Essay Edition
Inner Freedom and Integrity
Freedom is paramount. In a way, freedom is synonymous with enlightenment, because enlightenment is an ultimate freedom. But freedom has more worldly benefits at the same time.
There is outer freedom, the freedom to vote, to travel, to do the more exoteric, mundane things. But inner freedom is perhaps much more potent. You may be a very wealthy king and have very little inner freedom, and you may be an ascetic walking with a begging bowl in Japan and have an immensity of freedom.
Freedom has to be a choice. We can choose security, we can choose to be liked, we can try to control our circumstances, or we can stand completely vulnerable to what happens within the light of our integrity. Freedom means we are beyond influence.
I am not going to be influenced by whether somebody likes what I am saying. I think that is part of the reason why my words matter more, because they are not being bent from truth. Freedom and truth go together.
To be completely honest about who I am and what matters to me is the way of the artist. To express myself with complete honesty is a very difficult thing to do. It is very difficult to be completely transparent, completely honest, and hear the subtle intimations of your own heart. You are the path.
How do we hear these subtle intimations within us? How do we live by them? What is the mechanism? The key is that we have to be beyond influence. How can we live in a profound degree of integrity where we are untouchable, where we listen to the subtle intimations of our heart, and where we live in complete freedom from all those influences that pull us in different directions?
Take a moment and think: In what ways am I being completely honest with myself throughout my life?
There is a profound feeling of dignity when we are uncorrupted by our own choice. It is always a choice within. We either choose to play it safe or we choose to be true to ourselves. We choose to be free.
Why would one choose freedom? There has to be a recognition that it is a more valuable path. I think that is the key. Desire can feel more valuable than being honest and true to yourself, but when you practice this, you get in touch with the feeling of the benefit of being a whole human being, being honest with yourself, being who you are, not walking around with a level of pretense, a level of performance, or hiding the things that matter to you.
Meditation, Detachment, and Relationship
There are a few ways to do this. One is meditation. In meditation, we become dissolved in the essence of what we are. We go into the light of the Atman, of our spirit, and this dissolves all the limitations to freedom, all those subtle influences. Meditation, when we go into the light, when we go into being, is practicing and expressing a level of freedom.
In freedom, we have to have this detachment from the idea of how things should be and let the actuality create an unfolding of destiny. What we are matters as paramount. I am this. This is who I am. This is what it means to be true to myself, come what may: adversity, gifts, treasures, pain, whatever may come. Valuing freedom first and foremost.
Freedom is also required for listening. If we listen with an emptiness, without reaction, without the created self and all the impressions of the past, that listening without response, from emptiness, requires that same freedom.
When we love, we love with respect for another's freedom. I do not want to exploit somebody. I want them to be here of their own volition, of their own freedom. Loyalty grows from freedom. It is an expression of our freedom.
A married couple who wants to be married renews their vows every day as an expression of their freedom, not as an imposition upon their freedom. That is true monogamy.
Freedom is paramount. Take some time and really contemplate: Am I free? In what ways am I not free? What are the impediments to my freedom? How can I cultivate freedom?
Think of it as a long term development. You may have instant transformations around freedom. You may grow in freedom over many years. Freedom is a very subtle thing. When you can stand to total dissolution in enlightenment, that is the acme of freedom. We are going to a point where what I am, in the most quintessential aspect, is enough.
The essence of freedom is that I am free from my own attachments. Essentially, they are my attachments. We give away our power when we want something from another, when we are exploiting another, and when we are not allowing what we are to be enough.
We do not take, but we receive as an expression of what we are. We give and receive as a natural expression of what we are, and it is a precarious state. Freedom and security are somewhat antipolar. There is a mutually exclusive quality to them.
Freedom in Practice
The universe is our teacher, and if we listen, if we are open to it, we can learn these principles and undergo the transformations that are being shared with us. It becomes really uncanny, the degree of alignment with circumstantial situations that can unlock new levels of consciousness and understanding around whatever it is.
It is not enough for freedom to be something you read or something you hear somebody else say. It has to be interwoven into your life experience and practiced. If you have a noisy neighbor or somebody who is interfering with your internal state, ask: Where is my freedom? Why am I not being free here? What am I doing?
The world does not change. We change in freedom. Freedom comes from within, from our inner orientation.
Connect with aloofness. This word means not to care. Let the detachment of aloofness come in. There is a power in it, an austerity. It is the power of that austere sage who is aloof to the world, but whose eyes have conviction and whose words have truth. It is a feeling.
