All the above assertions are correct, but just like with anything in God's creation, there must be a reason why fear has its place in the universe. For this reason, I would like to use this article to try to gain more of an understanding of this phenomenon called fear.
If we sat down and thought about it, fear is part of what keeps us alive. It's what makes us look before crossing the street, and it's also what stops us from grabbing a high voltage wire. If we had no fear of death or injury at all, our instinct for self-preservation would be so low that a lot more of us wouldn't have made it past our teenage years.
From here, we can identify some important characteristics of fear:
1. Fear induces self-control (to stop us from doing anything that would cause pain or injury).
2. Self-control through fear is only effective in the presence of external stimuli.
3. External stimuli will trigger a re-action; you act again (re-act) in the previously programmed response that was induced by fear.
The above statements may come as a surprise, since you would think that in this day and age, self control comes from the exercise of our will resulting from logical and rational conclusions combined with a recognition about what is best for us. But society is hardly an example of self control. Why else are there people who get fat and sick as a result of uncontrollable appetites, and why else would we need the presence of police to make sure people keep within the bounds of the law?
There are people who say that fear is just an illusion, and they're right. Fear is an illusion in the sense that it's not permanent, or at least it's not supposed to be. Fear is supposed to be a starting point. It calls your attention about what is harmful to you or to the people around you when your mind is unable to recognize it or unable to control what you are doing. A related aspect of fear is that it teaches you to respect any power or force that can be harmful or dangerous if treated carelessly.
What, then, should come after fear? As said earlier, fear induces self control. However, this self control only comes from the presence of an external factor. For example, the watchful eye of a policeman would prevent a pickpocket from plying his trade, whereas the absence of a policeman would embolden the criminal.
However, external factors come and go, so the amount of self control they may induce in you is also transitory. In order to make self control permanent, you must first face the fear and find out why you experienced pain or injury in the first place. When you study the situation dispassionately this way, you are now dealing with the situation on the mental rather than astral (emotional) level. Then the situation that caused the pain (and evoked the fear response) becomes a lesson learned, and so your exercise of self control becomes more permanent, because self control is now exercised through the conscious use of your own will. You are now acting, instead of reacting.
The problem, as most life coaches and psychotherapists would point out, is that people get stuck in the fear. In more extreme cases, fears can turn into phobias that are buried deep within the psyche. Without examining and confronting the source of the fear, the person is unable to move on.
We now can see that fear is simply a process we go through in the act of learning. This is why psychotherapy has been helpful in removing phobias or changing negative behavior when people recognize the causes of their fears. Needless to say, self-honesty is needed if any progress is to be made. The first step is to recognize that there is a situation that needs to be addressed. Second is to find out what caused the situation. Third is to take steps to resolve the situation. You can see how easy it is in any of the steps to delude oneself that there's no problem, or that it's the fault of someone else, or that there's nothing to be done about it.
Up to this point, I've been discussing fear based on my own observations. But how do my observations stack up when compared to the teachings of an esoteric spiritual system? Interestingly, we can find something similar in Kabbalah. In order to take a closer look at this topic, we need to use the Kabbalistic Tree of Life as a reference.
If you refer to the image of the Tree of Life below, notice how each of the sefira (the spheres with names on them) are connected by lines. Now on the left side of the tree, take note of the three sefira of Tiferet-Gevurah-Hod. In Kabbalah, these three sefira are called the Triad of Pain. The opposite triad, composed of Tiferet-Hesed-Netzah is called the Triad of Pleasure.
The book Total Kabbalah by Maggy Whitehouse describes the relationship of the two opposite triads as follows:
The left-hand triad is focused on the need to hold back to limit suffering and the right-hand side on the urge to grow, improve, and perfect the Self. The left-hand triad keeps us safe in times of danger but can also cause paralysis that prevents us from developing. The right-hand triad is our wish to grow but can lead to carelessness over one's responsibilities.
As with anything dealing with the spiritual and esoteric, the opposing triads must work in harmony in order to have a balanced life.
The Hebrew term for courage, justice and judgement is "Gevurah." It is expressed as self-control because the characteristic of Gevurah is limitation. In pranic healing, the chakra correspondence of Gevurah is the solar plexus chakra, the seat of lower emotions. In its positive aspect, the solar plexus chakra expresses itself as courage and the drive to succeed. In its negative aspect, the solar plexus is the seat of greed, vindictiveness, and fear. This is why some people, when they get nervous, experience a hollow feeling in the pit of their stomach. It's their solar plexus chakra reacting.
The polar opposite of Gevurah is Hesed, which is the center of love, generosity and compassion. When Gevurah and Hesed work in harmony, there is expansion, inclusion and love tempered by good judgement and the setting of proper boundaries.
In the eyes of Kabbalah, fear is part of the Triad of Pain. Through the proper interaction with the urge to improve (Triad of Pleasure), we go beyond the fear to transform it into good judgement, the proper Gevuric expression of self-control.
If you would like a relatively complete and overall look at Kabbalah, I really recommend the book Total Kabbalah by Maggy Whitehouse. The topics are introductory yet are still explained well and it's amazing how the author has managed to include the many different concepts in Kabbalah in an easy-to-read book for the price of a good paperback novel. You can use the book as a launching pad for deeper study into specific Kabbalistic topics while remaining aware of how the topic fits into the whole picture. It's the most complete book on Kabbalah that I've read so far. I've seen this book available in most branches of National Bookstore, so you'll find it easy to purchase.
Since we're on the topic of fear, some of you may have wondered how the "fear of God" fits into the picture. Within the context of respecting an incomprehensible and overwhelming force, the "fear" of God makes some sense. I'm sure you would "fear" a black hole or a neutron star especially if you were sent near one, so what more God, who is infinitely more massive and powerful than a black hole or neutron star?
But actually, some Hebrew words in the Bible may have been translated into English as "fear" when they could also have meant something else. For example, the Hebrew word yirah could mean fear but can also mean awe, reverence, respect and devotion. Same with the word yare, which can be translated as fearful but also means to stand in awe, reverence or honor. Another Hebrew word, mowra, was translated into the word fear but also means reverence, object of reverence, or an awe inspiring spectacle or deed. The mentioned Hebrew words are consistent though in expressing the awe, reverence and respect that one would expect when face to face with an all powerful force like I mentioned earlier.
In the end, there are many more facets to fear than we first thought. But however we choose to look at fear, one thing remains the same, and it's that fear should be faced and then overcome. Fear is what indeed holds us down, but it is a burden borne by ignorance and dishonesty to oneself. From what we have seen it seems that in the overcoming of fear, the old adage still holds: The truth shall set you free.
No comments:
Post a Comment