Freedom idea...Can you tell me your opinion?

Question

Freedom is to choose. But if the options, the choices we have are not made of us our own, then isn't that slavery? Let me give you an example; i have to choose smthing to eat...But there is only apples and oranges...I didn't choose to have only apples and oranges, they were just there,not by me....[Maybe i wanted to eat..strawberries]....Isn't that kind of slavery?

Answer 1

Yes, freedom in the real sense comes from CHOICELESSNESS !
That is why, spiritual seekers from time immemorial , in all the cultures all over the world, strive for becoming consciously choiceless !
One such person happened to spell out thus.... (it has to be remembered that some things can never be adequately explained in words !)..
Quote:
"Selfless action roots you in love unbounded
Unbounded love is the stepping stone for limitless Joy
When you are Joy, there is meditation
Meditativeness, the only freedom."
Unquote.
Yes, it would be really difficult to 'digest' this , except by experience !

Answer 2

One hundred years ago Frie rich Nietzsche declared: God is dead, and man is free.

The next sentence he wrote was: Now you can do whatsoever you want to do, there is no responsibility. God is dead, man is free, and there is no responsibility. There he was absolutely wrong.

When there is no God, there is tremendous responsibility on your shoulders; if there is a God, he can share your responsibility, you can throw your responsibility on Him.

You can say: It is you who have made the world, it is you who have made me in this way. It is you who is finally, ultimately responsible, not me.

How can I be ultimately responsible? I am just a creature and you are the Creator. Why have you put seeds of corruption and sin in me? You are responsible. I am free.

If there is no God, then man is absolutely responsible for his acts, because there is no way he can shift responsibility to anybody else.

When I say to you that you are free, I mean that you are responsible. You cannot transfer responsibility to anybody else. You are alone; whatsoever you do, it is your doing.

You cannot say that somebody else forced you to do it, because you are free nobody can force you! Because you are free, it is your decision to do something or not to do something.


People go on talking about freedom but what they really want is not freedom exactly; they want irresponsibility. They ask for freedom but deep down, unconsciously, they ask for irresponsibility and license.

Freedom is maturity whereas license is childish.

Freedom is possible only when you are so integrated that you can take the responsibility of being free. The world is not free because people are not mature.

Revolutionaries have been doing many things down through the centuries but everything fails. Utopians have been continuously thinking of how to make man free but nobody bothers because man cannot be free unless he is integrated.

If you are not aware then the state is needed, the government is needed, the police is needed, the court is needed.

Then freedom has to be cut from everywhere. Then freedom exists only in name; in fact it doesn’t exist. How can freedom exist when governments exist?

It is impossible. But what can one do?

If governments disappear, there will be anarchy. Freedom will not come in if governments disappear, there will simply be anarchy. It will be a worse state than it is now. It will be sheer madness.

The police are needed because you are not alert; otherwise what is the point of having a policeman standing on the crossroads? If people are alert, the policeman can be removed, will have to be removed, because his job becomes unnecessary. But people are not conscious.

So when I say freedom, I mean be responsible.

The more responsible you become, the more free you become; or the more free you become, the more responsibility comes on you.

Then you have to be very alert to what you are doing, what you are saying. Even about your small unconscious gestures you have to be very alert because there is nobody else to control you, it is only you.

Answer 3

Being convinced that that is slavery is an insult to those people out there in developing countries who are REALLY slaves and have no choice in their life whatsoever. You should be really grateful to even HAVE the choice between apples and oranges, many people in this world don't have that privilege and they don't even have any food given to them. What you described is not slavery at all, that's just being spoiled, if you want strawberries, you buy them.

Answer 4

...if there are only Apple's and oranges but no strawberries it would be meaningless to have chosen strawberries yet you have freedom of choice not to eat apples or oranges..slavery means control of another not of a situation..

Answer 5

You chose to put yourself in a situation of only having apples & oranges to choose from to experience depriving yourself of eating something you think you would rather eat. Otherwise you would reward yourself and have access to those strawberries.

Answer 6

u know we have freedom but the society and all the around u give u the limit, or u put on it,, if u saw organ and Apple is limit but u have freedom to chose or Apple or orange.

Answer 7

Do you understand what it truly means to be a slave, to be under the control and suffering of a human who thinks for you. Certain humans have decided to control society but we are still living our lives according to our choices.

Answer 8

Your example is about 'choices' not about Freedom.
Freedom is about accepting Full Responsiblity for your actions or consequences of your actions or inactions.

Answer 9

Dear that doesn't make any difference.If u choose to marry Julia Roberts or Di Caprio then what do u do with freedom.

Answer 10

More like reality.
Slavery is never having any choice, to have your behavior totally directed by another all of the time.