I struggle with freedom,
I want to be free,
but have no idea what I want to be free of ?
I look for the context to freedom’
and then I want to be free of the context
and if there is no context
what do I want to be free of ?
how can i be free if
my freedom is always tethered to a context ?
even an idea
that may sound as lofty as ‘consiousness’
Is freedom ever possible without a context ?
or does the context become the ever shifting cage
I imprison myself in
Shekhar
Shekhar,
you say tethered…as I understand it (& think is funny & ironic), the word “freedom” derives from an anglo saxon root, which meant the right for a man to go to his hanging without a rope around his neck…:) – (as I’m sure you know..)
You could argue that every story has to have a context, otherwise it is just reality unfolding with no “meaning” except in hindsight – when does cinema “become” reality (or as close as it can be) & is that the point ? -ie recreating experience, in which case it might just aswell be a theme park ride..
Always better to try , at least, to contextualise your story, but it’s harder work but invests it with greater resonance…
cheers,
Ravi
words seem to produce a sort of limitless limit, if it’s not one thing it’s the other million eleven that would be considered for bringing reason or theory to what was construed in the first place…then there are those points of view to be considered by the other six plus billion minds with opinion, and who is without opinion. Proof of one idea may very well be put to test and measured according to one’s own experiences, however, what makes anything “right” over another thing? Who is to say for sure anything is for sure?…and what is sureness anyway? What I could say is that in this very moment…I am at one with the moment of writing these words…but that’s it, even that moment a few words ago has passed since I wrote it! So what is really going on here?
Freedom…hmmmm the spaces in between words and thoughts? Perhaps where nothing resides. That brings me to “What is nothing?”
Cinda
i shouldn’t even want to be this illusive “free”
cinda,what an interesting question “what is nothing’. The concept of ‘shunyata’- a vast limitless void, that is created by desire. Desire almost ring like, protecting it’s space with illusory thoughts, fearing that consciousness might flow in if it let go. That formlessness, that vast space that if u truly ‘see’ is already free flowing with consciousness,
but why do we ask the question on ‘nothingness’ when we know there is nothing else ? Remind me to put this on a blog sometime. and thanks for all your prayers
Shekhar
The mind is limitless, isn’t it? Thought travels faster than anything else and cuts through all planes, doesn’t it? I guess, freedom exists in the mind. Where else can it be?
bhool jaana hai aur bikhar jaana hai
ik gubbare ki tarah hawaa ko aazmaana hai..
waqth ke daayaron ke us paar kyaa?
soch ki hadh hai kya?
mere sawaalon mein mai khud hi qaid kya?
Cinda…It’s a stream of unconsciousness…!
One thing I get from this forum is the notion that it’s easy to be ensnared by ideas, even your own…if you can stand outside your own ideas that’s a good thing….how to stop the inevitable solidification of matter ??!!…the unstoppable onslaught of entropy !!!??
(I sound like a character from a Marvel comic…sorry…:))
…water flows around obstacles like rock…go figure…(Bruce Lee never said this but did have some useful insights on teapots and other water containing vessels…)
kaunquest, where did this poem come from ?
ravi swami, to stand outside form your ideas, to stand outside your thoughts, to experience your other self oputside your thoughts, that is what all the great masters talk about, right ?
are idea’s, thoughts the prison ? yes, I am sure , but the ego motivates striving, even the striving to it’s own destruction, so does thought, where logic is taken to the end of logic and then flowing into questions,
i think that when ideas become strictures, then they are imprisoning, so what i try and do is live with only questions, conststantly pushing myself into the unknown, into chaos all the time
tiring, but refreshing and liberating, anguish butit gives me hope,
ofcourse you might say hope is just another idea that imprisons ?
shekhar
Shekhar ji, This is my own. Came to me spontaneously, on reading your post :). Hope you liked it. Please do visit my blog http://kaunquest.blogspot.com to see more of my creations.
Thanks, Ajay
ajay, just visited your blog, very impressive. Can i post this as a blog ? I will put your blog address on, shekhar
Shekhar ji, I am absolutely flattered (grinning ear to ear :)). Many thanks for the offer, please do so.
Hi Shekhar,
My Dad and I used to sit and talk often about such questions, he might have been the one to ask it, years and years ago. Most of the time, when I read a topic here, some words will begin to flow though like the pipe just got turned on…and out would come the reply. I miss having such conversations with my Dad…but somehow, being able to come here and share in this mindful place has helped me to reconnect with that void. My Dad used to ask questions like “why do we call light, light” he’s ask with the same curiousity and zeal, about a chair or table.
