Freedom and responsibility
As a solution-focused practitioner, I try to see everything in life as an opportunity. But I must admit that on some days, that can be difficult.
A lot is going on in the world. We're only a quarter of the way into the year 2022, and another war has started. Who knows where this will lead. Here's a quote by Carl Jung that captures some of what I've been thinking at this time:
“[The human psyche] should be worthy of all the attention we can give it, especially today, when everyone admits that the weal or woe of the future will be decided neither by the threat of wild animals, not by natural catastrophes, nor by the danger of world-wide epidemics, but simply and solely by the psychic changes in man. It needs only an imperceptible disturbance of equilibrium in a few of our rulers’ heads to plunge the world into blood, fire, and radioactivity.”
Something that I've pondered about a lot is the relationship between freedom and responsibility. Some of us have the privilege of pursuing freedom: the freedom to be our authentic selves and the freedom to choose how we live. And yet, total, worldly freedom is often attenuated by powerful factors that demand our attention: bills that have to be paid, children that need to be fed, family obligations, bureaucracy, the needs of society, and the crises in the world.
Is it possible to be both free and responsible? I believe even the wisdom of the ancients struggles to provide us with clear insights on how to create such a world. Our philosophies and science aren't much help either on this front. We're left to contemplate the relationship of inner and outer experience, and to explore possibilities — to question what it is to be human. This, I believe, requires a lot more play and not-knowing, curiosity and openness, instead of more intellectualism. Perhaps that involves exploring what it is that we want to be free from and what it is we are responsible for.
In everyday usage, freedom and responsibility are both socially constructed concepts. Their meaning changes depending on the personal and cultural values we hold. For instance, responsibility for one culture may mean taking care of one's family or tribe. For another, it means being responsible to oneself so that one can actualize their own capacities and potential. And for another, it means responsibility towards all living creatures. From each perspective, responsibility can manifest in various socially acceptable behaviours.
However, we can also have direct experiences of freedom and responsibility from the depth of being. Through contemplative practice, one can ‘experience’ liberation from the body and mind; freedom from the constructed identity and ego. Yet what is a direct experience of responsibility outside of social construct? Some people describe the experience of oneness with all things — but that's not it, I think. Perhaps it can't be found in contemplative experience. Responsibility always involves action.
In Taoism, there is a concept that stillness cannot exist without movement: they are dual aspects of the same thing — the void of pure potentiality. From this perspective, freedom and responsibility, which I see correlate with stillness and movement, are the same thing. What I hope to explore further, is a better understanding of how to actualize this dynamic/unity. If they are the same thing, how can they manifest in the temporal realm of everyday life? You can say that freedom for all requires conscious effort to create and maintain through responsible action. And that looks different for each person.
In future posts, I'll continue to explore freedom and responsibility, stillness and movement, and how my practice of the Realization Process (non-dual embodiment) is helping me embody these aspects of experience. At this point, though, I have more questions than answers. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on this as well.
Questions to reflect on
When was the last time you had an experience of freedom? How did you know you were free at that moment?
When was the last time you had an experience of responsibility? How did you know you were responsible at that moment?
Has there been a time when you have experienced both freedom and responsibility simultaneously? What was happening then?