Freedom in love means caring for someone or something without expecting anything in return. It’s about nurturing and cherishing, whether it’s a person, a tree, or a pet, without seeking love or comfort back. Many of us struggle with this because our love is often tied to attachment, fear, and the desire for reassurance. True freedom in love comes from releasing this inner dependence on others for our happiness. Only by breaking free from the need for something in return can we experience real freedom. This kind of freedom isn’t about reacting to pain or seeking independence but about understanding and rising above the urge to react entirely.
Understanding Freedom in Love – Insights from J. Krishnamurti
“Do you know what it means to love somebody? Do you know what it means to love a tree, or a bird, or a pet animal, so that you take care of it, feed it, cherish it, though it may not offer you shade, or follow you, or depend on you? Most of us don’t love in that way; we don’t know what that means at all because our love is always hedged about anxiety, jealousy, fear, which implies that we depend inwardly on another; we want to be loved. We don’t just love and leave it there, but we ask something in return, and in that very asking, we become dependent.
To be free, we have to revolt against all inward dependence. Until we understand and really break away from all inward dependence, we can never be free, for only in that understanding can there be freedom. But freedom is not mere reaction. Do you know what a reaction is? If I say something that hurts you, if I call you an ugly name and you get angry with me, that is a reaction – a reaction born of dependence; and independence is a further reaction. But freedom is not a reaction, and until we understand reaction and go beyond it, we are never free.”
The above quoted text is taken from J Krishnamurti’s ‘Think on These Things‘ edited by D Rajagopal.
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