Or was he free all along?
I wrote this blog a few years ago but it bears repeating.
It was an advertising gimmick and an expensive one.
There were full page ads in magazines and newspapers that proclaimed the prisoner would be set free by force. There were television commercials that invited viewers to come and watch this historic event.
Clever copy did not reveal the identity of the prisoner but admitted that he – or she or it because this was never made clear – had been incarcerated for years and kept incommunicado.
Now there would be restitution for this vile crime. The prisoner would be released – by violence if need be.
The curiosity hooks were so good that persons forgot it was a publicity stunt and few wondered what the product was.
On the appointed day large crowds came and guard rails kept them a safe distance from a sprawling, low-roofed warehouse. Large screens enabled everyone to see what was happening even if they were far from the action
At the appointed time a large countdown clock appeared on the screens and appropriate, exciting music blared from the loudspeakers.
“10” the crowd chanted…”9”…..”8”…..
When they came to “0” precisely placed explosives detonated and brought down the walls of the warehouse. The roof remained where it was, seemingly suspended on air. It was actually held up by an array of invisible wires tied to a central pole.
FREE AT LAST, the screens proclaimed.
What was freed? The crowd was puzzled. There was no one who scampered away from the warehouse.
Gradually the secret was revealed.
Space had been corralled and imprisoned by the walls of the warehouse. Today, that space had been released from confinement and had joined it’s brethren outside.
The orchestrator of the scheme was an educational products company whose learning programs would ‘free your mind’ and enable you to reach carefully crafted vistas of success.
Did you smile as you read this story?
Did you marvel at the ‘stupidity’ of some people?
Are you positive that you cannot be so hoodwinked?
You are wrong, my friend. You, also, are prey to the same deluded thinking – the thinking that says ‘space’ was imprisoned.
Do you meditate to become calm and combat overwhelm? Do you seek to achieve ‘liberation’ or ‘enlightenment’ or ‘nirvana’ or ‘satori’? Do you yearn to free yourself from the bondage of samsara?
How can the ever-free be jailed? The only thing that binds you is the notion that you are bound.
Think about it.
Peace!
