Fear, Security, and Earthquakes
Written by takuin on Monday, March 26, 2007 – 4:55 pmA few days ago there was an earthquake, just off the coast of Ishikawa prefecture. That is next door to Toyama prefecture, where I live. Akiko, her mother, and I were eating breakfast. I had no particular thing happening in my mind. I don’t remember anything being in there at all. The house started to shake a little bit. We live close to the flight path from the airport in Toyama, so there was no thought of other possibilities. The shaking continued and became more pronounced. All three of us realized what it was, at that moment. Since my event occurred on December 1st of last year, I have had no fear experiences to speak of. No near hit-and-runs, no muggings, no house fires, etc., so I was curious as to what would take place in my mind. The house shook more intensly and I was observing my mind, curious as to how it would react. I wanted to anticipate, almost wanting fear to be there, so I could obsevre, but it never came. Not even so much as a flutter in my blood pressure. The earthquake came and went, and I was still empty.
I could not anticipate, because I could not project the past. I could not bring up my memory, to give me some idea of what might happen. It was not there at all, and without that projection, fear was absent. It must be obvious by now that fear is not based on any actualities at all. It is not real; not sticking with the present moment. Fear is thought. Thought projects what could occur, we believe it, then we are afraid. Our continuity is threatened, either physically or phychologically, and we project a fantasy of what could happen. Even at the very moment of the stimulus, we project onto it what could happen. But none of it is real. All fear is based on these fantasies we are constantly inventing.
When we are afraid, why is it that we never question it? We never question the fear itself. Why am I afraid? If you blame it on something outside of yourself, then you have stopped inquiring and are not serious about it. The source of fear is inside of us and can’t be found in an external event or circumstance. If there is a person in front of me intending to do me harm, why should I be afraid? Am I to believe that somehow, he got into my mind and made me feel fear? He has some supernatural power to alter my thoughts to make me believe something that is not real? That is crazy. If I believe that something outside of myself can cause fear, I am absolutely INSANE. Lock me up and throw away the key.
Remove every external circumstance and ask yourself again, why am I afraid? If you penetrate deeply inside of yourself, give your ego a rest, and take a long look, what do you see? Could it be that you are afraid of losing your continuity? That some change would be too much for you to accept? If you fear a recession, it challenges your continuity. If your life is threatened, it challenges your continuity. If you are afraid of losing your loved one, that certaily challenges your continuity; the way you live your life. I am just asking about it. I am not saying anything to the effect of “this is the way it is.” Just take a look inside.
Why do you fear? Take any small step you can to really see it. Is it because security is threatened? Physical or psychological? If that is the case, do you seek security outwardly? Do you have security in only what has been given to you? Your knowledge, social position, or your seat down at town hall, your position in the church or in your job. Do those things make you feel secure? Why? Have you ever asked? How could you possibly feel any sense of security from things that could explode at any moment? Someone could lie about you, and your social position would be gone in a second. The economy could bust, and you’d be left with nothing. War could break out in your neighborhood and leave you homeless. I am not saying that these negative things will happen to any of you, but how can you have complete security there, in those things? Don’t go into a cave and pray, or sit on a cusion and meditate forever to find an answer; just see it for what it is. There is no real security in those things. The only real security comes from within all of us. It starts and it ends there. There is no blame, there is no fear, and there is no real outward security. Ask yourself. Just look to the best of your ability, without your knowledge of who you are, and try to see the source of this.
I still do not have complete command of the language to make this read the way I want it to. But I will keep plugging away. It gets easier with time. I have a great sense of peace knowing the only security that exists is within myself. I cannot put my life on the line by trusting outward events and circumstances. It just doesn’t make any sense.
Is that what enlightenment is? To be free from all of this stuff? When you are free, then what? Is there anything to be free from? Have you asked these things? Get to it, if you haven’t. You won’t live forever.
