What does it mean to be free and sovereign in the world? There is a beautiful Kabir poetry that goes like this:
Rahe aazad ya jag me
Haman duniya se yaari kya
This literally means, Be free in the world; what have I got to do with the concerns of this world?
For a very long time, I was singing this song as:
Rahe aazad ya jag se
Haman duniya se yaari kya.
This means, Be free from the world.
Until a close friend corrected me, I hadn’t realized the difference. It was a small mistake, but it had a big impact on me. There is a significant difference between being free in the world and being free from the world.
If we let go and surrender, we can quite easily touch bliss and contentment. We can even call this freedom. But how about bringing this freedom into the world? How about bringing this freedom into our relationships, work, expression, and other areas of our life? All these areas can trigger us. How do we behave and feel when we are in the middle of such triggers? Does it define us?
Being our sovereign self
I feel it’s all about sovereignty. Every day, every moment of our life, we are influenced by everything around us. Many people say that who we are is a collection of ideas and thoughts we have learned from the world. But is there something beyond this? I feel there is.
When I look back, I can see how I had been losing my sovereignty throughout my life—first in family, then in school, college, and beyond. I behaved as others behaved, seeking love, appreciation, and acceptance from the world. I thought, If I act this way, I will be rewarded, and if I do otherwise, I will be punished.
At around age 23, I experienced a significant shift in my consciousness. I realized I had been following someone else’s rules and desires. This led to a complete transformation in my life, where everything changed, including my career, location, and friendships.
Later, when I was drawn to spirituality, I embraced many new ideas that greatly assisted my journey. I let go of many layers of fear and ego identity. But then came the realization that I had been losing my sovereignty to spirituality as well, through another set of identities—spiritual identities.
These identities served me for a while, but it was time to let go of them too. Anyone who has let go of their old sense of self will agree that it feels like death—the death of the old self. But just like a butterfly emerges from its cocoon, something new emerges from the old. This new self feels much more liberated. It is the freedom to be who we truly are: unbound and undefined by the conditions and limitations of this world.
Most of us are searching for something—lasting peace, contentment, happiness, fulfillment. The problem is one of confusion: we think the external conditions of our lives will deliver these things. They might, but only temporarily. Nothing can truly replace the fulfillment of connecting with our true essence.
This connection is difficult to put into words.
I could use terms like presence, awareness, true happiness, or emptiness. But if we haven’t truly experienced this, these words lose their meaning. When we are truly connected to this inner place, life takes on a different form. It is no longer about reaching an illusory destination that promises fulfillment. We have already found it!
It then becomes about discovering who we truly are. At some point, we also realize that the external circumstances of our life are assisting in this discovery. They reveal where we are attached to a specific version of reality and how this limits us. They show how we avoid pain and seek pleasure.
But what if we could reach a place within ourselves where we understand the deeper meaning behind all events and circumstances—and embrace them, even when we feel pushed and battered by the world? Wouldn’t it be truly empowering to feel gratitude for everything in life—the good, the bad, and the ugly?
In this state, we reach an inner place where there is no one (no identity or ego) dictating how life should unfold. We become open to the river of life, trusting that it will take us exactly where we need to be. In this place, there are no agendas or ulterior motives to taint our true expression.
Then we have begun to grasp the true meaning of sovereignty.
Vimal 🙏
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