What does freedom mean to you?
For most people freedom depends on external conditions such as having money.
Money does indeed offer independence and the luxury of managing your own time.
Health is another condition, making room for an active life.
Speaking your truth without being in danger is a big one, as is being able to go wherever you want.

Still, none of those situations touch the very core of freedom which is an inner affair.
You could be rich, yet the prisoner of a childhood trauma that unwittingly steers your thoughts and behavior.
You could be powerful, yet dancing to the tune of some fear without even realizing it.

So many of us mistake independence for freedom.

True freedom is about making choices, regardless of external circumstances.
It's choosing to face your fears and other demons so that they no longer influence you from their hiding spot.
It's choosing to listen to their messages — the only way to dissolve them. Every fear, every heaviness, carries an invitation to transform something
about yourself. You are the creator of your life: your energy attracts your experiences. If you want change, you have to look at what you allow
to circulate within yourself: your thoughts, emotions, beliefs, attitudes.
True freedom is a matter between you and you.
It's your Real Self overcoming the tyranny of your survival self.
It's choosing to act from a place of serenity rather than instantly react from a wound that was triggered.
This insight allows you to expand into something much larger than any circumstances around you.

Some men and women reached illumination — the ultimate freedom — in a prison cell.
One of them was Sri Aurobindo who lived in India in the early 20th century.