Real Freedom

His Divine Holiness Bhagavan Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam has delivered almost 20,000 hours of recorded talks till date. As part of the talks, He shares simple small stories that give powerful cognitive shifts to the listener. Following is one such story:

We are caught between the greed for something good and the fear of something

bad. Our whole life is controlled by these two ropes of greed and fear. But when

these two ropes of greed and fear control us, we forget the real freedom that we are craving for.

A few weeks back a casual visitor, an artist, was speaking to me. He was telling me why he hated meditation.

He said, 'I hate all these rules and discipline. I like to be free to lead my life the way I want. I get up at ten o'clock, first thing I have my coffee, then I go for a swim whenever I feel like it…' He described his whole day to me.

Then I asked him, 'What if someone woke you up at six o'clock? Or what if your coffee didn't arrive at your bedside one morning?'

'Oh, that would make me really mad!' he said, and laughed.

'And what if it was raining and you missed your swim?' I asked.

'Yes, that would be a bad thing. If I can't go for my swim, I feel really bad the whole day.'

Then I asked him, 'If your freedom is dependent on so many conditions, are

you really free?'

He was shocked! To be really free is to be free no matter what.

That's what I call real freedom, not 'freedom for' or 'freedom from'. Real freedom comes out of living completely in the present moment. Freedom that doesn't depend on any external circumstances is the only true freedom. This is the freedom that you will experience with meditation.