In the animal kingdom there is a creature that lives at the expense of others and is called a leech. It clings to people and sucks what it needs. When the victim peels off the leech, it simply moves on to the next one.
When we were in use, we behaved in a similar way. We were alienating our families, friends and society. Consciously or unconsciously, we sought to take without giving anything in return, from almost every person who happened to cross our path.
When we saw the basket pass by at our first gathering, we might have thought, “Self-preservation? What is this again?' Watching the process we understood that through self-preservation these drug addicts had freedom. By paying their own expenses, they gain the right to decide for themselves.
When we apply the principle of self-preservation to our personal lives, we gain for ourselves corresponding freedom. Now no one has the right to tell us where to live - because we pay our own rent. We choose what to eat, how to dress, how to move, from the moment we provide it to ourselves.
Unlike the leech, our survival does not depend on others. The more responsible we become, the more freedom we gain.
