On Freedom and Other Things I

The bird tries to rise up into the air (why it does so... who knows? who cares? something to do with what some people call "its nature") and the thin fishing line tied to its foot stretches and pulls it back down...
It falls and tries to catch its breath... or perhaps just trying to gain courage to try again.
Question: Why does it try to fly? Can`t it be happy living in the semisphere of 2 meters in diameter which the string allows it to know? It has food and water...

The simple fact that it, the bird, cannot fly further than two meters (even if it knows not what lies past those 2 meters, be it better or worse) makes it want to go further... The bird identifies what is binding him and wants to break that source... simply because it exists... not because it is stopping the bird from doing something in specific. It is not because there is a female bird, at 2.1 meters, calling him and flirting with him that this bird wants to fly further.

If asked: "What is freedom?" the bird will reply: "Removal of that string which is binding me."


Question: What is freedom for us? What are the strings which are binding us?

My string is the fact that I have a scientific proposal to write by Friday; once that is done I will be free.
My string is that I have an olympic swimming competition in two months; once that is done I will be free.
My string is that I have to wear this suit all day long at work; once I get out of the suit I will be free.
My string is my girlfriend who is keeping me from going climbing; once I am at the rock-face I will be free.
In all the above cases one can simply add: ... free and happy.

So what is the problem? Why is it that after Friday, after the two months, after the suit has been removed, and once you are at the rock-face you still do not feel fully "free and happy"?
I thought I had removed that string!!!!

You simply misidentified the string.
The real string is the above cases is your own desires and your own fears.
-Two strings?
-No, one and the same. For every desire there is an associated fear. For every fear there is the associated desire. Cut the string and both will leave.

-So.... you mean.... I should live without desires?! I can understand living without fears but without desires... My desires determine my goals... am I (and everyone else) supposed to live without goals??? An aimless life? A life without action?!
-Action is the key word there. One must continue to act. The Universe does not stop acting, there are always things happening in the world, Creation is always taking place; a decision to not act, to be passive, is going against your nature and the nature of everything. Action occurs.
-And my goals?
-Your goals must exist for Action to have an intention, a purpose. The fine line which one must walk is having goals without attachment... a very fine line.
One will want to climb Everest, one will set out to do so, but if you perform it without attachment then you will be capable of savoring every step of the way... if, however, you are obsessed with summiting Everest then you will lose your conscious perception of the present moment and be living in function of your desires.

Your goals should be a part of your life. Your life should not be a part of your goals.
Once your happiness seems to have become dependent on the achieval or fulfillment of a goal then you have crossed the line.
Once you feel fully satisfied simply savoring every moment in your day, especially those in which you have to wait for something and nothing seems to be happening, then you will know that your goals are not ruling your perception of the world.
Do not strive to feeling fully satisfied at every moment, that will come naturally, just as the pleasures of flight and the discovery of the unknown world will come naturally with the cutting of the string.

-Thank you Dr Plim I am now enlightened.
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