Tomorrow my homeland is celebrating her 69th independence day and why not a story about freedom then. The most liberated soul I have ever experienced, Osho, the controversial and late new age Guru, quite adept in telling stories with hidden messages, narrated a beautiful story once in his talks to his disciples, which I think will be perfect for this occasion. Here it comes,
"
A
man, a great man, a fighter for freedom was traveling in the mountains. He
stayed in a caravanserai for the night. He was amazed that in the caravanserai
there was a beautiful parrot in a golden cage, continually repeating
"Freedom! Freedom!" And it was such a place that when the parrot
repeated the word "Freedom!" it would go on echoing in the valleys,
in the mountains.
The man thought: "I have seen many parrots, and I have thought they must
want to be free from those cages... but I have never seen such a parrot whose
whole day, from the morning to the evening when he goes to sleep, is spent in
calling out for freedom." He had an idea. In the middle of the night, when
the owner was fast asleep, he got up and opened the door of the cage. He
whispered to the parrot, "Now get out."
But he was very surprised that the parrot was clinging to the bars of the cage.
He said to him again and again, "Have you forgotten about freedom? Just
get out! The door is open and the owner is fast asleep; nobody will ever know.
You just fly into the sky; the whole sky is yours."
But the parrot was clinging so deeply, so hard, that the man said, "What
is the matter? Are you mad?" He tried to take the parrot out with his own
hands, but the parrot started pecking at him, and at the same time he was
shouting "Freedom! Freedom!" The valleys in the night echoed and
re-echoed, but the man was also stubborn; he was a freedom fighter.
He pulled the parrot out and threw him into the sky; and he was very satisfied,
although his hand was hurt. The parrot had attacked him as forcefully as he
could, but the man was immensely satisfied that he had made a soul free. He
went to sleep.
In the morning, as the man was waking up, he heard the parrot shouting,
"Freedom! Freedom!" He thought perhaps the parrot must be sitting on
a tree or on a rock. But when he came out, the parrot was sitting in the cage.
The door was open". (courtesy: spiritual short stories)
The parrot even after getting free came back and enjoyed the cozy security of the cage it was so familiar and in the process sacrificed the strange yet beautiful free world outside of course full of risks. The risks instill the beauty to such a free life. Along with this read what Greek philosopher Thucydides had said " The secret of happiness is freedom and the secret of freedom is courage". The great Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti was also a strong advocate of such courage, to break the shackles to the extend of even freedom from all known. Yes, breaking the strong mold of lingering "social conditioning" is the first step in embracing the path of liberation. But it is very essential to see the blurry lines of misuse of freedom. That was how Buddha was very effective. He never misused the enormous freedom of detachment. The essential principle of Buddhism is that "middle path". Tread via the middle path. Enjoy all the freedom but being mindful.
In the book "Freedom" Osho describes three stages of freedom. "The first is "freedom from," which is
a freedom that comes from breaking out of what he calls the
"psychological slavery" imposed by outside forces such as parents,
society, or religion. The next stage is "freedom for," a positive
freedom that comes from embracing and creating something---a fulfilling
relationship, for example, or an artistic or humanitarian vision. And
lastly there is "just freedom," the highest and ultimate freedom. This
last freedom is more than being for or against something; it is the
freedom of simply being oneself and responding truthfully to each
moment". (courtesy: good reads)
Being said all this, I am still struggling to break even the lowest of my shackles. Sighs!!!!
A
man, a great man, a fighter for freedom was traveling in the mountains.
He stayed in a caravanserai for the night. He was amazed that in the
caravanserai there was a beautiful parrot in a golden cage, continually
repeating "Freedom! Freedom!" And it was such a place that when the
parrot repeated the word "Freedom!" it would go on echoing in the
valleys, in the mountains.
The man thought: "I have seen many parrots, and I have thought they must
want to be free from those cages... but I have never seen such a parrot
whose whole day, from the morning to the evening when he goes to sleep,
is spent in calling out for freedom." He had an idea. In the middle
of the night, when the owner was fast asleep, he got up and opened the
door of the cage. He whispered to the parrot, "Now get out."
But he was very surprised that the parrot was clinging to the bars of
the cage. He said to him again and again, "Have you forgotten about
freedom? Just get out! The door is open and the owner is fast asleep;
nobody will ever know. You just fly into the sky; the whole sky is
yours."
