Freedom

 In January 1969, Silo gave a short talk in Quintero, a small coastal town in Chile. These were his words at the beginning of the talk: “Learn well what I am going to tell you: there are no good human beings or bad human beings. Where there is no freedom, there is neither good nor evil; everything happens despite human beings. Understand that you are not free at the moment of your birth, nor when you love, nor at the moment of your death.”

For me, when I came across those words a year later in a small book entitled Silo and Liberation, it was a great discovery. 

It is true that no one chooses to be born, and no one chooses where to be born either. No one chooses what family to be born into, or what social stratum. No one chooses the economic stratum they’re born into, or the language they speak.

Perhaps because of these extreme conditions we become obsessed with the idea of freedom - not with freedom itself, but rather with our almost complete lack of perceived and real freedom. We don't choose anything about ourselves - not the color of our hair, the color of our eyes, the color of our skin, our physical constitution, or any of that. We don't choose anything, but neither do we accept that fact or take it seriously, so it's easy to convince ourselves that we are “free.”

An interesting belief, despite how overwhelming the reality is in the face of that belief. Not only overwhelming, but incredibly determining.

However, despite the most absolutely obvious evidence, the belief stubbornly and blindly persists. We don't even choose our first and last names. Everything, absolutely everything, is given, not chosen.

Believing oneself to be free and wanting to be free are quite different attitudes, and they bring with them very different depths. While one attitude is based on a belief without foundation—that is, an “unfounded” belief—the other is based on a reality that, despite being brutal, is correct. We must all fight to want to be free, since we clearly are not.

That simple acceptance leads us to understand much of what I call our “condition of origin.” If we are fair in our assessment, freedom (under certain conditions) exists only if we are making an ongoing effort to free ourselves from the conditions to which we are subject from our birth to our death.

We do make efforts to modify some of these conditions, but only the most superficial ones, and that does not contribute much to the proposed liberation. I can change the color of my hair and eyes, I can wear shoes that make me look taller, I can change—with difficulty—the gender I was assigned at birth, and undoubtedly there are other ways to change our appearance. We are not freer because of these changes. I have nothing against any of these changes, quite the contrary, but I accept that they do nothing to move us toward a deeper liberation, a liberation that manifests itself more than anything else in our behavior and in our way of being in the world.

If I sincerely admit my lack of freedom, I realize that there are other more internal aspects that condition me, and that it is precisely these that are worth transforming because that is something that can be done. So, to want to be free is to want to be internally in the best possible way.

That way is coherent. That is, it goes in an evolutionary direction, it goes in an internally unifying direction. 

The longing for freedom is one of the most interesting desires we can have. Freedom, or rather, liberation, is an aspiration we have had since we acquired the capacity to feel and think. And precisely because it is a human aspiration, it is important to conceive of it correctly, and for that very reason to see liberation as a process. Static freedom does not exist, but the work does exist that goes from less free to more free. 

We can also look at this as liberation from the oppressive conditions imposed by the environment, by society, by our own body, and by our own mind. The conditions imposed by the environment and by the body can be alleviated and, in some cases, resolved, through the correct application of justice and scientific advancement. 

Liberation from the oppressive conditions imposed by our mind and emotions can only be brought about and resolved through personal work aimed at fully understanding our limitations and at engaging in sustained effort to transform everything that prevents us from being internally free, since all these "difficulties" produce internal suffering, and it is this suffering that prevents the true manifestation of the mind, of the true spirit, of true love, and of true compassion.

And how can I "let go"? How can I "release"?

The simplest yet truest answer is: By doing it, by practicing it...

When I am in the presence of what makes me suffer, it is almost always a fear of something, or a vague feeling of internal insecurity, a manifest "indignation" at being questioned, a vast range of emotions that are not of inner peace or self-acceptance. Far too many to be explained in this brief writing, but... I feel all of these things internally as violence, and the root of violence lies in desire.

I have tried to learn to recognize these things and let them go. Learning to recognize them involves a whole process of paying attention to my responses to the environment, to my interactions with others and with myself. Many times I treat myself badly, and that doesn't help. I need to let go of my inner judgment. I need to let go of the ideas I have of myself, I need to let go of my beliefs and my justifications.

