Fear!

by LittleToe 114 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  jgnat

  Co-workers think I am fearless. But that is not entirely accurate. Often my passion do do the right thing overrides any fear. As czar said so well, fear (like fear of public speaking) can be turned around and be used as an energizer.

  Also, I bared my soul to God, so it is difficult to humiliate me. I readily admit to my weakness. Weakness is rarely admitted to in the "world", I mean, doesn't that leave me exposed to the sharks? In practice, however, my readiness to admit my faults has baffled and terrified my "sharks". I come off as supremely confident. Weird, huh?

  I figure it is this same kind of "strength in weakness" that Jesus championed. He spoke boldly. He wore no armour. He allowed himself to be stripped. Yet, he completely intimidated his enemies and ultimately triumphed over them. I admire Ghandi and Martin Luther King for those same qualities.

  I think a natural example would be some of the martial arts where the defendant bends under an assault. What appears to be a weakness turns in to a strength, as the assailant finds himself overextended and unbalanced.

  Fear, in the right context, is useful. Like fear of heights, fear of guns. I think fear of dying kept my Great Uncle Christie alive through WW 1. But these are short-term fears to a direct threat.

  As others have expressed so well, it is social fears and chronic, ill-defined fears that cripple us.
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  Sunnygal41

  JG, well expressed. I agree!

  Ross.................no, more like: OHHHHH, OHHHHHH, OOOOOHHHH GOOOODDDDD!!!!!
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  frenchbabyface

  I readily admit to my weakness. Weakness is rarely admitted to in the "world", I mean, doesn't that leave me exposed to the sharks? In practice, however, my readiness to admit my faults has baffled and terrified my "sharks". I come off as supremely confident. Weird, huh?

  to emphasis on this part !!!

  yeah ... JGnat Well said !!!
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  Midget-Sasquatch

  LT

  I'd say that perhaps the root fear is being lonely. What brings up the thought of not being loved, is how the person has only known and so himself/herself only knows how to offer conditional love. If thats not enough for most people, then it be harder for them to bond with someone.

  But its nice to hear from a couple of others, like yourself and Frankiespeaking that most love is conditional (I'm assuming between non-related adults, not parent & child). I don't want to sound warped by saying that. What I want to say its a less dire picture for that person who thinks that most people love unconditionally. They don't fall too short of the norm then. Going forward from there, I guess its just a matter of finding a companion who's level of attention/craving matches close enough to what the person is able to offer.

  thanx guys
• 

  JamesThomas

  Sasquatch,
  
  What I have found is that everything that seems to inhibit or detour us from sincere inner investigation is simply the minds stories of what we will or will not find. The mind has artfully and painstakingly created an egoic self: and identity made up of memories, beliefs, concepts and ideas, which it will do everything in it's power to protect and support.
  
  That said, it is important to realize that the mind and it's little identity are not enemies. Not something to be harmed or destroyed. They only need to be nonjudgmentally and compassionately seen for what they are: false.
  
  For me, inner investigation has presented deep and dark fears and emotions that I didn't even know I had. I invited them, and they came. What is happening is the revelation that no matter how ugly or evil, no matter how beautiful and good, underneath and beyond all duality exists a vast pure conscious-awareness untouched. When what is false is presented and seen for what it is, what remains is Truth.
  
  So, I would say the presence of fear or the "uneasiness" is fine, no problem and is in fact a doorway. Go in to this uneasiness. Be like a scientist investigating a new life form. Be present with it, be open and take no judgments or preconceived bags of ideas with you. Discover what is at the core of this uneasiness. Go deeper, and deeper still.
  
  As far as the fear of not being loved by anyone", here again is another doorway. Until we discover what we truly are, how can we know what true love is?
  
  
  
  
  "When you strip back the layers of an onion, what are you left with?"
  
  A smelly hand and a mess on the floor? Actually -- though the analogy can be a fairly good one -- it still implies a journey or doingness that takes time. I'd rather just sweep the floor of the whole mess. I don't see any valid reason to add some type of evolution into the mix. What is, is, already. If you add time, then you have a space in which to put some religious or spiritual belief system, person or deity that you now have to obey and follow, which will just reinforce and strength the prison of false identity by making you believe you are now a member of some spacial grand plan or scheme. It's not about that. It's just about SEEING is all.
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  Midget-Sasquatch

  What is happening is the revelation that no matter how ugly or evil, no matter how beautiful and good, underneath and beyond all duality exists a vast pure conscious-awareness untouched. When what is false is presented and seen for what it is, what remains is Truth.
  So, I would say the presence of fear or the "uneasiness" is fine, no problem and is in fact a doorway. Go in to this uneasiness. Be like a scientist investigating a new life form.

