A picture of true freedom

Here's a marvelous little story as told by Anthony de Mello in The Heart of the Enlightened:

A King ran into a dervish, and in keeping with the custom of the East when a King met a subject, he said, "Ask for a favor."

The dervish replied, "It would be unseemly for me to ask a favor of one of my slaves."

"How dare you speak so disrespectfully to the King," said a guardsman. "Explain yourself or you shall die."

The dervish said, "I have a slave who is the master of your King."

"Who?"

"Fear," said the dervish.

Fearlessness is truly the greatest freedom. We can start by choosing to be unafraid of what we will find within when we do inner work. Regular meditation equips us for this work because we know what to do with any difficult material that comes up. We notice it, accept it without judgment, we let it go and we return to our meditative support. We can do this throughout our day by returning to the present moment and the task at hand. If we follow this practice, nothing can come up from within that will disturb us. Imprint this process on your consciousness: notice, accept, let go, return; notice, accept, let go return. Repeat it as a mantra and then apply it both in formal sitting and throughout your day. The resulting serenity is just amazing.