To Fear Or Not To Fear

Namaste

Some of you have written about emotions such as sadness, fear, frustration and so on that arise within you. You ask why this happens and what can be done about these unwanted emotions.

All emotions arise from the ego. The ego is the mistaken idea we have of who/what we are. The ego convinces us that we are separate, limited beings tied to the material world and separate from the Creator. The ego is that part of ourselves that deludes us into believing not only that we are separate from the Creator, but also from others and from the rest of reality. The ego’s only interest is to keep itself alive, strong and dominant by making us feel separate from the rest of existence and driving us further away from union with the Creator. Union causes the dissolution of the ego and the ego will do anything to avoid its own destruction.

This is the false reality of the ego. The truth is that we are not separate from the Creator and never have been. We are divine beings, the Creator’s divine sparks. Yet, the ego convinces us that this is not who we are and that returning to the Creator is impossible because we do not deserve it.

The ego’s principal weapon used to keep us ignorant of who we really are is fear. Fear is the underlying emotion that gives rise to all other emotions of the ego. Fear is behind all sadness, all frustration, all anger, all pain. And every fear you experience, whether it is fear of another person or fear of death or fear of illness or fear of being hurt, is born from a primordial fear, the fear of all fears. The root of your negative emotions is the fear of never being able to return to the Creator because you do not deserve it. This is the fear we must address. Once we dive into the many layers of fear, its multiple manifestations, we can understand this fear and transcend it. Then, all other emotions, born as they are of this primordial fear, will relinquish their hold on us and the ego loses power. When this happens, we become aware of who we really are and an all-abiding peace settles into our hearts.

So how do you deal with the root of all fear? How do you cope with sadness, fear of specific persons and situations, anger and all the other emotions that are born of the fundamental fear used by the ego against you? You do this by being aware that you are a divine spark, one with the Creator, and by living your life in the true Reality of the Creator’s Love and Light.  You do this by being aware that the emotions that arise within you are based on a fear that has no basis whatsoever in the true reality of the Creator’s Love. It doesn’t matter whether you believe that you deserve to return to the Creator or not. You are already one with God, the Divine Presence that is everything, and it is only a false belief in your separation that makes you believe that the separation actually occurred. Let the emotions arise and acknowledge them for what they are: another manifestation of the ego’s false reality.

Turn all your thoughts toward God, open your heart to the Creator’s Love, allow this Love to be present in all your actions, thoughts, words, relationships, in the multitude of instances that make up your life. Feel gratitude for being such a beautiful spark of pure Presence, bring the sacred into every aspect of your being and one day you will look out into the world and realize that the sadness is gone, the anger is gone, the fear of someone or something is gone. You realize that the Creator is in you, and always has been, and there is nothing to fear. The primordial fear is replaced by the peace of the Creator’s Presence.

At that moment you understand everything.

In the meantime, whenever you feel sadness, anger, specific fears, frustration or any other emotion, look at it objectively, knowing that the pain, grief, worry, anger is not who you are. You are not what you experience and you do not identify with your emotions. You observe your experience and instead of holding onto it, you choose to surrender it to the Creator. You let it go and by letting it go you are free to enjoy the peace and love that you truly are.

I leave you with this beautiful teaching:

An elder Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life. 

He said to them, "A fight is going on inside me. It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, pride, and superiority. 

The other wolf stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. 

This same fight is going on inside of you and every other person too."

 The children thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, 

"Which wolf will win?" The old Cherokee replied: "The one I feed."