Slavery And Freedom
Slavery: being excessively dependent and controlled by someone or something.
Freedom: the right to act, speak or think as one wants.
We all want the freedom to act, speak, or think as we want,
and not be controlled by others.
But none of that is actually the case.
What do we want and why do we want it?
“Well, I want to do act, say and think whatever I want!”
“And what is that, precisely?”
“I want to have this or that, to do this or that, and to say this or that.”
“And your choices come from where?”
“Whatever’s in the shops or on the internet or in the media, so I can choose for myself!”
And there we have it.
Our freedom is actually reliant upon slavery.
Freedom is the ability to be released from reacting to the material or mental world.
Whenever we react, we become enslaved by others’ ideas.
We have been – and are being – led to believe that freedom and happiness are otherwise. We chase after freedom and happiness when this search is actually the very cause of dissatisfaction and suffering, because we are led in the opposite direction, into materialism – and spiritual materialism.
Pure consciousness – our absolute nature – is always present, free and happy. That is wisdom. Once established, we can no longer be lured into falsehoods. It is the minorities – the inner circles – that control the majority … nobody was born believing in God.
“We have always been free
in the moment of seeing”
-Tulku Urgyen