I need to let go of my grudges, let go of the image I have of myself, let go of my fears, my resistances, my illusions, my disillusions, my resentments, my frustrations, my obsessions, my prejudices, the ideas I have about everything, etc. In simple words, to let go of what constitutes my nucleus of suffering, the greatest generator of my frustrated desires. And when I am able to do this—even briefly—and in other cases more permanently, I have noticed that a great void is created internally that allows me to learn, to listen, and to observe in a different way, and perhaps the most important thing about this is that it tastes like freedom. When I don't need to defend anything about what I believe myself to be or to have, that's when I experience true inner freedom.

It's useless to talk about all this without having any experience. It is essential to actually do what is being proposed, and thus be able to experience it. The more sustained effort we make in that direction, the stronger our feeling of liberation. Such efforts are completely worthwhile.

February 2026

Translated by Trudi Richards

Spirituality

 “THE SPIRIT IS THE NEW PRINCIPLE IN THE HUMAN BEING”. SILO

“According to the life we live:

If it is centrifugal, it will have a basic structure without development.

If it is centripetal, the spirit will evolve without limits and you will obtain what you want.”

The concept of “spirituality” is in general difficult to define. It seems that it is so ample and sometimes so personal that it complicates the effort in trying to define it. Nevertheless, there is a ceremony in Silo’s Message that explains at least the spirituality from the Message perspective.

Recognition is a ceremony of inclusion in the Community; inclusion through common experiences, and shared ideals, attitudes and procedures.

In this ceremony the concept of spirituality is explained by pointing out other forms known as “spiritual” but that are not what we understand by spirituality. 

We affirm our right without denying any other form.

“Moreover, just as no one has the right to discriminate against others because of their religion or their non-religiousness, we affirm our right to proclaim our spirituality and our belief in immortality and the sacred.”

“Our spirituality is not the spirituality of superstition, it is not the spirituality of intolerance, it is not the spirituality of dogma, it is not the spirituality of religious violence. It is the spirituality that has awakened from its deep sleep to nurture human beings in their best aspirations.”

This spirituality or what could be called “spiritual development” is directly related to the main points explained in the book “The Inner Look” in the first chapter named “Meditation”. 

“1.Here it tells how the non-meaning of life can be converted into meaning and fulfillment.

2. Here are joy, love of the body, of nature, of humanity, and of the spirit.

3. Here sacrifices, feelings of guilt, and threats from the beyond are rejected.

4. Here the worldly is not opposed to the eternal.

5. Here it tells of the inner revelation at which all arrive who carefully meditate in humble search.”

Point number 2 is very important. Joy first, then love. Love for what is closest to us, our body, then our natural environment, then our human environment and finally the intangible, which encompasses everything, the spirit.

Point 3 explains that some elements accepted in other types of spirituality are not accepted within our spirituality, for example sacrifices, feelings of guilt and threats from beyond the grave. Also, what is worldly is not opposed to the eternal.

“The human being in its kindness, in the elimination of internal contradictions, in its conscious acts, and in a sincere need for evolution, brings to birth the spirit.

Love and compassion are necessary for evolution... Whoever works for themselves in love and compassion also does so for other beings...”

In this sentence, the elimination of internal contradictions is from my point of view one of the most important work we can do for ourselves. A lot has been said regarding kindness and compassion, but little about internal contradictions. When we think, feel and act in one direction, we feel internal unity and when we feel one way, think differently and act in a different way, we experience internal contradictions. The effort in uniting our actions, feelings and thoughts is what contributes the most to a true spiritual development. A unified behavior is built on what we call “valid actions”.

The basis of a valid action is not given by the ideologies, nor by the religious commandments, nor by beliefs, nor by social regulations, even when all these things in themselves are important. The basis of a valid action is not given by any of them, but is given by the internal register of an action.

There is a fundamental difference between the other evaluations - which appear to come from the outside - and this one according to the registers which the human being obtains from their actions.

And what is the register of a valid action?

The register of a valid action is that which one experiences as unitive. It is the one which at the same time gives a sensation of internal growth and also the one which one wishes to repeat because it has a taste of continuity, that is to say, that it is extended in time.

Important to notice that all 3 components are necessary: 

1. Experience unity within ourselves

2. Experience internal growth

3. Desire to repeat it because it opens the future

The best way to frame these so-called “registers” of valid actions is through the Principles which are centered precisely on understanding the different kinds of “actions”.  Comprehended actions, Timely actions, Adaptation, Acceptance, Pleasure, etc., including the most important one of all: “Treat others as you would like to be treated” or the golden rule as it is commonly understood.

