Freedom is our greatest gift. It allows us to influence the development of the world. Especially it enables us to shape our own life. Every human owns this freedom, is active and has an effect on the world.
But it can be difficult to take this freedom. Sometimes it seems like our freedom is taken from us. Freedom is not immune to interference, and it is always changing. It rarely covers all aspects of our existence, but it can never be taken away completely. There is the free will and there is the freedom of action. The latter is also called the freedom of choice. In this field we are often facing restrictions. Then it seems like we are pushed by outside circumstances to a certain decision, or that a choice is given without any good options. We have a will to do something different, but it appears impossible to do so. The free will itself is not so often restricted, but cannot be taken for granted. It has to be developed and then takes courage to represent. In extreme cases the free will can be broken. Then the freedom of choice becomes obsolete, until the free will recovers. When we develop our free will, then we can extend our freedom of action more and more.
Our primary task is here to get to know ourselves and the environment, the cosmos. Both must be observed, named and understood. Freedom and knowledge are closely tied together. We accomplish our goals efficiently when we know how the game is played, when we know for example the laws of nature. If we do not, we can still act based on experience and achieve what we want to a certain degree. But we do not have the possibilities that we could have, if we knew the rules better. When we know ourselves and the cosmos, we find elegant and efficient ways to achieve our goals. Then we are free.
Another important aspect of freedom is our identification. When I only identify with my physical body, then my freedom fully depends on my physical freedom. The fear of it being taken is planted on a daily basis with plenty of reports, where the physical freedom of someone has fallen victim to the violence of others. With the belief that our existence is a result of our physical body, the worry about our physical freedom is carried over to our overall freedom. This opens the door for manipulation.
If I identify with my feelings, I can loose my freedom to those who can manipulate them. If I identify with my thoughts, I can loose my freedom to those who direct my attention. To break free from this dilemma can require help and time. Especially when I am unaware of the manipulation or when I believe that I lack the strength and capability to take control.
A very interesting situation arises when I understand my thinking as a function of my physical body and thus believe that free thinking is dependent on the physical freedom. Then our thinking appears to be an easy target. In today’s world it is common to believe that thinking happens in the brain and is caused by it. And it cannot be denied that thinking has an effect on the physical body. But this effect must not be misunderstood for the thinking itself. For example, we live in apartments and move things around in there when we do our daily business. But that does not mean that said movement is caused by our apartments. Likewise, we cannot conclude from the effects of our thoughts on the brain that thinking is caused by the brain. This conclusion arises from the believe that everything has its root cause in material things, and that only matter exists. But also physics has come to a point where this believe must be questioned. Still, the beliefe sits deeply within the worldview of many. I say we experience every day that there is more than matter, but mostly overlook this.