I heard a friend ask this question to a group of people once: There are two men, on either side of the world, both sitting in a five-metre squared room with no windows, for an indefinite time. Both receive basic food and water regularly. One is serving a life sentence. The other is meditating. Is there a difference?
We all want to be free of confinement and darkness. But as the example of the prisoner and yogi illustrates, true freedom goes beyond just external circumstances.
We may think we are free because we are not in jail like the prisoner. But we unwittingly confine our minds by becoming dependent on facilities, comforts and other people and we get caught up in a cycle of desiring and expecting more – more things, more from others, and more of ourselves.
If we were to renounce all those things to go and live in a mountain cave, would our minds be free then?
Not easily, I suspect. Thoughts would return to what we were, what we had, who we loved, and the feelings associated with those thoughts would emerge again.
True freedom is not dependent on external conditions. In fact, we lost our freedom because we became dependent on external conditions. Freedom means to hold peace in the mind no matter what is going on around us. It is possible to be in a crowded and noisy room and still feel peace within yourself. Peaceful solitude need not be physical isolation, and physical isolation need not be solitary confinement.
True freedom is attained by making a choice to have a free mind. A mind free from burdens such as worry, fear, doubt, regret, shame and blame. That is, a pure mind full of goodness and without negativity. This is a choice that only an awakened intellect can make because purity is a higher consciousness.
An awakened intellect is an intellect that knows and understands that we are all imperishable and originally pure souls, residing in the centre of the forehead. We are a brotherhood of souls and each of us is trying to make our world a reflection of what we truly desire within. The problem is, there is only one world and there are many souls, amounting to a multitude of desires. The solution is, there is a world within each soul and so peace must begin in this world within before we can see it reflected in our one world.
This is the knowledge that the Supreme Father, the Supreme Soul teaches us. He awakens the soul, a point of spiritual light, by pouring the oil of truth into the intellect. Once the intellect is ignited, it is our responsibility to maintain soul conscious awareness through remembrance of the truth. A daily diet of truth and the regular exercise of remembrance is an easy way to hold peace in the mind regardless of the challenges we face in the outside world.
This is a process of re-training the intellect to a higher consciousness. A pure consciousness. This is the practice of Raja Yoga. By realising that the key to our freedom is not external, but within our own consciousness, we can free our mind from the cage of our own thoughts and desires and live in true independence and peace.
If we all turn within and do this practise, the Supreme Father, the Supreme Soul guarantees a new world of peace and happiness. Together let’s ignite the practise of soul conscious living and make it happen.
Purity of the mind is the path to true freedom for all.
