{"id":697,"date":"2013-12-15T09:34:59","date_gmt":"2013-12-15T14:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/?p=697"},"modified":"2013-12-16T06:54:59","modified_gmt":"2013-12-16T11:54:59","slug":"want-to-be-free-truly-free-heres-how","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/12\/want-to-be-free-truly-free-heres-how.html","title":{"rendered":"Want to Be Free…Truly Free? Here’s How!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Freedom\"<\/a>The Buddha used the word \u201canata\u201d to refer to \u201cno self.\u201d What did he mean? The same thing Jesus meant when he said, \u201cDeny thyself\u201d (Matt. 16:24).<\/p>\n

Then, what did these two spiritual teachers mean?<\/p>\n

Detachment is the word, my friend. Or, to put it another way, \u201cLet go.\u201d<\/p>\n

“But let go of what?\u201d you ask.<\/p>\n

All illusions of permanence.\u00a0And, what is impermanent?<\/p>\n

Anything to which the little “me” would attach itself. \u00a0The \u201clittle me,\u201d as Eckhart Tolle called the ego or “the dog,” as the philosopher Neitzsche referred to it, can attach itself to almost anything, even to its-self.\u00a0Anything you can see, touch, taste, smell, feel, or create is impermanent. \u00a0Nothing remains for every long. Which is why the widespread western practice of embalming dead bodies, entombing them in concrete and metal containers in the ground, is an indication of our widespread attachment to the illusion of permanence.<\/p>\n

Until you and I detach from all things\u2026until we can let go, we remain incarcerated, as it were, and not free to simply be or to enjoy the \u201cabundant life\u201d as Jesus referred to it. \u00a0Which explains much of our worry\u2026fretting\u2026anxiety even now. It explains explains why we live in fear\u2026live with regrets\u2026worry about tomorrow\u2026and, consequently, create a hell for ourselves here on earth.<\/p>\n

What do you think, for example, Jesus meant when he said, \u201cLay not up treasures on earth, but lay up treasures in church?\u201d Church? Did he say “church?” No, but isn’t that one of the reasons many today do not attend? Because \u201cthey’re always asking for money?\u201d \u00a0Yes, of course. And, since we are still attached to money itself, we are offended. This is Jesus’ point.<\/p>\n

It goes both ways, you know. Don\u2019t be fooled by your own little ego and reject what you don\u2019t like in the church and then cling yourself to the very thing you despise about church. Can you fault the Church for being attached to the very thing to which you are yourself attached? That’s a big game you\u2019re playing, my friend. And, what you don\u2019t know is that you\u2019re the one losing.<\/p>\n

Freedom, or to use religious language…”salvation” for Christians, “enlightenment” in other traditions, simply refers to that life-long and cultivated capacity to live from a place of \u201cno self,\u201d no attachments or, as Jesus put it, the \u201cdenied self.\u201d \u00a0Saint Paul called it, \u201cthe crucified self,\u201d (Gal. 2:20). Yet, when he said that, he was still very much alive. So he\u2019s referring to having died with Christ to something.<\/p>\n

What is that \u201csomething?\u201d<\/p>\n

All attachments.<\/p>\n

Death\u2026detachment\u2026denial of self, the little me in you and me – which is not evil. Don\u2019t make that mistake. The ego is not something to deny or to fight against as if some little schizophrenic part of you that must be expunged. \u00a0The little me is<\/em>\u00a0you, just not the better you.<\/p>\n

How is one free oneself of the little me?<\/p>\n

Do not try.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no need. Which is the irony. But, only be embracing yourself or, as Jesus put it, \u201cto love yourself,\u201d are you free of the self. Indeed a mystery. You win, not be defeating, but by surrendering.<\/p>\n

What do you think Jesus was demonstrating in his death on the cross? Payment to God off for your sin? That’s a medieval theology the Church itself must let go. This explanation of the Christian story has become itself a monstrous collective ego. The Church must let go to it. When it does, and it will, the mystery of the Gospel comes to light. The scandal of the cross, as Saint Paul framed it, is<\/em>\u00a0this irony that life is won, not by defeating one’s enemies or, in this case, the ego, but by surrendering.<\/p>\n

