Face to face with fear

Aug 9, 2010, 12.00am IST
MARGUERITE THEOPHIL.

A woman dreams every night that she is being chased through an old haunted house by a huge, hideous monster. Night after night, it endlessly chases her, coming so close that she feels its icy breath on the nape of her neck.

Then one night, though she runs madly, the monster corners the terrified woman. Just as it reaches out to tear her apart, she turns around, finds her voice and screams, "What are you? Why do you chase me? What will you do to me?"

At that, the monster stops, straightens up, and with a puzzled expression, shrugs and says, "How should I know? It's your dream."

The Tibetan Buddhist teachings of Chogyam Trungpa state plainly that in order to experience fearlessness, it is necessary to face our fear; in fact, "the essence of cowardice is not acknowledging the reality of fear." In his Shambhala teachings, he holds that discovering fearlessness comes, paradoxically, from "working with the softness of the human heart".

We open ourselves vulnerably to what we are afraid of, and learn from the challenges and lessons it brings.

Fear has many names like dread, worry, panic, anxiety, and it manifests itself in varied ways as in avoidance, procrastination, perfectionism, judgement, control, agitation and violence. Fear usually prevents us from living up to our true potential. Whether we are afraid of the dark, of being abandoned, failure, commitment, flying or public speaking, fear can affect nearly every decision we make.

In 'Embracing Fear', psychotherapist Thom Rutledge tells us that sometimes fear is part of the problem, sometimes fear is the problem – but when we are really paying attention, fear is usually part of the solution.

We easily forget that fear is an essential part of our nature; an alarm system, there to get our attention, to push us out of harm's way. So we need to learn to distinguish between unhealthy or neurotic fear that holds us back, and healthy fear that helps us to move on. Unhealthy fear is persistent, exaggerating and even inventing potential dangers; healthy fear stands guard responsibly, informing us immediately of real danger. While unhealthy fear nags us endlessly about everything that could possibly go wrong now, tomorrow, the day, week, month or year after, or years later even, healthy fear inspires us to do what can be done in the present.

It is only through facing, exploring, accepting and responding to fear that we free ourselves from its paralysing grip. If befriending or embracing our fear seems too much, then as a first step, one can simply acknowledge it: Yes, I feel fear. I recognise it, but I do not have to be led by it.

We can also work with our fear by recognising it as a sign of the inner work we need to do. What is this fear waking me up to? What am I being asked to develop in myself? What old habits and reactions must I abandon or transform?

What scares or threatens us can easily cause us to become aggressive and selfish, to react in violent ways, to step off the Path. Most spiritual traditions teach us that fear is to be 'met' if we are to understand it in any measure and work with it to grow in understanding. On the way to achieving compassion or equanimity or peace or fearlessness, we are called upon to face and get to know that which is disturbing, threatening, disagreeable or fearful; only then can we reach and experience what those end states really are.

The writer is a Mumbai-based personal growth coach. weave@vsnl.net

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Path of Powerful Dharma Beings

25 January 2003, 12:15am IST
Suresh Jindal, TNN.

One takes refuge in the Buddha's path because it allows the freedom to modulate it to one's self-awareness, provided one takes responsibility of one's own suffering. Buddhism's view of dependent origination and the inherent emptiness of all phenomena is a profound and radical one. It dispenses with the existence of a Creator God or a Superior Being. The view is taught not as an article of faith or an exclusive revelation to a messiah or prophet, but is one that can be ascer-tained by study, debate, and direct experience. The methodology of investigation is as thorough and rational as that of physics or mathematics. Like science, it can only be studied under a qualified and experienced teacher. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said that crucial to the hermeneutic approach is the Mahayana principle of the four relian-ces. These are ' reliance on the teaching and not the teacher, on meaning and not on words, on the definitive meaning and not the provisional meaning, and on the transcendent wisdom of experience, not mere knowledge. A Mahayana guru must have ten qualities. These include ethical self-control, serenity and meditation stabilisation, mental peace derived from nature of ultimate reality. He should also have more knowledge than the disciple, enthusiasm in practice, richness of scriptural learning, realisation of reality, skill in teaching, loving concern and compassion for disciples and no discouragement for them. The disciple also needs to possess some qualities. He should be honest, intelligent, sensitive to the distinction between good and bad, and interested in learning. The Buddhist view is taught with three methods of teaching ' debate and reflection, direct experience, and meditation. There are profound and deep methods of practical education that can lead the student into direct experience of ultimate reality. The uniqueness of Mahayana Tantra practice is that it can enable realisation in one lifetime. This can be obtained only through direct transmission by a realised master who him- self has travelled the path. The teachings include oral instructions and initiation into tantra and its practices. A lama is not ordained or nominated by a church or counsel. He is accepted when disciples feel he has the qualities for being a teacher. All monks have to undergo rigorous training from an early age. It can take up to 20 years to attain the highest degree of 'Geshe', doctor of divinity. Since there is no blind belief and the Buddhist view has to be taught by logic and reason, the preservation of the teachings depends on the teachers and the monasteries that educate them. The Buddha's teachings have always been transmitted through the guru- shishya parampara. Taxila, Nalanda and Vikramshila, till their destruction in the 13th century, were premier Buddhist universities. The resident monks-yogis-scho-lars held all the major lineages of Buddhist teachings. Fortunately, eight century CE onwards, a vigorous exchange of pundits from India and yogis from Tibet had started. So all major lineages had been safely transported to the Land of Snows. The dharma kings of Tibet not only restructured their language but also their society to preserve and propagate the teachings. It is believed that at any time, 20-25 per cent of the population of Tibet was in monasteries and nunneries. Based on the model and methods of the famous Indian monastic universities, the Tibetan universities of Sera, Drepung and Ganden were built to nurture and preserve the teachings and their lineages. Sheltered on the roof of the world, the dharma flourished for over a thousand years. Not only were the teachings preserved but also enhanced and honed by realisations of a steady stream of outstanding wisdom beings.