There is a quality of light, a sacredness, a freedom, an honesty, and a power that allows us to transform. It is like melting down a gold statue into its liquid form, and then it can be formed into anything more true, more real, more an expression of the spirit.
Go into light. Feel the heart. Feel the aloofness. Feel truth, aloofness, and freedom. Try to have an actual, direct, and vivid encounter with the luminosity.
It is not an imagined light. There are many names for it across many ancient traditions. The inner fabric of consciousness is made of luminosity. Everything actually is inside of it.
The whole universe, subjectively, is inside of us, and we are made of a brightness that can be seen. There is a whole spectrum, a whole cosmology of colors that are indicators of different essentialities of the universe that we are making contact with. Any light is a very good thing. It is all good. All light is good. It represents different aspects of the self, though.
Guided Meditation on Luminosity
Focus on your heart center and soften your gaze. Instead of focusing on one area, focus on everything, including the periphery. Allow your vision to blur a little bit. Light will naturally start to be emphasized in your vision, so allow it and tune into the light further.
The light allows us to be more free. It naturally dissolves limitations that may be in the form of thoughts. Let the natural luminosity that already exists permeate your vision, permeate your entire being.
If you do not see anything luminous yet, do not worry. Relax and allow it to come naturally. You can concentrate your focus on the heart center or on the third eye. Let the light liberate you.
You can close your eyes, or you can practice open eyed meditation. When we open our eyes, we hold a very broad visual field, and we wait for the light to show itself. We hold everything in a very fluid state, including our own body.
You can see behind yourself. You can see in every direction. Let your attention field, which is your seeing, let go of density and allow the fluidity of the light. Just try it.
Any mistiness? Any visual perturbation? It is the beginning of the light. While it has a visual quality, it is so much more. It is energetic. You can feel it. You can even hear it sometimes.
If you have a degree of chakra awareness, you can feel your third eye or your heart chakra, both of which help to see the light in different ways.
We are letting the ambient power of the universe dissolve resistance. Allow yourself to fall back into the ocean, the universe. Moment by moment, we let go of the tethers.
If you are not having any particular mystical experience, that is okay. Bring your attention to what is. Allow yourself to be with what is, without reactivity. This is a part of experiencing light. Whether you are seeing it or not, you are moving toward it.
Look at everything at once, including the periphery, without exclusion. Allow yourself to really go deep right now. If not now, then when? The universe is waiting.
Eternity is always.
Let go. Be more of what you really are. Let go of all the responsibilities of being somebody or another.
There is an ambient power that, if not resisted, returns us to the source. Visually, it is light. There is a feeling involved, magnetic almost, but different.
Come free of even the self-reflection. We need not carry around that baggage, which is an idea of what we are, in order to be what we are.
This is what freedom feels like in your own self. Be totally honest with yourself about what you are.
Complete Unto Yourself
Freedom largely comes from being complete unto yourself, the blissfulness of your own being, uncaused happiness.
We are not reaching outside of ourselves and corrupting our own integrity. We are full from within, and meditation gives us that nectar of bliss and joy for no reason whatsoever, other than that it is our essential nature.
Many of the great leaders in society were very free. Nelson Mandela, Steve Jobs, and some great artists. These people did something against the grain because they knew the truth, and they also expressed their own truth.
Their own truth in the sense that this is what they are, not their version of the truth. It is a part of the truth. I am this. The tree is there. The sky is blue. That is the truth, including us.
Freedom directs everything in life: who your friends are, what your career is, how you spend your time, how you feel, and how you think about yourself.
Practice freedom.
Full Transcript
Inner Freedom and Integrity
Adam Wes All right, welcome, everybody. Namaste.
We just listened to a beautiful song from the Braveheart soundtrack, and that movie is actually all about the theme of the sermon today. If you ever want to take an opportunity and review the film, I highly recommend it.
Today's topic is freedom.
Freedom is paramount. In a way, freedom is synonymous with enlightenment, because enlightenment is an ultimate freedom. But freedom has more worldly benefits at the same time. So I'd like to talk about freedom today and what that really means.
There's outer freedom, the freedom of, "Can I vote? Can I travel? Can I do the more exoteric, mundane things?" But today, we're really talking about inner freedom, which is perhaps much more potent. You may be a very wealthy king and have very little inner freedom, and you may be an ascetic walking with a begging bowl in Japan and have an immensity of freedom.
Welcome, Morgan. Nice to see you. Yay!
