‘The Last Human Freedom’ — An Antidote to Hopelessness
About Hopeless Struggle, Victimhood and Inner Journey
As a spiritual educator and mentor, I get to hear a lot about the personal struggles people go through and their battles with hopelessness. Here is what I have understood.
There is no such thing as ‘Hopeless Struggle’
I have observed that it’s not the struggle or the challenges that deter us. Rather, the feeling of meaninglessness behind the struggle is what is unnerving.
The feeling that:
- This struggle has no purpose in itself.
- It has no utility in my life.
- It is not serving any practical purpose other than blocking my progress.
It’s essential to understand this phase of life in detail and how we can deal with it.
But learning the proper perspective to see it is an even higher priority.
If we don’t learn to see this phase of life correctly, it’s very easy to fall into the slippery slope of victimhood.
The Slippery Slope of Victimhood
In the absence of progress forward, we look back on our past to find someone or something to blame.
We start to see ourselves as a slave of circumstances who can’t escape. So, we try to find out who was responsible for it rather than searching for an alternate path toward growth.
Although the reality is that even if externally it might seem that we are not making any progress during our struggles, a lot goes inside us.
The Neglected Inner Journey
The inner journey is often not externally visible immediately. As human beings, our inner journey and growth are equally important to our external journey and growth. We, however, neglect these inner journeys and milestones.
Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13 Verse 8–12 Lord Krishna lists attributes of a knowledgeable person. Someone who is also focussing on the ‘inner journey.’
“Humility; pridelessness; nonviolence; tolerance; simplicity; approaching a bona fide spiritual master; cleanliness; steadiness; self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification; absence of false ego; the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; detachment; freedom from entanglement with children, wife, home and the rest; even-mindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me; aspiring to live in a solitary place; detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization; and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth — all these I declare to be knowledge, and besides this whatever there may be is ignorance.”
— Bhagavad Gita 13.8–12
If we analyze carefully, we will find that even though our external journey might be delayed due to obstacles, we progress significantly in one or more of the above inner qualities.
But to see this inner growth and navigate our inner journey properly during turbulent times, we must learn to exercise our ‘Last Human Freedom.’
The ‘Last of the Human Freedoms’
This phrase was coined by Victor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist, in his book “Man’s Search for Meaning.”
He writes about his time in four Nazi death camps from 1942 to 1945. In one distressing moment, he was lying in a torture chamber, stripped of everything, after losing his parents, brother, and wife to the Nazis. During this time, he realized what he later called the “last of the human freedoms.”
He believed that even if we have been robbed of everything and lost all external freedom, we still have one freedom left: our ability to choose our attitude, i.e., how we see and react to the situation.
“The last of the human freedoms: to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. And there were always choices to make. Every day, every hour, offered the opportunity to make a decision, a decision which determined whether you would or would not submit to those powers that threatened to rob you of your very self, your inner freedom; which determined whether or not you become the plaything to circumstance, renouncing freedom and dignity…”
— Victor Frankl, Man’s Search For Ultimate Meaning
By making deliberate and conscious choices, we retain our sense of self-worth and dignity, even in the face of difficult circumstances.
This means we’re not mere “playthings” of fate but active participants in shaping our own lives.
Conclusion
We might not make external progress during our struggle phases, but we go further in our inner journey. Rather than seeing ourselves as helpless victims of circumstances, we must exercise our freedom to choose our attitude and act accordingly.
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As a monk in Vedic tradition, educator, and mentor, I study, reflect, and share ideas of Ancient and Contemporary ‘Thought Leaders’ about Personal Growth, Spirituality, and Learning.
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