Dear Editor,
Generally, we have a very long list of fears ~ of losing what we already have at present, like our lives, our near and dear ones, jobs, savings, properties, health, youth, beauty, fame, reputation and so on. There is another list consists of our fears for the future that we may not be able to achieve in proportion to our ambitions, efforts and expectations. With the advancement of our age, the length of the second list gets shorter and the the first one bigger.
Also, there is a third list that contains our phobias ~ from claustrophobia (morbid dread of close spaces) to agoraphobia (morbid dread of open spaces), from aquaphobia (morbid dread of water) to pyrophobia (morbid dread of fire) and from astraphobia (morbid dread of lighting) to nyctophobia (morbid dread of darkness). It is difficult for us to select just one item as our worst fear. But what we need only to fear is the fear itself because it only makes the matter worse in crisis situations. We must remember what the Mother (spiritual collaborator of Sri Aurobindo) said about fear, ~ “Fear is always a very bad adviser.” We can only manage a crisis by keeping ourselves cool. But how can we overcome fear? How can we control a rapid hammering heartbeat? The Mother said, “You can be entirely free from fear only when you have driven out of you all violence.”
To drive out violence from within is very difficult for us as we are enamoured of macho qualities. Thanks to B – grade movies and some loud TV channels, we have been brainwashed into thinking that loud talk as well as Dhooshoom Dhooshoom is a signature of leadership qualities. However, the world is slowly realising that only cooperation and compassion can take humanity forward. This is the reason why Helen Keller and Stephen Hawking are shining bright in our Who’s Who. This is the reason why many countries have graduated themselves from police states to welfare states.
Is there any exact location of fear? Sri Aurobindo said, “Really speaking, fear is in the vital being. When you have thrown it away from your mind and other parts of your being you can see it still passing through you, below the navel. There is a connection between fear and your intestines.” Interestingly, to have butterflies in someone’s stomach means that someone has a nervous feelings. Indeed, fear causes bowel disorder.
To overcome fear and to become free, we are to realise what Sri Aurobindo had said, “Infinite, we are free from death; for life then becomes a play of our immortal existence. We are free from weakness; for we are the whole sea enjoying the myriad shock of its waves. We are free from grief and pain; for we learn how to harmonise our being with all that touches it and to find in all things action and reaction of the delight of existence.”
Sujit De,
Government Housing Estate, Sodepur, Kolkata