40. 76. Face fear with courage.

The lady who had come to the Ashram, looked very much disturbed as she said, 'Swamiji, I feel very upset whenever I think about my son.'

I told her, 'Don't worry, tell me openly as to what the problem is'.

She began saying, 'Master, he does not listen to me. Often he quarrels with the ladies next door. Last week he had a fight with the boys living in the adjacent street. He loses his temper even for small problems. He begins to fight even for little things. He doesn't stay in the house at all. He likes to remain in the street corner. If it goes this way, he will not marry the girl I choose. I am afraid that he may run away from me along with some girl in future. Whenever I think about this, I feel very upset, Master.'

Then I told that woman who gave more importance to the societal status than to her son that she would get through his marriage. I said, 'Don't worry madam. Bring your son to the Ashram one day. I will talk to him separately. If we set right his mind, everything will become all right.

She said, 'Master, why some other day! I have brought my son along with me. You can talk to him now itself.' So saying she put down the four year old boy from her hip. Not understanding any thing that was happening there, the boy was simply blinking.

• Every person, in some way or the other, gets caught in some fear like this and lives in that fear only. This is no exaggeration. For that lady, that was the fear. Fear has got the ability and strength to spread the life-energy through out the body within a second.

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• Fear is a gift given by God to man to protect him from harm.

• One of the important reasons for humanity to remain disciplined and united to this extent is fear.

• In the same way as the excess or deficiency of salt in the food will not make the food tasty, if fear is high or low, life will be hell only.

• To utilize the feeling of fear properly, man needs experiential wisdom. If this wisdom is not there, fear will surely ruin us. If you turn the pages containing 'phobias' in the Encyclopedia, you will be stunned to see the different types of phobias. An interesting research study about the various phobias from Acrophobia (fear of heights) to Zoophobia (fear of animals), which make men fear in various ways was done.

If one begins to act due to increased feeling of fear and loses his self-control that only is called 'phobia'.

Without using the feeling of fear properly, if one acts in a dull manner that is called as 'foolish boldness'.

If you feel that, 'fear, foolish-boldness may be present in some people, but surely not in me', then this article is surely for you...

Excepting those enlightened persons who have gone beyond death experience while living itself, all men would have been affected by some type of phobia or foolish boldness. This is Vedic truth.

'Almost all persons are affected by some type of phobia or the other'– This is the conclusive opinion of psycho-analysts.

Here is an amusing story matching the above truths.

An enlightened Master living outside the town of Sundarapuri, used to solve people's problems.

One day the Master asked Yama Dharma (Lord of death) who was coming towards Sundarapuri, 'Why you have come here?'

Yama said, 'Master, according to the accounts of Kaliyuga, I have to take with me to Yamaloka, five hundred people from the town immediately.'

The Master said, 'I will see to that the Kaliyuga accounts are tallied all right. As long as I am here, you should not do any thing with them. You may go back.'

As he had to take people immediately, Yama said, 'Master, please permit me to take at least three hundred people.'

'No... It is not possible.'

'Master, if you put a ban order, what shall I do? Please permit me to take at least a hundred people.'

'Hundred persons are too many. There are fifty persons who have lived their lives well and are ready to leave the world. You can take only those people.' said the Master.

Hearing this, Yama joyfully entered the town as though he had got the permission to take three hundred persons with him.

Having continuously attacked fifty persons for a week through the disease of cholera, without exceeding the limit permitted by the Master, Yama completed his job and started towards Yamaloka.

But, when Yama was leaving that town, he was leaving with three hundred soul bodies.

The Master asked, 'Oh Yama, I gave you permission for only fifty persons. How can you take away the lives of three hundred people?'

Laughingly Yama Dharma said, 'Master, I have not exceeded the limit permitted by you. I made Cholera to come into the city. Fifty died of Cholera by lose motions. The other two hundred and fifty died simply by fear phobia on seeing them die. My accounting is now all right. It has tallied.'

Instead of the word 'phobia' the word 'fear' is easily understood by all.

When you sit in the giant wheel, and go round up and down, you might have experienced the fear feeling. Where did you feel the fear?