These Principles are not commandments, are not rules, are not static beatitudes printed on paper. They are ways to act in the world with unity. Unity necessary to give birth to the spirit. The spirit in the human being is what is most important to develop. 

Spiritual development leads to transcendence and the sacred. The sacred is within us and around us.

To transcend death is to develop the immortal spirit and to live a life without internal contradictions. It is meaningful, joyful and internally fulfilling.

When talking about “registers” we can also consider “experiences” or ways to feel what we talk about. In general, there are a lot of words in the “spiritual” subject. For us, it is important to experience what we say. 

Most likely, one of the significant experiences in a spiritual sense is the one of asking and the one of being grateful. Both are connected to the world in which we exist. When we ask for others, when we wish the best for someone we care for, we connect with that spiritual part of us. That connection is sometimes felt as a deep affection for the other. This is independent from the results of the asking. To feel what is human in someone else or to wish the best for others is a way to also develop the spirit.

The human being is in conditions to develop spiritually without the help of organized forms traditionally associated with religions, cults, etc. All we need in these confusing and chaotic times is a connection with our interiority, a way of developing a center of gravity that can be used as a compass to navigate our times. Contrary to popular beliefs, we have all of the answers within ourselves and we are capable not only of this type of development, but also to evolve as a species as well. This spirituality can’t be conceived as a “personal” endeavor. It just doesn’t correspond to what internally happens when we are able to experience this path. There is a recognition that we are not alone and that we are walking the road with others. Such recognition arises when we can freely interpret these concepts, when we discover in others the same needs and difficulties, when we actually discover and select what is best within ourselves, when there are no external boundaries and limitations produced by fear and the need to control others and the world around us.

Spiritual development has finally reached adulthood in our species. 

Human Nature

 

The conversation that got me thinking about this was one of those typical conversations that focus on moral errors and indiscretions as a product of what is termed "human nature." People often talk about how little can be expected from our selfish, cruel, malicious human nature. And the truth is that from that perspective it's quite reasonable to think that this human nature is nothing more than our animal nature. In view of our long history of wars, thievery, slavery, murder, and other atrocities, it's difficult to see beyond all these tragedies, especially when many of them have happened directly because some human beings were intentionally causing suffering to others.

From another perspective, it's important to understand that what we commonly think of as "human nature" is based in both religious and "scientific" sources. Neither offers a clear idea of the true nature of the human being.

Religion primarily recognizes a "divine" nature that is perfect. Everything that is not divine is imperfect, and human beings, having been born impure and burdened with original sin (even before birth), can only have an imperfect, selfish human nature, full of all the possible negative attributes that can be found. To the extent that these human beings accept a god as their personal savior, they may evolve a little further, but their nature will never be divine, because divinity is reserved only for God. The fact that God does not manifest himself except through intermediaries—priests, representatives, acolytes, brothers and sisters, or whatever they want to call themselves—is never addressed. This system is extremely convenient and cannot help but be suspicious, especially when one considers the enormous economic power accumulated over centuries by the so-called religions.

The other source, the "scientific" one, is more recent and features (or featured) a theory that humans descend from animals. In this view of human nature, human beings are "rational animals" and nothing more. We descended from primates, and that's as far as it goes. This is understandable when one considers that chimpanzees and bonobos share almost 99% of their DNA with human beings. It is an old theory, interesting for naturalists and without doubt uninteresting for those who think and feel that human beings are much more than that.

Even though when we speak of human nature we are generally not thinking of the religious-scientific origins of the concept, it's understood that our nature is the worst thing about us humans.

Some of us, on the other hand, think and feel that our nature does not truly exist, that the human being is not simply a part of nature. In fact, from our origins, we human beings have been differentiating ourselves from the natural world. Despite having a natural body, we have always gone beyond our supposed naturalness. In the face of natural obstacles, we have transformed them into opportunities, so that in the latest centuries we've seen the human being sailing the seas, flying through the air, reaching other planets, constantly defying the laws of nature. Neither our body nor our environment has been able to quell those human intentions that do not belong to the natural realm. Of course, all of this can be viewed from a negative perspective, but it can also be seen from a positive one, because both perspectives are valid.

