The State of Freedom
A journey of Truth into the mind’s sanctuary
with the destination of inner Freedom.
The woman and the gold.
But I am waiting for him, the tyrannical mind will return, I know it. I have seen this movie many times. And when he comes back, all the sweetness of compassion is lost at once, as if it had never existed. The mind disputes it and brings it down with logical arguments. And I believe him, out of habit, because he artfully whispers to me that feeling moved for my pain will provide me with neither food nor recognition. He touches these two sensible chords of mine and persuades me; he takes me away from the sweet bosom of compassion, he makes me run with anger and sorrow in the world, thirsting for love and security, with unsubsidable longing after the woman and the gold[1].
Love and security, what an irony! These two valuable possessions had just been offered to me openhandedly and free of charge in the oasis of confession and compassion for the pestering self. My mind convinces me that these are not authentic; the authentic ones are located inside the rough world, he claims, not in my fictitious and easy oasis. I have to conquer them with external and worldly battles, he says; he does not put any faith into the “weird” battles I gave while I was digging through my agonies in order to find and pull out my dusted faculty of confession. All this was lost time, he says, and whoever goes in for such silly tasks is but a lounger.
The mind drifts and raises me forcingly into the air like a whirlwind does, and I follow his prompts biddably. The liberation gained through confession and compassion is again lost in the oblivion produced by his maelstrom, which swallows it with concise procedures; and I start running anxious in the outer world again.
[1] The woman symbolizes the achievements of all kinds, the recognition, the approval, the acceptance and the love of people, while the gold symbolizes the acquisitions of any kind, every material possession which affords the mind a false feeling of security and ensuring thus making him forget the harsh truth of death. The chase after these two fundamental values has been till now the one and only motive for nearly every thought and deed of my mind, even the most altruistic ones. (The terms “woman” and “gold” have been borrowed from the teachings of a great Master, who lived in the nineteenth century).