Reflect On Our Fear

There are times when our internal world can be like riding a roller coaster up and down. We love to feel happiness and joy as much as we can. We don’t want to feel anxiety and fear even though we might be indulging in them. Our way of handling our emotions is not always clear and one dimensional, rather we tend to experience them as complex and approach them in the same way.

Dear Dharma Friends,

There are times when our internal world can be like riding a roller coaster up and down. We love to feel happiness and joy as much as we can. We don’t want to feel anxiety and fear even though we might be indulging in them. Our way of handling our emotions is not always clear and one dimensional, rather we tend to experience them as complex and approach them in the same way. When emotions are uncomfortable, we tend to reject them while simultaneously holding onto them, often by believing in the stories and narratives underlying them.

There are times when we’re more challenged than others. These are the times when trouble befalls us in our personal lives or some outside situations disturbs us, such as political and social dynamics. Perhaps most noticeably right now, many people in the world are quite unhappy with the political climate or other unsettling events. One of the emotions that can occur is fear, which can give rise to a whole host of secondary emotions. When we're scared, we can go into a mode of running or become weak, paranoid, or aggressive and offend others.

There is also rational fear that doesn’t cripple or make people crazy. Such fear is needed for us to survive in a world where we have to know how to dance with many forces. It functions as a warning of an actual threat to our existence. There is also irrational fear that can feel like an entity hunting us down. It can destroy our inner peace and obscure our view of the world. We need to acknowledge such fear and learn not to be controlled by it. Machik Labdron’s Chod practice emphasizes that we bring up all of our fear. She teaches us not to let it control us and that such mastery is a milestone on our inner journey. With that mastery, we can fully be in this world by helping people who are connected to us.

Our fear is not permanent, but it can go away or loosen its grip. We just have to practice noticing it whenever it emerges and not give into it. We can even use our body as an immediate anchor to feel grounded. When there is a powerful fear creeping in our mind, we can bring our attention to our body and feel grounding in our belly. Then we can feel the instability, yet at the same time have clarity. The fear will eventually leave us alone like the way a tornado eventually subsides.

During this upcoming Sojong, let’s reflect on our own fear and see how much it has taken joy away from us. We might like to vow to start responding to all the trouble of the world and the uncertainty of our own life not with fear, but with compassion and courage.

With palms joined, Anam Thubten