Have you achieved freedom?

Freedom is not doing whatever you want to do anytime. Freedom is being able to do anytime what you love to do.

Whatever you want to do may bring you temporary happiness, but not long lasting peace. Whatever you love to do always brings you peace.

Once you know what you love to do and can put your full focus into it, it will bring you both peace and prosperity. Then you will not be troubled by either guilt of underachievement or worry of uncertain future. That makes you free of the limitations of your circumstances.

When every individual achieves this freedom, the society and the world will be automatically peaceful and prosperous where nobody competes with others, but only compete with one’s yesterday self.

The greatest illusion in life is to think that our freedom depends on other people and objects in our surrounding. The point I am making is: our freedom lies in our mind. Therefore, degree of our freedom depends directly on the level of our consciousness.

Elevation of consciousness can be done in many ways. The easiest way is by Love and the toughest way is by Knowledge. Hence, I have suggested to achieve freedom in our daily life by using love. Love based on expectation of returns is bondage, not freedom. So, love (for people or activity) is to be understood in the light of the following quote:

“Freedom and love go together. Love is not a reaction. If I love you because you love me, that is mere trade, a thing to be bought in the market; it is not love. To love is not to ask anything in return, not even to feel that you are giving something- and it is only such love that can know freedom.” ~Jiddu Krishnamurthi

Depending on one's inclination, one can choose Knowledge to attain freedom. However, this knowledge is not ordinary knowing, it is all-pervading knowing as beautifully described in the following quote:

“Continue practicing until you see yourself in the cruelest person on Earth, in the child starving, in the political prisoner. Practice until you recognize yourself in everyone in the supermarket, on the street corner, in a concentration camp, on a leaf, in a dewdrop. Meditate until you see yourself in a speck of dust in a distant galaxy. See and listen with the whole of your being.

If you are fully present, the rain of Dharma will water the deepest seeds in your consciousness, and tomorrow, while you are washing the dishes or looking at the blue sky, that seed will spring forth, and love and understanding will appear as a beautiful flower.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

In essence, freedom is living in the present moment fully or "mindfulness".