Order is freedom
I've come to the conclusion that in recent times we have been spun a myth of freedom. I mean this in all senses, spiritual, personal, social and so on – that the optimum state is to do what you want, be who you want, say what you want – and that this constitutes freedom or liberty.
To free something or somebody means to remove restrictions and allow them to move as they will. So to that extent to call yourself free (and not a slave) does mean an unrestricted state. But for someone who actually goes through this process they will quickly realise that in the real world it is not that simple. Even released from bondage you still need to live in the world. So what does freedom look like then?
Spiritually you might think of a totally free state where one transcends completely the limitations of the world, where your spirit is released from limitation to move freely where it wills. This sounds a lot like death. A spirit released from the body to roam free – but in being free has no interaction with any other being or thing.
That does not seem like a particularly attractive or worthy goal.
If we think about the 'dom' part of the word freedom – it actually means a regulated state, a dominion for instance. A kind of dome or space in which freeness is exercised. Seen in this way the idea of freedom takes on a slightly different meaning. Gone is the idea of total release from all restraint and the new meaning is the ability to move at will in one's own sphere - in one's own world. That dome is a limitation in absolute terms – as there is that which is the beyond the sphere also – but it does not carry the same imprisoning sense as a form of bondage.
So thinking in terms of my physical environment, my social relationships, the country I live in and so on – what would it take to make myself free? And the answer I propose, far from the ability to move about without any limitation, is order. If you establish order in your affairs it allows you to operate without interference or struggle. For instance if you set your finances in order then you are not continually worrying about paying bills or desperate to find food. If you establish order in your personal relationships then you avoid drama and distraction.
Order is freedom and freedom is order.
Entering into a dark room that was in chaos (it looked like it had been ransacked with furniture and papers strewn everywhere), I tried to straighten up a knocked over armchair but found it was too heavy to budge, so instead I climbed onto the upended armchair and just sat, facing a double door. From the corner of my eye I could see small shadowy figures huddling in groups amidst the chaos, whispering to each other and giggling. In time, it was three days I recall, the door opened, and curious, I went through, where I saw an army standing to attention in two perfect rows facing each other, impeccably dressed in white officers clothes (but with black details, black buttons, black braid on their white caps, black shoes). I backed into a wall in this room and flattened myself against it as far as I could to get out of their way, and I watched as they swivelled their heads in unison from where they had been looking (up and outwards) towards the double door now that the doors were open. Then, again as one, they started to move through the doorway into the dark and chaotic room, where they each paired up with one of the shadowy figures from the dark room at a piece of furniture that was overturned. In unison the officers said, each to their own shadowy person, “When I say lift, you lift” so each shadow person bent down and put their hands ready underneath their piece of furniture and waited for the signal, and when each paired officer said “Lift” (again in unison), they lifted in unison, and in a moment everything was upright and in order.
