FEAR

Abstract

This article examines the subject of fear. It's purpose is to get clearer about what it is, to find out what grounds it and to see if there is a way of living which is free of it. As a necessary preliminary to understanding, the paper points out the importance of staying with the feeling of fear as it arises. By direct and careful observation of one's own case-which is different from introspection-it is possible to see fear arise in relation to a variety of objects, and from that to perceive the underlying root cause of fear itself. This involves, in part, seeing how thought creates undesirable images about the 'present' and the 'future' based on the memory of events experienced in the past. Coming to a realization of what fear is does not depend on employing deductive or inductive reasoning. Real understanding-if it comes at all-will be in the form of a direct perception.