This is very much about enlightenment, so if you love enlightenment, this is probably what you love as a part of enlightenment.
Let's see. I've got a large outline here. All right, I'm not even going to look at the outline.
Freedom has to be a choice. We can choose security, we can choose to be liked, we can try to control our circumstances, or we can stand completely vulnerable to what happens within the light of our integrity. Freedom means we are beyond influence.
I am not going to be influenced by whether Praveen likes what I'm saying. I'm sure he does, but I wouldn't be influenced, and I think that's part of the reason why my words matter more, because they're not being bent from truth. Freedom and truth go together.
To be completely honest about who I am and what matters to me, it's the way of the artist. To express myself with complete honesty is a very difficult thing to do. Bruce Lee actually talked about this. It's very difficult to be completely transparent, completely honest, and hear the subtle intimations of your own heart. You are the path.
So how do we hear these subtle intimations within us? How do we live by them? What is the mechanism? The key is that we have to be beyond influence.
How can we live in a profound degree of integrity where we're untouchable, where we listen to the subtle intimations of our heart, and where we live in complete freedom from all those influences that pull us in different directions?
Just take a moment and think, "In what ways am I being completely honest with myself throughout my life?"
There's a profound feeling of dignity when we are uncorrupted by our own choice. It's always a choice within. We either choose to play it safe or we choose to be true to ourselves. We choose to be free.
Why would one choose freedom? There has to be a recognition that it's a more valuable path. I think that's the key.
Desire can feel more valuable than being honest and true to yourself, but when you practice this, you get in touch with the feeling of the benefit of being a whole human being, being honest with yourself, being who you are, not walking around with a level of pretense, a level of performance, or hiding the things that matter to you.
Another film is Moulin Rouge. A good film.
Meditation Detachment and Relationship
There are a few ways to do this. One is meditation.
In meditation, we become dissolved in the essence of what we are. We go into the light of the Atman, of our spirit, and this dissolves all the limitations to freedom, all those subtle influences.
My goal today is to bring awareness to what freedom is, to outline some of the ways that we limit our freedom, to outline some of the benefits, and then also to find an actual, practical way to cultivate freedom within.
Meditation, when we go into the light, when we go into being, is practicing and expressing a level of freedom.
This is actually an interesting example of freedom. If I were deeply attached to this going perfectly, I'd be bothered. In freedom, we have to have this detachment from the idea of how things should be and let the actuality create an unfolding of destiny.
What we are matters as paramount. I am this. This is who I am. This is what it means to be true to myself, come what may: adversity, gifts, treasures, pain, whatever may come. Valuing freedom first and foremost.
We might have to redo this one next time, a little more smoothly with the connection, but this will be a two week sermon. That will be extra special.
Freedom is also required for listening. If we listen with an emptiness, without reaction, without the created self and all the impressions of the past, that listening without response, from emptiness, requires that same freedom.
When we love, we love with respect for another's freedom. I don't want to exploit somebody. I want them to be here of their own volition, of their own freedom. Loyalty grows from freedom. It's an expression of our freedom.
A married couple who wants to be married renews their vows every day as an expression of their freedom, not as an imposition upon their freedom. That's true monogamy. So it's interesting to think about freedom in the realm of monogamy.
Freedom is just so paramount. This is something I would encourage everybody to take some time and really contemplate. Am I free? In what ways am I not free? What are the impediments to my freedom? How can I cultivate freedom?
Think of it as a long term development. You may have instant transformations around freedom. You may grow in freedom over many years.
Freedom is a very subtle thing. When you can stand to total dissolution in enlightenment, that's the acme of freedom. We're going to a point where what I am, in the most quintessential aspect, is enough.
The essence of freedom is that I am free from my own attachments. Essentially, they're my attachments. We give away our power when we want something from another, when we're exploiting another, and when we're not allowing what we are to be enough.
We don't take, but we receive as an expression of what we are. We give and receive as a natural expression of what we are, and it's a precarious state. Freedom and security are somewhat antipolar. There's a mutually exclusive quality to them.
Adaptation and Group Practice
Kira For light meditation, focus on your heart center and soften your gaze. Instead of focusing on one area, focus on everything, like the periphery. Allow your vision to blur a little bit. Light will naturally start to be emphasized in your vision, so just allow it and tune into the light further.
We put on some music, dropped into our heart center, and we're tuning in now to peripheral vision and light. Adam, if you want to take us from here, feel free.
