I’d like to quickly sketch the issue of freedom in how it applies to a spiritually oriented person.
Historically, there are two types of social freedom that have been debated in political theory. The first, John Stuart Mill’s approach has been termed negative freedom: regulation of behaviour where it causes harm to others. The second type, Isaiah Berlin’s approach, expands this to a positive freedom: freedom to do different things, like to choose any object, lifestyle or career one prefers.
Negative freedom, where you are free to act except where it causes harm to others. Most people accept this restriction on us by society or the state. But sometimes that harm is indirect. In most developed countries it is illegal to not wear a seatbelt, or a helmet on a motorbike. This is essentially an infringement of personal freedom, as it primarily only affects the individual who is choosing. But extensive studies have demonstrated the resultant injuries cause significant and unacceptable drain on public funds in the health system, social services and national productivity. That is, the whole community pays for the consequences of our personal choice, so it’s constrained.
The same principle applies to vaccines for certain diseases, including polio and Covid. Your freedom to choose to not be vaccinated has an impact on the whole community, as it enables the disease to linger longer and thus increase risks to others and restrict their freedoms. But due to the concerns for personal freedom, the ‘smokers approach’ is used. With smoking, it is not illegal, but is highly taxed. With Covid vaccines, states are looking to deny certain social freedoms – if you are not prepared to act in accord with community wellbeing, then you will be denied full membership of that community.
Most people accept that limitation, remembering that the Democratic political system is not full liberalism – it is a balance between coercive and full freedom political systems (like Anarchy - "an absence of government"). Negative freedom is generally not challenged by spiritual people: ‘give to Caesar….’
Positive freedom is the first where we see the interests of spiritual people involved. Capitalism is not happy about offering positive freedom, because it implies a cost on the community to give everyone the freedom to pursue their preference of work and lifestyle. It is not in the interest of capitalism to foster the ability for people to discover and express their true selves. It is a spiritual task – although not the primary one, still a critical step for those seeking inner truth.
Now we come to what freedom means to the spiritual person. Firstly, spiritual types come in all shapes and sizes, so I’ll only refer to ‘we’ as those who seek two things: truth and full potential.
Negative freedom. The Sufis put it succinctly: to be in the world but not of the world. This belies extraordinary depth of perception.
Not of the world: we cannot accept the stamp of unknown agendas upon our soul. We seek the truth of who we are; the fabrications and sensibilities of the world, meaning humans, thrust upon our self-image, our identity, are to be ruthlessly cast off. That this leaves us alone – so be it. That this leaves us lonely – we are not yet free. To yearn for truth is no holiday: it is the greatest courage of any living entity.
Be in the world: we must be participants. The world is this place where we have crossed untold and forgotten struggles and tribulations to arrive at. It holds the key to our freedom. It is of inestimable preciousness. Spirit Demands we play our part. We must LIVE! To do so, implies we understand what is best for the world, in distinction from what is best for us: these are two knowledges all on the Path need to grasp: the Long and Short Path. In effect, this renders us as secret agents – concealing our true identity while we fight for the wellbeing of an entity: homo sapiens.
Positive freedom: full potential. This is our hardest and most mysterious freedom to define. Just where are we so unbendingly going? What is our ultimate quest? Is it possible to know? What is driving us from within the core of our being, and to what vanishing point is our darkest rudder set? Can we ever know?