This is possible because when opposing forces are understood within a single structure, the perspective shifts, and the search for absolutes ceases. In simple terms, almost everything that exists can have its opposite. Night opposes day, cold opposes heat, light opposes darkness, and so on. And all opposites are reconciled within a larger structure that encompasses both.

The human being can also be understood in a similar way, where our most humane and least humane aspects coexist. But our great quality as human beings lies in our innate capacity to be "aware" of our actions in the world. It has been said that we have the capacity to be cruel and to be kind, to be selfish or generous, to love or to hate, to grasp or to give. There are no determinisms in the human being. The possibilities are always open, and our capacity to "choose" is uniquely well-developed in our species. If it weren't, we would have disappeared thousands of years ago.

Following this line of reasoning, it can be said that if a human nature does exist, it must possess the best attributes of our species, which has genuinely evolved and will continue to evolve through love and compassion.

We clearly exhibit great qualities, and it is our duty to cultivate these attributes, which are not given by nature transcend natural laws, and which obviously arise not from the body but rather from the development of consciousness and spirituality. This development, like all development, is non-linear. It has better moments, moments of progress, and not-so-good moments, of apparent stagnation and regression. Nevertheless, the direction does not change. It is this upward direction that, despite all the setbacks and despite cruel and disastrous times, continues to propel humanity not only toward liberation from the natural world but also toward spiritual liberation.

Here I will pause to emphasize the importance of the spiritual aspect of the human being and to point out that spirituality has been a part of our species since the very beginning of our history. We do not know exactly when our birth as a species occurred in this world; however, we can say that at some special moment, something extraordinary happened within our species, something that was not determined by the natural conditions in which we existed and that involved an act of consciousness that was not an immediate response.

The stimulus-response mechanism in nature has been extensively studied in animals and in the natural world. Innumerable experiments have been conducted, especially on animals, to verify this ability to respond to an environmental stimulus. Experiments have been carried out on humans based on direct observation of basic human behavior, which dictates these responses when they relate to our most natural aspect: the body. Hunger, as a stimulus, conditions us to seek food; the same with thirst, the urge to reproduce, temperature regulation, and so on. All basic needs are stimuli seeking a response, and this is how we function.

At one point in our history, there was a "delayed" response to a stimulus. In other words, the response was not immediate, nor was it a reaction to any stimulus fundamental to the preservation or conservation of life. It occurred when humans were not driven away by fire, despite it threatening their very survival. They approached the fire that should have destroyed them, and there began an evolutionary process unlike that in any other species. This capacity to act contrary to the instinct for survival through a delayed act of consciousness is at the root of what can be called a truly human act, or a truly human response.

That was the beginning of our human species, and it was also the beginning of our differentiation from the natural world. It hasn't been easy, considering all our basic instincts that tend to prevail, but little by little, sometimes painfully and certainly in a non-linear way, the human being has become increasingly human, developing more and more that spirit, that inner force, that divinity that exists within us. At the same time, we recognize our role as protectors of the environment that we share with other developing species.

This spirit, which has been built through unifying and intentional human acts, is what truly makes us human. If a human nature exists, it is based on the recognition of this spirit, which has also evolved from that challenge to ancestral fear, through external gods and goddesses, cults, rituals, intermediaries, castes, priests, shamans, and other forms of intuition of the sacred, both outside and inside the human being. But increasingly, this spirit is found within, and we are less and less in need of intermediaries and external deities.

This process has continued to evolve, starting from the most deeply ingrained and sometimes almost absurd beliefs, up to our encounters with increasingly profound inner experiences regarding who we are and where we are going, and the simple recognition that each person's existence is possible because others exist. This is how humanity evolves, and in this process of accelerated separation from the natural world, we keep leaving behind negative beliefs, selfishness, negative behaviors, compulsions, and internal and external contradictions, in search of an inner center of gravity that gives meaning beyond the space and time of the natural and physical body.

Portland, Oregon, November 2025

Translated from the original Spanish by Trudi Richards

The Spirit and Oppression

THE SPIRIT AND OPPRESSION - SILO

In Valparaiso there was a meeting of "right-thinking" people who saw themselves as being winners, and who therefore clashed with Silo's proclamation, which read: "My teaching is not for the victorious, but for those who carry failure in their hearts."