The light allows us to be more free. It naturally dissolves limitations that may be in the form of thoughts. Just let the natural luminosity that already exists permeate your vision, permeate your entire being.
If you don't see anything luminous yet, don't worry. Just relax and allow it to come naturally. You can concentrate your focus on the heart center or on the third eye. Let the light liberate you.
You can use the music to expand your energy field. Expand your perception and awareness.
Morgann I just wanted to say that that was so beautiful. It was like we were all able to embody the very message that you came to deliver tonight, the freedom of allowing the flow to carry us together as a group into a group experience where we get to bring more light together.
Even though it felt like interruption and an intermittent flow, it was a precisional flow into unity together in this moment. I think that was beautiful.
Adam Wes Love it. Thank you for that reflection.
It's interesting. This never happens. I don't remember the last time this happened like this. Probably never.
The universe is our teacher, and if we listen, if we're open to it, we can learn these principles and undergo the transformations that are being shared with us. It actually becomes really uncanny, the degree of alignment with circumstantial situations that can unlock new levels of consciousness and understanding around whatever it is.
For whatever reason, we've chosen freedom today, and we're practicing it. It's not enough for it to just be something you read or something you hear somebody else say. It has to be interwoven into your life experience and practiced.
If you have a noisy neighbor or somebody who's interfering with your internal state, say, "Okay, where's my freedom? Why am I not being free here? What am I doing?"
The world doesn't change. We change in freedom. Freedom comes from within, from our inner orientation.
It is 6:31, so let's dive into our meditation now. Perhaps that's the right mode in case the internet gets a little finicky again.
Maybe I'll try to send a more complete sermon over email, or we'll do it again next week. But I think the gist of it has been seeded and planted, and it should flower now.
Thanks, Kira. That was wonderful. Kira is a great meditation teacher, a kundalini yoga teacher, and somebody I've been meditating with for eight years now, or seven years. Beautiful.
When we go into the meditation today, let's really try to connect with aloofness. This word means not to care. Let the detachment of aloofness come in. There's a power in it, an austerity. It's the power of that austere sage who's aloof to the world, but their eyes have conviction and their words have truth. It's a feeling.
I'm going to try to connect with that feeling. I'm already connecting with it, but even more so when we're meditating, just the essence of it. Then use the light.
When we meditate in this group, it's called the Love Light Sangha. Sangha means spiritual community. Love Light, because we love light.
There's a quality of light, a sacredness, a freedom, an honesty, and a power that allows us to transform. It's like melting down a gold statue into its liquid form, and then it can be formed into anything more true, more real, more an expression of the spirit.
We'll go into light. Feel the heart. Feel the aloofness. Feel truth, aloofness, and freedom. Try to have an actual, direct, and vivid encounter with the luminosity.
It's not an imagined light. In fact, there are many names for it across many ancient traditions. The inner fabric of consciousness is made of luminosity. Everything actually is inside of it.
The whole universe, subjectively, is inside of us, and we are made of a brightness that can be seen. There's a whole spectrum, a whole cosmology of colors that are indicators of different essentialities of the universe that we are making contact with.
Any light is a very good thing. It's all good. All light is good. It represents different aspects of the self, though.
Guided Meditation on Luminosity
All right, let's get started. We'll do about 22 minutes, and then we'll be done at 7:00 Pacific time.
I wish for all of you to have a deep sense of freedom in your lives, within. I'm sure together we can create a wake of that right now.
I'm actually going to do open eyed meditation today. You're welcome to join me, or you can close your eyes if that feels better.
When we open our eyes, we hold a very broad visual field, and we wait for the light to show itself. We hold everything in a very fluid state, including our own body.
You can see behind yourself. You can see in every direction. Let your attention field, which is your seeing, let go of density and allow the fluidity of the light. Just try it.
Any mistiness? Any visual perturbation? It's the beginning of the light.
While it has a visual quality, it's so much more. It's energetic. You can feel it. You can even hear it sometimes.
If you have a degree of chakra awareness, you can feel your third eye or your heart chakra, both of which help to see the light in different ways.
We're letting the ambient power of the universe dissolve resistance. Allow yourself to fall back into the ocean, the universe.
Moment by moment, we let go of the tethers.
If you're not having any particular mystical experience, that's okay. Just bring your attention to what is. Allow yourself to be with what is, without reactivity.
This is a part of experiencing light. Whether you're seeing it or not, you're moving toward it.
Look at everything at once, including the periphery, without exclusion.
