From 《Celebrating Love》 - H. H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Honor reduces freedom. Your fame, honor and virtue can limit your freedom.

Nobody expects a good person to make a mistake, so the beter you are, the higher the expectations people have of you. It is then that you lose your freedom. Your virtues and good actions are like a golden cage. You are trapped by your own good actions for everyone expects more from a good person. Nobody expects anything from a bad person.

Most people are stuck in this cage of prestige and honor. They cannot smile. They are constantly worried about keeping their prestige and their honor, it becomes more important than their own life. Just being good or doing good to retain prestige and honor is worthless. Prestige and honor can bring more misery in life than poverty.

Many desire fame, but little do they know that they are looking for a cage.

It is an art to be dignified and yet not be suffocated by it. Only the wise  know this. For the wise one it is natural to be honorable, but he has no concerns even if it is lost. Despite having fame or prestige, he will live as though he has none. A wise person can handle any fame without feeling suffocated.

By doing good in society you gain prestige, then when you enjoy the prestige and honor your freedom is lost.

Question: Then how do you keep your freedom?

By being like a child, by considering the world a dream, a burden or a joke.

Panama City, Panama

May 3, 2001