Thinking about it now, I can imagine that those words came about, yes from other languages, but from the first time they were conceived…I supposed that some sort of enery flow had an influence in its formation, it may sound silly, but doesn’t that sound very much like the sperm and the egg? You know what I find fascinating about that? how can so many millions of sperm appear outside a threshold…and only ONE will be let in. And I can only suppose it’s the one that was “meant to be”. How amazing! the threshold was created in such a way, it allows only one in at a time…for new creation. I wonder if this is how we get to meet the “Source”…one at a time, even though 6 plus billion of us could be trying to cross that threshold. Who gets in and what happens when One get to merge with the source?
Ay yay yay…me thinks too much!:)
Cinda
Ravi…funny you would talk about Bruce Lee, lately, I’ve been drawn to watching Martial Arts movies. Just finished seeing Hero, Jet Li. Amazing how they paralelled music, poetry and calligraphy to the art of swordsmanship!
Just a note:
The World Masters and Black Belt Federation
Martial Arts Historian and Hall of Fame President Marvin Katz and Martial Arts Promoter Great Grandmaster Aaron Banks will officially induct Grandmaster Frederick Villari into the Hall of Fame, April 21, 2006.
Fredrick Vallari is the creator of Shaolin Kempo Karate,Grandmaster Villari realized that the ultimate in self-defense lay not in one way or style of fighting. By combining the “Four Ways of Fighting.” he devised and developed ways to integrate diverse methods of fighting into one, eliminating weaknesses and vulnerabilities. This is the central theory and method behind Villari’s art of Shaolin Kempo Karate.
The backbone of the Villari’s style is the Shaolin system since he felt it was the best for promoting overall good health, wisdom and longevity. This system is well balanced, incorporating mind, body and spirit into one.
Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris and many others are also honoured in this Hall of Fame.
Good weekend!
Cinda
Hi Shekhar,
Hope, yes – I’d agree that it too becomes a limitation – in classical terms we think of ideas like “hope” as “having wings” ie enabling freedom -(like Red Bull..:))..
My fantasies about “freedom” seem to involve some artifice – a device which enables freedom (as a mental image…) – correct me if I’m wrong but in Buddhism they speak of “The Great Vehicle”, which implies a device or construct which enables – but even devices have their limitations (like Icarus’ wings…)
My take on it is that “Reality” is fundamentally hostile, not as in “against life” , but that we are’nt as yet adapted to it, in the same way that an astronaut has to wear a suit in the vacuum – which is after all an aspect of the physical reality we inhabit – so in a similar fashion we have to surround ourselves with a bubble of something sustainable – it would be nice to take the restricting helmet off, but not advisable…
The point is, “ideas” led to where the astronaut is – asking questions, entering the void….free of the Earth & gravity,in freefall, but restricted / tethered at the same time…
R
Bruce Lee, astronauts…? – I can see where this is leading…too many Marvel comics when I was a kid…they were part of my education and opened my mind to many worlds and possibilities…Excelsior!!
It might be helpful to get a copy of Tex Avery’s classic animated film “What Price Fleadom?” – which answers many questions…such as : why is it the cat always gets hit by the anvil ?…or is that “Bad Luck Blackie”..? – either way…hilarious….
Freedom… I believe we are only free of something when we accept it as is. Perhaps, freedom from freedom?
Freedom isn’t possible without context, in my experience. There are too many contingencies, burdens and responsibilities upon which true freedom is based for it to ever be without context.
Freedom isn’t free. It comes only at a high price…one too many these days are unwilling to pay.
To be free withour context is to be free of life…!
dear sir,
i really love reading your posts, they always get me thinking…
however i personally feel that freedom without context doesn’t exist…if there is no context there can be no freedom…we will always find something that holds us down, in this realm or the other…yet i can’t help contradicting myself…i guess i’m gona be thinking about this for quite a while…i think in those shortlived moments when you feel like the wind you are free & those moments are so different & that sort of freedom has no context…
Shekar,
Does it not seem that the loss of Freedom is not in the context but in the “search” for the context. It is the “questions” that bind our soul. To walk with out knowledge, and to let the world unfold as it will…is Freedom. To walk with out knowledge in search of the “answer”, is an illusion of control. A control that we truly don’t possess. But Art in itself is not Freedom, Art is the seach for context, so as an artist can we ever really be FREE. Perhaps we must except ourselves in the bliss of seeking.
I totally agree a hundred%. I can’t believe that he would even associate with that. Individuals nowadays are just unbelievable, by no means ceases to amaze me what individuals do and say anymore. Nice blog.