Allow yourself to really go deep right now. If not now, then when? The universe is waiting.
Eternity is always.
Let go. Be more of what you really are. Let go of all the responsibilities of being somebody or another.
There's an ambient power that, if not resisted, returns us to the source. Visually, it's light. There's a feeling involved, magnetic almost, but different.
Come free of even the self-reflection. We need not carry around that baggage, which is an idea of what we are, in order to be what we are.
This is what freedom feels like in your own self. Be totally honest with yourself about what you are.
Namaste.
Reflections and Shared Experiences
In those last moments, I was recognizing how freedom largely comes from being complete unto yourself, the blissfulness of your own being, uncaused happiness.
We're not reaching outside of ourselves and corrupting our own integrity. We're full from within, and meditation gives us that nectar of bliss and joy for no reason whatsoever, other than that it's our essential nature.
I wish for everybody to cultivate freedom.
Many of the great leaders in society were very free. Nelson Mandela, Steve Jobs, and some great artists. These people did something against the grain because they knew the truth, and they also expressed their own truth.
Their own truth in the sense that that's what they are, not their version of the truth. It's a part of the truth.
I am this. The tree is there. The sky is blue. That's the truth, including us.
Mom, would you like to share for just a moment? I know you don't want me to call on you first.
Colleen What about somebody else today?
Adam Wes Oh, come on. We have to hear about your colors.
Colleen Okay. The red light, the red color, came right away. Then something new, like a see-through blue, came waving. It was blue, but it was almost like water.
Then the purpley pink came in little moments. There were a whole lot of interesting things. I also had a few dreams.
Adam Wes Beautiful. Thank you.
How about you, Morgan? I feel like Morgan is giving so much good energy in here. Thank you, Morgan. I'm so glad you came.
Morgann Thank you. For me, there was a moment where I was visualizing being light. I was envisioning my family and bringing their light in, and my friends and bringing their light in.
I was listening to the cars pass by and feeling the extension of my light as them. You made a comment about connecting with the light during the meditation right as I was having that visualization, so that was our inner light connection.
I hear light a lot, so I listen to my atmosphere. I love to hear the creaks in the walls or whatnot, and I kind of receive light in that way also. I received that in my meditation as well.
Adam Wes Beautiful. Thank you for sharing. It sounds like you had a nice, deep experience.
Morgann Yes, thank you.
Adam Wes Wonderful. Morgan, where are you from, by the way? Where are you located?
Morgann I'm in Fayetteville, Georgia.
Adam Wes Okay, nice. How about you, Manu?
Manu B Hi, Adam. Sorry for my English. I'm from Argentina, and English is not my native language.
Adam Wes That's fine. You sound great.
Manu B I want to thank you for creating this moment. I think it's necessary to have these types of moments today, because everybody here knows that we have a lot of things in our day, with our jobs and our personal objectives.
It's very important to settle down a little bit and have this quality of time.
Personally, I'm in a moment where I am transitioning with what I want to do with my life. I'm very lucky to work because I've been working as an artist, a digital artist, like 3D and all that stuff.
I'm very happy to be working with this because it is what I like. But I'm having this thing with being on the computer so much, being inside my house, and not being able to see the sun.
I take my time to walk and to train and all that stuff, but I'm thinking about what I can do to merge these aspects, to live in more coherency with what I want to be. I don't know if it's clear.
Adam Wes Beautiful. It sounds like this is a very important topic for you today, because freedom directs everything in life: who your friends are, what your career is, how you spend your time, how you feel, and how you think about yourself.
These are profound things, so I would suggest definitely including some time in nature in your routine. I do a lot of time on the computer too, but it hurts if you don't mix that in with mountains and all of nature.
Let me know if there's anything I can do to support you. It sounds like you're in a beautiful phase of upward momentum.
Manu B This is more than enough for me. It was very beautiful to me, and I really appreciate it.
Adam Wes You're welcome, Manu. Namaste.
Hi, Dory. Hi, Praveen. Hi, Andrea. Hi, Jenna. Hi, Dad. Hi, Raphael. Hi, Kira. Hi, Jacob. Nice to see everybody.
It's 7:02, so we have to get off now. I'd love to hear from everybody, but my goal is to keep it to an hour so it's not too much of a burden on your schedule each week. Reliable consistency is better.
If you want to send me an email or come next week, we can continue all this. I hope you had a beautiful experience. Thank you. Namaste, everybody.
Practice freedom this week. Bye.