We can start on our freedom by recognizing that we are either in slavery or in freedom. There is no in-between.
When we can walk away from our job at any moment and not feel pain, then we are free. When we cannot because of family obligations, medical bills, credit card debt etc, then we are slaves to our job.
When we can walk away from our loved ones at any moment and not feel pain, then we are free. When we cannot because of our desire for them or our attachments etc, then we are slaves to our loved ones.
When we can walk away from our country at any moment and not feel pain, then we are free. When we cannot, then we are slaves to our country.
When we can walk away from our religious institutions and not feel pain, then we are free. When we cannot, we are slaves to our religious institutions.
Lastly, when we can walk away from our hobby or passion and not feel pain, then we are free. When we cannot, we are slaves to our hobby or passion.
When we come to the end of freedom, we will be able to walk away from our life at any moment, and not feel pain. [i.e. We are prepared to die at any moment without regrets.] We then free ourselves from Life itself. This is when we attain True Freedom in the material world – we are free to do or not to do anything without any obligation.
Having the power to walk away at any moment does not mean that we must exercise this power. It simply means that we have the opportunity to choose.
Walking away is neither about giving up nor giving in. Being able to walk away from anything at anytime means that we no longer require a certain external condition in order to be happy. It means that we no longer demand the world to be in a certain state in order to be satisfied with life. We are happy and satisfied no matter what happens.
