Freedom and Lawfulness

As I begin to gather my thoughts on Freedom and Lawfulness, I am inspired to dedicate this message to the memory of a woman, who I believe struggled nobly with this polarity, Benazir Bhutto.

In working (thinking, reflecting, questioning, writing) with polarities, I find myself with three choices:

Work with one.
Work with the other one.
Work with the relationship of the two.

These choices often leave me frozen and intimidated.  Eventually, I just jump and see where I land.  I suggest you work with them this way, too.  You really can’t go wrong.  The only wrong is staying frozen.

Tonight I will begin with lawfulness and then work with freedom. There are two types of lawfulness - Creative and Arbitrary. 

Creative lawfulness is a beautiful experience.  The laws make sense from all perspectives.  They fit the situation, the process, the problem or the opportunity.  They allow, rather than prohibit.  They protect, rather than persecute. They distinguish, rather than collapse.

Nature is based on creative lawfulness. Consequently, Nature is harmonious. It works.

Arbitrary lawfulness is distorting and destructive.  These laws only make sense to those who are ambitious, arrogant or frightened.  They are based on disharmony, elitism and entitlement. They punish, rather than redeem. They inhibit, rather than encourage.

Our bodies and souls contain both forms of lawfulness.  Every human body has laws that are creative and laws that are arbitrary.  Think of the laws of digestion, reproduction, cognition, mobility, etc. Body laws can be harmonious and bless us with well-being or they can feel arbitrary and inconvenient causing struggle and discomfort.

The two forms of lawfulness shape our souls with instincts, attitudes, reactions, pain and pleasure. Creative laws support stability, security and sanity and allow for mobility, flexibility and possibility.  Arbitrary soul laws support prejudice, fantasy and addiction.

Freedom is indefinable as it lives in the spirit of the individual. Freedom is not about laws.  Freedom is beyond all laws.

Do not confuse rights with freedom,  Rights are prerogatives and privileges.  Do not confuse independence with freedom.  Independence is the denial of dependence on the laws of others.  Do not confuse liberty and rebellion with freedom.  Liberty and rebellion are about not obeying and not conforming to laws.

Freedom is what stands behind creative laws, rights, independence, liberty and rebellion. If we penetrate our laws, rights, independence, liberty and rebellion, we will find a feeling for freedom.  

Freedom is a spiritual state.  Spirit is never unfree. When Spirit fully incarnates it is experienced as freedom.

Freedom is not surrounded by emotions, not even happiness.  Happiness appears when life conforms to our personal laws or our desired laws.

Freedom is always present, but not always known.  Freedom is always true, beautiful and good. Freedom is never measured or qualified – it is all or nothing, like being pregnant.

Freedom is eternal and momentary. We glimpse freedom in moment of grace. We cannot capture freedom nor hold on to it.

We can believe in freedom with our thoughts. We can be open to freedom in our feeling. We can strive for freedom in our will. When we think, feel or act in freedom something beyond extraordinary has come through us.

To live our earthly lives we need lawfulness. To give meaning to our earthly lives we need freedom.

Clearly, we want to question our own personal laws.  If we ask the right questions with courage, reverence and compassion, freedom will answer.

Write down all your laws – the good the bad and the ugly laws. Some will be obvious to you and some will be very subtle.  Try to uncover a couple of the subtle laws. The list will be endless, so just begin with 12.  Now look at which of the 12 feel creative or feel arbitrary. 

Consider how these laws relate to your rights, your independence, your liberty and your rebellion. 

You can rewrite some laws and write off others.  Some laws will feel just right.

When we relate objectively to our own personal laws, we can effectively question our political, social and religious laws.

To glimpse freedom, write a poem, dance, sing with the birds.