Subject #9: On fear

Our mind generates our fears, they do not exist beyond the mind. That sounds obvious but still most people keep carrying their fears with them – acceptance without investigation. Fear, just like desire, is always connected to some thing. And even though there are millions of things, fear itself is basically the same.

There is a relationship between fear and desire. One could say that they are often different sides of the same coin. If there's a desire of something, fear connected to that something always exists. However if there's a fear of something, desire connected to that something may or may not exist. In other words, as long as there are desires, there will be fears - however fears can exist without desires.

So how does one put an end to fear? There are two steps. First step is to observe one's fearful thoughts and see why mind creates them. It's not a matter of deep analysis, just see the thought and cause becomes clear. Second step is to see who/what is that who becomes afraid because of those thoughts - expression "I am afraid" is not correct. These steps can be vice versa but both should be experienced, not just understood intellectually.

At the end, this quote by Trevor Kay should give something to ponder about:

Why are we scared to die? Do any of us remember being scared when we were born?