About freedom and slavery

At the moment we experience special movements worldwide which try their best to enslave people. These are in main political and religious movements on the surface with a hidden agenda as usual. For this reason I want to share some words about freedom and slavery which may help to differentiate better between these two states as most people do not know nearly anything about freedom as they are not aware that they are enslaved.

Instead of using the term “slavery” you can use also the term “limitations” to some good degree. Either you are free or you are limited by something. When you are limited and someone benefits from your limitations then you are enslaved. You are enslaved when you are no longer in control. Slavery can have many different meanings. But in all cases slavery or being enslaved is bad and freedom is the highest ideal.

Let´s start with the natural situation. Imagine you are a human being or any other kind of creature living your life in creation, in nature. In fact you can do whatever you feel is good, right or necessary to do. There are no limitations. You are free as a creature as far as possible. You are only defined and limited by your own nature but this does not really matter. So you enjoy a natural good freedom.

Now let´s imagine that your conditions of life change. You don´t take part in the natural abundance any longer but you experience now all kinds of limitations. For example it is hard to get food, there are dangerous animals and maybe clean water is far away. So these bad conditions have bad effects on you and your freedom is very limited now. You have to act and behave in ways you wouldn´t do in a normal, free situation. So we can say you are enslaved by the bad and challenging conditions of your life. This is one form of “slavery” contrary to natural freedom.

If another human gets you under his control and makes you do things which you wouldn´t normally do for his benefit then this is the most known form of enslavement. Indeed there is probably not a single person or being which wants to be enslaved by another one as it is against nature and the natural freedom. We call this also the holy, God-given free will. It is the highest value.

Why do we experience nevertheless slavery? It is a phenomenon of parasitism, of the limitations of the material world. The one who enslaves others tries to escape in this way his own limitations and to enjoy freedom, often material abundance, etc. It is the freedom on the costs of others. The simplest example, – if you are rich, you are free and others will work for you, instead of you. They are bound by their work. They are not free. They are in need and they don´t take part in a natural form of wealth and freedom.

Throughout the history of mankind it has been always one favorite aim to escape the status as a worker or slave and to become rich to keep own slaves, own workers. Only due to culture or religious values there were also times where people did not appreciate but fight slavery.

Now, it is not the point to do not work for reaping fruits. It is a matter of details. When you are a free person and you decide to work for something because it makes sense then it is good. When you decide as a free person to cooperate with others to achieve a bigger result then it is good. Free decisions are good. But when you sell yourself to a company to become an employer then you are no longer free but you have to follow your master, using a new term your boss. If several free men come together to work as a team and they choose a team leader then they are still free and the team leader fills only a function which is necessary for management. This team leader is not the “boss” or the “master”. These are fine differences but they are most important.

Do you know free people today? Or free workers? Maybe to some degrees the self-employed people are free. But over 90% of all those who work are probably not free at all. They are maybe free in the choice of their boss or their field of work but they are still slaves of the system. Imagine instead that everyone was “self-employed”, their own boss, in self-control and then making choices with whom to cooperate for how long and under which kind of conditions, – without one-dimensional force from the bosses or companies. The whole system would change to a system of freedom and self-responsibility. And this would change the world dramatically. No more parasitism. No more slavery but freedom and natural abundance for all. Also health would increase to wonderful levels as no one would need to go against his own well-being.

Besides these things let´s take a look at the more subtle aspects of slavery and manipulation.

Imagine you are a native somewhere in a nice area and you are living a life with your family in balance with nature. Everything is fine and you enjoy your life and freedom. But one day a missionary comes and he tells you that a whole list of behavior and actions is bad while another list of actions needs to be done. And if you do not follow these “laws” you will go to hell and suffer endlessly. If you behave according to these rules you will get some benefits after your death. So probably you make big eyes and a question mark appears in your mind. Have you led an evil life so far? Are you condemned forever? What was wrong before? In fact the missionary tries to enslave you with his religious ideas which are just ideas without any real relation to your life in peace with your family and nature. If you agree to his teachings you are enslaved by his rules. You have lost your natural freedom.

In fact and as history shows us it is so easy to say “Look, God wants you to behave like this and God condemns you when you do that and God gives you these rules for your life and God wants you to follow me and so on.” It seems that it is always God who enslaves people. Unfortunately God “speaks” only to a few chosen ones to deliver his messages. And strangely it is always “God” who limits the God-given freedom and the abundance of his own creatures. And when a free person agrees to what “God has said” then he enslaves himself and becomes a “good” follower of “God´s religion” and “God´s chosen ones”. All in all it is quite interesting to examine such statements in religious history “God says” – really? But as long as someone believes….he also has to bear the consequences.

Besides such a religious misuse for questionable purposes we find enslavement in everyday life. It already starts with a single thought or idea which can enslave you or making you mad. This idea can grow from yourself or can be put into your mind by others. It can become in worst case a real tyrant which controls your life completely. These are often religious or political ideas but also all kinds of desires. Then we know also emotional slavery. There are often people who try to enslave you and control you by their emotions or emotional reactions. “If you do this or behave like this then I have to react emotionally in that way which you do not want, right?!” These emotional dependencies or bad reaction can be found in families, in relationships at work, school and so on. It is in main a matter of power and control of others.

But we have also the energetic enslavement where the negative influences are so strong that we are forced to behave in corresponding ways to survive.

And today we experience great, professional forms of mass-hypnosis thanks to political agendas and television, movies, newspapers, and so on. Manipulation always serves forms of slavery.

Indeed today we enjoy the most sophisticated form of slavery which tries to make us believe that we are free and can make free choices but in reality we are conditioned in a system from the first years over childhood, being adults until we die. It is a kind of liberal slavery where it is pretended that everyone can make career in the system, – to gain a better status as a slave, to become a well-paid slave, a higher class slave. But no one is meant to break out of the system. You can only buy pieces of freedom, a better home, a better car, better this or that. And only the really rich people have the power to take part in the system while they do not belong to it. They enjoy life beyond the system. They enjoy freedom and they keep the system running.

In conclusion it makes sense to think about what keeps you imprisoned, enslaved and if you can change something. It makes also sense if you can escape the business form of slavery by a good form of self-employment. And at last it makes sense to think about your religious tradition.

Regarding religion I want to point at something wonderful which you can sense in many religions. There is often someone who pretends to be the “good shepherd” who is certainly chosen directly by God and whose holy task is to take care of his herd of sheep. So this is certainly a wonderful picture – the kind shepherd and his sheep. In fact the sheep are normally quite dull and the shepherd takes care of them only to use their fur and to slaughter them when he is hungry. And this is exactly what the good shepherd does in all religions. And certainly the good shepherd has to give his sheep rules so that they behave well and follow him. And to make them follow him he declares that the rules are from God, the superior authority. So indeed it makes sense to think about being a good sheep or maybe to question the life as a sheep. Sheep are not free.

So after all in the true spiritual teachings it is all about gaining real freedom. Real freedom can only be achieved by self-realization, by understanding who you really are – a divine spirit without any limitations, from the divine source, the great divine spirit, called God. And there is simply no one who has the right to limited you or to enslave you.

We are spirit from spirit. We just have to realize this.

Freedom for all!