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Speaker 1: Perfect freedom. There is no bondage in the heavenly life.

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There is perfect freedom. This is its great glory. This

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supreme freedom is gained only by obedience. He who obeys

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the highest co operates with the highest, and so masters

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every force within himself and every condition without. A man

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may choose the lower and neglect the higher, but the

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higher is never overcome by the lower. Herein lies the

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revelation of freedom. Let a man choose the higher and

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abandon the lower, and he shall then establish himself as

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an overcomer, and shall realize perfect freedom. To give the

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reins to inclination is the only slavery. To conquer one's

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self is the only freedom. The slave to self loves

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his chains and will not have one of them broken,

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for fear he would be depriving himself of some cherished

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He clings to his gratifications and vanities, regarding freedom from

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them as an empty and undesirable condition. He thus defeats

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and enslaves himself by self. Enlightenment is perfect freedom found

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whilst a man remains ignorant of himself, of his desires,

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of his emotions and thoughts, and of the inward causes

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which mold his life and destiny. Having neither control nor

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understanding of himself, he will remain in bondage to passion, sorrow, suffering,

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and fluctuating fortune. The land of perfect freedom lies through

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the gate of knowledge. All outward oppression is but the

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shadow and effect of the real oppression within. For ages,

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the oppressed have cried for liberty, and a thousand man

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made statutes have failed to give it to them. They

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can give it only to themselves. They shall find it

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only in obedience to the divine statutes which are inscribed

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upon their hearts. Let them resort to the inward freedom,

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and the shadow of oppression shall no more darken the earth.

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Let men cease to oppress themselves, and no man shall

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oppress his brother. Men legislate for outward freedom, yet continue

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to render such freedom impossible of achievement by fostering and

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inward condition of enslavement. They thus pursue a shadow without

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and ignore the substance within. Man will be free when

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he is freed from self. All outward forms of bondage

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and oppression will cease to be when man ceases to

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be the willing bond slave of passion, error, and ignorance.

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Freedom is to the free. Whilst men cling to weakness,

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they cannot have strength. Whilst they love darkness, they cannot

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receive light, and so long as they prefer bondage, they

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can enjoy no liberty. Strength, light, and freedom are ready

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now and can be had by all who love them,

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who aspire to them. Freedom does not reside in cooperative aggression,

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for this will always produce reactively cooperative defense, warfare, hatred,

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party strife, and the destruction of liberty. Freedom resides in

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individual self conquest. The emancipation of humanity is frustrated and

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withheld by the self enslavement of the unit. Thou who

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criest to Man and God for liberty, liberate thyself. The

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heavenly freedom is freedom from passion, from cravings, from opinions,

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from the tyranny of the flesh and the tyranny of

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the intellect. This first, and then all outward freedom as

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effect to cause the freedom that begins within and extends outwardly,

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and tell it as the whole man, is an emancipation

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so complete, all embracing, and perfect as to leave no

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galling fetter unbroken, free thy soul from all sin, and

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thou shalt walk of freed and fearless man in the

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midst of a world of fearful slaves, and seeing thee

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many slaves, shall take heart and shall join thee in

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thy glorious freedom. He who says, my worldly duties are

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irksome to me, I will leave them and go into solitude,

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where I shall be as free as the air, and

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thinks to gain freedom thus will find only a harder slavery.

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The tree of freedom is rooted in duty, and he

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who would pluck its sweet fruits must discover joy and duty.

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Glad hearted, calm, and ready for all tasks. Is he

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who is freed from self. Irksomeness and weariness cannot enter

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his heart, and his divine strength lightens every burden so

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that its weight is not felt. He does not run

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away from duty with his chains about him, but breaks

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them and stands free. Make thyself pure, make thyself proof

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against weakness, temptation, and sin. For only in thine own

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heart and mind shalt thou find that perfect freedom for

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which the whole world sighs and seeks in vain