FREEDOM
Truth brings freedom to the human soul.
The human soul longs and aspires to be free. This is a great inner impulse, not of the ordinary man but of the man in whom Divine consciousness has been awakened.
You have heard it said: "Know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free."
Truth is the Light of the Divine world. Freedom is it boundlessness.
Therefore, when we speak of the Divine freedom which proceeds from Truth, we mean limitlessness, or the aspiration of the human soul to live in the infinite.
Freedom, in the fullest sense of the word, belongs to the Divine world.
Only God is absolutely free.
And the human soul which lives within Truth knows God as Freedom without limitation.
When man comes to feel that freedom, all his burdens all the limitations which oppress him disappear. He experiences peace, liberty, expansion. There are no limits to his consciousness; he penetrates into things at a glance. All the ice under him and around him melts. The sun shines brightly and all the noble seeds planted deep in his soul and waiting for thousands of years to germinate, begin to develop and grow.
Freedom is necessary for attaining that higher ideal toward which man aspires.
Men today are not free. They aspire toward freedom, but seek for it in outward ways.
Freedom cannot come from without.
It cannot be enforced by laws.
Every freedom, religious or political, which is enforced from without, is only a shadow of freedom.
The ideal freedom, the freedom which proceeds from Truth, is not based upon force. It depends neither on human knowledge nor on human legal order. It is not defended by outward law and force.
Indeed, is the freedom which must be defended with arms, really freedom?
Today men are slaves, and in order to be set free, they must be born anew. The new birth is the release from those bonds which fetter us at present. This means escaping from the chains of destiny and necessity; this means the recovery of the primary link of man to God, existing since man's appearance in the world. This means the recovery of his freedom.
In the beginning all beings were created free.
And if freedom has disappeared from the world, man himself is to blame for it. He himself has severed his original link with the Primary Cause. And he has formed many other bonds which have restricted and deluded him.
The divine source constantly sets him free from the limitations of the old way of life, but after a short time man sets out again on the old road.
Therefore, if man desires to be free, he must have only one link - with God - and with all other beings he must have only relations.
The only being who is free is God.
And the only being who can fully set a man free is God. God desires that all beings be free, as He is free. And they must be free because they are parts of the divine organism.
Therefore, only when the living God of Truth comes to live within man, only when the Divine Spirit end Power begin to act within him, only then will man be truly free, only then will man come to know God and be known by Him. Only then will he serve God freely in Spirit and Truth.
Freedom requires that man be ready at any moment to do what God asks of him. And it is only the free man who can do this, because no other bond restricts him. Precisely therein lies his freedom.
Today people dispute whether man has free will or not.
Only the man who lives in that real, unchangeable world in which God lives, only the man who understands His laws and serves Him in Spirit and Truth - only he is free and only he has free will.
Indeed, freedom lies in the will of man. And freedom always implies not self-will but rational will.
Only the rational man can be free. Living Nature gives freedom only to the rational. Nature restricts the ignorant, who do not have will, but self-will. There are thousands and millions of beings in the kingdom of Living Nature who are imprisoned and awaiting their freedom. Why? It is because there lies within them the self-willed desire to move indiscriminately in any direction. Freedom implies movement in only one direction - Truth.
It must not be forgotten that Truth is the direction in which all things in Creation move.
Thus, man can always be free, but only in Truth. All our limitations and obstacles result from not being in touch with Truth. Our freedom depends on the extent to which we are in touch with Truth. There is no other measure. We might explain our limitations in one way or another - those are our own opinions. But the truth is that our limitations and obstacles and contradictions indicate that we are not in touch with Truth.
In Truth, according to the experience of the free man, all contradictions cease. If any contradictions appear, however slight, we are outside the domain of Truth.
Do not forget: freedom will not come from without. All freedom which is enforced from without is but a shadow of freedom.
Do not run after shadows!
True freedom is the freedom of spirit. It comes from within.
When man has inner freedom, he evaluates himself, he judges himself. This is the law.
Living in inner freedom, man restricts himself - he voluntarily restricts himself. When? Only when he does good, for on the path of freedom the nobility of the soul and the charity of the human heart are tested.
When man does good, he is, in the beginning, limiting himself. And he limits himself because he gives. But when he accomplishes the good, he becomes free again.
Therefore, everything which in the beginning restricts man and deprives him of freedom but in the end restores his freedom, is good.
And everything which in the beginning gives freedom to man and later deprives him of it, is evil.
Herein lies the deep connection between good and freedom, between evil and slavery.
If you wish to have an accurate criterion, remember this:
Everything by which man loses his freedom is evil.
Everything by which man attains his freedom is good.
Implant Truth in your soul and you will acquire the freedom you seek.
Peter Deunov (Beinsa Douno)
http://www.beinsadouno.org/en/node/1105