How to Overcome Fear

by Robert Wilkinson

There are a few books that can change our lives forever. The Magic of Space is one of those rare treasures. It is rare, precious, and beautiful, but unfortunately long out of print. Attributed to "a Tibetan Dakini," it offers profound insights into a greater, more universal wisdom about the nature of our reality and how we may best live our lives as Eternal Beings having human experiences.  I have enjoyed sharing its wisdom for decades to help my friends and students achieve healthy personality integration and discover the power and applications of their Higher Self. Any time a work does these things at the same time it's a very good thing. Because it has been out of print for awhile, I try to offer you pieces of its wisdom from time to time so we all can profit from this timeless spiritual work.

Today I'll reprint an extraordinarily important segment of Chapter 7, "The Self -- Its Relation to Space and Matter":

The emotions are natural forces on their proper plane; and because they are natural, many persons think it unnecessary to control them; and many who would like to control them do not know how, because they do not understand their own natures.  Simply because a thing is natural is no reason why it should not be controlled. Electricity is a natural force. Used properly for illuminating purposes it is a very good thing - but it is a natural force and can be used to destroy human bodies, and valuable property - so there may be a perversion of natural forces through the misuse of them, since they seem to make up the greater portion of ourselves.  In appearance they are many, and yet, on close analysis, we find only four basic ones, and the battle will not seem so hard if we can realize this.

The emotion which causes the most needless suffering is Fear. Together with Sensuousness, animal Sex Desire, and the most subtle of all, Vanity, these are the basic elements of the emotional nature. You cannot conceive of any emotion that has not its origin in one or more of these four basic ones. Let us briefly examine each of these emotions, since the larger part of the actions of mankind are directly attributable to one or more of them.

Fear is the cause of most anger, most jealousy, most murder, failure, theft, doubt, discouragement, despondency - and many of the lesser inharmonious conditions. Analyze any one of these states of mind and you will find that fear is the father of it. Eliminate fear and you have destroyed the root, or basis, for many of the emotions which lead men astray. Begin your fight directly upon fear, and not the many phases of it, and a tremendous amount of force will be saved, for it must be conquered before very much will be accomplished in life. You will remember that you were told that the mind is magnetic, and draws to itself whatever it frequently thinks about. When you are constantly fearing something, you are drawing toward you the very thing you fear, and the reason that humanity has not been swept from this planet long ago is because it has shifted its fears from one object to another so often that it has never held to one thing long enough to destroy itself.

To accomplish rapidly the destruction of this great enemy, it is well to begin by controlling some of its grosser forms, such as physical cowardice. Great numbers of men and women are inwardly the most wretched cowards and yet suppress the external expression of their fears because they are ashamed of them. Here is where the fear of public opinion is greater than the fear of something else, and the emotion is not conquered, but shifted. Try to conquer your cowardice, because it is an enemy to you and will retard your development...

Many people are afraid of mice. To people of this class we would suggest that they think about the many small boys who have made pets of tiny mice, and love them; and if a child is not afraid of a mouse, there is surely nothing about them for an adult to fear. A child loves his pet mouse, and we do not fear the thing we love.  They are small centers of consciousness, and we are only larger centers in the same consciousness.  The same life principle that sustains them sustains us; and after we have come to a realizing sense of our relative positions our fears will fade away, never to return, for we realize that all is one.

When you have eliminated the grosser forms of fear, then attack the finer forms, such as fear of the unseen, or the unknown. Many persons' lives are made utterly wretched because of their fear of the future. They are continually expecting things that never happen. Others are afraid of the criticism of the world, and a common question on their lips is, "what will people think?" You must remember that the world always criticizes and condemns everythiing and everybody that it does not understand. You must declare, therefore, that you are not afraid of the criticism of any individual, nor of the public at large; that you are not dependent upon anyone for your health, wealth or happiness; and that the approval and disapproval of other persons, whether collective or individual, are alike to you. If you declare this earnestly and often, you will overcome all fear of criticism.

Comments

[Robyn]

i keep trying to tell people such things. When i was in high school, i found a book called Fear, it was of the same mind set. It reinforced what i already knew.

I tend to attract negative types of people to me (like most of us), whom oppose my fearless nature. What other peoples opinions are of me or what i am or what i'm doing are generally irrelevant. It has frustrated many. I have tried to teach friends and co workers that someone else's opinion of you or what you do or are should have no place in the mind. Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you.(my most favorite elementary rhyme) I've grown over the years and come to realize that fear is just as much an illusion as is falling in love. They both serve a purpose, and its the message in the mist that must be decoded and learned from to move on to the next stage.

I think this all stems from my upbringing. Living with a parent who is and was constantly negative and paranoid about much of what went on in life.

For me, i'm reactionary, i like to put a positive spin on a negative situation, its easy for me to see the opposite of fear in my optimism. Sometimes in their insecurity, people feel wronged and become uncomfortable because they want to believe in the negative.

all in all, this is good article, dealing with fear has always been one of my biggest interests in life; beating the odds, making the impossible possible.

everything can be done if we put our minds and hearts to it. i really believe that to be the truth.

thanks!

[Robert]

Hi Robyn - Well, hopefully you won't continue to attract "negative types." Those who have fear tend to be drawn to those of us who have courage so they may learn. And of course you're right when you say that what others think about you is usually irrelevant. Something Rumi once wrote about "Start a huge, foolish project like Noah - it makes absolutely no difference what people think about you" comes to mind. Bold people usually do frustrate the timid. And while unkind words often do sting, it helps us learn detachment, since they are usually more about the speaker than oneself. Negativity is one of the 4 primary afflictions of the mind, and Positivity is the antidote, aka "generating bodhichitta." And I wholeheartedly agree with your statement that a whole lot "can be done if we put our minds and hearts to it." This is the determination that can change the world for the better.

[Chuck]

Well, I have to agree, that WAS an extraordinarily important excerpt. Thank you so much for sharing it!

I'm writing because reading this post was extraordinarily poignant for me. I just came to the realization tonight that the single biggest source of impedance in my life is cowardice (fear of how others will judge me). It has kept me from leading a fully happy and contributing life. And, hey it only took me 46 years to face that fact! ;-)

This article was exactly what I needed to read right now. Thank you for supplying a small step towards my "awakening". And by the way, I think it's ALSO extraordinary that there has been no comment to this posting since 2007 -- yet if you Google "how to overcome cowardice", as I did, you are the number two listing on the page!

[Mcmorrell]

It just came to me in a flash that google may reveal a site that may not only profers solutions to my chronic phobia"COWARDICE/FEAR" but completely eliminate it from me.In fact,it took me quite sometime to discover the extend of it negative effects in my physical,social and psychological welbeing.Imagine laughing at dirty,ugly and embarrassing joke directing at me,prone to compromise confrontation so there be no trouble,shying away from my responsibility and tending to play the nice guy always,trying hard to impress or please so that the other person won't get offended even when I'm the one being hurt.I'm just sick and tire of the low self esteem which since from my childhood days has hunted me till now at 25,and as a result I've subjected to be cheated upon,accused,insulted and been looked down on as a failure.At first I Was made to believe that it as to do with some ancestral wicked spirit that distort the progress of the first son,but know I know better than believe in such traditional rubish. I'll be so grateful if this site will have what it takes to transform me into a fearless,courageour,strong-will and perhaps a very discipline personality.Thanks.