What is True Freedom?
Dear friends,
The famous philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer famously said, "A man can do what he wants, but he cannot want what he wants." This is an interesting statement, and is, fortunately, quite false.
The point is that while most people consider freedom having the ability to do whatever one wants, the desires that we have are really what are in charge. Suppose I gave you a drug that resulted in your desperately desiring a new car. You have the freedom to do whatever you can do to get that car, but how free are you?
Our desires run the show. Schopenhauer's quote above, however, states that there is nothing we can do to influence those desires. This is simply incorrect. It implies we are born with an immutable set of desires, which even a cursory examination would reveal as a false claim.
Our desires are based on our perceptions. Those perceptions are not fixed in stone. We can notice things we have not previously noticed and our priorities can change. In fact, we can intentionally do things to change both our priorities as well as our perceptions.
Suppose you really wanted yet another piece of chocolate cake. It's in your kitchen in a small box, and it has been somewhat insistently calling to you from there all day. Finally, you can resist no longer. You walk in, open the lid... and see the cake is covered with ants. Yuck! What happens to your desire for that cake? I would suggest it would take a lot less willpower to avoid eating it. :-)
Well, there are many, many things in our life that look attractive. But upon further examination we can see—and we hopefully learn over time—that they are not as attractive as they at first appeared. As we progress on the path, external conditions and material desires have less and less of a hold on us.
I suggest that true freedom comes from developing the ability to consciously choose our goals and to have them align with our highest good. This is not necessarily easy, but is at the heart of what true spiritual growth is.
With apologies to Schopenhauer, the whole point of life is growth beyond our base desires; to set aside our cravings, fears, and desires to lift the veil between us and Spirit, through wisdom and clear vision, not through suppression and mere willpower.
May we each find that calm center that enables us to be truly free. Seeing the world around us, selecting what is for our highest good, and working to anchor that precious freedom more and more deeply in Spirit.
Blessings,
David G., manager
For the staff at East West