In an ideal situation, all human beings are born to be free and explore this world out of that freedom. However, we see human beings exploited by the fellow human beings. There are nations exploited by the other nations, organizations being exploited by the other organizations, and the human beings exploited by the other human beings. It appears on the surface the exploiter is responsible for the exploitation, however, if we observe a little deeper, we will soon realize that it is the exploited who is allowing the exploitation to take place due to his fears.
In a dictatorial regime such as the British rule over India before independence, people are afraid for their lives and the lives of their family members and therefore allow themselves to be exploited. Such regimes demonstrate certain examples of extreme fear by killing and torturing people and others get frightened and follow the dictate. It so happens in organizations too. The owner fires the employees who are reluctant to obey his instructions and other employees get frightened and follow the unreasonable command. At the core of this exploitation is the fear of losing a job since it is difficult to find another job. Similarly, in relationships, too many people accept exploitation due to the fear of losing the support system that relationships provide. Sometimes there is a fear of losing social validation. We are afraid that if disputes in the relationship become public, there will be widespread criticism from society.
There is one common feature of all the fears. Fear takes us away from freedom. All the human beings are born free. We are here to grow and explore the world. However, we get fixated on one or the other thing and that fixation makes us fearful. We get fixated on the body and whenever we get threats to survival, we become full of fear. In these situations, we fail to realize that most of the fear is just an imagination of the mind and the real fear is just a fragment of what the mind has perceived. Further, we do not remember that life is a continuum of birth and death. We just get fixated on our desire to somehow survive and in the process, end up falling into the trap of exploitation.
Similarly, in organizations, we somehow get fixated on the comforts and start fearing the unknown. That fear of unknown is exploited by the employer and he forces many things on the employees that are prima facie exploitation. The employee fails to realize that most of the fears are unfounded and there are many more opportunities available to the employee in the market.
The genesis of fear lies in a lack of awareness. In moments of unawareness, we do not look at reality as it is and form many mental stories about reality that are far away from reality perse. We start believing in these stories and after a time, these stories look more real than reality. We get trapped in these stories and our decisions and actions are founded on these stories. We make stories about our weaknesses, reactions of others, consequences, implications, and so many other things. Society promotes all these mental stories and adds fuel to the fire. It serves the interest of society that we live a life based on fear. Free birds are a threat to the society. Freedom gives them the courage to challenge the traditions and value systems that societies have built over a period of time. That is the reason that free birds are disliked by everybody and their free spirits are hammered by society in every possible way.
Freedom has a very different attraction of its own. If somebody experiences freedom even once, it is very difficult for him to stay a slave even in the most comfortable palace. That is the reason why these free souls have always inspired humanity. Kabir, Nanak, Meera, and Buddha challenged the very foundations of contemporary society and that is the reason why they had to face a very strong criticism from the contemporary society. However, they inspired many who chose freedom to fear and will keep inspiring such people. Each one of us has to make a choice between freedom and fear. Once we choose fear, we are bound to be exploited. Freedom has its own cost.
Comments