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On this Friday, the United States will once again celebrate its annual holiday - the fourth of July - remembering the establishment of the U.S. Government and Constitution - declaring its independence from England, back in the late 1700s. Technically, the founding fathers of the U.S.A. were all conspirators and traitors against their mother nation, England. However, the declaration of this new nation’s independence had far greater meaning than just political freedom and independence, but also religious independence.

England, at that time was ruled by the Church of England, and so those who traveled to the American Continent did so because they felt oppressed by the many rules and regulations of worship that the Church of England exerted at those times. The founding fathers of the United States of America were in search of freedom. England engaged the new nation in a mighty battle which they eventually lost, and so all the fireworks that go off on July 4th are a memorial to all those who gave their lives in the name of freedom from tyranny and oppression.

I don’t know exactly what America’s founding fathers would say if they were to visit America today. Would they be happy or upset? I imagine they would probably be excited about all of the great technical advances of civilization, but sad to see how people treat one another and just how vicious our world has become. Instead of fighting with muskets and gunpowder, we fight with money, attorneys and a distorted legal system. America, two-hundred years ago, established freedom and independence from England, however America and the entire world have a long way to go to understand what true freedom really is. Let me explain.

The nineteenth century Indian Guru and Spiritual Master Ramakrishna taught that freedom is an experience that is all dormant within us and all we have to do is meditate to experience this perfect sense of being. Ramakrishna taught that God, or Divine Spirit, is an Omnipresent Force that is manifested in four “tiers” - The Absolute, The Causal, The Astral, and The Physical. The Causal, Astral and Physical Universes are all characterized by limitation based upon name and form. So, the meaning and impact of all things within these realms becomes possible merely because there is limited expression through name and form. However, the Absolute Realm, which is beyond all possible words and descriptions, is unlimited in all ways and there is no name or form that can be used to describe it. Herein lies our freedom.

So, through meditation, especially by using the Sacred Syllable OM, our awareness is able to penetrate the relative physical, astral, and causal realms. In these realms, true freedom cannot be had because the inherent nature of things is temporal. Things arise, exist, and then dissolve. However, at the Absolute Level of Being, all limitations are void and absent. They simply cannot withstand the Simple Presence of Perfect Being. In the Absolute Realm of Being, True and Everlasting Freedom is experienced, and this is the true goal of life, says Ramakrishna in his writings.

So, on one hand, as an American, I am glad to be here to experience the freedoms that my nation’s founding fathers established, such as freedom of religion and freedom of thought. At the same time, there is a way to live such that one transcends the mind and experience freedom that is beyond all definitions that apply to the body and mind. This is the domain of Divine Spirit.

So, practice some meditation each day to experience for yourself the great sense of freedom that is within you. In our lives, there are three levels: body, mind, and spirit. We can indeed experience limited freedoms of the body and mind, through certain actions and thoughts. At the same time, by heeding the advice and suggestions of the great and noble spiritual masters who have gone before us, we can experience yet another level of freedom that surpasses all words and ideas. Such is the blessing of meditation. May all people of the world be blessed with freedom and the chance to meditate to experience the limitless domain of Divine Spirit, our Divine Source, that is always free.

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