Then someone asked (in a friendly tone) for an explanation of the meaning of the proclamation.

Silo replied that he would speak about the spirit and oppression.

"There was once a very powerful man who had a large number of sheep. In order to prevent their escape, he built a fence. Some, however, broke out of their prison and managed to escape. To prevent this, the powerful man brought dogs who watched night and day.

Regardless, some sheep still managed to escape, and others were killed by their keepers, who ruined their meat and skin with their ferocious bites and then, enthused by the taste of blood, entered the sheepfold and continued their slaughter.

The powerful man saw that the fence was too weak to contain the sheep and that the watchdogs were dangerous.

He then sent for a magician. The magician put all the sheep to sleep and made them dream that they were free. When they awoke, they went on believing they were there voluntarily and stopped abandoning their master. Thus, the powerful man took down the fence and removed the dogs, simply taking from the sheep as he pleased when he needed meat and skins.

The sheep is the spirit of the human being. The powerful man is the one who wants to use the human spirit. The fence, the dogs, and the magician are the oppressor's helpers.

To fence the spirit is to separate it from the world through ignorance.

To surround the spirit with guardians is to keep it docile by violence and force, instilling fear in it.

Finally, to lull the spirit is to degrade it with persuasion and beautiful falsehoods.

These three forms of spiritual murder have been used down through time.

Ignorance and fear have not been powerful enough to contain the impulses of freedom. (On the other hand, an ignorant and fearful person is not as useful to the oppressor as one who has been trained, with whom there is no need for violence because he agrees with infamy.)

When a person no longer needs fences or watchdogs and is content with the falsehood of their life, it is because their spirit has died.

There are those who sell their inner freedom to achieve security or material well-being. They are the ones who call themselves free because they do not desire another life, and they find it insulting to hear anyone speak of the need for awakening.

When people sleep in this way, they collaborate with the oppression and work for the good of the oppressor. They are considered "useful" to the causes of the State, which at the same time docilely serves the empire.

Someone who has degraded themself to that extent is a winner and is held up as an example of work and self improvement. They receive their pay at the expense of the suffering of others whom they consider incapable.

One can only become a winner by obeying the commands of the master, whether the master is called State, Morality, or Religion.

The false winner sleeps, but his dreams are often filled with alarm because sooner or later some sheep wake up and begin to awaken the others... Little by little, it becomes clear in the sheepfold that people no longer believe in false freedom.

The winners don't need this teaching because they have already satisfied their ambitions. Why all the fuss when it is to the failures that I address my words?

I only believe in those who recognize themselves as outside the fence and who do not enjoy the benefits of the victor.

Ah, winner! You cannot blame me for not speaking for you, because you don't need me, and if I speak for those who need me, why do you bother me?

The poor and the sick, the powerless and the futureless are the failures. They are those who have been disappointed in their ideals, cut short in their loves, chastened in their faith, betrayed in their goodness.

When you recognize yourself as a failure, I will console you because then the spirit will be yours and you will discover the need for inner liberation, the need for renunciation, the need to kill desire.

January 22, 1969.

 

Peace

 

In 1970 a small booklet circulated with the basic teachings of a man called “Silo”. A man in his thirties from Argentina who just had a public gathering on the border between Argentina and Chile, very close to a tiny village called “Punta de Vacas”. His talk was titled “The Healing of Suffering” and it was an extraordinary addressing of topics nobody was talking about in the 60’s.
In the booklet mentioned before there were some points worth talking about today because, in my humble opinion, they are revolutionary. Yes, revolutionary in SPIRITUAL terms.

Here is an excerpt:
“To achieve peace you have to start with yourself. Peace, tranquility and joy are brought to one's own conscience by complying with the Precepts*, meditating every day, and always looking for the good side of people and things.
Christ said - Forgive your enemies.
Silo now teaches that it is not enough to forgive but that it is necessary to look for the good in the enemy. If another person, despite everything, continues to be my enemy, it is not their fault but mine, because I have not discovered what is good in them.
The same thing happens with ugly things and adverse events. If I worry about looking for what is good and beautiful in things and in events, I am not in resignation but in optimism and joy.”

