The ecoTrain Speaks. "What is Freedom, are you Free?" By @eco-alex
I am writing this from an off-grid self sufficient home called an Earthship. I am writing this post using solar power, and I don't have to pay any bills for using it. I have almost no utility bills, since my home is self sufficient for power, rainwater water harvesting, solar hot water, and I also have some food production. I managed to self build it on a small budget and so I didn't have to take a loan out to pay for it. Overall, you might say that I am pretty free! ... Or am I?
What is Freedom? That is a great question. On the surface I think most of us attribute being free to having the rights and ability to do what we want to do. That can be many things such as freedom of speech, the right to vote, freedom of movement, and so on. If we look around the world, we can see massive disparity between various countries. Many parts of the world have almost no freedom of speech. If you speak out of turn in some countries you can be put in prison, or worse! Freedom of movement is a great luxury that many in Europe and USA take for granted, and is surely a very important aspect to being free. We pride ourselves in England, many parts of Europe and America on being the land of the free. Us 'lucky ones' who live in a 'democracy' are the free'est in the world.. right!?
You see, there are many kinds of Freedom. Whilst I consider myself very free according to the democratic / capitalist viewpoint, many in countries with very few human rights might see it quite differently. Freedom is not an absolute thing. It is totally subjective, and is based almost entirely on the notion of what an individual deems to be true for them.
So what is Freedom for me?
After many years of life experience, and many lands traveled, my ideas of what it means to be free have shifted from my adolescent point of view. I have come to learn that my biggest enemy is my own mind. The thing that limits me the most in life is my fear, and more importantly, my ego. I may be free to roam the world, and see the greatest sights that this marvelous planet has to offer, but ultimately I am trapped in my own mind. Whilst my ego is the captain of the ship, I am helpless to know the most important things about the world and myself. I do not even know who I really am! My ego has hidden my very essence from myself. My ego shows me what it wants me to see, and hides the rest away. My ego is the one in the control, and most of the time, I am totally unaware of it.
To be free means to be able to be here, in the present moment. If we are stuck in the past, lost in thought, we are not free. If we are worried about the future and what will be, we are not here. If we are not here and we are not in control of our thoughts, we are not free. Our thoughts are constantly interpreting our reality through our thinking of why something happened, or why someone did this or that. Through this mental filter, we are not seeing the truth! Whilst our mind is allowed to roam rampantly, we will never be free.
Our greatest challenge in life is to remove the ego. When we learn and know what the ego is, we come to know how it has warped our vision, trodden us down, and chained us up in a never ending whirlwind of fear. How can anyone be free whilst they are ruled by their mind. What is freedom? Freedom is the person who has free'd his mind. They are free! They may be mad, they may be poor, they may be in prison for the rest of their lives... but they are free. And most likely they are happy, and in the present moment.
Life is a gift
Every moment
Is precious
It can be momentous
Or nothing at all
It is your choice
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Thanks eco-alex. We are born into this world with a seed of wisdom, and an able body that can act out our wishes. We have everything we need to be happy - but then the world convinces us otherwise.
We then spend our lives being reprogrammed into abandoning that simple wisdom. And we seek material things, often at the expense of our physical well-being.
It really grates me, especially when I see social media as such a powerful tool for enlightenment and genuine sharing.
Instead we get people trying to sell their model for happiness.
I recently wrote a post about this you may find worth reading.
https://steemit.com/marketing/@joannajablonka/do-we-need-heros-idols-and-the-belief-in-fairytales
thank you Joanna.. of course i agree with you.. and really appreciate the acknowledgement!
And thanks for sharing what you wrote.. i will check that out! Steemit is doing good work with people like you and the ecoTrain around! ;-)
Great read. I haven't felt freer since moving away from Europe. So many rules and things that compromise your ability to be free. Starting our online business and moving to SE-Asia has enabled us to live a free and happy life.
you said it amy! life always has its challenges.. but when we have a good healthy foundation it makes the hard times SO much more livable! ;-)
Hi Alex,
Yes, I came to the same conclusion about freedom too. I like how you say: "If we are not here and we are not in control of our thoughts, we are not free."
But wen you say: "Our thoughts are constantly interpreting our reality through our thinking of why something happened, or why someone did this or that."
I do not fully agree. We do need to use the mind for figuring out what happened in some situations or between people, but in service of our atma/lifeflow. The mind can never fully shut up, it has to be placed in service of a higher good, then it is a beautiful tool that can put psychology, for example, to good use by helping us release the past and get in to the present. To just do away with psychology as mind nonsense is in my eyes not doing it justice. Many people think it is one or the other, one is either spiritually wise or psychologically wise but I think psychology is part of a healthy spiritual pathway. 'Know thyself' includes ones own emotions and a healthy sense of boundaries to be free. I shall post my post about freedom now too, so you can read how we came to the same conclusion with a little bit of a different flavour, which makes it interesting I guess. Love Clara
ooh yeah! i dig it! very great comment clara!
Very nice comment. I'm looking forward to reading your post @clara-andriessen.
Agreed, I was a slave to my perception of what my life should be like, working a job that was killing me emotionally, because that is what I had convinced myself my life needed to be. Always saving for tomorrow, always holding out, putting aside for the rainy day.
One day it became too much, I walked out and never went back. It's taken some time but I'm finally beginning to feel free, drifting from month to month, with no agenda, no milestones, nothing to measure myself against.
I would love to hear more about that any time you were happy to share @scelextrix. Sounds good.
GOOD for you scalextrix. I did the same thing.. and just gave up my security for a happier life.. being in the moment and trusting that things will be alright!.
Good one @eco-alex . I came to the same conclusion myself, thinking about this question of freedom. Realising that in some ways I am incredibly free and other ways not free at all. The ways that I'm not free are mostly from limitations resulting from my own life choices, which in itself indicates that I have freedom of choice - the ultimate freedom to be the ruler of my own destiny. And then there is the freedom to 'be myself' which is limited by ego, as you described. Ultimately, I think that like you say, freedom is a state of mind.
Here's a nice clip of Bill Murray talking about what you were saying...
great little clip! yes very relevant! totally! thanks
You've just expressed something that I'm writing about today - it's an economic theory. I like it when this happens on the train - upvoted :)
appreciate, and upvote
Great entry alex. Happy to see youve made your freedom come true :)
Great post @eco-alex, freedom is in the mind for most of us, I you feel free then you are free.
Thanks for sharing :)
Great post my friend. "To be free means to be able to be here, in the present moment. If we are stuck in the past, lost in thought, we are not free. " is so true. Thanks for the great read. Peace
thank you tim! really glad u read it and get it!