Poonam Srivastava

I am inspired to explore ideas of freedom in this month of freedom — go deeper, from the external into the internal realm, from the metaphorical-philosophical to the practical relevance of the idea of freedom in our average daily lives.
We appreciate the popularly aspired idea of “born free” where every individual deserves to be born to freedom defined in terms of common parameters like equal and just economic, health and political opportunities.

The closely linked spiritual context would add attainment of moksha as the ultimate form of aspired freedom for all living forms. Such liberation may not come easy as different sects of faiths and beliefs have their own prescription about the spiritual path for attaining God, the ultimate symbol of freedom.
So is achieving this freedom a tall order? And if all of these ingredients were in place, would we be free? There is a basic Vedic tenet which can be used here as a suitable illustration: “Yatha pinde tatha brahmande”. This means, the universe is but an expansion of the processes observed in the micro-pinda body of ours, that we hold the mystery of an entire universe within our own being. Hence, if we were to understand, learn to engage through practice and master the art of working one micro body, it would stand representative for the entire universe. Such is the importance of individual training as the critical functional founding unit of the cosmos — Brahmand.
But shifting focus on ourselves to build a world of greater freedom is not an easy task.
What does freedom mean to most of us in our daily lives? It would be interesting to ask this question and observe answers. Don’t be surprised at the findings — they may reveal yourself to be a prisoner of unexpected chains and gridlocks of your anger, jealousy, anxiety, fear, sorrow, desires, ambitions, attachments, past regret, future uncertainties and many more.
Given the choice of experiencing freedom closest to my heart, I would seek release from these mental burdens that I carry all the time on my person, making me a miserable prisoner locked up inside my mind, a dungeon of negative thought processes. Here I would like to share a quote of Buddha as a possible roadmap for finding the escape route to freedom: “All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.”
Living with mindful awareness is a constant, 24x7 practice of meditation that alerts our mind to our seed negative thoughts, which can be then transformed into positive compassionate understanding so that we are saved future pain from ill-informed negative actions. Let us practise walking on the path of positive journey which automatically brings us to the land of freedom, not a distant destination but an approachable experience available to us provided we develop the tools to appreciate it.
Lord Buddha said: “I do not care to know your various theories about God. What is the use of discussing all the subtle doctrines about the soul? Do good and be good. And this will take you to freedom and to whatever truth there is.”

— Poonam Srivastava has published a book of Zen poetry, A Moment for the Mind, which expounds on the practice of Mindfulness Meditation. She is also involved in popularising new ideas of change in
the social sector. She can be contacted at m4moment@gmail.com