Liberation is the ultimate pleasure, because it can never be attained.
- Madhukar Dama
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
Liberation refers to the act or state of being set free—physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, or politically. It means release from constraint, control, bondage, or limitation.
Depending on context, liberation can describe:
Freedom from external oppression (e.g., colonialism, imprisonment)
Release from internal suffering (e.g., fear, ego, desire)
Awakening from illusion or ignorance (as in spiritual enlightenment)
Common Synonyms of Liberation (Grouped by Context)
1. General / Everyday Freedom
Freedom
Release
Emancipation
Deliverance
Relief
Escape
Rescue
Unshackling
Unbinding
2. Political / Social Context
Independence
Decolonization
Sovereignty
Rebellion (contextually)
Autonomy
Revolution (contextually)
Self-rule
Detachment (from systems of control)
3. Spiritual / Philosophical Context
Enlightenment
Awakening
Nirvana
Moksha (Hinduism)
Samadhi (Yogic tradition)
Salvation (Christianity)
Satori (Zen Buddhism)
Self-realization
Transcendence
Ego death
Inner peace
4. Psychological / Emotional Context
Catharsis
Healing
Letting go
Breakthrough
Unburdening
Reconciliation
Acceptance
Freedom from trauma
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Now, let's examine the claim that "Liberation is the ultimate pleasure, because it can never be attained."
This statement reveals a deep spiritual and psychological paradox: that true freedom or enlightenment—often sought as the highest human goal—is most pleasurable not because it is achieved, but because it is eternally pursued.
Below is an exhaustive breakdown of reasons supporting this idea from philosophy, psychology, spiritual traditions, and human experience:
I. PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE
1. The Value of Pursuit Over Attainment
We derive more meaning from the journey than the destination.
Example: Climbing a mountain is fulfilling not because you stand at the top forever, but because you climbed.
2. Desire Needs an Object It Cannot Reach
Desire is self-perpetuating—it exists only as long as the object remains unattainable.
Example: We crave “freedom,” but once we feel free, we look for another form of freedom.
3. Liberation = Void = No One Left to Enjoy It
If liberation is truly ego-less, then there is no "you" to enjoy it. The ego resists this dissolution.
Example: A candle cannot know darkness until it goes out.
4. Ultimate Goals Must Be Inaccessible
If liberation were easy or complete, it wouldn’t feel ultimate.
Example: If everyone could buy "peace" in a store, it would no longer be precious.
II. PSYCHOLOGICAL & HUMAN EXPERIENCE
5. We Are Wired to Seek
The human brain thrives on purpose and forward motion.
Example: After solving one problem, we instinctively create another.
6. Pleasure in Hope, Not Completion
Anticipation releases dopamine. Fulfillment often leaves a void.
Example: The excitement before a date often outweighs the date itself.
7. The Illusion of “Almost There” Sustains Motivation
Believing liberation is just around the corner keeps us moving.
Example: Spiritual seekers stay on the path for decades, enchanted by glimpses.
8. Total Freedom Would Kill Identity
The ego defines itself by limitations and struggles. No limits = ego death.
Example: A liberated self is no longer a “self” at all.
9. Suffering Creates Meaning
Without some tension, even liberation loses context.
Example: You know warmth only in contrast to cold.
III. SPIRITUAL INSIGHT
10. Mystics Describe Liberation as a Paradox
Mystics often say: "The one who seeks liberation is what must be lost."
Example: In Zen, enlightenment happens when you stop trying to achieve it.
11. Non-Duality: No Seeker, No Liberation
If everything is already one, there’s no liberation to attain—only illusion to drop.
Example: A wave seeking the ocean is already ocean.
12. Liberation Is a State, Not a Goal
It’s not an achievement but a natural unfolding.
Example: A flower doesn’t "attain" blooming; it just blooms.
13. Desire for Liberation Is Itself Bondage
The wanting creates the illusion of a lack.
Example: Wanting freedom implies you're not already free—which is the trap.
IV. SYMBOLIC & CULTURAL LENSES
14. Myths Portray Liberation as Elusive
From Nirvana to Eden to Moksha, the "final state" is always distant or metaphorical.
Example: The Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree after renouncing the pursuit itself.
15. Art and Poetry Thrive on Longing
Creative energy is rooted in the unfulfilled.
Example: Love poems are rarely about happy couples, but about yearning.
16. Liberation Is a Mirror
It reflects the seeker’s deepest illusion—that there's somewhere to go.
Example: A dog chasing its tail never realizes it’s part of itself.
17. Infinite Games > Finite Games
Liberation is an “infinite game”—played for the joy of playing, not winning.
Example: Music isn’t about reaching the final note.
V. EXISTENTIAL & METAPHYSICAL INSIGHTS
18. Liberation is the Cessation of Seeking, Not the End Goal
When you stop chasing it, it reveals itself—not as a prize, but as presence.
Example: Peace is what’s left when you're not resisting anything.
19. The Seeker Is the Sought
The pleasure isn’t in getting something new, but remembering what’s always been true.
Example: Realizing you were never caged in the first place.
20. The Mind Cannot Grasp Liberation
If it's graspable, it's conceptual—thus not true liberation.
Example: You can talk about silence, but that isn’t silence.
21. The Unattainable Feeds Transcendence
Knowing you’ll never fully “get there” frees you from the illusion that you must.
Example: A horizon that always moves invites endless wonder.
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Sure. Here's your concept — "Liberation is the ultimate pleasure because it can never be attained" — rewritten in the raw, unfiltered, gritty style of Charles Bukowski:
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never free, never clean
(a poem after Bukowski)
they talk about freedom
like it's some golden whore
waiting at the end of the alley
if you just pray hard enough
or bleed honest enough
or burn every goddamn bridge behind you.
but
liberation?
liberation is a drunk woman
laughing at your sermon
as she walks away in bare feet
never looking back.
you chase it
with books and gurus and pills
with mantras and sex and
silence in the dark.
you give it names:
moksha.
nirvana.
enlightenment.
redemption.
the Big Escape.
but it just changes costumes
and keeps the party going
one room ahead of you.
it’s not real, kid.
or maybe it’s too real
to touch.
you think you’ll find it
after the next failure,
the next betrayal,
the next bottle.
but when you think you’ve caught it—
when you hold still,
finally quiet,
and whisper: “this is it”
—
you’re already losing it.
because the second you want it,
it slips.
because the second you say “I’m free,”
you’re not.
the cage is made of wanting.
and the door’s always open.
but who the hell leaves
without somewhere else to go?
liberation,
it’s the best joke god ever told.
and the punchline is this:
you’ll never get it.
but you’ll keep trying.
and that trying—
that aching,
that running on broken feet
toward the moon—
that’s the pleasure.
that’s the goddamn pleasure.
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