Basics of Buddhism - Final - What do you really want?

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Buddhist practices are designed to help us find and experience unlimited freedom—this is a freedom beyond all others—it is the inner freedom that liberates us from the mercurial mental and emotional ups and downs of daily living.  

When we were children, most of us thought of freedom as the ability stay up late or watch TV and we thought that was what happiness was all about.  Then, as we became teenagers, we wanted the freedom to be with our friends and we thought that would bring us happiness.  Then, we got out of the house, away from our parents and wanted the freedom that being on our own would bring, the freedom that money could buy, being able to do the things that we thought would make us happy.  This desire for freedom in some form or fashion seems to be an important part of our psyche.    So, here we are today. At whatever point you are in your life you are here, right now.  When you think about being free in this moment, what comes to mind?  What is the freedom you desire?

It’s powerful to be able to acknowledge that even though we’ve grown up, we may still might feel enslaved to our old ways of thinking about ourselves and the world.  We might still be enslaved to this old idea of freedom.  

In a superficial way, freedom is sometimes described as an ability to chase after any desire that we have.  We want the freedom to eat what we want to eat, to drink what we want to drink, the freedom to act on any whim that strikes us.  But what Buddha discovered is that acting on any whim that arises is actually no freedom at all. In fact, it becomes the worst kind of imprisonment.  We are imprisoned by our desires, forced to act on them, unable to withstand the feelings of withdrawal that arise if not acted upon.   What Buddha discovered was that NOT acting on every whim of desire was the FIRST step towards ultimate happiness.  Starting with a willingness to see clearly what these whims are all about, we start to see the world at a deeper level of richness, of fullness, of true reality, of true freedom. 

You are the one you’ve been waiting for.  You alone can transform your life.

We often put ourselves in prison, the prison of limiting thoughts and actions.  We keep seeking freedom from what is. Instead, we can learn to harness present awareness into a freedom to be with whatever is, a freedom with far less judgment and far move love and compassion.  In Buddhism, the desire for Ultimate Freedom is one of the tools that we can harness to find the long-lasting peace and happiness that we’ve been looking for all along.  As adults, we are no longer constrained by our parents or our past, but sometimes WE allow it to be so.  We may feel constrained by our old ways of thinking, our unskillful habits or constrained by our emotions, constrained by our illusions about what life is about or constrained by what we think we are supposed to be doing.  It’s easy to get lost in the shackles of illusions that keep us from being completely happy and at peace.  The Buddha taught that the only obstacle to complete freedom and happiness is our own misguided way of thinking. 

Buddhism teaches us to focus our desire on the inner freedom of choice.  Emotions or thoughts will continue to arise. We always have the freedom to choose IF to react and then HOW to react 

In a beautifully written book entitled Wake Up to Your Life, Ken McLeod gives an eloquent description of how bringing attention to our thoughts and emotions can free us from their hold.  He gives a four-step process for dismantling these old patterns.

1. Recognize:  When we have sensations or emotions or thoughts, we begin to pay attention to them early on. 
2. Dis-identify: We can start to see these sensations or emotions or thoughts as NOT who we are, see them as just ephemeral desires or aversions arising and allowing them to fall away. THOUGHTS ONLY HAVE POWER IF WE GIVE IT TO THEM.  EMOTIONS ONLY HAVE POWER IF WE GIVE IT TO THEM.  When we dis-identify with our thoughts and emotions, we are free to place our energy in more skillful responses.
3. Develop a practice: We practice not identifying with them.  Each time a thought or emotion arises, we have an opportunity to form a new habit, to pay attention, to examine it and dis-identify with it, so we can see it more clearly.
4. Continue the practice:  Each time a thought or emotion arises, we can apply the antidote of awareness and compassionate attention.  Again and again, until compassionate attention becomes the habit.

When compassionate attention becomes the habit, then we are truly free to live our lives in peace regardless of what arises.

Let’s not wait for some magical time when we get it right every time.  Let’s start now, working at it, with each thought and emotion, a fresh opportunity to practice, and with each opportunity, we open ourselves to this incredible freedom little by little.  Over time, our lives do become magical, in the sense of wonder and deep happiness that comes naturally from the experience of inner freedom.  We have everything we need right now, in this moment, to experience the ultimate freedom of choosing to be happy, regardless of our external circumstances, regardless of our old thoughts and habits.

“A life-time is not what's between,

The moments of birth and death.

A life-time is one moment,

Between my two little breaths.

The present, the here, the now,

That's all the life I get,

I live each moment in full,

In kindness, in peace, without regret.”

Chade-Meng Tan, One Moment 

(Author of Search Inside Yourself)