What does "Freedom" mean?

My thought is that true freedom can only be spiritual freedom -
An anchor in the void -
Being anchored to no thing and no one, not even our bodies -
That, I think, is true freedom.

As Janis Joplin sang “Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose”

I agree with this. The physical world is very restrictive.

Well I define freedom on two levels. The first is the achievable freedom, and the other is the idealistic.
The real way to feel freedom is not just simply saying it that “I’m free” and than go and watch TV like other millions. I think that freedom needs an opposition. I am free from my desires. Therofore, they don’t control me, i’m free of them. Or, i say that i’m free of the media junk that surrunds me. In some perspective, freedom can be linked to nihilism, but that’s another topic.Briefly, freedom is only known by thoose who lost it for some time and can feel the difference between freedom and slavery. To be ironic a bit, I’ve met a guy from the US and he was very proud of his freedom but he couldn’t really answer when i asked him what freedom is.They tend to forget also, that freedom isn’t real without responsibility.
The other, idealistic freedom is free spirit. A consciousnes free of mater,time and space, floating in eternity.Well man can’t really reach this level, but imagine the infinity of possibilities, with no restrictions to roam the entire existence.

Personally, to give a socratic taste to the comment, I try to free myself of many things as possible. I don’t want to be tied down, i don’t want to feel any kind of addiction. Sometimes they say that this “obsession” makes me inhuman, but i take that as a compliment. Sceptisim is my weapon aganst the brainwashed masses!

DaTa - the consciousness you describe as idealistic is the consciousness I experience during deep meditation (took 4 yrs. living like a hermit to get there, now it’s easy) I call it consciousness of my “Greater Being”, consciousness of the “Spiritual”. My feeble attempts at writing don’t do it justice - the words that come closest, that resonate the most are:

Vanished the veils of light and shade,
Lifted every vapor of sorrow,
Sailed away all dawns of fleeting joy,
Gone the dim sensory mirage.
Love, hate, health, disease, life, death,
Perished these false shadows on the screen of duality.
By magic wand of intuition deep
Past, future, no more for me,
But ever-present, all-flowing I, I, everywhere.
Planets, stars, stardust, earth,
Thoughts of all beings, past, present, to come,
Every blade of grass, myself, mankind,
Each particle of universal dust,
I swallowed, transmuted all
Into a vast ocean of my own one Being!
Smoldering joy, oft-puffed by meditation
Burst into immortal flames of bliss,
Consumed my tears, my frame, my all.
Thou art I, I am Thou, Knowing, Knower, Known, as One!
Tranquilled thrill, eternally living, ever-new peace!
Enjoyable beyond imagination of expectancy, Samadhi bliss!

Not an unconscious state
Or mental chloroform without wilful return,
Samadhi but extends my conscious realm
Beyond limits of the mortal frame to farthest boundary of eternity where I, the Cosmic Sea,
Watch the little ego floating in Me.
Mobile murmurs of atoms are heard,
Flowing seas change into vapors of nebulae!
Aum blows upon vapors, opening wondrously their veils,
Oceans stand revealed, shining electrons!

Freedom is death.

Freedom is different for each of us. I am free to be responsible and free to play hooky and free to love and hate and free to do somany things or be what ever I want. Freedom is understanding the nuances of limits and being able to manipulate it.

I believe our body is generally considered the container of our existence. To be free of our body I think would mean we no longer exist, at least as far as we know.

In my view freedom is an empty void. When the void is empty our spirit is at its maximum which I suppose could mean complete “spiritual freedom”. We can keep the void empty and maintain maximum “spiritual freedom” only by reaching out to the limits of our capacities, to others, and to God. Trying to fill the void restricts us from becoming what we are capable of being and to the degree we try, we diminish our spirit accordingly. One of us can not be free unless we are all free. We are all in this life together.

Doug - my experience is that our Greater Self exists with or without a body - my consciousness tells me that we are Greater Self (by whatever name you choose) having a Human Experience and when the body wears out we will still be Greater Self - I can’t prove it with science and don’t expect anyone else to have the same awareness (reality) - I just enjoy sharing my peace and joy.

Freedom means absolute control of one’s own activities.

Achieving consensus on “the self” is impossible; achieving consensus on the “Greater Self” is greater.

Doug - I don’t understand your reply - what does consensus have to do with me sharing my personal reality?

Freedom, like law and justice, doesn’t really exist. But, in a world of delusion, where one might think they do exist, they are commodities that can be bought, sold, stolen, given or whatever.

What ever any thinks they may be entitled to as a matter of right is Bullshit. Whatever people think they have a inalianable right to, they will find gets alianated all the time.

Freedom is an illusion. We are all in chains, but we do have the ability to pick who our jailers are

Only thing about this is that you are then enslaved by the need of trying to become free.

Maybe exploration - curiosity - is freedom?

Nah coz then your a slave to exploration/curiosity

I am no more sure of what you mean by “sharing my personal reality” than what you mean by “Greater Self”. If sharing your “personal reality” means sharing a hug, then you will succeed. If sharing your “personal reality” means sharing your “faith” or your “view of life”, you will have to use language I suspect will include “self” and “Greater Self”. Unless you are able to transform these vaporous concepts into a solid consensus, your “personal reality” will be similarly vaporous and impossible to share.

Freedom= possiblities (Hi digger)

Possibilites= options

Now the trouble is you can only be free to the extent you know you are free. It’s like all your life you are in a box and one day after many years you learn you sat on the key all along.

Maybe freedom is fearlessness?