FREEDOM, LIBERTY AND HAPPINESS

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FREEDOM, LIBERTY AND HAPPINESS Loving Sai Ram and greetings from Prashanti Nilayam. Recently, on the 4 th of July, people in America celebrated their Independence Day. We all know how when they wanted to be free of British Colonial Rule, the freedom fighters of America declared in words most memorable:We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal,

that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.Much later, in British India , protesting against the Colonial Rule of that same British Empire , Bala Gangadhar Tilak, popularly known as Lokamanya Tilak roared, “Freedom is my birthright.” Tilak was promptly arrested for sedition and put in prison, not in India but in Mandalay in Burma . There he wrote a classic book on the Gita entitled, GitaRahasya, meaning the secrets of the Gita. It has been recorded that this book was offered to Shirdi Baba who accorded His approval to the text. Tilak did not use the English word freedom but the corresponding Sanskrit word Swarajya, which

literally means self-rule.Years passed and since there was no sight of any political freedom, in August 1942, Gandhi gave his famous call in Bombay , asking the British to quit India . This swelled into the nationwide Quit India movement, which the British did not like one bit because they were deep into World War II at that time. So all the freedom fighters were thrown into jail and many years had to pass before India became independent on 15 th August 1947.The close occurrence of the American Independence Day and the Indian Independence day, and the stirring words of the American Declaration of Independence on the one hand and the clarion call given by Tilak for Swarajya on the other, prompted us to reflect on certain words connected with these historic events. The words we would like to focus on are: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness from the American declaration, and the word Swarayja used by Tilak in the

Indian context.Let us start with Swarajya, which, as we pointed out earlier, literally means self-rule. For politicians, self-rule means political independence, self-governance etc. This interpretation is certainly correct. However, as Swami once pointed out to students, one must examine the issue deeper. He asked: “What exactly do you mean by the words self and self-rule?” For all of us, and certainly in the political context, self simply refers to the lower self represented by the Mind-body complex; by extension, self-rule automatically means self-governance. For Swami, however, Self always stands for the Indweller, the Atma which forms the core of a human being. Thus, for Swami, Self-rule means life dictated by the Atma. It is the Atma that must hold sway and decide what actions one performs and how, rather than the Mind-body complex or the ego.Some might argue: “Let us not mix up things by taking the words written by

the American Founding Fathers and by Tilak out of context. They all were concerned with political freedom, whereas Swami is talking about Spirituality.” We understand that. Yet, there is a deep connection, which is what we wish to explore this Sunday.Let us begin by asking what exactly Self-Rule would mean in the context of an individual. It would mean many things, starting with the fact that actions of the individual must be devoid of selfishness, must be saturated with love, must be totally free from hatred, etc. Anything else? Certainly. It would mean, most importantly, freedom from the six enemies lurking inside, namely, Kama, Krodha … etc., - we are sure you know the list. In addition, says Swami, Self-Rule implies freedom from ego as also attachment. In short, for an individual, Swarajaya really means freedom from the senses, which otherwise tend to enslave the individual. Thus, freedom from the

clutches of the senses and inner enemies is true freedom, as Swami has clearly explained to His boys.Few appreciate these nuances but one person who understood all this fully was Gandhi. Thus it is that he remains the only politician one knows of in recent times, who was absolutely meticulous about sticking to Dharma in everything he did, including in his freedom struggle. The question might be asked: “Gandhi was a unique individual; but that does not mean everyone can be that way. Why should the average politician or revolutionary follow the Gandhian model?” This is an important question and merits a careful examination.A person who is internally free, that is to say is liberated from the pulls of the senses, is totally detached. The only thing he is attached to, if at all, is to Dharma and his Conscience. If such a person leads, then the actions of the unit, the movement, the organisation, the