  So instead of picturing only a thin layer of "good" overtop an "evil" core, I should consider the possibility of those dark feelings being a relatively thin layer as well. I shouldn't let the darkness stop me from learning more about myself, which potentially can be much more. You're right nothing ventured nothing gained. And how did you know that the analogy of a scientist would work with me?

  Thank You
• 

  JamesThomas

  "So instead of picturing..."
  
  What is important is to see that ALL "picturing", all forming into some conceptual, graspable, understandable idea or commodity, is mind generated. Call them "good", or "bad", it doesn't matter. They are all just interpretations; and not the Reality which we seek.
  
  Kind of take a mental step back and watch the mind as it weaves the grand story about the "me", the little individual self. Notice, that, That, which is watching is not the story. It just silently and nonjudgmentally watches all the drama.
  
  Generally we are aware only of the drama, and identify the tragic play as the beginning and end of our own self. It is the beginning and end of the make-believe self; but it doesn't effect at all, the true undefinable Self.
  
  Generally this investigation requires simple uncomplicated stillness. In this stillness what moves (the minds frantic weaving), and what does not move (your true Self) becomes apparent and obvious.
  
  The scientist analogy is a good one, for a true scientist observes her or his chosen subject in a state of clear openness with no preconceived ideas that may taint the data. They allow the subject to reveal it's secrets to them. This is the same atmosphere most fertile for inner investigation. Be still; and ever more still and allow the reality of Life/Being reveal itself. Silently watch and be aware of awareness.
  
  The entire universe came into being without any help from us. Allow that same Intelligence to reveal Itself.
  
  
  j
• 

  LittleToe

  James:
  You're on my wavelength with the "Onion" analogy, but I'd like to take it a stage further.
  There's nothing at the core of an onion, no seed, just the acheivement of sustanance on the way and residue on the hands that is there for all to see where you've been...

  If you cut it one way, you get to this knowledge. If you cut it another, you arrive at the same point, but with weeping eyes.

  One way may take longer than another, but what is time??
  Ultimately it's coming to the core "truth" that surely counts?
  For that reason, while I find absolutely no offense in your approach, I continue to offer mine.

  As you have been often found to state, we have so many illusionary layers, in life. Stripping them away is of immense benefit. I concur that religion and ritual can so often consume to the point of blindness. Nonetheless, for some there is a route that way, albeit fraught with distraction.

  In connection with fear, I believe these statements continue to hold true.

  Midget:
  We tend to put costs on things, and once the price has risen too high for our personal sensibilities, we act.

  In connection with relationships, for some that's broken trust (from lies through to adultery), for others their love can be as cheap as no longer belonging to a specific denomination

  Jgnat:That's a similar response to the one I get, for similar reasons.
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  Incense_and_Peppermints

  irrational fear is all in your mind. healthy fear, say, of getting burned, keeps you from thrusting your hands into a furnace. i just finished watching that film "The Village", and 1/3 of the way through, i guessed what was behind the mystery and as i continued to watch i found myself becoming more and more enraged and at the end all i could think of was "the witnesses do this", though not to this degree, but if they had the means, i don't doubt for one second that they wouldn't. yes, fear itself is definitely something to fear.
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  Xena

  Again, in your example, how will she deal with this. She will likely either confront her fear, else live in fear.
  How does that saying go, about breaking inertia? I'll attempt to paraphrase it: Something like, when the fear to go becomes less than the fear to stay, then action may be taken?
  

  I guess what I'm proposing is that it may be possible for some to reduce their fear to go, resulting in them being able to act.
  For some that will be a leap of faith.
  It's quite likely there will be unsuspected consequences (I found that out, in my own case, when leaving the borg). But do we allow a fear of the unknown to paralyse us from acting when we need to?

  Maybe some of the fears are rational. Maybe, for some, the price of freedom is too high. Maybe that will change as circumstances change (like parents passing away, for example).
  Maybe not...

  I suppose for everyone their fears seem rational to them. Fear is usually rooted in something...sometimes we are just too afraid to dig deep enough to find out what that is.

  If our fear of something isn't necessarily crippling is it necessary to root it out? I wonder sometimes if the cure isn't worse than the disease.

  PS Sunnygal I'm a pisces...I've been told that accounts for what appears to be contradictions in my personality