FREEDOM AND MATURITY
DR.
NEELMANI UPADHYAY
Regional
Political
freedom only creates the conditions of free mind and free thinking. It is then
our choice to be ‘free’ in the true sense of the term. Freedom is not a gift,
but an achievement. It is not a boon conferred on us by the divine powers, but
it is self-realization born of relentless struggle with our own baser self. It
is the upward journey of the mind steeped in ignorance and self-oblivion. We
have to be vigilant and should prove ourselves equal to the task of upholding
dignity of freedom. Herein we find the painful truth pointed out by the
oft-repeated question: ‘
Understanding
is the key to strength of life. It is understanding that is real enlightenment,
supreme wisdom. It is so much abused in different situations of life these days
that people dread it rather than adore it. We have,
somehow, to agree on broad points what this word conveys. It will not be
irrelevant to quote the authors of ‘Education, Some Fundamental Problems,’ who
have taken pains to define it. They opine: “If it is to convey meaning with
even a slight degree of precision it must be used with a preparation: ‘freedom
for’ as in freedom for children or oppressed peoples, ’freedom from’ as in
freedom from want, fear or irritating interference, ‘freedom of’ as in freedom
of action, conscience, opinion, speech, will or worship, and with a slightly
different meaning in freedom of the library, of the city or of the
seas”. They further say that ‘freedom from’ implies the negative aspect of
freedom ‘freedom to’ positive one to live richer and fuller life. We have to
organize our whole life to achieve this freedom as is aptly observed, “...You
cannot have freedom unless you organize for it.”
We
have to pay the price of freedom. Without appropriate sacrifice no success
worth the name can be achieved. It is the result of one’s incessant, sustained
efforts made in a certain direction. As with success, so with happiness, it is
the understanding of life that ensures them. Not only this even in the case of
freedom it is the understanding of the nature of freedom that is the key to its
achievement. Till we do not distinguish between liberty and lincentiousness,
imagination and fancy, fact and fiction, we cannot realize the nature of
freedom.
Our
conception of life is either that of an infant or an adolescent. We carry these
infantile and adolescent attitudes further in our adult life. The auto-erotism of the infant and romantic sentimentality of the
adolescent make them inadequate to face life in later
years. They thus submit to life in the form of day-dreamers, drunkards and
anti-social elements. The world outside is so demanding, exacting and
competitive and any gush of wind of adverse fate breaks them. Freedom thus
means facing life as a mature person. Maturity is the pre-requisite condition
of freedom.
Independent Decision
and Responsibility
This world is the world of inter-dependence but sometimes we adopt the attitude of utter dependence on our parents, relatives and friends. We should expect any reasonable sacrifice from our dear and near ones. But what actually happens with some people, it takes the form of being a parasite on our well-wishers. At the gush of any adverse wind we start crying. The hard facts and grim realities of life are to be tackled all alone. Moreover, in certain delicate matters of personal relationship, career and ambition, we have to take the decision independently. We cannot in any such matters, consult openly our parents, friends and relatives. We have therefore to decide all alone for ourselves. Jawaharlal Nehru once remarked that the journey of life was to be done all alone and to depend on others, was to invite disappointment. It is so well-observed by a great metaphysician, “What a man does with his solitariness, confers on him his true greatness.’ In short, independent thinking and independent decision are the main framework of the fabric of our freedom.
Dynamic Balance
To
live happily in this world we shall have to realize our immense propensities as
well as limitations. We shall have to realize the difference between what we
can do and what we cannot do. I can hardly resist the temptation to quote Dr.
Reinhold Beibuhr’s famous prayer:
To
accept the things I cannot change
The
courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference.
Life demands this keen
balance of our possibilities and limitations. To live below the mark will be to
waste life and to attempt too much will create only tension and frustration.
Free mind understands the inevitable in life and makes fairly good allowance
for the unforeseeable factors in life. No happiness, no emancipation can
actualize without resigning to inevitable in life and the courage to become
what we are by way of our nature and talents.
L.
Susan Stebbing in her book Thinking To Some Purpose pinpoints the need of education for
freedom. She emphasizes logical and unbiased thinking necessary for becoming
really free. She writes, “There are many ways of being wrong, but one way of
being right. To think effectively involves knowledge of the topic,
dispassionateness in weighing the evidence, ability to see clearly what follows
from the premises, readiness to reconsider the premises if necessary, and, in
short, courage to follow the argument to its logical conclusion, however bitter
it may be.” We, human beings, are clever at inventing excuses. Through
self-deception, defence-mechanism and self-oblivion,
we side-track or evade the exacting responsibilities of life.
A
truly free person, respects the freedom of others. He
views it as great opportunity to serve his own mankind. He has deep faith in
human dignity and sanctity of life. He believes in destiny of the universe. He
works incessantly for the welfare of his own fellow-beings. Until one raises
one’s fellow-men, he cannot raise himself up. Thus freedom and responsibilities
go together. This is so aptly observed by Dr. Radhakrishnan
“All freedom is a perpetual crusade against that which is stagnation, evil and
imperfect. If you are truly a human being, if you realize your freedom, you
will realize that there is a great responsibility, owed by you.” The
realization of this responsibility, desire for effective expression of
personality and dedication to one’s aims and ideals give direction and depth to
life. It is the mature person who can maintain and enjoy his freedom. To be
truly free one has to ever raise oneself up on the upward journey of maturity.
Without such self-elevation, no liberty worth its name can be achieved.