Daily Meditation: Friday, March 6, 2015

Freedom - we do not win it by running away from difficulties

03/06/2015

People may tell themselves, ‘Responsibilities? Me? No way! I’m not going to get married and have children. I refuse to be tied down. I want to be free!’ But what an illusion! Inwardly, they will be even more limited than those who have accepted responsibilities and constraints, because their wish to be free was not inspired by a noble, selfless ideal. We become free only by first taking on our commitments, not by ridding ourselves of all our duties to family and society. Those who seek freedom while refusing or, even worse, abandoning their responsibilities so as to live an easy life of selfishness and pleasure are bound, one day or another, to meet new obstacles, new constraints, to make them understand that they are making a mistake. Until they have solved the problem they are meant to learn something from, they will be trapped. Wherever they go, they will have to confront an even more painful situation. It is as if the laws ruling destiny were saying to them, ‘So you haven’t wanted to learn anything down there? Well, here is something else for you to learn!’ We should not run away from difficulties but try to fully understand their meaning and do what is required to overcome them. Nothing is more valuable than freedom, so long as we seek it in accordance with the divine rules.