Fear is a very strange emotion. Passing through the same situation, two people may have very different degrees of fear. I recall that in my childhood, I was quite afraid to perform on stage, and I do not remember a single instance of doing so. While there were a few in our school who were always keen to go on stage. Most of us are afraid of death, and the diagnosis of a disease like cancer would feel like a death knell to most of us. Some are very afraid of sending the kids away from home, while for others, it is quite normal.
What is the genesis of fear, and why do so many people have such different reactions? We are afraid of losing something we have not only possessed but also identified with. The stronger the identification, the greater the fear. A child does not mind playing in the Sun. He is happy playing with his friends throughout the day. Then he grows up and gets a job at an MNC, where he has to be in an AC environment all day long. He also gets an AC installed in his home. He buys an AC car. He takes pride in this and imagines his future as full of these comforts. Now even the thoughts of getting sacked from the company and having to travel by bus will frighten him.
Somebody falls in love with a friend. He has seen dreams of being together and having a family and kids. He imagines this every day, and both of them confirm their dreams. The more strongly he identifies with these dreams, the greater the fear of shattering them. He has a dream and identifies strongly with it. Somebody gets a position of power, and people start treating him as a VIP because he is useful to them. Wherever he goes, people surround him, and he enjoys that attention. Slowly, he gets used to that attention. He will automatically develop a fear of losing that VIP treatment, which will make him increasingly attached to that position.
But when we know that all these possessions are temporary, why do we identify with these things so greatly? We know that this body may die any moment. We may face a natural disaster, disease, or accident, and in a minute we may have to depart this earth. The social image is also very fragile. One allegation, and the same people who used to hold us in high esteem will make all kinds of nasty comments. The near and dear ones and the relationships are also quite temporary. Any of us may receive a call from Yama at any time. Moreover, all of us have seen enough relationships where the best of friends and relatives turn into the worst of enemies. The dreams we see are anyhow very fragile. One element here and there, and they will not come alive. Sometimes I get amazed to see many people who realise the temporariness of all these things and then aim for some spiritual experience in life and get trapped in some belief system or so-called spiritual organisation where someone just manipulates them emotionally.
Why do we identify so strongly with the temporary? Lord Hanuman does not identify with anything; at the same time, he is ready to cross the ocean at the drop of a hat and ready to bring the entire mountain from the Himalayas to Lanka. Yet he is free from every possession. How? Because he is aware of the larger frame of life. He is aware of Ram within, and that's why he is aware of the limitedness of all other frames and does not get trapped therein. When we are not aware of the larger, we get trapped in the smaller. But one will have to let go of the smaller frame to move to the larger one. One has to leave the comforts of the well to roam around under the open sea. The problem is that, while in the well, what lies outside it is unknown. That's why we close our minds and start enjoying the pleasures inside the well, closing our eyes and ears to their limitations. And then, after some time, we become afraid of losing them. Constant awareness is the sole solution. When we stay aware constantly, we can see the gaps. We can see that the pleasures come with a cost. As soon as we see these costs, we become disinterested in these pleasures and prepare to explore what lies outside the well. Constant awareness is the key.
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