A man sat in a boat with a group of females. They were rowing. His friend from another boat sent a note that said, “Be romantic in the company of females, but be aware that the Hawaii girls throw trouble-makers out of the boat.”
Most fears are nothing but a movement of thoughts. What is a thought? It is a language that we give for words, pictures and feelings. Put differently, a thought is just a movement of words, pictures and feelings. You interpret a thought in your mind in a language that you are afraid of and you experience fear. What happens when you are in a state of deep sleep?
In that state, there are no thoughts, so you experience no fear at all. If there is no thought, there is no fear. When you are in deep sleep, a snake may glide close to you, but you are not afraid of it because you are not thinking about the snake. On the other hand, when you are awake, the sight of even a coiled piece of rope can fill you with fear, because you think that the rope is a snake. See how thought plays tricks. Be careful as to how you interpret your experience internally, that is, how you represent it in your mind.
One of the common fears is about the future. Don’t formulate your uncertainties in a language and represent them in your mind. If you do, you are going to be afraid of your future. Please stop that kind of interpretation first, and your fears will cease.
Some fears are physical in their origin. They arise from a threat perceived in our immediate surroundings. For example, you may be in the jungle, and you know there are tigers. You will genuinely be afraid in such contexts. Even then, you can turn that fear into an enjoyable experience, what advertisers of adventure sports call an ‘adrenaline-pumping’ or ‘hair-raising’ experience. Such fear also has a survival value. Ask professional hunters and experienced trekkers, and they will tell you that it is fear that keeps them alert and alertness that keeps them alive.
You can work on reducing or eliminating your fear, but first, understand the nature of the object that arouses it. Let us say you are afraid of your future. What you fear are the uncertainties that surround events yet to happen. With proper planning, you can reduce the uncertainty and hence your fear. If you do not know how to plan, you can seek the guidance of a consultant or a counsellor. You cannot plan for all uncertainties, yet being prepared reduces your fear of them. Learn the art of enjoying it too.
Let us take a philosophical dive into the anatomy of fear. Fear of loss exists in one who has not seen the joy of what one has. People who are afraid of death are those who are afraid of life. Fear of loss is a symptom that one is not enjoying the joy of ‘what is’. In other words, one is not enjoying the beauty of impermanence. Change is not a full stop, but a comma in the vast story of life. Life is a divine opportunity for one to go beyond dreams and live in reality. Swami Sukhabodhananda is an international management spiritual & corporate guru
(For more details on his online workshop ‘Spiritual Warrior’,starting June 26,
email: support@prasannatrust.com)
Most fears are nothing but a movement of thoughts. What is a thought? It is a language that we give for words, pictures and feelings. Put differently, a thought is just a movement of words, pictures and feelings. You interpret a thought in your mind in a language that you are afraid of and you experience fear. What happens when you are in a state of deep sleep?
In that state, there are no thoughts, so you experience no fear at all. If there is no thought, there is no fear. When you are in deep sleep, a snake may glide close to you, but you are not afraid of it because you are not thinking about the snake. On the other hand, when you are awake, the sight of even a coiled piece of rope can fill you with fear, because you think that the rope is a snake. See how thought plays tricks. Be careful as to how you interpret your experience internally, that is, how you represent it in your mind.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
One of the common fears is about the future. Don’t formulate your uncertainties in a language and represent them in your mind. If you do, you are going to be afraid of your future. Please stop that kind of interpretation first, and your fears will cease.
Some fears are physical in their origin. They arise from a threat perceived in our immediate surroundings. For example, you may be in the jungle, and you know there are tigers. You will genuinely be afraid in such contexts. Even then, you can turn that fear into an enjoyable experience, what advertisers of adventure sports call an ‘adrenaline-pumping’ or ‘hair-raising’ experience. Such fear also has a survival value. Ask professional hunters and experienced trekkers, and they will tell you that it is fear that keeps them alert and alertness that keeps them alive.
You can work on reducing or eliminating your fear, but first, understand the nature of the object that arouses it. Let us say you are afraid of your future. What you fear are the uncertainties that surround events yet to happen. With proper planning, you can reduce the uncertainty and hence your fear. If you do not know how to plan, you can seek the guidance of a consultant or a counsellor. You cannot plan for all uncertainties, yet being prepared reduces your fear of them. Learn the art of enjoying it too.
Let us take a philosophical dive into the anatomy of fear. Fear of loss exists in one who has not seen the joy of what one has. People who are afraid of death are those who are afraid of life. Fear of loss is a symptom that one is not enjoying the joy of ‘what is’. In other words, one is not enjoying the beauty of impermanence. Change is not a full stop, but a comma in the vast story of life. Life is a divine opportunity for one to go beyond dreams and live in reality. Swami Sukhabodhananda is an international management spiritual & corporate guru
(For more details on his online workshop ‘Spiritual Warrior’,starting June 26,
email: support@prasannatrust.com)
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