How much freedom do we have to direct our lives? Our understanding of freedom can give us insight
into what motivates us so we can direct and move our lives toward what we desire. There are three
types of freedom. The first kind of freedom is “freedom from,” a freedom from the constraints of
society. Second, is “freedom to,” a freedom to do what we want to do. Thirdly, there is “freedom to be,”
a freedom, not just to do what we want, but a freedom to be who we were meant to be.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the eighteenth-century French philosopher, observed that “Man is born free,
and everywhere he is in chains.” These chains are oppressive societal rules that restrict what we can
physically do. But they are also mental chains, chains that restrict what we believe we can do. These are
the chains of social conditioning, the values society projects onto us. We feel we have no power to move
ourselves in the direction we want to go in our lives. Rather, we feel we’re moved by society, moved by
whatever society deems valuable.
We may want to climb, but if society tells us “It’s crazy and dangerous,” we don’t. We’re moved away
from climbing by reacting to a conditioned societal value. If we remain unconscious, we’ll only gain
freedom if society removes the rules, or if someone removes our social conditioning. That never
happens. The removal comes from an internal shift within us. We achieve “freedom from” when we
wake up and realize we are more valuable than society’s values or our conditioning.
The second freedom, “freedom to,” emerges after we’ve achieved “freedom from” society’s values and
begin creating our own. If we value climbing, then we go climbing regardless of society’s crazy and
dangerous labels. We’re moved, not by society, but by our values. This is a big step forward, but it tends
to manifest itself through our ego. We are moved toward what we experience as easy, comfortable, and
pleasurable, and moved away from what we experience as hard, stressful, and painful. In other words,
we’re motivated toward pleasure and away from pain. This manifests itself unconsciously as striving for
end results, which are realized after the stressful climbing experience.
The third freedom, “freedom to be,” emerges when we develop more consciousness. We need to move
beyond an egoistic approach to life, and how we’re motivated. We need to be the mover of our own
life, moved by the universe. Being moved by the universe is surrendering to our own unique purpose for
being here. If we can tap into that, then we live an authentic life, moved by a force greater than
ourselves.
A big part of accomplishing this level of freedom has to do with accepting and allowing. We accept our
current state and allow whatever is happening, whether pain or pleasure, stress, or comfort, hard or
easy. Accepting and allowing don’t focus on end results; rather they are processes. Therefore, a shift to
this third freedom requires a shift from end results to processes.
Krishna Murti, the philosopher from India, once expressed his ultimate insight as: I don’t mind what
happens. If a pleasurable, comfortable, easy experience comes into our lives, we accept and allow it. If a
painful, stressful, hard experience comes into our lives, we accept and allow it. There is no resistance to
what is. Resistance distracts our attention from the situation, with an emphasis of seeking comfort. This
process of accepting and allowing provides many situations for developing awareness and self-
knowledge. We relax under stress so we can be attentive and learn from it. We begin to find the truth of
our being, who we are, and our purpose. This truth can then set us free.
“Freedom to be” is a freedom where the chains of society are cast off, the veil of the ego is removed,
and our authentic being can reveal itself. Once we reach this kind of freedom, our motivation becomes
truly intrinsic. Energy can then flow unimpeded from the universe, through us and into our experience.
Intrinsic motivation is powerful because it engages us in pleasure and pain equally. We do stressful
climbing because there’s nowhere else, we’d rather be. If we love climbing, then we know that to live
the life we want, to have the freedom to be who we authentically are, we must climb. Reaching this
level of freedom is no small feat, especially living in a society with plenty of rules and conditioned
values. When we reach this level of freedom we live in society, but we’re not moved unconsciously by it.
We’re part of the world, but not of it.
