What Is Freedom?
Free Jim and Free Will Move onto Talking about Pleasure and Pain
Free Jim: Freedom...hmmm. Freedom is not having to depend on anyone. It's having no one telling me what to do; that if I feel like going to the beach in the middle of the day, then that's what I'll do, and no one will tell me what to wear and when to eat. I live in a free country, and if I want, I can be religious or I can be secular, go to a library on Friday night or go to a party, and vote for whoever I want. That's freedom.
Free Will: Okay, so you're saying that doing what's good for you is freedom. Is that really freedom? Now tell me about what isn't good for you.
Free Jim: I just don't do it. Why should I do something that's not good for me? Why should I harm myself?
Free Will: Okay, so that's logical enough. But something still doesn't quite fit. Let me explain. Take an animal. An animal is always looking for the best way for it to live; it's always looking for pleasure, and as soon as there's a threat, it immediately runs away.
Animals live in the moment, instinctively, and always look for the best thing in the moment. We humans on the other hand, can look to a goal that's years ahead, and make a decision to go through some pain now in order to gain the reward of that goal in the future.
This is obvious, right? Just think about Ben who sacrificed eight years of his life in order to go for a medical degree. He's always saying how he's got to study and can never come out with us to parties or even for a few quiet drinks, and all this leisure time of ours is spent by him in study, study, study. But he's always got that goal in his mind, guiding his present suffering, justifying it as a worthwhile work for the future reward.
He knows that after he gets his degree, he will be able to be a doctor, earning a certain amount of money that will allow him to buy a good house and car, and set himself up with a good life. For that, he's willing to put up with the pressure of difficult exams and assignments; he's willing to stand missing time with his friends, and missing hours of sleep.
Free Jim: Well yeah, that's true. I just thought of a decision I made earlier today which was like that. I was getting ready to go out to see this girl that I like for a second time, and I really wanted to have this cigarette before going. But then I remembered how she was complaining about the cigarette smoke outside the cinema from our first date. She was going on and on about it, saying how much she hates it-its smell and how it soaks into people's clothes and skin and everything. So even though I was really chafing a cigarette, I decided not to have it so that I could make as good an impression as I could on her. I really like her.
Free Will: Yeah, so that's pretty much how it works. You're also going to agree to bust your ass for the next four months doing all kinds of menial jobs-washing dishes and cleaning restaurants-jobs that will give you no satisfaction other than just bringing you money for your trip. And you also won't be going out on Friday nights for drinks will you...so that you can save that money for your future Friday nights in Thailand?
Free Jim: Well yeah. That's how it works. So what?
...To be continued in "No Pain, No Gain"
Related Material:
- Kabbalah.info - all concepts presented in this article were learned from the free materials and resources available at the Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education and Research Institute - www.kabbalah.info
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