Freedom and Maturity

DR. NEELMANI UPADHYAY
Regional College of Education, Bhopal

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: ‘Liberty will not descend to a people, a people must raise themselves to Liberty.’

Nature of Freedom

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 ofthe 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.”

Facing Realities of Life

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:

God grant me the serenity

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.

Logical and Unbiased Thinking

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.