It is assumed that freedom is a "good" to be pursued. Many, however, are hesitant to endorse this point of view. The reason for their reluctance is that they construe freedom as "freedom from", rather than "freedom to". However, when freedom is defined as the latter, as the by-product of processes that disentangle the individual from external and internal constraints, and that allow them to exercise the richest and most positive elements of their humanity, this hesitation is overcome.

Freedoms

When talking about freedom, we may be referring to any one of a number of experiences.

The first experience of freedom that comes to mind is freedom from unjustified physical restraint. Medieval serfs, Afro-American slaves, and child labourers have suffered unjust restraint. Freedom involves the removal of such restraints.

Then there is freedom from assault, whether physical, psychological, or sexual. We need protection--legal, administrative and physical--to guarantee this freedom.

Then there are social freedoms, including freedom of travel, freedom to live where one chooses, freedom to pursue an occupation of one's choice, freedom to determine one's lifestyle, freedom to negotiate a range of relationships, and freedom from discrimination.

Usually, when freedom is spoken about, we are referring to political freedom. Political freedoms include freedom from arbitrary arrest, freedom from oppression and injustice, freedom from prejudice and discrimination, freedom to participate in political processes, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, and freedom of access to legal remedies.

Freedom of religion is another of the freedoms that the West often takes for granted. This freedom was in short supply, even in the West, prior to the Industrial Revolution, which promoted the pluralism that created the circumstances essential to its further development.

Intellectual freedom, another of the freedoms associated with the Enlightenment and European democracy, is also important. It involves being free to learn, to pursue and publicize our ideas, and to critique others' interpretations and ideologies. Of course, there are limitations to such freedom, particularly where dissemination of intelligence, particularly to minors without a developed sense of responsibility, could result in damage to themselves or the community. Those posting instructions on how to make homemade bombs on the Internet are hardly acting responsibly.

Democracy

Those freedoms that have been briefly touched upon are freedoms that we have come to associate with democracy. [235]

Many Westerners take these freedoms so much for granted that they fail to appreciate that European democratic traditions took many years to evolve. They owe a great deal to unique political developments, which placed restraints on monarchs, and to industrialization, with its emphasis on reason, its utopian idealism, and its wealth creation.

The West has frequently underestimated the difficulties faced by nations that have not enjoyed these advantages, pre-modern societies that have attempted to modernize. For democratic institutions to develop, and be sustained, there must be a sizable, informed and articulate middle class. The absence of an influential middle class has aborted many experiments in democracy.

Psychological Freedom

The freedoms that have been mentioned presuppose that we should be free to be ourselves, to follow our inclinations, and pursue our ambitions. However, it is possible to be free from restraints that would curtail our opportunities, while lacking inner freedom.

Can we truthfully describe ourselves as free if we are at the mercy of our prejudices, if we are captive to unconscious motives, or driven by unfulfilled needs? Are those who are pre-occupied with themselves free? Are we free if we are taunted by fear, or enervated by anxiety? How free are we if our lives are dominated by a sense of meaninglessness?

To describe ourselves as free, implies, not only that we are free from external restraint, but also that we are free from the domination of internal demons. [236]

Reactivity

It is important, in discussing psychological freedom, to distinguish genuine freedom from reactivity.

Very often, what is spoken of as freedom is not freedom, but a form of reactivity that ensures that we remain captive to that against which we are reacting.

When we react, in a knee-jerk fashion, to what is constraining us, we are not working from our centre. Our response is automatic, engineered by our limbic system, or by complexes in the unconscious that trigger responses over which we have little control. The reality is that we are captive to our reactions, and to the desperate need we feel to free ourselves from inhibiting and chafing restrictions.

I remember talking to a middle-aged woman whose divorce had just been finalized. She was sitting at a table with a group of friends. Her face was flushed with excitement. In reaction to the pain she had endured, and to the fact that she was no longer legally encumbered with the husband she considered responsible for her distress, her eyes glowed with excitement as she talked about her new-found freedom. Her celebration, however, was premature. Her florid complexion betrayed the hollowness of her protestation.

Spiritual Freedom

Freedom involves, not only freedom from external restraint, and from psychological tensions, but freedom from factors that inhibit the development of our spirituality. While external and psychological constraints impact upon our ability to exercise our spirituality, our innermost essence, it [237] is possible for us to be free from both and yet not experience spiritual freedom.

I have argued elsewhere that our spirituality is the lived essence of our personhood. It is expressed, at the most basic level, in meaning-making and communication, which, as we grow, find expression at increasingly transcendent levels.

