Liberation Is Not Just a Buzzword

Liberation, also known as Moksha in Sanskrit, isn’t just something trendy to say. In Ayurveda and Yoga, there are four aims of life: Dharma (your soul’s purpose, with a capital P), Artha (material abundance), Kama (pleasure, not karma), and finally Moksha, liberation, freedom.

Moksha is considered the ultimate goal of the soul, what we are all, in some way, moving toward, the end of the road. When a soul has fulfilled its purpose here on Earth, it becomes liberated and leaves the earthly plane, what I sometimes describe to children, or to those I don’t choose to use the word “death” with, as returning to the skies. The soul releases the gross elements of earth, water, and fire and returns to the ethers. It is never lost, only transformed into a more subtle state.

But Moksha isn’t something we wait for at the end of life, it’s something we can experience here in the human body. It lives in the freedom within our relationships, our careers, our schedules, our expressions and our day to day existence. It’s in a partnership that allows you to be fully yourself without control or restriction, a sovereign love where you stand as your own pillar, deeply rooted, while knowing another pillar may stand beside you but it is not you. A career that doesn't drain you, but instead it encourages your to keep serving. It's in a home or community that doesn't box you in to a "cookie cutter" way of being.

Liberation does not bow to societal expectations or submit to cultural conditioning, colonial frameworks, capitalist pressure, or patriarchal demands, and it does not let your career, your colleagues, or your community define who you “should” be. From that space, you can actually hear your soul, begin to understand your purpose here, and have the courage to live it.

Some souls come to this realization sooner than others, fulfilling their purpose and returning to the ethers, while others come back again and again to continue the work until that final stage of Moksha is reached and the cycle is complete.

If liberation is the ultimate goal, why not embody it now, why not practice it in this lifetime. Don’t let a friend group, a relationship, a marriage, or even family dictate your soul’s path. Yes, we are influenced by those around us, and yes, we may be part of a soul family, but your path is not theirs to control. Practice detachment, not as disconnection, but as devotion to your truth. Stay rooted in your path and serve in the way your soul is asking you to.

And while you are here, earthside, feel your freedom, feel the wind in your hair, the sun on your skin, dance under the moon, sing to it, taste deeply, indulge in food and good wine, in beauty, in experience, travel, swim in the ocean, witness the world. Sleep in late and rest, radically. Slow down. Say no. Say yes! Speak your truth. Stay silent and pull back your energy when you need to. Release control over others, over your partners, over your family, and gently, over yourself. Let your spirit, your true nature, which is pure love, lead. Others will feel it, and in your liberation, they may remember their own.