Freedom is the base of consciousness. Freedom from negative emotions, judgment ‘I’s, mechanics, identification, and imagination creates a clean slate for higher centres to establish themselves. Avoiding identification with one’s activities is freedom. Freedom from one’s own likes, dislikes, desires, passions, and beliefs helps reduce identifications. Freedom from one’s own physical existence and actions is a huge freedom. Accepting that man is not free to control his life is freedom.

Lord Krishna says in the ancient Indian epic, the Bhagavad Gita, “Renunciation and Karma Yoga are both right, but Karma Yoga is superior.” 

One needs to learn to experience freedom in circumstances where one does not have the freedom to do things according to one’s wishes. Freedom is an internal state. It is living outside this world (world 96) while performing all necessary actions in this world. No matter what happens outside, one always has the freedom to be present to it. 

Consciousness is like a liquid. For it to flow one needs to give it space, which comes from not being rigid to any ideas or beliefs. Freedom of thought creates this space. Freedom is the ability or strength to let go of everything we like, for “consciousness “. One cannot hold on to everything and desire to attain consciousness. Freedom is surrendering to the will of higher forces in order to do what is necessary.

Higher centres are always existing. One just needs to give them enough freedom from the lower self and mechanics to act more. One needs to understand that freedom to express one’s mechanics is actually imprisonment. Having the will to control one’s negative emotions and mechanics is real freedom. The more we work on controlling the machine, the stronger higher centres become. 

Marcus Aurelius wrote:

“My true self is free,
Nothing can contain it.”

In the end, all we need is freedom from the lower self and the unnecessary laws of the universe that we are under. And this comes only through consciousness.

Dhruvi Chavda is a student of the Fourth Way living in northwest India. For related articles, see: https://fourthwaytoday.org/category/freedom/. For more on The Bhagavad Gita, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita.