Principles of Brahman According to the Upanisads #311

Opinions and theories about the nature of freedom abound, from personal to political, from enjoyment of leisure to the freedom to express oneself, from the power to restrict to the ability to commit violence on others — and, of course, the freedom to do anything one wants. But all of these forms of so-called freedom are relative, are found in relativity. They suffer their opposite side, called failure and bondage. Mother India has always known the true meaning of Freedom. First, it is spiritual in nature, and secondly, it is the very nature of the Soul. In other words, it cannot be created, produced, or generated. It does not come about in time, nor happen over the course of evolution. It is not a product of transformation, nor does it manifest on account of purification or practice. It is a principle always and already at hand. It knows no bondage for it is “Ever-Free, Never Bound.”

In all Indian Darshanas, which are clear pathways to spiritual sight, the presence of The Presence is both key and undeniable. That It exists is Truth; that It is to be attained or reached is the Goal. And how to bring it forward out of hiding is the Way. All this is expressed in unique ways in Vedanta, Yoga, Buddhism, Tantra, and other superlative avenues to Self-Realization. The ardent seeker only has to sincerely set foot on the spiritual path and proceed forward — which is inwards — preferably under the guidance of an illumined preceptor. For, after the body passes, the soul has nowhere else to move other than inwards, into the Great Mind, or Great Self. Those exceptional beings who have become intrepid spiritual wayfarers, even when they were embodied on earth, are the true Guides who shed Light upon the Way. From the small self, to selflessness, to the true individual self, then to The Great Self, the inward-moving pilgrim finds Divine Reality — ironically enough — waiting and abiding in his or her own self.