Freedom

Liberation cannot be achieved except by the perception of the identity of the individual spirit with the universal Spirit.  Shankara

The wise seeker after Liberation must first establish himself in discrimination.  Shankara

The wise, meditating on God, concentrating their thought, discovering in the mouth of the cavern, deeper in the cavern, that Self that ancient Self, difficult to imagine, more difficult to understand, pass beyond joy and sorrow.  Katha Upanishad

He walks in bright awareness and with illumined spirit. In other words, the man who realizes self-awareness feels that he is no more the obedient servant of blind impulse, but is his own master.  Chang Chen-chi

God forces no one, for love cannot compel, and God's service, therefore, is a thing of perfect freedom.  Hans Denk

Perfect freedom is obtained only when our egoistic thoughts are not read into life and the world is accepted as it is, as a mirror reflects a flower as a flower.  D.T. Suzuki

Ultimate Nirvana is attained by avoiding all samsaric deeds, such as seeking Nirvana, or casting off impurity and clinging to purity, or harbouring attainments and proofs of attainment, or failure to discard rules. How, then, is deliverance to be achieved? Never having been bound, you have no need to seek deliverance.  Hui-hai

The Inner Light is beyond praise and blame; like space it knows no boundaries, yet it is even here, within us, ever retaining its serenity and fullness. It is only when you hunt for it that you lose it; you cannot take hold of it, but equally you cannot get rid of it, and while you can do neither, it goes on its own way.  Yung-chia Ta-shih

Monk: How does one get liberated?
Shih-t'ou: Who has ever put you in bondage?
Monk: What is the Pure Land?
Shih-t'ou: Who has ever defiled you?
Monk: What is Nirvana?
Shih-t'ou: Who has ever subjected you to birth and death?

Neither a fool nor a pundit am I, neither silent nor of many words; how can I speak of reasoning or argument since I am free even from the taint of Nirvana?  Avadhut Gita

None but the slave of the indwelling God is free.  D.E. Harding

Live neither in the entanglements of outer things nor in inner feelings of emptiness. Be serene in the oneness of things and such erroneous views will disappear by themselves.  Sen-t'san

Do not think the resurrection is an illusion. It is the revelation of what is. Why not consider yourself risen already?  Treatise on Resurrection

It is because we are not near enough to Thee to partake of Thy liberty that we want a liberty of our own different from Thine.  George Macdonald

Free-will is the king of the soul. It shall be crowned with a crown that is called charity.  Ruysbroeck

Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.  St. Paul

I am neither bound nor free. My illusion has ended. The world, though appearing to exist in me, has in reality no existence.  Ashtavakra Gita

When there is freedom there is attention, and only in this attention can goodness flower.  J. Krishnamurti

Everything exists and has its being in this freedom. It is everywhere and nowhere. It has no frontiers. Can you die now to everything you know and not wait for tomorrow to die? This freedom is eternity and ecstasy and love.  J. Krishnamurti

Here there is no longer any way because for the just man there is no law. He is a law unto himself.  St. John of the Cross

Freedom is a condition of the soul. When the soul of man is free It carries him through Red Seas and desert experiences to the Promised Land of spiritual peace. As we turn to the kingdom of our inner Self, we find the reign of divine power in the outer world. As we seek peace within, we find harmony without. As we find freedom of the Soul, we experience the freedom of Grace. Joel Goldsmith

Freedom cannot be gained nor kept without the will-to-freedom.  Nisargadatta

The word or dogma that claims sovereignty over the whole and does not often and humbly present itself before the whole for renewal in the end imprisons us.  Laurens van der Post

The man who expects the true life from the world of manifestation, from the world which he knows, waits for it in vain until his death.  Hubert Benoit

Thou (the human being) art that which is not. I am that I am. If thou perceivest this truth in thy soul, never shall the enemy deceive thee; thou shalt escape all his snares.  St. Catherine of Siena

The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self. Einstein.

Become who you are! First it is necessary to emancipate oneself from one's chains, and finally one must still emancipate oneself from this emancipation. Nietzsche

When enlightenment is perfected, a Bodhisattva is free from the bondage of things, but does not seek to be delivered from things. Samsara (the world of becoming) is not hated by him, nor is Nirvana loved. When perfect Enlightenment shines, it is neither bondage nor deliverance. Prunabuddha Sutra (quoted by Aldous Huxley in The Perennial Philosophy).

There is a principle which is pure, placed in the human mind, which in different places and ages hath had different names. It is, however, pure and proceeds from God. It is deep and inward, confined to no forms of religion nor excluded from any where the heart stands in perfect sincerity. In whomsoever this takes root and grows, of what nation soever, they become brethren in the best sense of the expression. Using ourselves to take ways which appear most easy to us, when inconsistent with that purity which is without beginning, we thereby set up a government of our own and deny obedience to him whose service is true liberty. John Woolman. 

Thoughts of bondage and of freedom last only as long as one feels, ‘I am bound’. When one enquires of oneself, ‘Who am I, the bound one?’ the Self, Eternal, ever free, remains. The thought of bondage goes; and with it goes the thought of freedom too. Ramana Maharshi 

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