Freedom Is Being Able To Choose Your Master

Posted on June 28th, 2009 at 6:30 am

A question I received: You always say that man is not free and obeys his genes, instincts, and influence of society. At the age of 20 he is fully formed, like a freshly minted coin, and all his actions are predefined in advance. So is it possible to be a free man, and what does it mean – to be free?

My Answer: To be free means to feel that you are 100% dependent from the Creator, but “of your own free will,” meaning that it is your decision to be so.

Man feels free when he decides, on his own, that he wants to remain under the influence and authority of the Creator, instead of being slave to his egoism.

We can’t imagine what freedom means, because we think of it as the absence of any influence. However, that is an impossibility, as there is no such thing as an empty void free from any influence whatsoever.

Freedom is a balance of forces, achieved through one’s conscious choice and effort.

We can only become free if we rise above our egoistic desire. This does not mean that we involuntarily and completely fall under the dominion of the Creator and the desire to bestow. Instead, it is a choice we make to be governed by the desire to bestow instead of the ego. It is then that we can reside in the balance between the attributes of reception and bestowal. Such a state is called freedom (Klipat Noga).

Posted in: kabbalah,rav laitman,spiritual freedom