I was surprised by these reflections, especially when I read about "Peace in the Consciousness." Silo isn't talking about peace in general, but about peace within the consciousness of every human being, and it is precisely there that the work of spiritual growth begins. Interestingly, all of this is happening at a time when the entire planet is divided, and after two enormous wars, we have managed, with great difficulty, to maintain a rather fragile peace. At the root of all the smaller wars that have occurred are the major religions we know today. All these religions have their precepts or commandments very well written in countless sacred books, and all of them consider killing to be an abomination. However, all those words in sacred books are forgotten in practice, and in the name of religion, thousands of human beings continue to be killed. No matter the pretext—it always has to do with a piece of land—even though there is enough land for everyone. In the name of the gods of all religions, people go against the very precepts they preach, turning their teachings into boundless hypocrisy.

I believe there is no deeper error than hypocrisy, and it is an error of conscience. The worst thing is when it becomes something accepted and sometimes even justified, not to say sanctified.

Setting aside all this incredible hypocrisy and returning to the topic of achieving inner peace, it seems appropriate to maintain that it is the internal violence that must be transformed, and it is this violence, with its possessive roots, that produces suffering. This violence can only recede in the face of inner faith and inner meditation. Both terms are difficult to define precisely because they have been monopolized by religions, but here it is clarified that this faith is internal and that this meditation is internal.

Much is said about faith, but little is practiced. More is said about meditation these days, but little is practiced. Inner faith is something that is built, and the same is true of inner meditation. One discovers the inner world to the extent that one observes it without prejudice and with a deep desire to become a better person. Guilt or rationalization have no place in inner meditation.

For example, one can meditate on the difficulties encountered daily and how those difficulties contribute to personal growth. One doesn't dwell on explaining the difficulties or seeking reasons for their existence. The focus is simply on the fact that they are difficulties, and how to transform them into a source of inner growth. There is a whole world of inner meditation to explore and discover. One can ask oneself daily who we are and where we are going—of course, internally. One asks questions and answers them. That is meditation. One also meditates when reflecting on the fact that life has no meaning if everything ends in death, and therefore it is imperative to find meaning—direction—in life, not as something static, but as a process of inner growth, strengthening faith in the best aspects of oneself, of others, and of the society in which one lives. All of this is meditation, and it has little to do with opening or closing one's eyes, with specific postures, or with particular goals. By meditating in this way, one discovers inner peace and experiences inspiration.

 

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* Precepts: Do not lie. Do not kill. Do not steal. Be faithful. Achieve peace within yourself and with others. Think, feel, and act in harmony. Purify desire.

Beliefs and Faith

 To believe is very different than to have faith. To have a system of beliefs is comfortable as long as those beliefs are not ever questioned. The moment the beliefs are confronted or questioned, we abandon all logic and in some instances we may feel personally attacked.

Probably this explain why in terms of politics and religion, the more we question others, the more they defend and justify their position. It becomes a silly contest on how to defend the indefensible. There is no effective way to modify someone else's beliefs through confrontation. Why anyone would defend a belief or attack someone else's belief? It doesn't make sense but we found ourselves doing both all the time.

I observed in me a strong tendency to self affirm myself in something as fragile as a belief, and in doing so, I obviously end up in the defense when being confronted. I imagine it is the same for others.

Silo's Message doesn't care about beliefs. It doesn't work with beliefs. It welcomes all beliefs because it's essence is based on experience and faith. Not on beliefs.

Beliefs are plural. They can be attached to multiple objects. We can have many beliefs in many things. Faith is singular. It is only one faith.  It is always the same faith,

Silo's Message works the best with Faith.

I have noticed that faith is experienced when there is a need, because  needs move in a very strong direction; it is almost like a laser beam. It just moves you forward towards your goal. It doesn't stop for calculation. It just knows. It impels you with a great and joyful force. From another perspective, that goal begins to pull you into its sphere of influence, almost like a gravitational force. All doors are open when faith moves me.

It think I understand better now the meaning of the aphorism: "Thoughts with faith are the ones that produce and attract stronger actions and the thoughts repeated with faith are the ones who produce and attract the maximum of strength in my actions"

Forever

There is no such a thing as "forever", but it is one of the most common illusions that make us suffer. There is no pain or joy that is forever. Understanding this, life acquire a new meaning. Everything will eventually pass. To work internally is to acquire permanence in the capacity to change. Permanence viewed in this way is a lot more interesting than "forever". Constant change when embraced, give us reality and liberation from the tyranny of the illusory "forever".