The Hindu : The conquest of fear

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The conquest of fear

FEAR AFFLICTS everybody. One is afraid of snakes. One is afraid of ailments particularly the deadly ones. Someone is afraid of losing wealth, losing near and dear ones. And everybody is afraid of death. These may be imaginary fears or fears based on rational appreciation of objective facts. Basically, fear arises from deep attachment to certain objects or things and at the thought of losing those objects or things. At a philosophical level fear arises from an awareness that the object of fear is different (and dreaded) from the subject fearing it. Fear is, in the ultimate analysis, caused by the absence of true knowledge of one's own self, the non-discriminatory, eternally abiding, unchanging constant behind the ever-changing external environment. On the eve of the great battle of Kurkshetra, Arjuna saw the huge array of armies on both sides and told Lord Krishna about his inability and unwillingness to fight and kill his own kith and kin some highly venerable like `Bhishma' and `Drona.' The Lord counsels Arjuna in these words: "klaibyam ma sma gamah partha nai `tat tvayy upapadyate ksudram hrdayadaurbalyam tyaktvo `ttistha parantapa" "Yield not to this unmanliness, O Partha (Arjuna), for it does not become thee. Cast off this petty faintheartedness and arise, O oppressor of the foes (Arjuna) (from the Bhagavad-Gita by S. Radhakrishnan, p. 99) The Lord tells his dear disciple to be aware of his origin, the brave and mighty lady `Prtha' and also to be aware of the fact that Arjuna is the great oppressor of foes, the mightiest archer. By this awareness only he can conquer fear, conquer attachment and set out to do his duty. The Lord also told Arjuna: "avinasi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idam tatam vinasam avyayasya sya na kascit kartum arhati" "Know thou that that by which all this is pervaded is indestructible. Of this immutable being, no one can bring about the destruction."

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The story of baby lion

In the Vedas there is the story of a lion calf brought up together with a flock of sheep. The baby lion was living on the grass alongwith other sheep in the loving care of a shepherd boy. He even started bleating like a lamb. One day a lion suddenly appeared from the wooded hill on the other side of a rivulet and jumped over the small stream and came very close to the flock of sheep. Every sheep started running for life and so did the baby lion. The big lion was surprised to see that the lion calf was eating grass like the lambs,

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The Hindu : The conquest of fear

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/op/2001/11/13/stories/2001111300...

bleating like a lamb and was running for life, full of fear at the sight of the lion. The big lion then caught hold of the baby lion, letting the lambs go and dragged him to a nearby clear and transparent lake. He then told the baby lion to see his reflection in the lake water and also see the reflection of the big lion, and having seen both the reflections the baby lion roared like a real lion and all his fears vanished. Then there is another famous story in the Vedas that a boy was walking on the road in darkness and suddenly stopped at a point, stricken with fear, by seeing what he thought was a serpent. He was immobilised with fear. Soon another boy came with a torch in hand and the latter told the former that what he had thought to be a serpent was really a thick twine. He then focussed the torch on the twine and by seeing the true nature of the object, he became fearless. But had it been even a serpent, if the realisation dawned on him that ultimately all objects, living and non-living, emanate from the supreme and undifferentiated ocean of blissful consciousness, he would become fearless. Even short of that level of awareness, if there is a gust of love and feeling of oneness with the object of apparent fear, the person experiencing this love would cease to fear. The "Ancient Mariner" of S.T. Coleridge went through many trials and tribulations, experienced fearful apparitions and hellish phenomena. Everybody on his boat dropped down dead. Then in the vast ocean in the midst of pervading death, he saw some colourful snakes coiling and swimming and felt a strong sense of love for the snakes, being the only signs of life in the midst of death. The "Ancient Mariner" became fearless of the snakes and all the sins of his wanton cruelty of killing the "Abbatross" vanished. The Ancient Mariner tells his tale in the inimitable words of Coleridge: "A spring of love gushed from my heart, and I blessed them unaware. The self-same moment I could pray. And from my neck so free, the Abbatross fell off and sank like a lead into the sea." The examples and stories narrated above convey a profound truth taught by our seers and saints and that truth is that fear is the outcome of Maya or illusion and fear vanishes with self-realisation. But these examples also demonstrate that self-realisation is caused by the grace of a great `guru.' And when the great guru blesses, knowledge of self comes gushing instantly. As Paramahansa Ramakrishna preached to his dear disciples: "when a man with a flaming torch enters a house lying dark for a thousand years, the dark house does not become lighted bit by bit but all at once. Such is the power of the grace of guru." But there are various other methods of overcoming fear. Belief and autosuggestion are two very important methods of becoming fearless. It is often said you are what you believe you are. In fact belief is a command to the brain. But mind is, as Swami Vivekananda said, like a monkey. Therefore, belief and autosuggestion will be punctuated by many wondering thoughts and fleeting ideas. It, therefore, requires long and arduous practice to set the mind focussed on an idea or the exercise of belief. This would be a long road to self-knowledge, to the conquest of fear and the road would be strewn with thorns. It would be often like walking on a razor's edge but with a stead-fast heart, the goal is surely to be reached. As Swami Vivekananda said, "arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached." D. K. ACHARYYA Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

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The Hindu : The conquest of fear

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