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Our Relationship With Our Maker

31 July 2001, 10:35am IST
K R Shankar.

Our journey through life as passing pilgrims is an extraordinary inward journey of the spirit seeking answers to fundamental questions like: whence have we come? where are we bound? what is our duty and relationship with the external world and its creator?

The entire world is one order and we are not isolated individuals but participants connected in four ways with the sentient and insentient world of the creator. first, we are connected with the world of matter: the earth, mountains, oceans, sun, rain, wind, etc. secondly we relate with all the living creatures, animals, birds, insects, trees and our fellow human beings. the third factor is our self, our being, the mind, our desires, hopes, jealousy, anger, imagination, a whole subjective inner world. and finally, we associate with the being that has created all these factors. in the end, how we relate ourselves to each of these factors determines how smooth or rough our journey in life will be.

The veneration of god finds expression in the veneration of nature and all her elements. the bavarian mystic jacob boehm said, "everything represents god, everything is the symbol of the eternal." our great upanishadic seers have stated, "ishavasyam idam sarvam, yat kinchit jagatyam jagat" - all things whatsoever in the universe that move or moves not is indwelt by the lord. one cannot look at the sky, the sun, the stars, oceans, mountains, rivers and the scenic beauty of nature without seeing the secret of what constitutes the body of the lord revealed majestically on a magnificent scale. in the geeta, the lord says, "whenever you see greatness, beauty or glory, o arjuna know that to be a bit of my glory". that is why perhaps we in india revere nature, the snow peaked himalayas, the roaring ganges, the cauvery, the godavari, as symbols of the ever flowing energy of god. even trees like the giant banyan, the peepul, or the tiny tulsi plant have a religious significance for us.

At the second level, the righteous attitude towards our fellow beings and other living creatures has been promoted by almost every religion through certain ethical and moral values for the upliftment of humanity - the yama and the niyama of patanjali, manusmriti, the eight-fold path of buddhism, the ten commandments of judaism, the sermon on the mount by jesus. the first principle is compassion to all creatures. vyasa reveals this in the simple but profound aphorism, "paropkaraya punyaya papaaya parapidanam", doing good to others is a virtue, harming others is sin. sri satya sai baba has succinctly said, "help ever, hurt never". the compassionate buddha at the time of his departure said to his bhikus, "walk the highways and the byways of this great land of bharat for the happiness and the welfare of the many - `bahujana hitayacha, bahujana sukhayacha'."

Thirdly, our attitude to the subjective inner self requires us to be in control of our faculties - our senses, mind and its emotions - which must not lead us astray through undesirable thought. by controlling our inner being through discipline we must seek to attain purity of thought, work and deed. "ma gridah kasyaswid dhanam"; covet not another's wealth, says the isha upanishad - but create wealth by the right means. do not hoard it but hold it in trust, for it belongs to the community and must be share with them.

And lastly, we come to the being that has created the entire universe, including the five elements - air, earth, fire, water and space, and everything contained therein. they play a vital role and contribute to our existence - without expecting anything in return. this marvellous phenomenon of creation stands as a testimony to the supreme power of god.

What can we offer in return unto him who is the lord of the countless worlds, the source of existence and from whom everything is derived? even in our daily worship we are only offering what he has given us. we can therefore proffer only our love in gratitude. love is manifested in many ways. we can only offer what is truly ours - our ego, our mistakes, our pride, anger and jealousy. we can also offer our heart with the flowers of truthfulness, honesty, simplicity, purity, forgiveness and compassion. "yad yuad karma karomi, tattad akhilam sambo tavardhanam" , said sri sankaracharya: whatever i do, they all are worship of thee, o lord.

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