What Inner Freedom Really Is

Inner freedom is not 'doing what you like as you are now'. That means the slavery of impulse, the will of the moment. The idea I have of Inner Freedom is that it is not achieved by the indulgence of the will of the moment but by a willingness to be guided by Will born of the perception of the Truth. As perception grows, Will grows and Inner Freedom is more fully felt.

If we begin to obey the ideas of the Work by seeing their truth and eventually realize what good lies in them, then we begin to be more free from the momentary wills of different 'I's —doing what they like. This means a more internal movement into ourselves and this is only gained by self-observation which moves us back from the outer pretence of ourselves. Self-observation increases Consciousness and increased Consciousness means a larger view, a wider sense of things—a more whole view.

Maurice Nicoll, “Commentary on Inner Freedom" in Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky (Vol. 2, p. 641)