Our spirituality also involves the discernment of the activity of the Spirit within us. Few have described this phenomenon as effectively as the Jesuit, Karl Rahner.

Rahner suggested that the decisions we make affect us at two levels--the level of everyday living, and the level of our innermost being. His point was that the way we respond to others affects, not only their lives, but also ours. At the deepest level of our being, we either cooperate with, or frustrate God's work within. In responding at the first level, the level of interpersonal exchange, we are also responding at the deeper level. We are responding to the sensitive voice of the Spirit that is gently encouraging us to act in a manner that will be health-giving, and enhancing. When this happens, our inner being is fortified and further developed. However, it is not always easy for us to follow this inner voice, because there are so many influences, external and internal, which resist the inclination. Nevertheless, in saying yes, or no, to this inner intuition, we are saying yes or no to the Spirit. According to Rahner, the freedom to say yes, or no, to the whispers of the Spirit, is the basis of all other freedoms.

Spiritual freedom, the freedom to flow with the Spirit, represents a deeper level of freedom than psychological freedom. It is a paradoxical freedom, because it is based on surrender, surrender to the gentle pressure of the Spirit of [238] God. It is in this surrender, however, that we discover our true self, and the freedom to live out of our essence.

The distinction between our outer and inner lives, that Rahner makes, is also drawn by Gary Zukav, who distinguishes between the personality and the soul. This reflects the Tibetan Buddhist distinction between the personality that develops from the interplay of heredity and environment, and a divine essence, reflected in Wordsworth's "Not in entire forgetfulness . . . But trailing clouds of glory do we come, from God, who is our home."¹²¹ Ken Wilber draws attention to the Buddhist notion that we are gifted with two drops, or essences, at birth, a "lifetime indestructible drop," which develops during a particular lifetime and perishes when we die, and an "eternal indestructible drop", which lasts till Buddhahood, transmigrating from life to life until radical enlightenment. The latter he calls the "soul".¹²² Expressing this insight from a Hindu perspective, Sankaracharya contended that the Atman, the essence of God in the self, or the foundational God-dimension of the self, dwells within, free from attachment and beyond all action. He argues that we must separate this Atman from every object of experience. We then need to dissolve into the Atman all those appearances that make up the world of name and form. He goes on to comment that those who are able to do this are free in an ultimate sense.¹²³

According to Wilber, as we appropriate deeper dimensions of the self, this Soul, or "internal indestructible drop", this Atman, is gradually released and comes increasingly into its own. [239]

The Journey

The journey towards freedom, which is the realization of one's birthright, is an individual pilgrimage. It involves a journey into the self, a journey that enables us to transcend the self.

This journey is mirrored in many of our ancient hero myths that involve a descent into hell, and an eventual return to the land of the living, when one emerges with the runes of wisdom, with treasures that can only be discovered by making the journey.

Those who identify with their conscious personalities imagine they are free. However, they are not free in the sense of enjoying a freedom from the demons of the unconscious. Were they free, they would have no need to talk about their freedom. We talk most about what we don't possess.

The development of a sense of personal identity, in young children, necessitates separating themselves psychologically from their parents, or mentors. This separation, however, is a preliminary stage in adult development, which involves learning to relate warmly to others. The perpetuation of the early childhood pattern of withdrawal, into adulthood, indicates that the individual's development has been arrested at the egoic stage.

Those who have begun the journey into themselves, who have made tentative connections with those aspects of themselves, sub-personalities in the unconscious, of which they have been ignorant, begin to sense the possibility of an inner freedom. The release of captive elements enhances the experience of their humanity, enriching it, and freeing up energy that they did not know they possessed. A more realistic appraisal of their strengths and weaknesses allows [240] them to live with greater integrity, which augments their freedom.

As we become better acquainted with our bodies, and their multi-faceted capacity for discernment, we experience a greater degree of internal freedom. It becomes easier for us to live our truth. We become more aware of the grain of our being.

As we continue on our journey we become increasing aware of a Spiritual Presence that accompanies us, that is discoverable in the fiber of our being, as well as in all dimensions of the cosmos. This felt awareness increases our resonance with the Divine and our inclination to flow with its intuitions. Flowing with the Spirit causes us to move in sympathy with the moral heart of the universe, not because it is required of us to live this way, but because of an overwhelming inclination to do so.

One of the things we discover is that this Presence which nurtures us is loving, compassionate, and non-judgmental.

In touch with the Spirit, with this Love, we are freed from fear. Free from fear, we have no need to impose our will on others. We can let them be. We can help them be. We can create the circumstances that allow them to discover and be themselves. [241]

[ROI 235-241]