The journey called life: July 2012

What is Fear??

The more i see life getting more convenient around us, the more I'm hearing and seeing people getting fearful. Give me a chance to elaborate this hypothesis.

Some people think fear is unavoidable - it just happens and you CANNOT do anything about it. I think fear is a LUXURY.

Can a homeless man be scared of living on the road?

Can a soldier be afraid to go to war or be scared of death?

Can a nurse /doctor be scared of seeing blood?

Can a Gardner be scared of snakes?

Can a pilot/air hostess/business leader be scared of talking of groups of people or on stage?

Can an actor/leader be scared of travelling?

Can an adventurer be scared of flying / sailing/ heights?

Can a person who has to live with 20 people in the house ever be claustrophobic?

If your aeroplane is about to crash, can you afford to be fearful of heights and not jump out with the parachute?

We are fearful only when somewhere deep down within us - WE KNOW THAT WE CAN AFFORD TO BE.

Fear is nothing but False Evidence Appearing Real

The only real fear is the fear of DEATH. When you are standing in the middle of a railway track and a Rajdhani express is coming at you in full speed and you are NOT trying to commit suicide. What you may feel at that time is REAL FEAR. The other fears are just unreal and mostly unnecessary in life.

Some fears are good - like the fear which makes you look before you cross the road, or the fear which prevents you from putting your hand into a fire or an electric circuit.

But increasingly we seem to be developing Phobias (fears that plague your mind). These phobias make you feel like you are in prison even though you are not. It is a kind of mental bondage, which tie us down. Have you heard about that story of the man with the 3 camels in the desert? (no?)

OK - Story time :)

There is a man who has 3 camels with whom he is crossing across a desert. They walk in the day and every night he needs to tie up his camels to ensure that they don't run away.

One night he realised he had rope enough just to tie 2 camels. So he tied 2 camels and just pretended to tie the third camel. Since the camel was used to being tied everyday anyway, he did not make any attempt to move away in the night.

In the morning the man woke up and untied the 2 camels and continued his journey across the desert. After going some distance he realised that only 2 camels were following him.

He then remembered that he had not pretended to untie the 3rd camel. He retraced his steps and sure enough the 3rd camel was right where he had left him.

He then pretended to untie the 3rd camel and then all the 3 camels followed him further into the desert.

Our fears/phobias are like that "pretend knot". Its not there, but we think it is and we let it stop us from living our lives fully.

We worry and fear about so many subtle things in life too.

We fear how people(boss/spouse/siblings/children/parents/in-laws/friends) will react to things we say or do or the choices we make. In fact sometimes we are also worried about what the guy next door or the lady walking on the street will think of us!!! (I've gone through this phase too - http://angelalpa.blogspot.in/2012/06/not-so-thin-line-between-being-nice-and.html worried about what others will think of me and retaning my nice tag!)
We worry if we will have a job next year.
We worry if our children are growing up all right
We fear for the safety of our children
We worry about promotions/appraisals/assignments
We worry there will be too much traffic
We worry if the domestic help/driver will come today (There is NO solution for this one :) )
We fear we are not as good enough as we think we are or show we are

These are just a few examples of the subtle worries/fears that plague us through our day. They stop our smile from being radiant. Radiant enough to light up the room. Are the fears/phobias really worth our time in this invaluable life that we have received?

Are we happy living like this? Wouldn't we like to break these barriers and live a more free and full life??

So how do we get rid of these fears/phobias??

Watch for the next post :)

Till then let me know if you have also experienced this 'fearful phenomenon' around you.

Lots of Love

Alpa

This post is dedicated to my super cool Guru on the occasion of Guru Poornima 2012.

Millions around the world today are eternally grateful to this just ONE soul for transforming their lives from the ordinary to the Extraordinary.He does his job so well, with such panache and grace.

In the earlier days people who did not have a Guru were called "Anaath", orphan. That was the importance given to Guru in life.

I am so grateful that i was born at a time when he is walking on the planet and that he decided to come into my life. His presence in my life is a warm cocoon, where i can retreat into anytime and know there is just pure bliss and unconditional love and all the unpleasantness in the world is not true. His presence in my life has helped me sail through major and minor storms with relative ease.

Words actually fail to describe even 10% of a Guru-Devotee relationship. If you have tasted devotion in your life then you know the treasure you have found- else - you're missing the MOST beautiful thing on the planet!! (Believe you me!)

Pranams at the Lotus Feet of my Master!!