Fear

Fear is a naturally occurring phenomenon that affects us all. It is a learned behavior that we encounter in our early years of development. It continues to surface throughout our lives until we deal with it and release it. It stems from the ego and the realization of our separateness from everything around us. To quote an early lesson from A Course in Miracles, “A meaningless world engenders fear.” But nothing in the world is meaningless. The only thing that’s meaningless is all of the definitions we place on the world we see. Our own paradigms create our fear, when in fact there is nothing to fear.

This ties in with what Joseph Campbell says about Adam and Eve’s fall from grace in the Garden of Eden. It is a symbolic representation of the loss of innocence of the fact that we are all one. Once we lose that innocence we are born with, fear steps in and the ego begins to take care of us, comforting us in our time of need and reinforcing our differences. As we become attached to our self-created identity, we become fearful of losing it and fearful of anything that conflicts with our personal belief system.

The up side to all of this is that fear can be overcome. Transcending our ego and returning to the innocence of oneness is part of the key. Once we realize that there is no us and them, we can come to terms with all of our fears.

Some will say that some fears serve a natural purpose in ensuring our survival, and to this I can not argue. All I can venture forward is that fear may not be the appropriate response when confronted by a man eating lion as fear tends to lead to paralysis. There may be more appropriate responses to potentially dangerous stimuli.

One of the things I have come to learn is that the fears we have today will continue to surface throughout our lives until we stop and look to the core of that fear and recognize it for what it is. According to David Hawkins, all fears come back to one central fear, the fear of death. This also gets back to our fear of losing our personal identity, something our ego has a problem with. But it can be surrendered as an inevitability we all face, allowing us to live our lives to their fullest potential, not hampered by fear.

As movies like The Secret illustrate, we create the reality we see as well as the things that happen in our lives. Our mental outlook and belief system attract certain events in our lives. Since fear is actually a projection of what might happen in the future, it involves anticipating something that has not yet occurred and may not occur, unless of course we spend too much of our time dwelling on it.

I believe the events in our lives serve as sign posts we can either choose to ignore or follow. If we ignore them, we might end up driving in circles for a while, in which case we will encounter recurring themes. If we pay attention and use our intention as a guide, we might end up getting to our final destination in one piece.

Here’s a quote for you to ponder from Buckminster Fuller, “If success or failure of [this] planet and of human beings depended on how I am and what I do, how would I be? What would I do?” I believe everything we do or think affects everyone in some way, whether it’s directly or indirectly, so I feel it important to act accordingly to the best of my ability and focus my energies on improving my ability to act in accordance with the highest good. Treating everyone with compassion and generosity, and being grateful for all we have is one of the best ways I know to proceed. I hope you will consider doing the same if you are not already.
Peace and love,
Trey

PS - My friend Jason, who you might remember had a bad fall a few months back, has also started a blog (see link below). He has begun reading some of the books I have recently read and has some very insightful posts you might enjoy.
http://collectiveawareness.blogspot.com

You may also want to check out some of the recent discussion on my blog spurred by my previous message on Christianity. Your comments and feedback are always welcome whether it’s sent directly to me or posted online.