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June 1st, 2007 at 1:56 am
Hello. I worried I made a horrible mistake in my earlier reply but, I should have not worried at all I see. I couldn’t find the blog concerning reality. I meant Buddist if I wrote Muslim. B
June 1st, 2007 at 2:04 am
I am currently moving some pages around. Sorry about the confusion.
Takuin
August 18th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Heya Takuin!
Very interesting post…makes me wonder…what about say..humor? If you don’t feel fear at an earthquake, will you laugh at a good joke? Hmm…as you can see I’m taking my time digesting your site and getting an insight into the mind of non-duality… =) Thanks again for the wonderful resource!
August 27th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Good question, Albert.
In order to have fear, I need to project it. Fear does not exist outside of us. It is not some intangible thing that just happens to come to us. We are the generators.
So, if I feel fear, I am the only creator of that fear. Outside events have nothing to do with it.
Laughing at a joke, on the other hand, is different. In laughter we do not project anything (well, maybe joy, but that is something else). A joke is just a fascinating way of putting seemingly unrelated events or circumstances into interesting and unique combinations (or an exaggeration of common elements…explaining this kind of takes the fun out of it, huh?). We do not have to project anything in order to laugh.
Thanks for the great question!
Takuin
August 27th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Thanks for the explanation mate, it’s awesome to see that you’re churning out posts at a faster rate now - I’m hanging out to read all of them!
August 29th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
[...] Fear is a projection of mind. I have to generate fear in order to have it. You can read more about that HERE. [...]
August 29th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Thanks, Albert. I am always glad to have you around.
I actually set up a posting schedule for the first time. I plotted a rough path for the month of September. We’ll see how it goes.
August 30th, 2007 at 12:16 am
Interesting post which make me think of a couple of things. Not sure I can be very coherent here but let me try.
Firstly, this is the first time I heard of sb observing his thought during a earthquake. When we kind of become the observer of our mind, somehow we put things into perspective.
Is fear a mere projection? I don’t know. To a certain extend, yes. “I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened,’ Mark Twain said. But, in some cases it may be natural to be fear, we are born with that, right? To feel that sth wrong is going to happen, so that we can response, be that fight or flight.
Anyhow, very interesting reflection.
August 30th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Thanks Shine.
The normal response of the body to avoid danger is different from what I am talking about.
If you are walking in the woods and see a snake, what is it that makes you fear it? It is true, there could be some danger there, so we just walk around it. We avoid it and try not to upset the snake. But why should it be feared?
In order to fear the snake, I have to project my thoughts into the future; the snake “could” bite me, so there is fear. But it is only fear of what you are thinking, and not a fear of what is happening. There cannot be fear in the moment, because there is no interference of thought in the moment. No projection or projector.
Don’t fear the snake; just walk around it.
It is nice to see you here, Shine.
Takuin
September 15th, 2007 at 9:20 pm
Hey
Have a doubt similar to Alberts. What about love for another? How do you feel or express it? Like laughter is an internal expression of wonder, what then is love for another? It could be a need for self love, but in your unusual case, how do you express or feel or project or understand this love for a mate? Very curious. I hope I was able to express my doubt. Do reply.
September 17th, 2007 at 11:00 am
Thanks Nur.
In a general way, if the self in no longer involved in the life of this organism, then love is there. There can be no love from a center. From the center we have opinion, ideals, etc. But there is no love. Love is only possible when reality is seen expressing itself as it is; when nothing is projected onto it.
This is not the kind of answer you were looking for, but we will go a bit deeper.
Truthfully, you will never know what it is unless you have gone there. Not “gone there,” but it cannot be known, in the sense of knowledge or ideas. It is not a projection in the way we might think of a projected thought, but it does project naturally when there are no obstructions.
But it is not the same as when people say, “I am projecting love into the world!” Can the self project anything other than thought? How can the self project love? The self, with its hates, likes and dislikes, jealousy and violence. Can the self project love? Is that true?
We have to be dilligent and go there for ourselves.
Takuin
February 4th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
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