You only succeed in living the life Jesus referred to\u2026that the Buddha pointed to\u2026by learning the art of letting go. That\u2019s all \u201cdetachment\u201d means. Turn loose. Be free..<\/p>\n

Think you have? Think you have arrived? That you\u2019re now a \u201cspiritual giant?\u201d That you\u2019ve completely detached\u2026and are living an enlightened or abundant life?<\/p>\n

“Go spend a week with your parents,” said Ram Dass and then you’ll see just how enlightened or how \u201csaved\u201d you are.<\/p>\n

Think you\u2019ve arrived at a higher level of consciousness? That you have detached from all illusions of permanence?<\/p>\n

Then, consider this…<\/p>\n

How do you feel whenever you get to work and realize you\u2019ve left your cell phone on the kitchen counter?<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t think you\u2019re still attached? \u00a0How do you feel when someone questions the things you\u2019ve been taught to believe?<\/p>\n

When, for example, I say things like, \u201cI love all religions, but I\u2019m in love with my own,\u201d what does that do to you? Do you label people like me as \u201cliberal?\u201d\u00a0When I say,\u00a0\u201cThere are many ways to God and reading John 14:6 as if Jesus is saying there is no other way is a misreading of his words,\u201d how do you feel inside? \u00a0Panic? Rage? Do you feel sorry for me, as if I’m “lost” but feel better about yourself because you and your group believe the truth? Or, does it make you want to lash out at me, mistakenly believing I’m out to destroy your beloved faith?<\/p>\n

Think you\u2019re not attached to your Church\u2026to its beliefs and doctrines\u2026as if, believing in those \u201cbeliefs\u201d you have salvation? \u00a0Come on, my friend, wake up. \u00a0Know that no belief could ever be God. So, do not make them your God. Do not be attached to anything, no matter how precious the words may be. Remember they\u2019re just words.<\/p>\n

Think you\u2019re not attached to the Bible as \u201cthe Word of God?\u201d Think again. That is, if you want to be free. Really free. Saved. Enlightened. Or, whatever you’d like to call it. The word isn\u2019t important. The reality toward which it does\u2026well\u2026that\u2019s the focus, my friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be free,\u201d you say. \u201cBut how?\u201d<\/p>\n

Don’t even try.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut why?\u201d<\/p>\n

Because you are free already. That is the mystery of the Gospel. The mystery of enlightenment, as Buddha finally discovered. You do not achieve enlightenment by struggling, fighting, or seeking. You become enlightened when you know you are already. That is the real message of the Christian story, even the meaning of grace.<\/p>\n

This is why\u00a0Rumi, the Sufi poet, said to his followers: \u00a0\u201cThe prison door is wide open already. So, why do you remain inside?”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Buddha used the word \u201canata\u201d to refer to \u201cno self.\u201d What did he mean? The same thing Jesus meant when he said, \u201cDeny thyself\u201d (Matt. 16:24). Then, what did these two spiritual teachers mean? Detachment is the word, my friend. Or, to put it another way, \u201cLet go.\u201d “But let go of what?\u201d you…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":551,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[90,9,98,1260],"tags":[1261,548,688,1263,956,45,1264,1265,1262,1268,1266,421,580,806,46,1267,546,64,975,197],"class_list":["post-697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ego","category-enlightenment","category-faith","category-freedom","tag-anata","tag-attachments","tag-death","tag-deny-thyself","tag-detachment","tag-enlightenment-2","tag-illusion-of-permanence","tag-little-me","tag-no-self","tag-ram-dass","tag-regret","tag-religion","tag-religion-news","tag-saint-paul","tag-salvation","tag-self","tag-spirituality-2","tag-the-buddha","tag-treasures-on-earth","tag-worry"],"yoast_head":"\nWant to Be Free...Truly Free? 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