FREEDOM, LIBERTY AND HAPPINESS

[Guest guest]

FREEDOM, LIBERTY AND HAPPINESS

 

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.

With Love and Regards

Meera Saigal