Freedom

Are we really free to do whatever we want?  I hear people say that, "I am free to do whatever I please.  It is a free country."  It is a country which is built on co-existence.  If we all tried for unlimited freedom, we would destroy one another, while not building communities.  Even a hermit in the woods is not free to burn down the forest because the trees get in the way of a view.  Are we really free to cut down a forest, whose trees provide us with photosynthesis to cleanse our air and provide oxygen?  I find that the desire for freedom is tempered by some spiritual practice which moderates our freedom goals.  Monasteries would be an example of giving up one freedom or freedoms for another freedom.  It is more of pick and choose than unlimited freedom.  How does one know what to let go of and what to pick up?  A spiritual practice that gets beyond your thoughts and personal ideas is a way.  Left to our own devices most of us opt for "more" rather than learn to embrace the "less."  Less is often more, and that is not a koan.