We make our life miserable by thinking about losing wealth, house,
property, love, reputation, money, dear ones or being overtaken or defeated by
others in future. There is no creature that is completely free from fear.
Traumatic previous experiences are stored in the memory and under similar
circumstances they warn one of the impending danger. There is nothing in this universe
that is not fraught with fear. According to the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, ‘all
fear springs forth from the idea of duality’.
What is the way out of fear, then? Detachment is the only
force that drives away this fear. Detachment naturally follows from a clear
understanding of the transient, impermanent world. One may fear that such
practice will make it impossible to carry out worldly duties.
That it is not so
is clearly demonstrated by the life and work of Sri Krishna and also a host of
kings, householders, and people from all walks of life who attained to the
lofty peak of humanity through their detached spirit. Detachment is not the
monopoly of monks and sages who form only a minority of the world’s populace.
Fear also creeps into our mind from a sense of ‘otherness’.
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the Ishavasya Upanishad, and other Upanishads are
unanimous in their verdict that fear arises out of a feeling of a second, and
‘where there is the sense of oneness, there can be no delusion, grief, or any
such feeling’.
When one becomes free from fear, a confidence comes up on
the surface of one’s personality. This confidence is not of the nature of elbowing
out others or going ahead of others. It is a confidence in the power and
efficiency of human nature.
Another reason for fear can be traced to an existential
vacuum within oneself. This means that due to some unknown reason we get
disconnected from the true source of our being. Spiritual people call this
source divinity. When this void is created, one becomes frustrated in life and
this frustration turns into fear.
When fear overpowers a person, the person stops listening to
others’ views, however correct or cogent. One only values one’s own whimsical,
emotional, and momentary views. This leads a person on the path of destruction.
True understanding of divinity and the divine potential in us is the best way
to overcome fear.