Another note on "fake" personal freedom

I have to write down this note on personal freedom, following my previous matrix and spirituality post and the following comment from @holoz0r

I've said this some where else, and stole it from someone else. All these people who say they're "letting go" and trying to become "zen" or "one with the universe" still look both ways before they cross any street.

~
There is this popular idea that circulates mostly in esoteric circles. It states that if you are free in your mind, then it doesn't matter what happens on the outside. If you are free in your head, then you are (supposedly) free everywhere and in any real life situation.

I somewhat agree with this idea. I think it can be used as a practical tool to work with one's mindset, emotions, reactions, and decision-making, and to experiment with how our mind and thinking can affect the material world. However, the statement that "freedom in your head" is true freedom just doesn't agree with me.

You see, it's easy to be free in your head. I can easily persuade myself that I am free. It's only a matter of self hypnosis, working with my thought processes, and creating an artificial reality of freedom that's seen and felt only by me in my own imagination. But if this "freedom" has no manifestation in the physical world, isn't it just that - a mere fantasy of my mind?

My martial arts teacher has given me a multitude of examples. Let's look at one of them. Some person says he is free from this "matrix" world, but you see him living in a comfortable house with running hot water, electricity, a refrigerator, and other things that make our lives super comfortable. He drives a car, he buys his food in a supermarket. He takes lots of his ideas about life from books and films created by other minds. His physical body totally depends on all the perks which exist thanks to highly developed technology and city infrastructure. His emotions and physiological reactions are exactly like those of other average human beings who were born and raised in this society. His mood and thinking is affected by what he consumes (food, information, and impressions). And this can go on, and on, and on.

If this person is free in his mind, but his lifestyle, needs, reactions, and dependencies haven't changed drastically... If he says "I don't cling to all this, I just use it because it's there"... then how do we even define this "freedom". What is the point of this freedom - to feel good about yourself in your head? Is it yet another way to feel psychologically comfortable with oneself as in "I am free, I achieved this goal, I don't need to change anything, I am happy"?

This is just something to think about.

Again, I like the idea of being free in one's mind, but it depends how it's used and how it manifests. Is it practical, does it have an effect on the world the person lives in? Or is it just a statement of "Who cares if I have to work 8 to 5 and abide by all the social rules that I hate? I am free in my head while being a practical slave in the physical world, so my slavery is not real."