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what is ~ Fear?
The above is a very well known and wise saying. So what exactly is fear? is it just a state of mind?
If we reason about what fear actually is, we can draw the assumption that fear itself is a process of the mind. It is a thought created in our mind about an event passed or yet to come. In fact this thought, this fear thought, has little or nothing to do with the actually incident that lead to the thought in the beginning. Rather, the fear thought is just a pre-judgment of what we think may or may not happen as a result to an actual incident. It has no grounding in what will actually happen, although the fear thought may be based on experience, knowledge and memory, there is still no certainty that the outcome of the fear thought will occur. The fear thought is actually just a judgment of a future event or outcome.
The fear thought is our preparation for a worst possible scenario. Which, may be a good thing, if the fear itself is recognised simply as a thought process that we possess to protect ourselves. A caveman running from a dinosaur may have the fear thought that he will be caught and eaten alive, in the worst case, and thus his energies are honed and excited to prevent this happening, if possible. Of course the dinosaur may just simply give up the chase, leaving the caveman to reason why he was afraid in the first place?
Fear is the mind’s method of self preservation, and is created from a process within the brain by the *amygdala [see footnote]. The hormone Adrenaline is released into the body to heighten awareness and muscle reactions in the event and the perception of danger.
Fear, however, can become a state of mind if left to linger in the mind, even to the point it may become uncontrollable, leading to neurosis and other more serious mental conditions, such as paranoia, and schizophrenia. We may use the term paranoid about something, or someone lightly, but it is, in fact, a very serious condition. In these cases, fear thoughts can and will lead to irrational actions on the part of the individual. The outcome of such actions can be disastrous.
Fear is the opposite of Love
At first, one could say that hate is the opposite of love, but by definition, love and fear are emotions, and hate is not. We may grow to hate someone, or something, but the underlying reasons for this hate is always fear; fear of rejection, betrayal, deception, loss. Love is a positive emotional state of comfort, peace and contentment. Fear is the negative feelings of uncertainty, panic and helplessness.
Fear stands in the way of personal and social development. The cause of all conflict can be associated with fear as its root cause, because conflict is borne of disagreement, and misunderstanding, intolerance, and the fear of being wrong. Religions control their followers with fear of rejection, and fear of God. Yet would a God of pure love possess anything to fear? The answer must be no, unless God is imperfect and has doubt and fear also.
If we cast out all fear, then we open ourselves to love and compassion. We open ourselves to peace and karma, by way of rejecting the negative feelings of fear. If we can live and continually practice a way of life without fear, then, not only would we benefit personally, we may just be able to progress mankind into a new age of spiritual evolution. Buddhism has played a major role in promoting peace and harmony, and rejection of irrational fear. Yet it matters not, which religious belief or philosophy you may hold. The key is to cast aside fear, and recognise the potential without it. We can all do this if we learn to recognise fear for what it really is; the thought in the minds eye.
So how can we overcome fear?
Well the first thing, is to recognise fear for exactly what it is, that being, as described above, a thought. It also helps to understand the thought process behind it, and also to analyse the motive for the fear thought. Sometimes it is of benefit to write down a simple list of possible outcomes to an event that is worrying or provoking fear thoughts. By writing down the worst case scenario, we can eliminate the most unreasonable outcomes and come to a more sensible conclusion. This alone, may be enough to dissuade the negative feelings and emotions. It may be enough to show us that our fear is unfounded.
This is not always the case, however. If you have a gun to your head, your immediate fear of danger is both real and reasonable. In which case the priority is not to overcome fear, but to overcome the situation at hand. It is the everyday fear thoughts, that promote stressful and negative effects that need to be controlled and harnessed; the fear thoughts created by invalid, or unreasonable, unchallenged, customs and habits within ourselves, and societies as a whole. The fears associated with rejection, prejudice, intolerance, loneliness, depression, and misunderstanding.
By recognising and eliminating the fear thought at its root, we open ourselves to love, understanding and compassion. Instead of wasting time in fear of something, we use this same moment to understand what is happening, then we are more ready to deal with or accept it. Irrational fear thoughts can then be cast aside, leaving only reasonable fear to deal with, which still plays an important role in our personal well being and survival.
*amygdala : the neural structure in the anterior part of the temporal lobe of the cerebrum; intimately connected with the hypothalamus and the hippocampus and the cingulate gyrus; as part of the limbic system it plays an important role in motivation and emotional behaviour.
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