Fear is all pervasive in our lives. We are always afraid. Afraid of a myriad number of things have happened or could happen. This has sapped the zest out of our lives. Fear is a constant companion. We have a great number of fears both biologically and psychologically. The effect of fear is a constrained mind. It paralyzes us.
Fear is not an isolated thing. Fear is always in relationship to something else. There is fear of the known and the unknown. Fear of the past and the future. Fear of not fulfilling one's potential, of being a nobody. There is the fear of insecurity, of losing one's means of sustenance, of losing a job, losing money in business. We are all very nervous that we might not be physically secure in future.
We desire safety and security both physically and psychologically. There is uncertainty about being completely secure both physically and psychologically. This uncertainty is what breeds fear. One may become ill and lose his job. The child may go to school and never return home. I may lose all my possessions, my relationships. I am afraid of a thousand things that could go wrong. Fear in all cases is regarding the uncertainty of what will happen in future.
So people tell us think positively, which is really stupid because what it means is that ignore the possibility of what can go wrong and just tell yourself that these things will not happen. It is a pretty absurd idea. I mean one cannot wish bad outcomes away by just thinking positively. "I can", "I will", and the rest of the nonsense that is sold in the market place in the name of positive thinking. Or we look for protection from a higher power that we invent. If we cannot control the outcome then we can surely appeal to a higher power who can. So this first necessitates the creation of a higher power and then a process of appealing to this higher power. One just needs to walk into a church on a Sunday morning to see how pervasive this appeal to the almighty is. One also seeks to change the outcome through Karma. If one indulges in virtuous acts which directly have no bearing on whether one will lose one's job or one will become sick, we think we can prevent the bad outcomes.
Fear is not an isolated thing. Fear is always in relationship to something else. There is fear of the known and the unknown. Fear of the past and the future. Fear of not fulfilling one's potential, of being a nobody. There is the fear of insecurity, of losing one's means of sustenance, of losing a job, losing money in business. We are all very nervous that we might not be physically secure in future.
We desire safety and security both physically and psychologically. There is uncertainty about being completely secure both physically and psychologically. This uncertainty is what breeds fear. One may become ill and lose his job. The child may go to school and never return home. I may lose all my possessions, my relationships. I am afraid of a thousand things that could go wrong. Fear in all cases is regarding the uncertainty of what will happen in future.
So people tell us think positively, which is really stupid because what it means is that ignore the possibility of what can go wrong and just tell yourself that these things will not happen. It is a pretty absurd idea. I mean one cannot wish bad outcomes away by just thinking positively. "I can", "I will", and the rest of the nonsense that is sold in the market place in the name of positive thinking. Or we look for protection from a higher power that we invent. If we cannot control the outcome then we can surely appeal to a higher power who can. So this first necessitates the creation of a higher power and then a process of appealing to this higher power. One just needs to walk into a church on a Sunday morning to see how pervasive this appeal to the almighty is. One also seeks to change the outcome through Karma. If one indulges in virtuous acts which directly have no bearing on whether one will lose one's job or one will become sick, we think we can prevent the bad outcomes.
No comments:
Post a Comment