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The Modern Druid’s View of
Liberation Why Enlightenment Happens
Every Moment In
ancient Indian philosophy, moksha—often translated as liberation or
enlightenment—was proposed as the highest human aspiration. To be liberated
meant to be free from the cycle of death and rebirth, to awaken from
illusion, and to realize oneself as none other than Brahman, the infinite
ground of being. It sounded mystical, even impossible. Something for monks in
caves, perhaps—not for the rest of us muddling through the world. But what
if that’s not the whole story? What if
liberation isn’t reserved for mystics and sages—but is actually
something we all experience, repeatedly, though not consciously, a
thousand times a day.? What if
moksha is built into us—not as a lofty goal, but as a functional response to
solving problems? This is
the modern druid’s view of liberation. It’s both ancient and modern, poetic
and practical. It honours the mystical but finds it hiding in the mundane. Liberation Is Release from Restriction The word moksha
comes from the Sanskrit root muc, meaning "to release" or
"to let go." In its broadest sense, it means freedom from
whatever binds you. That’s not necessarily spiritual bondage. It could be
the confusion of a tangled shoelace, a locked door, or a confusing idea. From this
perspective, liberation happens not just in mystical samadhi—but also: ·
When a child finally learns how to tie their
shoes. ·
When a parent masters
the trick of changing a baby’s diaper at 2 a.m. ·
When an artist finally sees how a composition
should come together. ·
When a programmer solves a persistent bug. ·
When a meditator sees through the illusion of
separation. In each
case, something was unclear or constraining—until it wasn't. And with that
clarity comes a feeling we all know: relief,
joy, a sense of expansion. This, too, is liberation. Liberation Is Problem-Solving At its
core, the modern druid sees liberation as the after-effect of
problem-solving. Whenever we move from confusion to understanding, from
tension to resolution, we experience a micro-moksha. The content doesn't
matter. The structure is the same. Even more
striking: this ability is built into us. It’s part of the equipment we’re
born with. Every baby comes with a drive to figure things out—how to crawl,
grasp, speak, navigate. This problem-solving instinct isn’t just a survival
tool. It’s also how we encounter meaning, joy, and freedom. Liberation
isn’t some exotic state. It’s what it feels like to understand something
deeply. From Shoelaces to Self-Realization You might
ask: sure, solving a puzzle brings satisfaction. But
is that really the same as spiritual liberation? The
modern druid’s answer is: it’s the same structure,
just at different scales. Just as a
child feels joy when they conquer a physical challenge, the sage feels joy
when they see through the illusion of separateness. The difference isn’t in
kind, but in scope. Both are releases from restriction. Both are liberations. In this
way, the grand spiritual event of “enlightenment” is part of the same
continuum as a hundred small awakenings we have throughout the day,
throughout a life. The Pleasure of Liberation There’s
also a reward system built into this. When we solve something difficult, we
feel good. This pleasure isn’t accidental. From an evolutionary point
of view, the pleasure generated by liberation reinforces what helped us grow,
adapt, and survive. So the ananda (bliss)
spoken of in Vedanta isn’t some celestial prize. It’s the natural joy that
follows the discovery of structure, the release from constraint, the return
to coherence and the survival advantage it brings. Why Everyone Is a Candidate for Moksha This
vision reframes what it means to be human. We are not flawed beings trying to
attain some perfect state—we are pattern-recognizers, meaning-makers,
and liberators by nature. Everyone has access to moksha because
everyone has access to understanding. In this
sense, moksha is not a final destination.
It’s a recurring possibility—a mode of knowing and being that shows up again and again in daily life. The sage
isn’t special because they are liberated. They’re special because they see
that everything can be a path to liberation. The Druid’s Wisdom The
modern druid, the naturalist standing at the crossroads of ancient myth and
modern mind, doesn’t reject the mystical. But he knows, is aware that it is
not somewhere else—it’s right here, in the act of understanding, in the
moment the knot comes loose, in the breath after the insight lands. He walks
with reverence not because the world is holy—but because it is knowable, and
every act of knowing is a form of release. So the next time you untangle
a problem, crack a code, or simply understand something that was once
unclear—pause. Observe the sudden sense of brightness. And the small joy it
brings? That’s was moksha. |