Question Your Bondage

[PureExp]

Here is a short introspection that helped me a lot to see that I'm not bound in any way. (Somehow my whole account and posts disappeared for a while, but now everything is back again. Hopefully this post will survive )

Who is bound? Who is not free?

Those who are identified with the body will immediately find themselves answering how they are not free to do this or to do that, to remain young and healthy forever and to evade death or to have all the riches and pleasures of the world. That is deep ignorance, but it is ok, nothing is permanent including ignorance .

Am I the body?

Obviously, I’m not only a body. The body is a tiny part of my whole being. There is Mind, there is a person, an occupation, skills, there are memories and experiences that form a major part. For most people these experiences are directly attached to a body and hence it is easy to fall into an error that their entire essence is a physical structure, the body. The body is bound, it is not free. It is subject to physical laws, decay and death. It is an object and cannot do everything, (it can already do some awesome things though), it is foolish to expect that it would be free to do anything. It will not stay forever, it is impermanent, just like other objects. After this realization you will have no other choice but to accept that you as a body, or the part of you called a body cannot be free. But the good news is that you are not a body. Body is a thing we own for a while.

So am I free then?  Why don’t I feel like that?

Those who are identified with a Mind or Ego (the lower mind), will immediately find themselves bound. There is no freedom to think everything, or even to stop thinking, or to be hyper-intelligent and extremely creative. There is no freedom to always keep the Ego happy, secure and pleased. Its not possible to end all desires and wants nor are you free to satisfy them all. The Mind is also an object and is impermanent, even if it is non-physical, it has limitations. The good news is that you are not the Mind or Ego. They are also a small part of you.

Why am I not the Mind?

Counter the question by asking – what is aware of a mind? How do you know there is a mind and an ego? Who really knows this? And in response to this question, the Self will step forward, it is the pure knowing, the consciousness behind all the drama of minds and bodies. It is more fundamental and is your essence, as it cannot be reduced to anything else, there is nothing more beyond it. Self is the ground of everything. If you have a doubt about it, just ask – who knows the Self? Who is aware of the Self? And every time you will find that it is the Self that knows itself, experiences itself, there is nothing else there.

I’m obviously the Self, but still why am I not free?

Counter the question by asking – what is it that binds Self? What is taking away its freedom? You will find that the matter and physical universe bind the body, and the limited mental capabilities bind the Mind, and past programming and conditioning binds the Ego. But there is nothing there to bind the Self. There is just Self, what can bind it? You will soon find that as soon as you identify with a mind or a body, the limitations and bondage appears. As long as you identify with the Self itself, you cannot find any reason and anything that can bind it. It is free, and has always been eternally free. Bondage was only a belief, it was your ignorance that you are not free.

This simple introspection shows that bondage is just a belief, a result of ignorance, a consequence of identification with bound and impermanent features that appear and disappear in this vastness of Presence. The Self is free, simply because there is nothing there to bind it. You can see that it does not take a lifetime to be liberated, no exotic stuff or tricks are needed, it takes only a few minutes, just realize that we all are already liberated.