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Inner Freedom
Ven. Sativihari
In
Buddhist philosophy, we say that there are certain eternal
truths. We call these
truths the “Dhamma”. No
one “invents” the Dhamma – these truths are part of the law of
nature; we only discover
them. Just as we discover the
law of gravity that is holding us here right now on the surface of this
planet.. The truly great
thinkers of the East &
the West were discoverers
of these eternal truths about the nature of life.
So, it’s not unusual that we find many common themes in the
teachings of spiritual leaders – like the Buddha, Socrates, Moses, and
Jesus – and there are important lessons that we can learn from each of
them.
In
the modern world there have also been great discoverers of
truth, who we can learn from.
Tonight I would like to tell you a story about the life of one of
these modern discoverers – a Swiss man named Victor Frankl – who
through his unusual life experiences learned something very important
about the nature of freedom.
Frankl
was a psychiatrist, who, during the second world war, had the terrible
misfortune of becoming a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp.
He witnessed and experienced horrifying cruelty and indignities
that in our society are unimaginable.
As a psychiatrist, he was trained in observing and understanding
the human mind, and that training became the key to his emotional
survival. In his mind, he
turned the entire experience into a research project.
He asked himself the question, “How
was it that some prisoners, despite these terrible conditions, were able
to maintain their mental health? How
was it that some prisoners were able to maintain a sense of hope, dignity,
and optimism?”
Some
people survived psychologically. Others
became so mentally traumatized that they only wished to die. What Frankl discovered was that the people who survived
had a very uncommon understanding
of freedom.
The
common understanding of
freedom, the one that led to rapid mental and physical decline, -- had to
do with freedom to go where you want to go,
freedom to leave unpleasant situations, freedom to say what you
think, freedom to take a
shower or to sleep or to eat or to go to the bathroom when you wanted to,
and, of course, freedom from external threats like violence, abuse,
discrimination, and so on.
It’s quite a normal way of understanding freedom.
And, of course, there’s no question that these are very important
rights which must be protected. The
problem with having an understanding of freedom which is limited
to such things is that these sorts of freedoms are wholly
dependent on outside
influences. And, as a result,
they can be lost in an instant…. by factors that are truly beyond our
control. This was how the
majority of people in the camps understood and experienced freedom.
But
Frankl discovered another, smaller group of people, who had a very
different understanding and experience.
Their understanding of freedom was more internal and spiritual,
although it didn’t necessarily involve a belief in God.
These were people who had a rich inner life, which allowed them to
perceive deeper meanings in their situation.
They didn’t view the nazis
as being in control of their lives. They had a powerful sense of their
capacity to choose their own internal response to their situation.
And they chose to find a spiritual purpose in that horrible
setting. Many focussed on
caring for other, less fortunate prisoners, inspiring them with stories,
treating their wounds, or simply holding them while they cried.
Some developed artistic skills and found creative ways to bring
back a sense of beauty, goodness, and even humor to the minds of their
fellow prisoners. These men
and women knew a kind of freedom which
the others did not know; they had an experience of freedom which to a
great degree was independent
of outside circumstances. A
freedom which could be experienced, despite the fact that they were in
chains. And, as time went on, their inner lives seemed to become even more
rich. Their capacity for coping became even stronger.
And ultimately these were the prisoners who emerged from that
horrible experience with the fewest scars and the least hatred.
They
understood something. They
understood in a very profound way that it’s not so much what happens to
you in this life – as it is how
you internally respond to it
-- that determines the quality of your experience and ultimately,
your destiny.
Well,
we’re obviously not in a concentration camp.
Far from it. We enjoy
all of the freedoms that those prisoners lacked.
And yet, how often we feel like victims. How often
we feel terribly constricted by circumstances.
What really is our problem?
Perhaps
the freedom that we lack the most is not the sort of freedom that
good parents, or good employers,
or good economies can provide. Perhaps
the freedom that we lack the most is
inner
freedom, spiritual freedom..
Without that, we remain victims of our circumstances, preoccupied
more with blame than with opportunity and contribution and gratitude.
How
can we develop this mysterious spiritual freedom?
How can we come to know sources of meaning and happiness that are
not shaken by changing conditions?
That
question brings us back to our primary need, our need for the Dhamma, our
need to grasp the deeper, eternal truths of life. Our need for the Buddha,
and Socrates, and Moses, and Jesus. For
those who truly understood what it means to be free..
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