Einstein on Freedom

[Magnet Man]

“Man should not have to work for the achievement
of the necessities of life to such an extent that he has
neither the time nor the strength, for personal activities.
Without this outward liberty, freedom of expression is
useless for him. Advances in technology would provide
the possibility of this kind of freedom if the problem of
a reasonable division of labor were solved."

[orbsycli]

instead, we're scattered accross the concrete
doing this,
instead of that.

[Lasher]

I also like this one from the A man...

"If the possibility of the spiritual development of all individuals is to be secured, a second kind of outward freedom is necessary. The development of science and of the creative activities of the spirit in general requires still another kind of freedom, which may be characterised as inward freedom. It is this freedom of the spirit which consists in the interdependence of thought from the restrictions of authoritarian and social prejudices as well as from unphilosophical routinizing and habit in general. This inward freedom is an infrequent gift of nature and a worthy object for the individual."

[piper]

I think that man needs the freedom and liesure of time. when one is poor he has no time to be creative, when one is wealthy he is too busy managing the affairs of the rich. There is a great sense of luxury in having the time to watch a child just be a child. Or to escape in the freedom of reverie, explore fading memories. These to me are all freedom. To not worry about the state of the world and feel a guilty pleasure of doing nothing when so much is needed to be done to secure a small sense of freedom for the truly needy. To have a feeling that people won't starve to death today, that is freedom. When all have as much as I that is freedom. (sighs wistfully)

[TarotDragon]

I'm ashamed to say I never knew Einstein was a man for freedom.

But to pose a question. If man had the ability, or the leisure, to just sit back and do what he pleased without having to do the work that kept him alive, would he appreciate that time? I savor whatever small opportunities I get to do what I please without the guilt of feeling I should be doing something else. But I cannot help but wonder: would I love them so much if they were the norm?

TD

[piper]

Hey TD, good pondering....It seems like there is alot about Einstien that people don't know. I guess that holds true for all of us.
I think that along the lines of your question I think it would depend on the state of the world or the environment that you reside in. If there is alot of work at hand and you are spending your time leisurely then you would feel guitly. But if things are running smoothly around you and life itself is in a balanced state then you would have the freedom to relax and let your spirit go to create. It's funny how we always think that "normal" is boring. Or normal would not be appreciated, maybe we should wonder more about that. Hmmm have to think more about that :-).......

[TarotDragon]

I suppose so.

piper said:

It's funny how we always think that "normal" is boring. Or normal would not be appreciated, maybe we should wonder more about that. Hmmm have to think more about that :-).......

I don't know. I mean, I guess "normal" is only boring when the norm is tedious. Would the normal be boring if we were always creative? Or would the normal day to day work be the spark in our day? I'd like to see that happen.

Anyhow, rammblings of the TarotDragon.

Peace all

[know knot]

strictlyplatonic said:

I'm ashamed to say I never knew Einstein was a man for freedom.

But to pose a question. If man had the ability, or the leisure, to just sit back and do what he pleased without having to do the work that kept him alive, would he appreciate that time? I savor whatever small opportunities I get to do what I please without the guilt of feeling I should be doing something else. But I cannot help but wonder: would I love them so much if they were the norm?

TD

I am in lead with you here, TD. I also savor the rarity of spare time. As posted by MM,

“Man should not have to work for the achievement
of the necessities of life to such an extent that he has
neither the time nor the strength, for personal activities"

"Extent".
I believe we all have to toil in the soil so that we can appreciate the higher qualities and leisures of life.

Balance is key.


knot

[Jupiter]

metalslaved said:

"Extent".
I believe we all have to toil in the soil so that we can appreciate the higher qualities and leisures of life.

Balance is key.


knot

Right on Knot! Man I gotta keep my feet in the ground or I lose sight of who I am and what I'm doing here. But what about all the poor suckers in the world that aren't afforded balance, what about the ever widening gap between rich and poor, like does the rich man every dirty and the poor man ever get clean?

[MagnetMan]

jupiter said:

[Right on Knot! Man I gotta keep my feet in the ground or I lose sight of who I am and what I'm doing here. But what about all the poor suckers in the world that aren't afforded balance, what about the ever widening gap between rich and poor, like does the rich man every dirty and the poor man ever get clean?

Identification with one's craft is a necessary process towards enlightenment. But just as an infant lets go of mamma, and a child lets go of toys, and pubertals let go of heroes and teens let go of rebelious self- deterministic Narcissim, so too must the craftsman let go of that identity.
The next identity is that of the parent.

After letting go of one's children. the object of sagehood is to become self-realized. without any crutches needed to to kniow exatly where you stand in the Cosmic scheme of things.
.

[murex]

Einstein also believed that the imagination was man's greatest asset.

I agree.

[MagnetMan]

I once spent several days fasting on a walkabout in a mountain wilderness.

I carried nothing but a box of matches and a bottle of water. I had no camp or belongings to return to or any need to go looking for food. All I had to do was walk, look, enjoy, and wander as i wondered what was over the next rise. When I got tired each evening, I made a fire and bed down right where I was.

For the first two days I had to keep reminding myself that i really was free to be exactly where I was. I was attached to nothing. I could go or stay and be anywhere at any time I felt like. Once that reality finally set in, for the first time in my life, I got a taste of what freedom of spirit really means.

I think when we die, we have that same feeling as we wander through the wondrous cosmos.

The magical feeling of freedom was lost the minute I turned for home.

[murex]

Too bad we are chained to our possessions.

[Kwan Yu]

murex said:

Too bad we are chained to our possessions.

And to gravity

[Jupiter]

murex said:

Einstein also believed that the imagination was man's greatest asset.

I agree.

Yah and look at where it can take us....amazing how much destruction we can cause with a little imagination, we've come so far