This is probably the hardest of the paths to translate into western thinking, for we have no analogies.
Right liberation is a freedom so profound that one can never be locked up again.
The newest propaganda is instantly seen through
The warlords will come to arrest him and either -
- he will not be there, ever, every time they look they will miss him.
- or he will be taken to a better place.
When someone offers a false love, a binding love, there is no purchase in his heart.
He cannot be stabbed in the back, for he is not tied to the hopes that would blind him from his supposed friend's deeds.
This is true freedom, it is worth the journey.
I have said to my Buddhist friends I want to be able to walk through heaven and hell with a clear mind. Heaven and hell representing my reactions to what I like and dislike. I haven't gotten to that place yet but after years of practice how I react to sense data has gone from knee jerk reactions when I first started to backing off and taking some time before I take action.
The writings are taken from a monks point of view. What is missing is the teachings of Buddha to laypeople. That is why I like Mahayana Buddhism, it teaches the Bodhisattva path and has many teachings for the layperson. I was lucky to have found a Theravada vipassana meditation teacher SN Goenka who taught lay people the path of freedom through wisdom and insight. @builderofcastles you do speak of true freedom. thank you <3