Fear
There are two basic emotions- love and fear. Emotion means energy in motion. When we are upset or our mind is clouded with problems all around, we let ourselves flow with the emotions, this is the time we are full of energy but unfortunately we ourselves are enjoying the drainage of our energy through tears and fears. Fear erodes our efficiency. Emotion can also be defined as an impulse that has to be acted upon. The two emotions can never be acted upon together. At one time, we are either operating from the circle of love or from the circle of fear. Love is our real nature, it is coming from God- God is love and love is God, whereas fear is a negative emotion which is mind generated, it pollutes the mind. It is our worst enemy and it undermines all our happiness and progress. It is truly said- “Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live”.
Origin Of Fear
The origin of fear can be traced to the primitive man whose main work was survival. He had to deal with many inforseen dangers. This emotion of fear proved to be positive for him as it kept him vigilant and gave enough blood supply to his limbs. But today fear has lost its significance in this respect and is not required.
Types Of Fear
Fear is the genesis of all negative emotions like anger, stress, anxiety, comparison, jealousy, insecurity, resentment etc. and having one or more traits – today every man is gripped in fear. There are so many kinds of fears-
- Fear of failure
- Fear of losing loved ones
- Fear of unknown
- Fear of illness
- Fear of losing one’s reputation
- Fear of financial loss
- Fear of death
- Fear of being hurt
Understand Your Fears
To understand fear, we have to understand life in general. Every rose has thorns. Similarly, whether we like it or not, life has both sorrow and happiness, good and bad, comfort and discomfort. Since the mind only paints a rosy picture and ignores the thorns or the darker side, whenever faced with difficulties, mind is gripped with fear. Fear curtains our real Self, that is Sat Chit Anand Swaroop.
How To Deal With fear?
1. Identify your fear- Our mind is always occupied with continuous thoughts. In the rush of these thoughts, we never sit with ourselves to identify what is that which is making me fearful. Identification is an important step before elimination.
2. Admit your fear- Once we have identified our fears, we should admit that we have those fears in us and must not just overlook them by saying “I am not afraid of anything”.
3. Analyze and understand your fear- Once we have admitted our fear, we need to analyze them- why is this thing making me fearful? Let’s understand this by an example- If I am afraid of exams, what is the reason behind that? On analyzing, we’ll find that we are, most of the time, obsessed with the result. This obsession makes us fearful. For this, our Mentor says, ”Do your best and leave the rest onto God”. Another very pronounced fear is the fear of death. On analyzing this fear, we’ll find that this fear arises out of identification with this body but the Mentor says, we are not this body, we are that Supreme energy which always remains the same. This knowledge of Self vanishes our fear.
4. Face your fears- Fears hold people below their potential. Never run away from fears, face them and fears will turn away from you. Once upon a time, Swami Vivekananda was followed by lot of monkeys, he ran for miles out of fear from those monkeys. Suddenly, a man asked him to stop and face those monkeys. The moment Swami Vivekananda turned and stared at them with wide- opened eyes, they ran away. So do what you are afraid of.
How To Overcome Fear?
1. Present Moment Awareness- Awareness keeps fear under control. Awareness means being in the Now, i.e. being in the Present Moment. Fear only comes when we are thinking about past or future. All fears are mind generated. Once we practice living in the moment, i.e. no past, no future, only living in the present, there is no fear. Once we are obsessed with the result of our actions, e.g. worrying about getting good marks in exams, it will generate fear, but if we focus on the preparation what we are doing now, fear will dissolve.
2. Have a balanced state of mind- Whenever the mind generates a thought of fear, be mindful and aware. Be aware that it is only a thought and a thought can be changed, mixing with the thought always gets us into problem. Recognize the thought of fear and detach from it, then quickly surrender onto the Almighty who always shields us from every problem. Just surrender and have faith. Feed your faith and your fears will starve to death. Why fear, when God is near.
3. Duality- Whenever we look at ourselves in the mirror, there is no fear, we smile at our reflection but when an animal sees his reflection, he sees an enemy there and is fearful. Similarly, when we see duality in the world, there is fear but when we see all as our own self, manifestation of God, there is only love and no fear.
4. Share your fears with your Mentor- Sharing fears with our Mentor makes us feel relaxed. The pure vibrations that we receive talking to him vanishes all negativity from the mind. Under the guidance of a realized Soul, we get to know our real self that is fearless.
5. Have a clear conscience- A person who lives a righteous life is fearless. Sinner is always fearful. Be pure and true to yourself and you will live a life of inner confidence, peace and satisfaction.
In brief, fear comes out of mixing with the thoughts of past and future. For facing our fears, we have to be very vigilant. When we are in the present moment, we become silent and all fears vanish. Have faith that we all are safe in this Universe.