Freedom

Sometimes, I wonder if we come to this earth and die. What is the purpose of life? During our lifetime, we keep dancing to the tunes of this body. Pain in any part of the body makes us sad. Different diseases weaken this body and each time we struggle to bring the body to good health. As if that was not sufficient, we develop strong likes and dislikes with respect to the people and ecosystem around us. We like certain types of people and dislike others; therefore, when we are forced to stay in the company of those we dislike, we feel pain almost similar to the physical pain due to diseases. We like comforts for the body and therefore like airconditioning of offices and homes, comfortable modes of travel, comfortable sofa and bed. We also want to see symmetry and beauty. That's why we like well-decorated and arranged homes, offices, and good-looking dresses. We also like to be treated well and respected and that is why we have a huge craving for powerful positions where people respect us for our decisions. Since in today's society, almost everything is available for money, money has become the most important possession.

Most of us are struggling with one or the other thing. Will we be happy, if we get all these things? That is the moot question here. In my experience, I have seen people with huge wealth during the Income-tax raids. I have not found them contended with all the money they have. I have seen the politicians and the bureaucrats with the most powerful positions, they are equally not contended. I have seen people with all the comforts of life and they are also equally unhappy. The more people get the comforts, wealth, and power, the more hungry they become for that and their tolerance level for any changes in their possessions reduces significantly. One gets the most powerful position and he can stoop to any low to retain that position. One gets the wealth and he can frame all types of conspiracies to retain that wealth. One gets the best of the comforts in life and he becomes restless with little discomfort for some time.

If the accumulation of wealth, comforts and power makes us weaker and more vulnerable than we are, without them, does it not require a complete rethinking on the issue of the purpose of life itself? It does, to the best of my understanding. Even if we are selfish, we need to appreciate what our self-interest really is. 

My own introspection reveals to me that my seeking is freedom. Freedom is a fundamental element of our core existence. The consciousness that has taken different forms, is basically free to take any form. Out of its freedom, it decides to take a particular form. (Probably) We also decided to take this human body out of our free will. After coming to the human body, as a child, we have some remembrance of that freedom and therefore, we are not afraid. We make friends easily. We trust others without distinction of caste, color, or religion. Slowly, because we lose awareness of the real nature, out of unawareness, body and mind become the king and consciousness becomes just a tool to serve them. Just like the ministers taking over the kingdom and the rules left to just serve them.

Our true nature is to be free and probably the challenge of this life is also to realize that freedom while being in the human form. We have been given a beautiful gift of awareness. If this awareness has not become too dull with the material and mental possessions and desires, it can connect us to our real selves. That connection brings the freedom back. We are no longer bound by the body and mind. With awareness, we regain freedom and the body and the mind become tools to express that freedom in the material world. Rather than the consciousness playing to the tunes of the body and mind, the body and mind play to the tunes of the consciousness. That dance is full of joy and bliss. It is not constrained or restricted. That is full of freedom. I feel regaining that freedom is the purpose of life which makes life so fulfilling.

A conditioned body and mind will always create an allusion to this being an impossibility. They will always create thousands of alibi to retain their rulership. They will create all types of divisions as did the British to India pre-1947. So many conflicts will be created within us. We will be made to believe that we are worthless and fit to be slaves. However, if we are determined, we can again have freedom and that appears to be the purpose of human life. To live with freedom from all restrictions and conditioning of the body and the mind.