You might have felt a peculiar and frightful feeling exactly at the right side of the lower abdomen.

What is the connection between the fear and lower abdomen?

In fear, only the lower abdomen alone feels bad, why?

The location where we get the feeling of fear is only that place where the SWADHISHTANA CHAKRA is located. This is what the Rishis have realized and stated so thousands of years ago.

Swadhishtana is one of the seven energy centers which are in our body.

It is only in this Swadhishtana Chakra, fear is present. The root of our life energy is also present here.

When fear grips us due to any unexpected reason, for every minute of that happening, our Swadhishtana Chakra is shaken.

It is only the feeling given out by the tiny drop of life-energy which is released when Swadhishtana Chakra is shaken, which gives that frightening feeling while going around vertically in the giant wheel.

The life-energy which is already in circulation in our body is not adequate enough to tackle an unexpected situation or an emergency.

During such moments the fear shakes up the Swadhishtana and gives out the energy needed to meet that situation.

As we live continuously with fear about one thing or the other right from childhood itself, fear has become a continuing aspect of life.

Even for small fears experienced each time, the life-energy will release itself instantly.

The problem starts only when the fear which may normally be experienced by a person once in a while, happens to be present in him always.

When fear becomes a continuous event of life, man gets afflicted with nervousness.

It turns out to become mind-body related diseases like chronic nervousness and agitation. This condition is phobia.

When an insult occurs, when problems come, when we commit mistakes whenever we are agitated like this, we live only in fear.

Feeling a sense of agitation within us, speech going astray, trembling of the fingers – if any one of these is present, then, it means that in those moments we are losing our control.

As a result of this, the waste of life-energy that occurs only creates nervousness and agitation.

This only is phobia.

How to come out of this phobia?

Easy – Without becoming afraid of fear, begin to approach the fear with awareness to such an extent that fear itself has to become afraid.

There are lot of differences between getting agitated due to fear ending up in phobia and facing fear with awareness that helps go beyond agitation, which is an outcome or expression of phobia.

In short, face fear with boldness. The problem is solved.

A meaningful incident.

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A devotee asked, 'Explain as to how to face fear boldly'.

'When you come alone in the night and if a dog chases you, how fast will you run? That atmosphere is fear. Still have you not faced it with boldness? Is it not true that from somewhere energy bubbled up within you!

Why should it be only a dog or a ghost which should make the energy within us bubble up? Why not we do it ourselves? Approach fear with boldness. Fear will vanish.' I said.

Meditation chisels. Chisel No.31.

Do not hesitate to throw out the hesitation.

The daring one called man, who already visited the moon itself, as though it is not enough, is getting prepared and venturing to go even beyond Mars and enter further into the Universe.

But he loses and misses life that is nearby. He has not yet approached it even.

He is not able to speak about what he thinks, as it is.

Reason: Morals, values, rules and regulations crush his throat into inaction.

Unable to laugh when he feels like, unable to cry, he suppresses even very justifiable feelings. If you ask him the reason, he says, 'fashion'.

Man has become afraid to the extent that he is unable to laugh boldly. What sort of life is this?

He fears and hesitates in regard to many aspects of life!

Due to such kind of things happening deep in his sub-conscious mind, the man, who picks up the thoughts from his upper superficial mind, says... "I don't like certain things...

• I don't like public speaking...

• I don't like laughing aloud like a lunatic...

• I never like to give in, anyway...

• In this manner, talking against the social living, he goes on losing his life.

All such sentences he scatters outside due to his inner fear.

If we have to say in short... whatever may be life incident, in which hesitation peeps its head within you, then it means that you are afraid in your sub-conscious mind, of that incident.

Make a list of all your hesitations.

Do not leave out even small hesitations.

Do not fail to face and tackle those future moments in which you are going to meet with those hesitations you have listed.

In those moments when fear peeps out its head surreptitiously, meet with abandon that hesitation, saying, 'If there is going to be hesitation, let it be there.'

Act without any constraints.

Without any hesitation, hold tight the head of hesitation twist it and throw it out. Fear, which is the physical body of hesitation will come out and fall off.

Make hesitation times as meditation times.

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