The Precious Treasure of Freedom

 

by Swami Vimalananda

 

“…It offers what the wise crave—
The priceless treasure of Freedom.”

-Hafiz

 

We all want freedom: freedom from hunger, freedom from poverty, freedom from tyranny, freedom from discrimination, freedom from oppression, freedom from harm, both physical and mental.

We join movements, we fight, we argue, we attempt good legislation, we become educated, we labor, we scheme. We do whatever we feel is necessary for us and others to survive and prosper in this world.

The problem though, is after we obtain the level of prosperity that we think is necessary for comfort, we still have our old negative thoughts. We discover that even though we might temporarily feel less stress and have more luxuries, we are stuck with our old self-image.

I was a poor kid, and decided I wasn’t going to live in poverty. I decided that an education, good job, a loving husband, and a house in the suburbs was the way to my happiness. However, after I received an education, had a good job, married, had three kids, and a house in the burbs, I still had a negative self-image and felt unloved. I very clearly remember looking out our picture window and saying to myself, “Is this all there is?”

Even though I was physically secure, I still was very poverty stricken, emotionally and mentally. I was happy or sad, or angry because of other people’s opinions of me. When I received praise, I doubted its sincerity or felt that it was fleeting and unreliable. But I was still very willing to compromise my integrity for a crumb of attention. At the same time, I felt very lonely and very dependent.

It was years before I realized how the process of meditation allows us to see how our thoughts reinforce our own belief system. The thoughts are so frequent that only snippets need to be conscious for us to reinforce them. I based most of my life decisions on these thoughts, organized my perceptions of life, and reinforced these perceptions over and over again. My most frequent thought was, “I don’t think anyone loves me.”

Even after years on the yogic path, some of those old thoughts and misperceptions are so strong that they still call out to me.

The last time I saw my beloved Sri Gurudev, I bowed at his feet and looked up to him like a little girl asking for his approval, and he frowned and shook his head. It took me a while before I understood his message: that I am still looking for external approval.

But as the Patanjali Yoga Sutra states, “By the practice of the limbs of yoga, the impurities dwindle away and there dawns the light of wisdom leading to discriminative discernment.”

We can maintain calmness and equanimity in our daily lives by replacing the negative thoughts with the positive. The more inner directed that we are, the easier it becomes to practice selflessness and develop a pure heart. We can detach from the world’s agenda by touching the inner whole self more and more and surrendering to a higher power, thereby abiding in the great feeling of freedom.

One of my heroes, Admiral James Stockdale, a navy pilot at the time of the Vietnam war, exemplifies the ability to abide in freedom. He was imprisoned for eight years in the Hanoi Hilton prisoner of war camp after his plane was shot down. For five of those years, he was tortured. After he was released, Admiral Stockdale said that he was grateful for the experience. I actually heard him say that.

He discovered that even though his enemy could control his body, they couldn’t control his mind. He had the freedom to think his own thoughts and maintain and even grow in his selfhood.

What is freedom? It’s being free from the prison of our own minds and free from thinking we need other people’s approval — to know we are complete and one with the Divine. It’s sinking into our own hearts and connecting with our inner guide, feeling completely looked after, and knowing we are complete just the way we are, living in our true nature. It is a place of real fun.

 

It Cuts the Plow Reins
-by Hafiz

What does Purity do?
It cuts the plow reins.

It frees you from working and dining
In the mud.

It frees you from living behind
A big ox
That is always breaking wind.

What can Purity do, my dear?

It can lift your heart
On a rising, bucking Sun
That makes the soul hunger
To reach the roof of Creation,

It offers what the whole world wants—
Real Knowledge and Power.

It offers what the wise crave—
The priceless treasure of Freedom.

Pure Divine Love is no meek priest
Or tight banker.
It will smash all your windows
And only then throw in the holy gifts.

It will allow you to befriend
Life and light and sanity—

And not even mind waking
To another day.

It reveals the excitement of the Present
And the beauty of Precision.
It confers vitality and a sublime clarity

Until finally all the heart can do
Is burst open
With great love and laughter!

O Purity,
O dear Truth and Friend within me,
Why didn’t you tell me sooner
You could do all this—

Cut the reins of illusion,

So we can all
Just go wild
Loving God
And everyone all day!