How to Attain True Liberation? (Non-Religious)
By: Jananga Piyadasa
Tags: Liberation, Attachment, Buddhism, Stoicism, Philosophy

We don’t truly own anything, people or stuff. All these are outside of our control. We can lose these at any time. ‘Anithya / Anicca’ or ‘Impermanence’ as the Buddhists call it.

However, this does not mean that we should be Nihilists and think that everything is meaningless. True understanding of this reality will liberate us. How?

Enjoy truly what we have — We are so busy going after and collecting things, we don’t have time to truly enjoy those things. This is applicable for money, stuff or people.

— We are so busy going after and collecting things, we don’t have time to truly enjoy those things. This is applicable for money, stuff or people. Accept that we can lose everything we have — So if / when that happens we are ready to let go. ‘Amor Fati’, as the Stoics call it. It will be extremely hard not to be sad or disappointed when it happens. But at least we know it was inevitable, we had those only for a limited time. So we won’t get in to a vicious cycle of grief, anger and ignorance. We wouldn’t do anything rash which can make it worse.

If we can’t truly control anything, why are we having those at all?

Why should we love, be nice and kind to people if we know they may or may not treat us back the same? Because, we don’t have any control over how others may treat us. We may have some influence. But human nature or nature in general is unpredictable.

So is the alternative is not to care, love, be nice and kind? No. We should treat people or any living being in that way because it is the right thing to do. It’s common sense. anyway if everybody did that wouldn’t this world be lot nicer? So we care, love and be nice and kind, not that we expect them to do it for us, because it is the right thing to do.

Imaging having this level of understanding and control over our relationships. We can enjoy all the good things, while accepting everything that can go bad. A true ‘No Strings Attached’ relationship. Isn’t this the true liberation?

Now let’s talk about ambition. Is ambition good or bad? Simple. As long as our ambitions are within our control, it’s good. We all have heard or seen (In movie at least), horror stories of how people become too ambitious and lose sight of things that matter. Whether it’s family or health.

So how can we control our ambitions? Again, accept that everything we aspire for can lose at anytime. Whether it’s money, fame etc. Most people are too attached for these ambitions, any setback will lead them devastated. We all have heard stories of people committing suicide or dying of strokes during financial setbacks like a stock market crash.

Also, we must ensure that we don’t let go the real things that matter because of our ambitions. Which is living a virtuous and a harmonious life. For stoics, virtues like wisdom, courage, justice etc. are the utmost importance.

So do we actually need ambitions at all? Yes. We should have ambitions and pursue our goals. Simply because it is the right thing to do. That is our duty towards the world. By striving for excellence in things we do best, we can contribute to the progress of the world.

Thanks for reading until the end of the article. So this is my take on how to attain true liberation, influenced by Buddhist and Stoic philosophies. TL;DR, accept the inevitable impermanence and do what’s right. What you’re suppose to do. When in doubt, trust your common sense.

Do you agree or not? Feel free to comment or reach out to me at janangat@gmail.com.