over again. It is like listening to mental commentaries and observing the thinker, the entity who is responsible for running this audiotape.

EXPERIENCE THE JOY OF EVERY MOMENT

We have observed that generally all our actions are merely a means to achieve a pre-determined end. The goal always lies in some distant future. In our anxiety to achieve the goal immediately, we hardly pay any attention to the means. We are therefore not able to experience the joy associated with the means.

However, if we change our perspective and shift all our attention to the means itself rather than the end, we immediately become awfully still, as if everything has come to a standstill, seemingly passive from outside, yet impregnated with powerfully pulsating energy-field from within. With this change in attitude, every moment becomes a glorious moment, radiating the splendour and purity of perfection.

BE A WITNESS UNTO YOURSELF

There always happen some events in our life, which charge us emotionally to a very high degree. These situations like chronic illness or death of very close relative, accidents, sudden monetary loss or some emotional outburst, bring us at the cross roads of life, where we feel that life is slipping out of our hands. We feel very vulnerable, intellectually and emotionally as well. We are not able to accept even the kind words from our near and dear ones. We almost experience emotional death, when world seems not to be in conformity with our immediate needs. We can make use of these moments very effectively, if we are able to invoke our alertness level in these moments of crisis. They provide a portal to peep through a different world altogether provided we gather up our attention and observe ourselves both ways - outwardly and inwardly. When you look deeply into the negative emotion and feel its sensation in the body as a witness, you loosen its grip on your mind. Now that emotion finds it difficult to prevail upon you and use you as victim. As you create a witnessing attitude, the energy of the emotion is diminished and in turn, you get connected with your innermost strength.

We have to watch our thoughts, feelings, sensations, by going deeply into ourselves, peeling off the layers of our consciousness. The tremendous amount of emotional energy available to us at these moments can be directed inwards to explore the deeper layers. Again, it is largely a matter of remaining alert at these particular moments so as to penetrate deeper. Our inward journey propelled with the vast amount of emotional fuel can accelerate our spiritual growth at these moments, which provide us a wonderful opportunity to drive within. Once we enter deeper and deeper, we let go of individual and collective conditioning of our mind, which has all along been a major hindrance in our quest for total freedom.