For Jewish people all over the world, today March 27th at sunset is the beginning of the Passover holiday. In the Bible, Passover marks the Exodus of the Children of Israel from Egyptian slavery, when God "passed over" the houses of the Israelites during the last of the ten plagues.
Tomorrow, Sunday, March 28th is Palm Sunday, a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
Both of these holidays bring forth feelings in me about freedom, or lack thereof.
We can look out upon the world we live in. We can think back upon the world as it was in days gone by. In both directions, we easily can see instances of enslavement, bondage, servitude, and persecution. And, of course, this saddens us, and provokes us toward positive thoughts and action.
But this note to you is not about being enslaved by others or about being victims of the world in any sense, regardless of the factual nature of events mentioned above.
This note to you is about freedom, true freedom. What it is, where it is, and how the seemingly unreachable nature of it in times of severe difficulty is actually an illusion.
Paramahansa Yogananda says, “In the teachings of all religions…one truth is stressed: Until man knows himself as Spirit — the fountainhead of Bliss — he is limited by mortal concepts and subject to the inexorable laws of nature. Knowledge of his true being brings him eternal freedom.”
Where is this fountainhead of Bliss that will help us to know eternal freedom?
The beautiful thing I want to share with you today is that it is nowhere to be found; that is, we don’t have to go searching for it. Spirit or Love force—the only true freedom—is the very essence of who we are.
If it seems elusive, it is simply because we allow ourselves to be seduced by distraction in its many, myriad forms.
True freedom, then, is not something we must attain. And for most of us in this community, enslavement, bondage, servitude, and persecution are not a part of our experience.
Any sense we hold of lack of freedom, therefore, is self-imposed...
We enslave ourselves by our fearful thoughts.
We bind ourselves in judgment—of ourselves and others.
We remain in servitude to selfish indulgences, prioritizing “me” over God—the Divine, the Source of Life.
And we persecute the world by our very lack of peace and Self love.
Over this weekend when so many are celebrating freedom, love, and devotion in a posture of humbleness, let us all bow our heads in service to True Freedom and know once and for all that this is who we really are.
On this conscious journey with you,
Steve
