Freedom is Salvation from Prison

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You must recall the words "salvation" or "liberation" used in all religions. The final goal of all religions is salvation or emancipation, or whatever word most suitable in each language. But all these words have the same meaning, getting saved.

All religions teach salvation. Then, from what are we saved? We are saved from spiritual prison. The thing that all of you want and need - even right at this moment - is the thing called "freedom" or "liberty", which is simply escape from prison. Whether a physical, material prison or a mental, spiritual prison, the meaning is the same. In all cases, we want freedom.

Those who lack of wisdom can see and fear only physical, material prisons. But those who have wisdom to look deeper will see how much more terrifying and dangerous the spiritual prison is. Really, we can see that hardly anybody is locked up in ordinary jails, while everyone in the world is caught in the spiritual prison.

For instance, everyone of you sitting here are free of ordinary prison, but you all are incarcerated in the spiritual prison. That which drives us to e interested in Dharma, to come and study Dharma, to practice mental development, is the oppression and force of being caught in this spiritual prison. Whether you feel it or not isn't important. It forces us, no matter what to struggle and search for a way out of spiritual imprisonment.

Nonetheless, it is forcing all of you whether you realize it or not, to find spiritual freedom. So you come looking here and such other places. Although that which imprisons us is only one thing, namely upadana all by itself, this prison takes many different forms. there are dozens of styles and kinds of prisons.

If we take the time to study every type of prison, it will help us to understand this phenomenon much better, then we will understand upadana better, and we will also understand better in tanha (craving) and kilesa (defilement of mind) which according to the Buddhist teaching, cause dukkha. We will understand the issue dukkha if we understand the issue of prison clearly and thoroughly.

We would like to advise you to use this word upadana instead of "attachment" or any other English translation. Those English words are constantly being misunderstood. You may not understand it fully at this time, but try to use the word upadana to accustom your mouth, your mind and your feeling to it. We must realize that the heart of Buddhism is to wipe out upadana. The heart of Buddhism is that which gets rid of upadana or cuts it out. Ten there is no prison and then there is no dukkha.

You must take the meaning of the English words attachment, grasping and clinging, then combine them to get the meaning of upadana. It is better for us to use the word upadana. Its meaning is broader and it will enable us to look into this matter far deeper and extensively.

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