For those who may have missed our last issue, here is a podcast of the main introduction that discusses the essence of real liberalism. Not what has become a shackling ideology.
Liberation is the greatest aspiration of all beings. Done with the shackles of monarchy and the church, the West looked at this conundrum in an ideological way. A competitive ideology counter to what shut human enterprise and reason.
Western Liberalism was therefore a reaction to an unseen and vengeful god and despotic kings who usurped the power of the former to establish their own realm. It was an ideology nonetheless.
The Eastern spiritual traditions powered by Dharmic ways looked at the endeavor of liberation in a completely different way. Everything was a shackle. Social, physical, mental, psychological entanglements. If freedom had to be aspired for, then nothing less than liberation at the existential level was to be aspired for.
When Liberalism is an ideology, it is the most brutal shackle. There is no liberty in being shackled every moment to an edict pronounced by someone several centuries ago. Whether the well-meaning though contextually arbitrary commandments come from Moses, Descartes or Marx - you are enslaved to another’s prejudices and biases.
Existential liberation happens in every moment. Every moment is a test and an opportunity to break free from all past and its influences. Ours. Our forefathers. Commandment-spewing megalomaniacs. Everyone.
The ideological cannot live their own ideals. Those who repeat ad-nauseum “Thou shalt not kill” have wiped out entire native populations of at least three continents in the name of their god. Life doesn’t happen in commandments. It happens in every moment.
That is the essence of real liberalism.
Here is the link to the full issue: Issue #209 - Engineered Lawlessness
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