Someone once said ‘total freedom is real anarchy’. Our concept of freedom is very misplaced. With CCTVs in most public places we go to, with governments spying on citizens, with internet also slowly becoming a watched media, and with fear of attacks from anyone at anytime, what freedom is it that are we really experiencing?!
Srila Prabhupada: You are not free. You are thinking you’re free, but you are not; you are under the stringent laws of nature.
Of course, you are free to some extent, because you are part and parcel of God, who is completely free. Therefore you have minute freedom. You may serve the Lord, or you may not serve Him — that is your freedom. If you serve the Lord you become happy; if you do not serve Lord you become unhappy.
Priest: But if I serve the Lord, do I lose that little bit of freedom?
Srila Prabhupada: No, serving the Lord is real freedom. For example, my finger is part and parcel of my body. As long as the finger is healthy it serves the body, but if it is full of pain, if it is unhealthy, it cannot serve. Similarly, when a living entity does not serve God that is his material condition, his unhealthy condition. When he serves God that is his natural, healthy condition, because he is part and parcel of God.
In yet another conversation, Srila Prabhupada articulates the real meaning of freedom
In one of his first talks in America, Srila Prabhupada answers the question of a curious journalist as to why surrendering to God is not a stifling but the beginning of real freedom:
Interviewer: But throughout history people have fought valiantly for the freedom to enjoy life to the fullest — the pursuit of happiness.
Srila Prabhupada: That means that they’re thinking that freedom means to become the servant of the senses. Our Krishna consciousness philosophy teaches, “Don’t become the servant of your senses.” And people think, “Oh, but this is our freedom.” They do not know that by trying to become free, they are becoming servants of their senses. Where is your freedom? To freely enjoy sense gratification means to become the servant of your senses. This is maya’s illusion. You are voluntarily accepting maya’s slavery and thinking, “Now I’m free.” This is illusion. Your senses are pulling you by the ear — “Come here. Do this and you’ll be happy.”
In essence, once we have understood the difference between real freedom and illusory freedom, the only freedom that we have is to choose which side we want to be on – ‘in the pond or on the bank.’ We have the freedom to stop reading this. There will be no armed guard holding a gun to our head to make a particular choice. But we MUST understand that every choice comes with a basketful of consequences. Even if we decide not to understand, this fact holds good. The fire is never compassionate to a child.
image courtsey: vimeo.com
REAL FREEDOM! 