Doing Whatever You Want isn't Freedom, it's Slavery (WE-52)
Do not get deceived by your mind
I’ll do what the heck I want. I’m free!
Baby, that’s not freedom, it’s being a prisoner of your mind. Don’t get deceived by your mind.
Your mind comes up with a thought of craving something and you pursue it. You avoid something your mind shows aversion to.
Tell me, how come you free if all you do is just follow?
Whether we have 'Free Will' or not is an article for another time. But long story short, we don't.
You say you decide whether to eat that cookie. You say you’re making a conscious decision. But you’re mistaken.
When you say you decide, your decision is based on a thought that arose in your mind without effort or will on your part.
Can you will yourself to think a thought?
Do you tell your mind to think this particular thought now and that one three seconds later?
And even if you can tell your mind what to do, does it listen?
No, right?
By now, all of you meditation junkies know that thoughts arise and disappear of their own accord, right?
So, when you say you do what you please, it’s simply you following the dictates of your mind, which is producing new thoughts every moment, sometimes of attraction and sometimes of aversion.
And this is slavery, right? Following a master(mind).
What to do instead
See, the problem is I usually don’t have solutions. But I can help you to think and ask better questions.
So, instead of reacting to thoughts arising in my mind, can 'I' maintain a distance and just observe the thoughts without judgment or reaction?
If you can do that, then ask who or what exactly is observing?
very well explained. Nice.
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