The path to ultimate liberation, full awakening

NO discussion on liberation would be complete without coming to the Ultimate – the holistic (all-round) liberation: Deliverance in all aspects of human life; physical, spiritual, intellectual and social that moulds an individual into an independent, reliable, dedicated and responsible citizen full of zeal for enhancing the development ideals.One who neither hates nor desires the fruits of their activities is known to be always renounced. Such a person, free from all dualities, easily overcomes material bondage and is completely liberated.Liberation is a story of dedication and struggle born from political transformation and extends to other facets of life to attain completeness: Do we allow the everyday cruelty of the world to continue right before our eyes, or do we intervene and reroute the world towards a new ethic of inter-species respect and appreciation? Speaking to issues of justice, education, environmentalism, gender equality, child labour, corruption, love, and empowerment, among others, should be considered on the path to ‘ultimate liberation’.Rwanda will on Monday be celebrating the 18th Liberation and 50th Independence anniversaries, and we have all reasons to salute the heroes who constantly fought for something meaningful in the past cruel and oppressive world… something bigger than themselves in a society that rewarded self-interest and hypocritically repressed freedom struggle. However, there is a big question that keeps nagging my mind; have we really reached the brim- attained ‘ultimate liberation’?This is a question that could be probably answered at an individual level or collectively; Rwanda, as a country, has attained several milestones as a step towards ultimate liberation. The leadership promotes gender equality, with women well represented in various top leadership positions. Education sector too continues to experience positive changes among other incredible developments. Nevertheless, more has to be done in order to carry on the positive trend if ultimate liberation is to be attained.Think of ourselves, yes we were liberated politically 18 years ago, we have since excelled in all spheres of our existence, but what more are we doing to ensure that we even reach greater heights and limits. For instance, that each individual acquires quality education, that we have equal employment opportunities, that we live together in harmony, that we recoil from child labour and fully embrace the ideals of a fast developing nation.If we still condone hatred amongst ourselves at the expense of love and forgiveness, liberation is out of our reach. If we still put self interests first and disregard the plight of our brothers and sisters, we have a long way to go in attaining ultimate liberation. If we still use vulnerable and young children as our workers at home and mistreating them instead of granting them their right to education, we are an obstacle to liberation.It is without any uncertainty whatsoever that I suppose our heroes who fought for liberation had the concept of quality education for all, equal employment and development prospects for Rwanda in their thoughts as they fought the bitter battle till the end. It is, therefore, imperative that as we mark liberation, the only tribute that we can pay to our heroes and our nation is to enhance the tenets of true liberation.It is, thus, clear that the path to liberation entails three fundamental concepts; right faith which means true belief in yourself, leaders and your country’s development agenda, right knowledge which means true understanding and right conduct which puts the whole idea into practice. We should try to develop right faith, because the path to liberation does not begin without achieving this.Of all the three, first of all we should try to achieve right faith with all our strength, since in the presence of this attribute; both consciousness and conduct become right. Without right faith, all knowledge is ignorance and all merits, including moderation and rules of conduct, are unreal conduct. The correct knowledge of purposeful, multifaceted elements without doubt, perversity and indecisiveness is right knowledge.Ultimate Liberation, then, is not the attainment of a static state or ground. It is rather the freedom of an individual to fully engage in autopoiesis, that is, to reach the flexibility and impressionability, combined with mature autonomy, that allow one to be transparent to the fullness of their potential, in a dynamic responsiveness to their environment.The self-renewal becomes a continuous dynamic process, where one constantly and spontaneously restructures oneself, expressing the richness of their potential in attunement to the prospects of a swift developing nation – in this case, Rwanda.It is always for greater joy that you give up the lesser. This is practical liberation, the attainment of freedom, renunciation. Renounce the lower so that you may get the higher. Sacrifice! Give up! Not for zero. Not for nothing, but to get the higher-ultimate liberation.