3. Have Fears? Face Them!

Our lives are filled with fear. We live constantly and continuously in fear.

If we look deeply into the aspect of fear, we will see that we have many types of fears: fear of losing material possessions; fear of losing physical and mental health; fear of losing one's loved ones and love; and then we fear many unknown things, including death of which we know little and yet which generate unease and fear. All these fears can be managed somewhat. The ultimate fear that we all have is the the fear of losing our identity. This completely terrifies and confuses us.

In many scientific surveys, it has been shown that what we fear the most are usually two things: the first fear, not surprisingly, is the fear of death. The second most common fear is that of public speaking.

Do these fears seem poles apart? They are not. They actually have a common thread, that of the loss of ego. At death, we have no idea where we are going; our ego is threatened. In public speaking it is a fear of failure, of being shamed, of losing one's

identity.Meanwhile society and religion keep instilling more and more fears into our system. The fears of- sin, moral wrong doing, punishment in hell are all drilled into us from childhood by those who wish to control us and our actions. None of these fears have any spiritual sanction.

Morality has to come out of awareness not through compulsion and fear.

Fear is like a shadow. It follows us and stalks us. The moment we turn around to face it, it will disappear.

How to face the fear? Become aware of the fear, of every reaction our body produces, way it changes our thoughts, speech action. Just watch the fear and face it totally. Many times we will be able to catch it come in waves. And we realize if we observe, we are not drained of energy or caught up in the drama of it all.

Another technique is to watch our breathing. Concentrate on breathing in and out.

Simply concentrate on these two events. Mind will automatically be controlled.

Face the fears, win over them. Greater victories in life can become ours.