Liberation is what you really are. Even in the moment of your deepest apparent bondage, you are liberated. Even if you believe in all kinds of chains, you are still liberated. Bondage is just the thought of bondage. Pay attention: bondage is equally the thought of liberation. Slaves are those who believe they are slaves and slaves are those who believe they are free. The beliefs themselves are the bondage; it does not matter what you believe in.
The influences upon you have made you believe that you need liberation. There are many shops that are selling liberation; they are selling you something that you already have, that can never be sold or obtained from outside. Whoever tells you that he can help you be liberated cannot be your friend. He is either ignorant or mischievous. The one who is free will never sell freedom to others. To sell freedom is to sell slavery.
Since childhood, we have been fed with stories of the liberated ones and how they went about obtaining liberation. That is why we never question the fundamental assumption ‘that liberation is to be achieved’. No, there can be no achievement, because you are already full; what more will you achieve? At most, you need to drop, not achieve.
That which you name as spiritual attainment or Enlightenment is about losing and dropping, not attaining. And what is to be dropped? This idea of liberation is to be dropped. Drop the search, drop your fascination with liberation.
It is possible to dream in a nightmare that you are somewhere on Jupiter, to dream that you are falling from some hundred-storey building. Even as you lie comfortably on your bed, you can easily imagine that you are falling. The search for liberation is one such nightmare. The liberated one is trying to be liberated. The relaxed one is experiencing a fall. Just wake up, and stop believing in those stories and methods.
Nobody ever got liberated. Enlightenment is the most fundamental myth. You are born enlightened, and then you are made to forget that; you are made to believe that you need enlightenment.
There is this story. There was this man, probably a Brahmin, who was passing through
a jungle with his calf of a cow. And there were some thieves. The first one comes to the Brahmin and says, “Good morning, sir, you look fresh as ever, but why are you carrying this dog with you?” The Brahmin says, “Are you drunk right in the morning? Don’t you see it is a calf of the sacred cow?” The man says, “Sir, what are you talking about? I respect you, but you are talking nonsense. And it is only in your interest that I am saying that you must not be seen with a dog. Dogs are considered impure.”
The Brahmin says, “You go away, you are certainly drunk.”
So he then goes on for some distance, and then another one of those thugs comes and greets the Brahmin, “Wonderful sir, you have already completed half of your journey, there is always a shine of dignity on your face.” The Brahmin says, “Of course, it is my intelligence that shines on my face.” The thug then says, “But why are you carrying this dog with you?” He says, “Did you call this a dog?” The thug replies, “Of course, it is a dog. See, it is wagging its tail.” The Brahmin asks, “Are you drunk?” The thug replies, “Sir, how can I be drunk? I just called you intelligent. I just said that I see a sacred light on your face. If I can see all that correctly, can’t I also see correctly that this is a dog?” Now the Brahmin is a little confused.
As he moves ahead, the third thug comes, and now the Brahmin wants to totally avoid anybody. The thug says, “Sir, you look handsome.” The Brahmin says, “Yes, of course.” Thug continues, “Sir, you have covered the entire jungle and still you are not fatigued. But sir, why are you carrying this dog with you?” The Brahmin says, “You know, he was a little sick so I am taking him to a vet, and then I will release him, take a dip in the holy Ganga to purify myself.” The thug says, “Yes, that’s true, but why don’t you let others serve this dog, and you yourself stand for piousness and sacredness?” The Brahmin says, “Well, that is a good idea, but right now I thought I will do the service myself.” The Brahmin sneaks away. And as he reaches the end of the jungle, another one approaches him. The Brahmin says, “You know it is not my dog at all, it has been chasing me through the jungle. Can you please take him away, he has given me hell,” The thug says, “Well if that is what you want, I will take it away?” And the ‘dog’ is taken away.
We are convinced that our innocence is gullibility. We are convinced by the thugs around us that our intelligence is stupidity. It is tragic when you see how we are convinced that we are in bondage. Since childhood, we have met only those who themselves have been duped by thugs. Because so many have been consistently telling us, we have fallen prey to their propaganda.
It is just propaganda, even if 100 people say that the calf is a dog, the calf remains a calf. Even if all the scriptures, Gurus, family members, religions and the universe say that you are in chains, you remain free. Do not heed them. Maintain that sureness, that faith within, and remain proximate to the Truth. Never fall into suspicion, and even if you experience suspicion, remain certain in the middle of suspicion.
Acharya Prashant is a Vedanta teacher, author, and the founder of the PrashantAdvait Foundation