What is fear?
I've heard many times that we "need fear", but do people really know what fear is? Many experience fear every day, but do they really look at their fears for what they are? People try to avoid fear, yet avoiding fears just makes them stronger. Fear is avoidance itself, people make it into something big, complicated, and scary with their minds, but seen from a larger perspective fear is none of those things. A fear is simply something you don't want, something you're trying to avoid, and avoiding the fears themselves just encourages more fear. It's like the opposite of a desire, though the two are really the same, and a fear is a desire to not have something.
I need this to happen, or a I need this not to happen. A desire and a fear, they're very closely connected. People want something, then get it, and then fear losing it after they've got it. There's no better recipe for unhappiness that being caught in the tides of fear and desire. For every pleasure there's a pain, but it doesn't have to be that way. You can choose something without needing to have it. You can make choices without an attachment to the outcome. This is the differences between have a preference and a desire.
Simply having a preference is also allowing for something other than your preference to happen. It's stating, "I choose for this to happen, but I don't need it". When you desire something and you don't get it, there's an emotional reaction. With a preference, there's no reaction, because there was no expectation of what “should” occur. Fear and desire are the root cause of your emotions. Getting what you want or preventing what you fear causes elation. On the other hand, not getting what you want or getting what you fear, causes depression. People believe they have some control over Creation through their fears and desires, yet people are themselves controlled by the fears and desires they cling to.
Consciousness has a preference, and it's up to the Whole for that preference to become a Reality. The separate, unconscious mind is made up of fears and desires that create a fantasy, an illusion. These may create temporary pleasures, but there's no lasting satisfaction. The experience is empty, it's built upon nothing. For real satisfaction in one's Life, one must live with Intention, Presence and Awareness. When you're really in the Moment, there is no fear or desire.
A public service message from the Galactic Free Press.
