Spiritual Freedom

There are two important freedoms in the life of a human being in society - political freedom and spiritual freedom. In most democratic countries such as India, Britain or the USA, both freedoms exist. In some theocratic countries political freedom alone exists to some extent but not spiritual freedom. In some other places like China, both are absent, though both freedoms existed earlier. There does not seem to be any country where spiritual freedom exists, and political freedom does not. However, both freedoms are important for a healthy and happy life both at the individual and social level.

We rarely realise the great truth that India is the only land where we have the greatest luxury of absolute spiritual freedom. Some call it spiritual democracy. In this regard, even the western nations are not our equal because it is their enlightened society which is allowing others this freedom but not their theology. In India we worship different forms of God with equal reverence and love, poke fun at them, compose poems lampooning them, we grow angry or blame them, and we love them treating them as our own son, father, mother, or lover. Everyone is entitled to have an ishta-devata, a favourite god. This was made possible by the two-level understanding of God – one at a layperson’s level and the other at the level of a philosopher. As most of us fall into the first category, life is easy for us. The philosopher is always clear in his mind and happy.

Human history shows great upheavals in the spiritual freedom of people. People have been passionate to destroy the freedom of others. What needs to be done by us? Knowledge and action are both needed. By the word knowledge, I refer to the above revelation about the great blessing we have. We will know this only when we know what the unfortunate people in most parts of the world do not have. By the word action, I mean the responsibility to safeguard a system which ensures this freedom. We have the right and responsibility to elect a government which ensures our political freedom, but unfortunately there is no philosophical or theological system to ensure our spiritual freedom, because there is no enforcement in it. Unlike in a political system, there is no agency to enforce or ensure our rights. Our Hindu Brahman or the host of forms in which he appears did not bother about a law of blasphemy. They were very liberal. Only the political system may come to our rescue to ensure even this spiritual freedom. Thus, the political system becomes the agency which can give both political democracy and spiritual democracy.

This understanding alone can preserve our spiritual democracy. In this field, we come across the clash of thought processes which took place in the minds of people millennia ago. This thought process is about an entity called God which either depends on a belief, or on a rational investigation. The people who merely believed in the statement of some person and those who investigated it. There were thus two types of civilizations having different notions of Reality or God. Those who merely believed had an upper hand in history.

Spiritual democracy is the hallmark of a great civilization. The responsibility to preserve this depends on those who enjoy it. What is needed is the awareness that we enjoy this luxury but face the danger of losing it. The rulers can only facilitate or create a favourable environment. If we visualise the whole nation as a person, the political system is like the gross body and spiritual freedom is like its mind or soul. It is so for the individual also. There cannot be a mind or soul without the body. We have to remember, like Kalidasa says, the physical body is the primary means to achieve dharma at the higher level. It is our responsibility to protect it.

(The writer is a former

DGP, Andhra Pradesh)