Saturday, September 28, 2013

A Spiritual Solution to Your Fear

You believe you are a physical body that can be harmed.

What do you fear?... Death of a loved one? Your own death? Sickness and disability? Failure? Humiliation? Victimization? Distress in your relationships? Lack of money? Global catastrophe?

Here’s why you feel these kinds of fears: You believe you are a physical body. You believe this physical world is real. You believe that whatever happens in the world is actual. You believe something bad could happen to you, and you have no control over it. These erroneous beliefs give rise to your fears. 

For thousands of years, spiritual teachers have been saying there is nothing to fear. You are not your physical body. This physical world is just an illusion. Your experience in it is merely a dream.

How fear can affect you

As I understand it, fear is a natural reaction to danger. But even after the immediate danger has passed, you can remain in the grip of anxiety indefinitely. For example, I suffer from a pathological fear of flying. One day back in 1973 I was flying from Washington to New York. In mid-flight, the plane suddenly dropped without warning. Drinks splashed off the cabin ceiling. Flight attendants and passengers standing in aisle fell to the floor. People screamed. It was terrifying. When we landed, the pilot said nothing about it. Now, 40 years later, I still experience severe anxiety every time I fly.

Perhaps your fear originated in a previous lifetime. We typically bring karmic baggage with us from previous lifetimes, hoping to deal with it in this lifetime. Your baggage may be stuffed full of fear. Several years ago, I did a past-life regression during a seminar facilitated by Denise Linn in Tampa. In this regression, I experienced myself as a crew member on a B-17 bomber that was shot down over Germany during World War II. Yes, that’s right: this past-life experience could explain my fear of flying in this lifetime, a fear that was reignited on that flight from Washington to New York.

Fear profoundly affects your lifestyle and your happiness. You try to deal with it, but it has taken control of you and you can’t seem to break its grip. Ever since that terrifying flight in 1973, I have avoided flying whenever possible, even to places I wanted to go. I have undergone psychotherapy. I have learned how to use deep breathing, muscle relaxation, and gentle music therapy to help me while flying. Doctors have prescribed Xanax to reduce my anxiety. I used to drank heavily before and during flights. I have discussed my concerns with a pilot friend who assures me that flying is perfectly safe. Yet, when I’m walking to the boarding gate, my knees turn to jelly and I get that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Along with your lifestyle and happiness, fear also affects your personal and spiritual growth. It can limit your growth or even block it altogether. I have studied a number of great spiritual teachings — including the Bhagavad Gita and A Course in Miracles — to find out what they say about fear. This is what I have learned...

What I have learned about fear

The ego — or the separate self you believe yourself to be — wants you to remain trapped in fear. It feeds on your fear. It knows that fear prevents you from learning your true identity. The ego has filled you with all kinds of fear to maintain its stranglehold on you.

Fear arises from your erroneous belief that you are a physical body which can be harmed. The truth is: The physical body is an illusion that You-as-Soul created in order to experience physical “reality.” What you really are cannot be harmed.

Fear itself is an illusion. It implies that something bad might happen in the future. But the future does not exist, except in your imagination. In the present moment, you are perfectly safe.

Worry will not solve your problems. It will only aggravate your state of anxiety.

The Law of Attraction says you draw into your experience whatever you focus on. So you ought to focus on positive things that you want, not on negative or fearful things you don’t want.

You can transcend your fear. There are many methods and techniques to help you do this, but most importantly, you need to make a decision to let go of your fear. It’s insane to hold onto it and nurture it.

The opposite of fear is unconditional love and acceptance. Indeed, our spiritual journey here in the physical world is all about moving from fear to love.

Fear originates in the mind, not in the body. Therefore, the solution to fear lies in the mind. It descends from the mind into the body and there produces all sorts of symptoms such as physical stress and sickness.

You sleep at night because your physical body needs to rest. But you are also asleep throughout the day during your so-called “waking life.” You are spiritually asleep. You need to awaken spiritually to know the truth. That truth is: You are an eternal spiritual being. But you have intentionally forgotten this to make your experience here in the physical world seem real to you. You projected yourself into the physical world for the purpose of accelerating your spiritual evolution, and when you did this, you drew the veil of forgetfulness over yourself. All along, you have been perfectly safe.

If the world appears to be a terrifying place to you, it’s because your negative emotions and erroneous beliefs make it seem that way. Personal and spiritual growth are needed to overcome these negative emotions and erroneous beliefs.

How different the world would be if we all truly understood and believed that there is nothing to fear. How different our experiences in the world would be. Living in fear is no fun. You don’t have to go on doing it.


  1. So right! So much wisdom in this!

  2. Great post, Roy! Yes, it's the mind that creates fear.

    When I am feeling fear, I step back for a moment and notice where my mind is. It will invariably be focused on one of two things - or perhaps both: the future (as you point out) or on what other people may think, say, or do. (In your airplane example, perhaps it's on what nature may do.) In short, it's about things over which I have no control.

    As soon as I notice where my mind is, I have a choice. I can leave it right where it is and feel fear, or I can consciously bring it back to the present moment and ask myself, "What is my next step? What can I do, right here, right now, to make a difference on this planet?"



  3. Roy: Have you still not gotten over your fear of flying? Let me know as I can relate.

    1. I would love to be able to say to you: "Yes, I've gotten over it" but I can't. However, I can tell you that I seem to be making progress. In November, I flew from Panama to Orlando and back to Panama. Both flights were mostly free of turbulence and vibration, and for the most part, I didn't feel my usual level of anxiety. But I must also tell you: The weeks preceding a flight and the drive to the airport are worse than the actual flights. This pathological fear has kept me from going places and doing things I would like to have done. Having suffered from it more than 40 years, I want to move on.

  4. Howdy! This blog post could not be writtten any better!

    Reading through this article reminds me of my previous roommate!
    He continually ket preaching about this. I will send this post to him.

    Pretty sure he wikl have a very good read.
    I appreciate you for sharing!

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