Live without Fear

Human beings, having wandered away from the Source of love, God, and having identified with a vulnerable physical body, forgot their essential immortal and indestructible nature, and began believing in the reality of death and, as a result, they developed fear.

There are times, however, when fear is necessary. For example, it is wise to be afraid of tigers in a forest, or to fear the consequences of what could happen if you take drugs, etc. But when fear is unmotivated, it becomes anxiety and can seriously undermine our inner peace. Moreover, fear magnetizes us and that means that we end up attracting to ourselves the very thing we fear, “as a magnet draws to itself pieces of iron”, the Master affirms.

In short, fear creates problems and adds a perceptible, paralyzing weight to the circumstances of our life.

If we look around at nature, fear, seen as anxiety, doesn’t exist. Yes, an animal that is hunted will surely be afraid, but it is a healthy fear which produces adrenalin and helps it to flee. It is a natural fear. In fact, why should nature even be fearful? It is open to divine guidance, it is constantly in contact with the Creator, relying on Him and following His natural rhythms, thereby receiving energy and love.

And what about us? Why isn’t it the same for us? What is it that prevents us from being peaceful and trusting like the flowers and animals are?

It is our ego that constantly contrasts the natural flow of life and of energy – a will that believes it knows what is best for itself and that, with its desires and repulsions, is constantly trying to obtain that which it desires, and resists that which it does not like, that shuts itself off from the divine flow of energy and exposes itself, as a result, to every known fear.

In a book written by an exorcist, I read that he advises, when one is under the influence of negative energies, to react the same way that a small boy he saw react when frightened by a dog that was running after him:  he jumped into his father’s arms.

We, too, should jump into our Father’s and Divine Mother’s arms, and also remind ourselves that this life, that seems so real, is, in reality, only an illusion, a show, God’s dream.

When we are in that Light, nothing can touch us. Master told Dr. Lewis that Dr. Lewis had been miraculously saved during a storm by chanting “OM”: “When you are in the consciousness of OM, nothing can touch you” (the divine Light is a primary manifestation of OM).

Of course there are some practical things we can do when we are gripped by fear: we can do double breathing, tensing all the muscles; we can do pranayama or repeat a mantra or an affirmation to calm the mind, or sing an inspiring chant. We can visualize Master next to us, or keep the company of those who, with their magnetism, can help us to be centered once again – anything that can help us remember that we are lions of Light, that we are immortal and invincible souls that nothing can harm, kill, or burn, as the Bhagavad Gita tells us.

But of course, prevention is better than curing, and a constant practice of meditation that puts us in contact with the invulnerability that is within us is the surest way to live peacefully and to be of help to our dear ones, even in the midst of tumultuous times in which all those around us are troubled.

I live protected by God’s infinite Light. So long as I remain in the heart of it, nothing and no one can harm me. –  Swami Kriyananda