Fifth Freedom ~ Freedom from Self

To encourage fellow citizens to purchase war bonds in support of the war effort, Norman Rockwell completed four, iconic paintings in 1943 known as the Four Freedoms.  Rockwell’s paint brush brought to life the freedoms President Franklin D. Roosevelt cited as worthy of defending in his January 1941 State of the Union address.

            These four freedoms—freedom from want, freedom from fear, freedom of speech, and freedom of worship—help fuel the pursuit of happiness we proclaim as a birthright in our country’s founding document, the U.S. Constitution, the preamble to which can be heard read aloud at family cookouts as part of July 4th celebrations.

            You need not abide long in this dimension of reality, however, to find yourself yearning for an additional freedom, a fifth freedom, one equally beneficial to our pursuit of happiness, namely freedom from self.  This fifth freedom seeks liberation from an ever-present force that runs counter to our every inclination to cast attention outward, beyond all which concerns us personally, in favor of concern for the wider world.

            This discernible force behaves much like the force of gravity which serves to pull all matter toward the center of the earth.  Rocket scientists calculate the degree of thrust required for rockets to escape earth’s gravitational field and thereby achieve exit velocity.  In similar fashion, by what strategy might we achieve exit velocity from the self?  Otherwise, and always, the gravitational grip of the self will leave us feeling small, petty, and miserable, even as we proudly claim, but seek in vain to enjoy, our other four freedoms.

            Mystics, philosophers, and spiritual leaders from the beginning of time have endeavored to free humans from the chains which bind us, against the better angels of our nature, to the throne we occupy at the center of our own private Idaho.  From among these enlightened ones we hear “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

            What counterintuitive strategy is this?  If weary and heavy ladened by the downward pull of the self, why would we further submit ourselves to the yoke of another?  Answer: because the exit velocity needed to escape the self can only be achieved by surrendering to a way of life defined by wholehearted concern and compassion for others—please note: this form of yoking is not to a person per se, but to the way of life painstakingly shown to us as readily possible to all, by that person. 

Hitching our lives to this way of life requires stepping down off our thrones, choosing consciously to lift up and place others there, at the center of our lives, at every opportunity.  Here is a simple, brilliant strategy for achieving exit velocity, freedom from the gravitational pull of the self, and access to profound joy as the birthright of all, though just beyond the reach of the unyoked.

Think Astro Boy with a twist as our heroic, iconic figure depicting Freedom from Self.  Fueled by endless reserves of compassion for others, willing to pay any price to release others from captivity, its Astor Boy!--readily breaking through the gravitational bonds of planet self, soaring directly into the hearts of others, and showing everyone on planet self how to acquire Freedom from Self.