But the parrot was clinging so deeply, so hard, that the man said, "What
is the matter? Are you mad?" He tried to take the parrot out with his
own hands, but the parrot started pecking at him, and at the same time
he was shouting "Freedom! Freedom!" The valleys in the night echoed
and re-echoed, but the man was also stubborn; he was a freedom fighter.
He pulled the parrot out and threw him into the sky; and he was very
satisfied, although his hand was hurt. The parrot had attacked him as
forcefully as he could, but the man was immensely satisfied that he had
made a soul free. He went to sleep.
In the morning, as the man was waking up, he heart the parrot shouting,
"Freedom! Freedom!" He thought perhaps the parrot must be sitting on a
tree or on a rock. But when he came out, the parrot was sitting in the
cage. The door was open. - See more at:
http://www.spiritual-short-stories.com/spiritual-short-story-254-Freedom+Parrot.html#sthash.5UP5dINi.dpuf
A
man, a great man, a fighter for freedom was traveling in the mountains.
He stayed in a caravanserai for the night. He was amazed that in the
caravanserai there was a beautiful parrot in a golden cage, continually
repeating "Freedom! Freedom!" And it was such a place that when the
parrot repeated the word "Freedom!" it would go on echoing in the
valleys, in the mountains.
The man thought: "I have seen many parrots, and I have thought they must
want to be free from those cages... but I have never seen such a parrot
whose whole day, from the morning to the evening when he goes to sleep,
is spent in calling out for freedom." He had an idea. In the middle
of the night, when the owner was fast asleep, he got up and opened the
door of the cage. He whispered to the parrot, "Now get out."
But he was very surprised that the parrot was clinging to the bars of
the cage. He said to him again and again, "Have you forgotten about
freedom? Just get out! The door is open and the owner is fast asleep;
nobody will ever know. You just fly into the sky; the whole sky is
yours."
But the parrot was clinging so deeply, so hard, that the man said, "What
is the matter? Are you mad?" He tried to take the parrot out with his
own hands, but the parrot started pecking at him, and at the same time
he was shouting "Freedom! Freedom!" The valleys in the night echoed
and re-echoed, but the man was also stubborn; he was a freedom fighter.
He pulled the parrot out and threw him into the sky; and he was very
satisfied, although his hand was hurt. The parrot had attacked him as
forcefully as he could, but the man was immensely satisfied that he had
made a soul free. He went to sleep.
In the morning, as the man was waking up, he heart the parrot shouting,
"Freedom! Freedom!" He thought perhaps the parrot must be sitting on a
tree or on a rock. But when he came out, the parrot was sitting in the
cage. The door was open. - See more at:
http://www.spiritual-short-stories.com/spiritual-short-story-254-Freedom+Parrot.html#sthash.YArCTRur.dpuf
A
man, a great man, a fighter for freedom was traveling in the mountains.
He stayed in a caravanserai for the night. He was amazed that in the
caravanserai there was a beautiful parrot in a golden cage, continually
repeating "Freedom! Freedom!" And it was such a place that when the
parrot repeated the word "Freedom!" it would go on echoing in the
valleys, in the mountains.
The man thought: "I have seen many parrots, and I have thought they must
want to be free from those cages... but I have never seen such a parrot
whose whole day, from the morning to the evening when he goes to sleep,
is spent in calling out for freedom." He had an idea. In the middle
of the night, when the owner was fast asleep, he got up and opened the
door of the cage. He whispered to the parrot, "Now get out."
But he was very surprised that the parrot was clinging to the bars of
the cage. He said to him again and again, "Have you forgotten about
freedom? Just get out! The door is open and the owner is fast asleep;
nobody will ever know. You just fly into the sky; the whole sky is
yours."
But the parrot was clinging so deeply, so hard, that the man said, "What
is the matter? Are you mad?" He tried to take the parrot out with his
own hands, but the parrot started pecking at him, and at the same time
he was shouting "Freedom! Freedom!" The valleys in the night echoed
and re-echoed, but the man was also stubborn; he was a freedom fighter.
He pulled the parrot out and threw him into the sky; and he was very
satisfied, although his hand was hurt. The parrot had attacked him as
forcefully as he could, but the man was immensely satisfied that he had
made a soul free. He went to sleep.
In the morning, as the man was waking up, he heart the parrot shouting,
"Freedom! Freedom!" He thought perhaps the parrot must be sitting on a
tree or on a rock. But when he came out, the parrot was sitting in the
cage. The door was open. - See more at:
http://www.spiritual-short-stories.com/spiritual-short-story-254-Freedom+Parrot.html#sthash.YArCTRur.dpuf
