True Freedom Is Revealed in the Mind

True freedom is not acting carelessly in whatever way we want. Rather, when we are not dragged along by attachment and fear, and can see our own mind rightly, a natural ease appears in our expression and attitude.

When the mind is dark, the body also becomes tense and speech becomes sharp. By contrast, when the mind brightens, a sense of composure appears even without outer decoration. This is not a matter of appearance, but the state of the mind flowing outward.

Freedom is not a state in which all outer conditions go according to my wishes. Conditions are always changing, but the strength not to lose my mind before those conditions is freedom. When we gradually set down the cords of attachment and are not pulled by fear, the door of the mind opens from within.

What matters in this teaching is not forcing the mind to look better or trying to change it all at once. First, notice where the mind is caught right now, and from that very place choose one step in a more upright direction. Practice is not a special event far away; it appears in the expressions, words, judgments, and care of the day.