"Life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived." Nietzsche
Have you ever wondered what would it be like if we were to live our lives without fear? Fear is lurking continuously in the background of our mind. We often make decisions around love, work and money with the shadow of fear lurking to make the decision for us. Our mind projects into the future the possibilities of getting hurt and losing security so we stick with the known and instead of living fully. Every negative news story or problem in our life makes the world feel like a heavy burden and we are suffocating in a small box of fear.
How to live fearlessly
To live fearlessly is to follow our hearts towards that which we love. We will make any sacrifice to live in the freedom of the life we want to live, the life that was destined for us and the life that gives us bliss.
So how can we come to live without fear? We have to start by asking ourselves a few questions:
How close do we allow ourselves to come to fear, can we touch it, be with it, feel it and look at it straight in the eye?
Are we constantly making decisions in our lives by running from our shadows and fears?
Are we choosing comfort and security over freedom?
Do we have the courage to be totally vulnerable and open to the mystery of life, letting go of the need to control everything?
Can we embrace death as our friend and ally?
If you ask yourself these questions with real attention, not just casually reading them, but really being honest, you may see that there is a fundamental mechanism at work in our lives that is dominating us in almost all of our actions. This mechanism is the sense of a separate “I” that really believes it is separate from everything in the universe. This body is “mine”. This house is “mine”. These thoughts are “mine”. My car, my bank balance, my wife, my kids..the list goes on and on. We really believe that we are the centre of the universe and everything else is out there. We have to look very closely at this “I” if we want to be free from fear, because this “I” is the source of fear itself. The insecurity of a changing life and ultimately death itself causes our mind to do anything to avoid fear.
Trusting Life
We are trained to not trust life, life is “out there” and we are “in here” in the body. It is a hostile place where we have to struggle to survive, or prove that we are ok by becoming successful or live the “lifestyle” of our dreams. A simple life of connection is never enough. We are always running like frightened ghosts towards this and that, anything to avoid the fear that we are nothing and life is passing closer to death every day.
So what can we do about this situation? The first thing is that you recognise this “I” and the separation it creates, and realise that it is simply not true. We are part of everything, we come from the whole and return to the whole. We were never separate. We have to make the leap of trust that life is fundamentally good and everything that happens is there for a reason and everything has its place. All the pain and joy we experience in our lives is part of life. To make the leap of trust and say “YES” to everything that comes to us is the most courageous act a person can make. This saying yes to life is basically an affirmation of trust and a dissolution of fear. Difficulties may be there, life may not unfold the way we expected but we are in a constant yes to life, our lives become full of light and we are free of fear!
“Love is freedom from the known” Krishnamurti
Meditation exercise: Saying Yes to Life
I will leave you with this one simple meditation that you can do very easily, if you do it your life will change completely:
When we wake up in the morning take a deep breath and exhale “YES!”
When obstacles, conflicts or pain arises we exhale a big “YES!”
When beautiful things happen, exhale a big “YES!”
Before bed at night we let go of everything, see it as a dream and exhale “YES!”
May all beings manifest enlightened courage!
Namaste,
Sahaj
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: …A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;” Ecclesiastes 3