Real freedom.
The Bible says it best,
You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
At the risk of being accused of religious appropriation,
I will use this phrase extensively in this meditation.
First let us consider what exactly the truth is.
I am referring here to spiritual truth,
That which is eternal and real.
To experience real freedom,
We need to fully grasp what is imperishable,
What is always true about our lives.
Then we must steadily meditate on that perennial truth about ourselves.
Realizing yourself to be eternal brings true freedom.
It enables you to experience peace and lasting liberation that no amount of financial or political freedom can give you.
It begins with discovering or uncovering our true identity.
When we practice soul awareness,
Then we unshackle ourselves.
You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
One important truth we must perceive here is that our mundane psychology forms the bars of our mental prison.
Yet we can escape that prison and fly free.
One of the biggest bars of our psychological prison is negative thinking.
Negative thought patterns shackle us and keep us in a perpetual negative feedback loop.
Let's say I think life is horrible,
Then I believe this thought,
Then I invest my emotions into this belief system,
Then I start to feel horrible,
Which in turn feeds my negative thought.
You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
Another truth we must deeply understand is that duality is a perception of our own minds.
We trap ourselves in the dualities of success and failure,
Victory and defeat,
Fame and infamy,
Etc.
Hence we bounce between joy and misery,
Excitement and depression.
When I think in duality,
Then I live in a world of duality.
These old thought patterns shackle us,
I like this,
I don't like that,
I'm passionate about this one,
I can't stand that one.
These dualities skew the story we are telling ourselves and that separates us from our transcendence.
You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
The next level of freedom comes when we strive to make the world a better place,
To make others happy,
But for ourselves,
We humbly accept what is.
There isn't a self-centered inner conflict to rearrange what is.
We need to free ourselves from this prison.
I want this to be this way,
I want that to be that way,
I should get more respect and money,
Etc.
Let's step away from all of these and take a moment and reflect on the truth of our real existence.
Open your heart,
Open your mind and trust.
Trust in truth,
The truth that you are an eternal being and the real you,
The soul is connected with the supreme.
When you experience these timeless truths of your true identity and your eternal relationship with the source,
You begin to feel free.
Slowly breathe in and out as you move deeply into your center.
With each breath,
Allow yourself to go deeper and deeper into that quiet center within.
Imagine that you are flying,
Rising up and away from the world of stories and sounds.
You sense yourself getting quieter and quieter as you rise up and the world of sound disappears.
Take a deep breath.
As you exhale,
The world of sound vanishes and you open yourself to the truth.
Take another deep breath and silently ask yourself the question,
Who am I without this body?
Who am I without all my many relationships?
Who am I without all my possessions?
Take a few deep inhalations and exhalations while reflecting on these questions and move into your serene center.
This stillness is allowing you to sense yourself in the body as a being of light.
You realize that you are in the body yet distinct from it,
Your conscious light suspended within it.
The more you become aware of this,
The more you feel free and expansive.
Take a few moments now and become fully aware of your own light and your true identity as a spiritual being.
Now take another deep breath in and out.
When you are ready,
Ask yourself the question,
What would happen if I let everything in my life be exactly as it is,
Just for a few moments?
Allow yourself to do nothing with the situations and people in your life.
Fully accept everything as it is and as they are.
Breathe in and out deeply.
The absolute intentional acceptance of all situations and people in your life is setting you free.
Remember this feeling of being awake,
This feeling of being alive and enjoy this freedom for the next few moments.
Breathe in and out deeply.
Get very quiet and open yourself to experiencing the next level of absolute real freedom.
Imagine a beautiful bird in flight.
You watch the bird soar.
You understand that to soar like this bird,
You can't derive your sense of security from any physical things.
Breathe in and out deeply and become very still again.
In this stillness,
You realize the truth,
I am an eternal being and the real me,
The soul,
Is connected with the supreme.
I am an eternal being and the real me,
The soul,
Is connected with the supreme.
You are a luminous soul,
Eternally connected with the supreme.
Sense this and feel this.
Let it wash over you like a soft breeze as you absorb the gentle,
Comforting truth of your ultimate reality.
In this connection,
You access your innermost core,
The real you and you get in touch with your peace,
Your joy and above all,
Your freedom.
You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
When you move into the spirit and into your beautiful,
Enduring connection with the supreme,
You realize the ultimate truth,
That you are eternally unbound.
Your original way of being is pure,
Real freedom.
Om Shanti,
I am peace.
