Introduction
This morning I attended another half-day meditation retreat to spend some dedicated time in meditation away from the interruptions and concerns of the mundane world. It has been a struggle of late to commit time to my meditation practice, so when the opportunity arose to get away in a little bit of seclusion I was glad to accept it.
The initial meditation period began like most other in the Chan Buddhist Monastery with chanting the Heart Sutra, before settling down into your sitting posture of choice. I can sit comfortably in a half-lotus position for around three quarters of an hour and chose this posture, with right leg over left, for the first period. I had just settled in, quietening my mind with the breath-counting technique and then focusing my attention on a subject, when a lecture on concepts of freedom was begun over the broadcast system.
The lecture focused on the difference between self-indulgence and real freedom, contrasting the sense of freedom popularised these days as a freedom to do whatever one chooses against the freedom of being liberated from delusion. In typical Buddhist style, the lecture pointed out that the freedom to pursue whatever pleasure one currently desires is certainly a level of freedom, but it is only freedom in the sense that one is still a slave to the desires that motivate you and that no real freedom can exist while allowing the sensory inputs to dictate your desires. And so it was that with the conclusion of this lecture, the first period of seated meditation finished.
As the second meditative period commenced, I was pondering on the significance of one’s liberty and freedom and chose this as my point of attention and contemplation. Once settled and focused, it was not long before thoughts began to stream into my awareness and I felt a certain penetration and clarity of mind on the subject matter. It is always difficult to recall verbatim what was received in meditation and I am usually left with a more or less vague remembrance of what was comprehended. However, what was clear was that my past concepts of liberty and freedom where fundamentally questioned.
Background concepts of freedom
Historically, my political persuasions have varied in the course of time and in my maturity as an adult. From my early 20’s as a student I was very concerned with the rights of those who were unfortunate and needed the support of others so that they may not lack for the conveniences of a modern existence. The responsibility of an all-powerful government to tax and provide welfare on top of essential services to all was what formed my view. A view that would have had me classed as a socialist, until I decided to marry and assumed the responsibilities of providing for first, my wife and then a growing family. It took no time at all in this new reality of increased demands for my views to change and for utopian ideals of a perfectly equitable welfare state to be replaced by the obvious direct benefits of a lower taxing, less intrusive government where a social safety net was important. These reformed views would have classed me as a left-of-centre liberal, were it not for the rise of Global Warming. With achieving a sense of financial security through paying off and owning my home, I could indulge my socialist persuasions with Global Warming concerns and I became a member of the Greens party that felt the moral imperative to tax income earners to subsidise the development of greener, more sustainable industries and technologies, while improving the distribution of wealth for the common good. This view would have classed me as an environmental communist, but for yet another change in the circumstances of life. At the same time as Climate Gate revelations of fabricated climate change models and data that hinted at a Global Warming conspiracy and the global financial crisis demonstrated the impacts of collusion between banks and governments around the world, new financial constraints quickly enforced themselves to reshape my views yet again. Seeing clearly the dangers of a life dependent on the benevolence the powerful be they Red, Blue or Green in colour, as they ride roughshod over individual rights for popularised collective outcomes while unrelentingly creating new laws to constrict freedoms, create new taxes, reduce wages, sell assets, expose regulated unprotected domestic businesses to competition from unregulated heavily protected foreign organisations, manipulate currency values and interest rates, I have been firmly encamped with the libertarians since 2007.
At its root, the libertarian ideal is for absolute individual responsibility over personal matters, the rule of common law as the means of protecting the rights and properties of the individual and the operation of a small and constrained government where matters of common wealth and interests exist. That is, individual property rights are guaranteed and protected, government is constrained to its role as facilitator in matters of the common good and the sovereignty of the individual is absolute, within the bounds of no injury to others. But is this seemingly fundamental articulation of liberty and freedom also subject to change?
The true significance of liberty and freedom (within the undistorted mind)
No matter what rights one has secured against the tyranny of government and others that would enslave you to their world view, or the financial freedoms that might be achieved with wealth outside of the fiat currency systems of a totalitarian banking industry, one cannot be free while ever delusional thoughts occupy the mind. This was the insight given in meditation.
As I have outlined above, my ideas of the rights of others have changed over the years commensurate with the degree of delusion I have held over the benevolence and omnipotence of government and that the delusion I have had has been a measure of personal desire, financial constraint and populist opinion presented as fact. How trustworthy are any personal concepts of liberty and freedom when they are subject to such variable inputs?
Instead, true freedom comes through observing the limitations imposed on the conception of ideas by these inputs and realising that liberty can only be achieved through the eradication of these delusional thoughts such that a mind of pure consciousness can be attained. In terms of the Heart Sutra, it is in the absence of thought-coverings, the compounding distortions to the original and universal consciousness, that true liberation is attained.
In the absence of thought-coverings he has not been made to tremble,
he has overcome what can upset, and in the end he attains to Nirvana.
Contemplations on the 3 Refuges and 5 Precepts
Having one’s ideas and desires stimulated through the senses is, therefore, the path of delusional thought and while there is a degree of freedom to choose how you fulfil those desires, ultimately you are not in control of the formulation (Causes and Conditions) of that which gives rise to what you think and desire. Hence, your volitional actions arising from such thoughts are subject to the control over your sensory inputs. This realisation reminds me of Aldous Huxley’s “A Brave New World”, in which the actions of the masses are controlled by those that control and stimulate the inputs to their senses, while the masses feel they are free and are repulsed by those that have no such controls over them.
It is in this light that one can perceive the value in the 3 Jewels of Buddhism, where the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha are the rocks that stand fast and provide support against the delusions that exist in a world where nothing can be trusted as authentic or true.
- The Buddha – an example of enlightenment and realisation of the Bodhi mind;
- The Dharma – the path to enlightenment and ultimate liberation; and
- The Sangha – the community that will support your quest for liberation.
The 5 Precepts are likewise observed against this backdrop of delusional ideas and erroneous thinking as guiding principles to navigate through a world of shadow in which one’s own ideas cannot be trusted to be dependable and authentic. The precepts are:
- Refrain from killing;
- Refrain from stealing;
- Refrain from sexual misconduct;
- Refrain from false speech;
- Refrain from intoxicating substances.
The path to true liberty and freedom (Role of the 3 jewels and 5 precepts)
Moral rules such as the 5 Precepts can now be considered in a wider context than the behavioural constraints imposed by a religious order for the sake of compliance, and their role considered on the path of seeking liberty and freedom from existence in a world where thoughts are delusional. When the causes (events) and conditions (prevailing public sentiments) that shape our thoughts are apt for control by others, are not the very ideas with which we identity and that define us Śūnyatā, devoid of any intrinsic, unconditioned existence? Are our understandings and concepts of freedom and liberty likewise Śūnyatā?
The meditation that I undertook this morning was profound in this respect. It is only through directly attaining the unconditioned, that state of consciousness embedded in the very fabric of our existence, that we shall know true liberty. To do so requires the elimination of the layers of delusion and erroneous concepts that have been built up during the multitude of existences in this realm and others. Although our Buddha nature is already within us, discovering it is not trivial and demands a serious undertaking. Vowing to take refuge in the 3 Jewels and to follow the 5 Precepts is a way of committing to the Path.
May we all attain the Bodhi mind.
Namaste.