government or whatever it is that he leads would be Dharmic and moral. Thus, in life, if Inner Swarajya is achieved, not only can external Swarajya be won, but, more important, after freedom is achieved, there would be real development. This is a non-trivial statement. Consider say, Africa . For a hundred years and more, Africa was heavily colonised and mercilessly exploited. And then around the sixties and seventies, most countries in Africa became politically free. But were they really free? No. Why? Because they did not have, among other things, economic freedom. But Africa was rich in oil, mineral wealth, gold, uranium, cobalt and whatnot. Why then did it not become rich? What was the glitch? Very simple – lack of integrity in the new leaders. Today, thanks to the bad seeds sown then, Western countries all the time accuse Africa of corruption. The accusations

conveniently overlook the shady practices employed by multi-national corporations for getting their ends, which greatly promoted corruption but we shall not get into that. Our basic point is simply that unless individuals are honest, Society as a whole would not be, no way. It is in that context that Inner Swarajya and political freedom really ought to be seen.Next, we move on to the famous words: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Yes, in life everyone wants to be happy; who wants to be miserable? However, there is the question of what exactly one means by the word happiness. We believe that the Founding Fathers of America understood the word happiness in the usual sense, that is to say in terms of material prosperity, wealth etc., all of which are supposed to lead to happiness. Fair enough. But is that what real happiness is all about? How long does any kind of worldly happiness last? How long does any kind of worldly pleasure last? As Swami has

told us repeatedly, we may seek worldly happiness but that sort of happiness is always transient. What is more, worldly pleasure is frequently followed by pain.You see, when freedom means license to do anything one pleases – any many do interpret that word in that fashion – then the kind of happiness such a person seeks also tends to be hollow and useless. In other words, a wrong interpretation of the word freedom can lead to an equally wrong understanding of what happiness is all about. The net result would be that the person instead of being happy would actually be miserable.Does that mean that the words of the American Founding Fathers are without meaning? Not at all; on the contrary, unwittingly perhaps, the American Founding Fathers have given us a great Spiritual Truth. If we substitute freedom with the word Swarajya in its highest sense, then that would automatically enable one to understand what is meant by the pursuit of happiness. Swami

says that true happiness is union with God. And who is it that can be easily and truly united with God? A person who is ruled by the True Self. In short, for a person who enjoys Self-Rule, happiness or union with God is automatic. He does not have to strive for it. For that person, Swarajya automatically leads to Ananda.We hope we do not seem very contrived in our arguments or appear to have indulged in wordplay. Possibly our elucidation of the subtleties might be inadequate but the fact remains that the word freedom should not be interpreted merely in worldly terms with political, economic, financial, scientific and technological implications. The individual can be truly free and happy only when he or she is able to give full expression to the latent Divinity. And when Divinity within finds full self-expression then that person automatically experiences Ananda. If everyone in Society is able to happy in this manner, then that is where

one would find Rama Rajya or Utopia. In short, God grants us the gift of life so that we conquer the senses and become free from them. When we are free from the clutches of the senses, we can then experience true Bliss or Ananda. Those are the spiritual overtones we would like to call attention to this Sunday. And when everyone is spiritually free, then there is automatically true happiness in that Society. Today, at a time when the world is torn apart with violence, hatred, deep misunderstandings, etc., do freedom and happiness have any meaning? They will not, if we understand these terms in a restrictive and worldly sense. However, if freedom means the rule of the Atma for every individual, then automatically anger, jealousy, hatred and violence would get replaced with love, understanding, forbearance, compassion and sacrifice. If Society is full of

people with this kind of sublime Atmic feelings, does it not follow that true happiness would also prevail? So, even as people in America and India celebrate their respective Independence days, as others elsewhere too would be elsewhere on days marking their own independence, all of us need to pause to reflect on what exactly freedom and happiness mean. Do you agree with us or do you feel we are indulging in artificial arguments with little or no content? In either case, whether it is bouquets or brickbats, we welcome them all! So do write to us, won’t you? At least we would know where we have gone wrong! All the best. Jai Sai Ram. Send instant

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