25 June 2004

The Meaning of Freedom

What does it mean to be free?

As you awaken from the illusion of isolation that the separate ego creates, the whole meaning of freedom begins to turn on its head. Freedom, for the ego, means I can do anything I want, whenever I want to. But for the part of you that is not ego, for the authentic self, freedom means I can do only one thing.

To the ego that sounds like a death sentence, but to the authentic self it is profoundly liberating, because that one thing is wholehearted participation in the evolutionary process. And the authentic self experiences pure ecstasy the more it is liberated to be able to participate in the evolutionary process.

That is the ultimate experience of creative freedom. But it's not the kind of freedom most people are interested in or can even conceive of, because it is not freedom of or for the individual. It's the ultimate freedom of the universe creating itself at higher and higher levels.

Andrew Cohen
From a retreat in Netherlands, May 2004

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