Living Without Fear

“At the end of the sorrowful night
Truth appears and smilingly says,
“Beloved, fear no more.”

– Sri Chinmoy

The material advances of the world do not seem to have reduced the amount of fear that exists in our mind. When we fear we weaken ourselves and make it impossible to enjoy life as it is supposed to be enjoyed. To consciously enjoy life we need to throw away fear and retain optimism and a positive attitude to the world. To live without fear is quite possible.

Self Belief.

When we fear we consciously weaken ourselves. If we think of ourselves as an ant, then we will inevitably fear being trampled on. It is important to maintain faith in ourselves and a sense of self belief. This is not the pride of self aggrandisement, but belief in our inner self. If we maintain belief in our inner divinity, then we will not fear the world.

Don’t Judge Others

When we judge and condemn others, we ironically open ourselves upto being judged ourselves. When we pick up on the faults of others, we unconsciously strengthen these very same faults in ourself. Often we start criticising others to assert an unconscious sense of superiority over others; we do this partly out of fear. But, judging others is not a solution to fear; we only make it stronger.

Don’t Focus on Your Weakness / Sin.

If we focus on our ‘sins’ and weaknesses, we start to cherish a guilty conscience. This magnifies our weaknesses and problems, this will only create an attitude of fear. Instead we need to forget unpleasant experiences; it is sufficient to resolve to avoid repeating mistakes. We need to move on and think about the good things we are going to do. When we focus on the negative things we have done we become fearful of their consequences.

Suspend Disbelief

If we separate ourselves from the rest of humanity we will always be fearful. If we have an attitude of self importance and self reliance, we will fear and mistrust other people. We should avoid imagining others are thinking ill of us. The mind frequently thinks of the worst. But, we have to ignore these thoughts and concentrate on the underlying unity with other people.

Leave Aside Superiority / Inferiority

A lot of fear is based on a false desire to prove ourselves to the rest of the world. We worry over people’s perceptions and criticisms. Therefore we give much importance to proving ourselves; this generates constant feelings of inferiority and superiority which creates a climate of subconscious fear in our mind.

Ignore the Fears of the Media.

In daily life there are numerous medium which seek to play on our fears. If we uncritically read newspapers from cover to cover, we will become overwhelmed with fear. Even if we are aware of the nature of newspapers to magnify negative experiences, we can still be subconsciously affected. Through absorbing ourselves in the consciousness of the news media, it is easy to gain an unbalanced perspective on life and this generates a feeling of fear. If newspapers highlight 10 problems with the world, we should try to remember 10 reasons to be optimistic. It is not that we need to avoid reading newspapers; but, we need to be very cautious about being swept up in their world perspective, which inevitably highlights the bad. Satire is a great medicine to the negative attitude of the media.

Take Each Day as It Comes

Most of our worries and fears are generated over imaginary experiences that never happen. Most fears are based on the future. Yet our mind is a very poor guide to predicting the future. Usually things do not turn out as bad as we plan. The great sages frequently advise us to take each day as it comes and ‘let the morrow worry about the morrow’ It is with good reason; if we can live in the present moment we can easily reduce the impact of fear in our lives.

Photo by Pranlobha, Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries