Fear is a great human curse. It is your worst enemy. Fear assumes many forms and blights many lives. But a calm mind brings courage. Then you will face the trials and difficulties of the spiritual path without fear. Fearlessness is a divine quality. What is fear? It is an imaginary zero; it is maya's deception. It is a mental delusion. It is a negative modification that arises in the mind-lake when one forgets his real, divine nature. It is a whirlpool that emanates from the chitta (mind) when one has lost his power of vichara (inquiry) and discrimination. It is the dark wave that proceeds from the ocean of antahkarana (mind) when one has intense attachment to the body.
Friends, there is nothing to fear really. Fear is due to acceptance of suggestion. Victory over fear really means victory over the thing that we fear. We attract to ourselves the very things we are afraid of. That is the universal law of nature. You need not be afraid of anything else in this world save fear itself.
Auto-suggestion helps a lot in removing fear. Assert the truth of being. Assert, "Nothing in the three worlds can make me afraid. I am absolutely fearless. My will is strong and irresistible." Make friends with the threatened experience, or the things you do not like. The raja yoga method is to repeat the formula: "I am courageous" or "OM courage". In the morning meditate on the virtue of courage.
The devotee's method is to pray to God with faith and sincerity and to make perfect self-surrender: "O God, make me fearless. Grant me the virtue of courage. O Mother, take thy son in thy lap. Thou art fear; thou art courage. Let me see thee alone in all these forms". Feel the invisible helping hand of the ishta devata (your own deity). Have strong faith. Real strength lies in fearlessness. Remove fear of all sorts.
The vedantic method is to enquire: "Who am I?". Identify yourself with the inner Self. Assert: "I am the embodiment of courage - I am immortal Atman - I am not this perishable body. Who is to fear whom when all this is the Self?" This will destroy fear to its very root. How peaceful and strong are they who have victory over fear. May we all shine in divine glory, radiating courage all around. May the divine splendour, the brahmic aura shine in all faces and remove the darkness of fear, ignorance and terror. May we all attain that state of absolute fearlessness - brahmi sthiti (the state of Brahman). May we become one with the fearless Brahman.
-Sri Swami Sivananda
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