The document discusses how freedom is essential to avoiding stress. When freedom is restricted, as in prisons through controls on movement and activities, it creates a highly stressful life. Additionally, external factors like poor access to resources and internal factors like disparities between dreams and reality can limit freedom and cause stress. However, experiencing stress through the need for freedom also allows one to progress to higher states of freedom. Managing stress requires recognizing and responding to both inner thoughts and outer environment, including social and philosophical influences that can arbitrarily impose beliefs and restrict reasoning. Defective concepts of existence have led to endless arguments between atheism and theism, but a deeper understanding of existence shows that God is beyond definitions of existing or not existing.

1. FREEDOM
DR.
SHRINIWAS
KASHALIKAR

2. We experience STRESS; when our freedom is throttled!
In cellular jails the freedom is throttled in terms of even
making movements; apart from all other activities. The
life is extremely stressful due to the imposition of poor
quality food, water, shelter, clothes, health care,
education etc.
But outside jail also many of us suffer from denial of
freedom due to imposition of food, water, shelter, clothes,
health care, education etc of poor quality; due to various
coercive license system, restrictions on education,
business, construction, cultivation, planting, travel and
our expression in general!
But in addition to the experience of stress of outer
environment; our inner environment i.e. our own
subjective conceptual framework also is responsible for
stress by virtue of the disparity between our dreams and
the factual reality in personal and social life.
Ironically; the experience of stress is actually the
freedom, which the nonliving things (most probably!) do
not have! Thus; the need of freedom although creates
stress; it also opens the path to higher states of freedom!

3. Thus the recognition of and responsiveness to inner and
outer environment; is crucial to stress management.
The traditional philosophy recognizes this truth in
different semantics. Thus unless a person is stressed and
strained (called three types = trividha; of suffering =
taapa) and recognizes it; (which means the individual has
come out of the darkness of delirium (baddha = bound;
stage = avastha) and begun to seek the light of truth
(seeker = mumukshu) truth; he/she does not ‘qualify’ to
enter the final common pathway of moksha i.e. freedom!
The recognition of and responsiveness to inner and outer
environment (crucial to stress management) includes our
psycho-social environment also. Thus; superstitious
imposition of the existence or non existence of God; by
suppressing reasoning and arguments; in an arbitrary
and coercive manner is also stressful.
If we recognize that defective material conditions are
caused by defective perspectives, policies, plans,
programs and their implementation, which in turn are
caused by defective and/or subjective concepts; then we
can rectify our concepts, perspective, policies, plans,

4. programs and their implementation and experience
progressive states of freedom in factual reality.
Just as material conditions cause stress and subsequent
deterioration in our consciousness; defective
consciousness and concepts destroy the unity and
harmony, which are the essential foundation for crating
better living conditions.
One example of defective consciousness and concepts is
the conflict between atheism and theism arising from
defective concept of existence.
The word existence is actually very deep and meaningful.
We tend to ignore the deeper aspects of this word! As a
result of ignoring the different meanings of the word
“existence”, the followers of so called atheism and theism
go on arguing endlessly!
Existence of a stone, existence of electricity, existence of
laser rays, existence of space, existence of time, existence
of a bird, existence of a boy, existence of mind, existence
of feeling, existence of thoughts; all are described by a
single word existence.

5. Due to lack of appreciation of these meanings of the word,
the sense of satisfaction, unity, fearlessness, joy etc. keep
on eluding us.
Actually we have freedom to practice NAMASMARAN
and understand that God does not exist and also does not
NON-EXIST! He “is” beyond the routine meaning of the
word “exist”! This is a buoyant experience of cosmic
unity and equanimity, wherefrom individual and
universal blossoming springs and in which all differences
of subjectivity such as theism and atheism dissolve.