On the Fourth of July we celebrated American independence from the British rule. In the Declaration of Independence, founding fathers stated 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.” On the one hand, it is an incredible thing for a young country to have achieved. On the other hand, it is safe to say that not all people in this country are equally free, nor do we all enjoy the same benefits we tend to contribute to our “American-ness”. Still, this article will go on with the general idea of independence as being something all humans have to some extent, yet still strive to master in a more perfect way.
We usually celebrate a political sort of freedom at this time of year. Yet I want to discuss something that can seem both more abstract and more real and day to day. Let’s spend some time thinking about freedom from our most constant and effective oppressor: ourselves.
Freedom from our small selves
If we have a decent amount of freedom from hunger, violence and other basic negative forces, we are freed up to spend our energy in a way that enlightens us and/or the world in some way. Along with the pursuit of happiness, we may seek our highest self. On this internal journey, our small self sends forces against our highest self. We stand in our own way attached to our desires, be they material or just to look cool. The ego prefers that we stay small because it is easy, predictable, and keeps itself in charge. We cannot accept this. We yearn to rise above.
One way we rise above our small self is to let go of something that weighs us down. Last week’s question of the week was, “When was the last time you felt relieved from a burden?” I hope most of you can point to a recent time when you freed yourself from something heavy you’ve been carrying. Today I had a difficult conversation with my family that my small self wanted to put off indefinitely. It was somewhat awkward as these conversations tend to be (not my fault of course). At the end, we all instantly felt more free. Ideally, we let go of all these burdens because even one can weigh us down and keep us small. You know there’s something to deal with and let go of because it keeps showing up in your meditation. When we let go of a burden, including a long-held attachment, it can instantly make us rise to our highest self.
Become the master of our actions
My Sifu always says we must strive to become masters of our actions rather than prisoners of our reactions. Learning physical self defense in Kung Fu or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu may help keep us safe from outside forces, yet it is the internal aspect of our practice including meditation that allows us to be truly free. We learn how to recognize our small, ego-mind as it begins to take charge and let it go. We see our bad habits in action and do the work to build good habits to take their place. Just like we practice making a good fist, we practice keeping a calm, focused mind.
Last week’s internal challenge was to ask what your highest self would do at least once each day, then do it. This is a great way to practice being your best self, even if you don’t feel like you truly deserve to call yourself enlightened. Just doing the thing that we would do if we were enlightened is its own form of enlightenment. It helps us to break the habit of ego identification, along with meditation and anything else that puts things into perspective for us.
Whether you feel free or not, practice independence from your desires, attachments and your small self today and everyday. That isn’t who you truly are. I encourage you to let go of all the burdens that weigh you down and to embrace your true, powerful, highest self.
