The Price Of Freedom

FROM FEAR TO FREE

“Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.” – William. F Buckley, Jr

One of my favourite quotes on idealism. I’ve always believed to be an idealist by default, afraid to admit it due to over-consciousness. I have ideals. Who hasn’t? I strike blame onto my past experiences that beg to differ. An ideal house to an ideal home, an ideal man to an ideal love, an ideal job to an ideal career. Personal history could explain why I fear to admit that I too have ideals. This is probably defining one of the most popular cases of human tendencies – fear of failure. In fact I believe that is the underlying problem, that breaks down every pillar I establish upon it. The fear of failure is overpowering – if we let it be.

With recent experiences in philosophy and spirituality via discourses (Courtesy of Jigyaasaa, hosted in UK by Krunal Makwana – a friend, inspiration and spiritual guide – visit his blog: http://www.jigyaasaa.wordpress.com) and the beginning of relative research, I started to question – can fears can be eliminated through imagination?

About a decade ago, I came across the term “Sri Naga Mani”. In simple terms, deriving from the Sanksrit language it is defined as the “Cobra Pearls”. Yes, they do exist and they come in many colours with slight variations in sizes. They carry an auspicious identity in the Hindu belief for being an obstacle-removing, protecting and prosperity-gaining aid. A renowned Indian astronomer, astrologer and mathamatician Varahamihira (505-587 CE), researched extensively into gems, pearls and rituals among many other categories of planetary existence that formed the sacred encyclopedia “Brihat Samhita”. This scripture carries a collection of notes on the importance of these stones with mythical references on their functionalities. Here is one to quote –

“A king who wears such a serpent-gem will never have troubles arising from poison and diseases. Lord Indra (King of Gods) will always be pouring good rains in his realm, and as a result of the intrinsic power of the gem he will annihilate his enemies.” – Varahamihira

As Zakartiya al-Qazwini, a Persian physician, astronomer, geologist and writer from the the 13th Century described it, the ‘snake-stone’ is a small nut-like object found in the crown of certain serpents, which acts as an ailment for venomous bites.

A more personal experience is when I met an old friend who got bitten by a scorpion. The timely use of a snake-stone extracted the venom and saved her.

So now, this stone is for real. I know that for sure. I often think about this stone in context to curing emotional mishaps and to rid myself from the biggest enemy of all – my fears. Does the Sri Naga Mani / Cobra Pearls / snake-stone carry an ailment for this venom – the venom of fear? Is there a stone at all that eliminates our fears? I’m beginning to believe there is no stone, but there is imagination. Somewhere in my subconscious, I hear a voice telling me that my fear established itself through imagination, so why not try reversing the effect the same way?

“It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.” – Aung San Suu Kyi

Is it really the fear of losing control that affects us day and night? With my fears present, I have created my ideals on the go. I now can see my ideals represented by the wrong mascots, for I have not guided my choices well crediting these fears. Fear of losing control, misusing freedom and as a result, not happy with any result that lands at my doorstep. This may sound depressing to some of you, but it is the truth. I am pretty sure I am not the only one in this corner. We want it all, we want it all at the same time. Once we want, we have to get. We have to get, so we chain ourselves to getting it, until we get it, until it is ours for the taking. So in this struggle, we sometimes tend to lose contact with our target – freedom. The famous quote –

“With power comes responsibility.” – Unknown

From running a country to running our own day-to-day lives, this is true. Dare I cross-quote? –

“With freedom comes desire. With desire comes struggle to gain. With struggle to gain comes power. With power comes responsibility. Therefore, with freedom comes responsibility.”

Freedom to me, seems to be a big question mark. The struggle for world peace, speech, love, marriage, etc. – they all revolve around the importance of freedom. We are born free. We live through and with struggles, but will we really die free?

This will remain an ideal for me to preserve till my day comes, where I will be free of fears – and I’m sure it will come at a price. Here is a poem I wrote on that price of freedom. Hope you like it and can find a connect with it.

The Price of Freedom

You can have me
Have me now, pay later.
Or pay now, have me later.

You can want me
Want me now, regret later.
Or regret now, want me later.

You can see me
See me now, touch me later.
Or touch me now, feel me later.

You can take me
Take me now, I’m yours forever.
Or I’m yours forever, to take me whenever.