HOW TO STOP WORRYING?

“Breath by breath, let go of fear, expectation, anger, regret, cravings, frustration, fatigue. Let go of the need for approval. Let go of old judgments and opinions. Die to all that, and fly free. Soar in the freedom of desirelessness.”— Lama Surya Das

There’s a Japanese sect of Buddhism, known as Zen, which had been introduced in Japan around the 12th century. Its main purpose is to liberate the mind from anything material, including fear.

Since I’ve started learning more about it, I grew fond of this sect’s simplicity and straightforwardness in grasping reality and acting on it in the here and now.

Zen believes that “whenever we feel afraid, we’re up against some kind of a wall, and on the other side of that wall, there’s some kind of freedom. And although we desire to be liberated, we keep on avoiding the wall of fear. And the more we keep evading it, the more we become trapped by it.”

This creates additional struggles, which force us to spend our lives either running from fear or run by it. However, Zen tells us that “out of ignorance we fear what we should not fear, and we are not afraid of what we should be afraid of.”

This story illustrates that...

During the civil wars in feudal Japan, the invading army swept into a village and took control of it. Everyone fled before that army arrived, except a Zen master. Curious about this old abbot, the army’s commander went to the temple to meet the master he heard so much about.

And when the Zen master refused to lower himself to the level of deference and submissiveness the army commander was accustomed to, the officer burst into anger: “You fool,” he shouted at the abbot as he reached for his sword, “don’t you realize that you are standing before a man who could run you through without the blink of an eye?”

Unmoved, the Zen master replied: “And do you realize that you are standing before a man who can be run through without blinking an eye?”

Although the story does not tell us if the Zen master actually lived or died, the moral of it is that he had so much insight in him that he did not discriminate between living or dying. His fearlessness certainly did not arise out of his lack of interest in whatever comes, but out of his sincere belief, that destiny always prevails. And when it does, it reveals the path the traveler takes.

Surely, the Zen master must have been afraid, but instead of struggling with what he faced, he embraced the moment and cherished it. Hence, the very act of dealing with fear helped him attain fearlessness.

There’s a Zen saying: “If you throw a dog a bone, the dog will run after it. But if you throw a lion a bone, the lion will run after you”. Like a bone to a lion, emotions, such as fear, anger, and jealousy, have little or no relevance to a Zen master. As ironically as it may sound, Zen believes that “if we stop chasing the bone, fear will stop chasing us.”

But who’s to blame for all our fears?

According to Zen, it is our ego: “If ego had an engine, its fuel would be fear.” This is why Zen highlighted four states of the mind, which —if practiced— would make us “roar like a lion with fearlessness.”

The first is the Beginner’s Mind—that is when the mind starts cultivating fearlessness by accepting all that comes its way while letting go of all its preconceived notions. In the second stage comes the Immovable Mind, a mind that is determined to face all obstacles without being distracted by the worries and disturbances of life. The third, known as Mushin, a Japanese word that literally means Without Mind, refers to a state that transcends all thoughts of fear, anger, and ego. And the last one is Zanshin, which translates into the Remaining Mind, or a mind that is unperturbed, yet fully aware of all its surroundings.

Based on those four states of the mind, Zen believes that it is the uncontrolled mind that is at the source of all fear. It constantly generates the delusions, which prevent us from acquiring minds powerful beyond measure, if we managed to elude them.

But how could our minds develop power beyond measure?

According to renowned Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, to attain such powers “one has to dispel the fear of the future, let go with the grievances of the past, and only live the present moment.”

He further explained: “Being in the present moment, letting the past go, not worrying about what might come in the future, is the secret to fearlessness.” He then concluded: “The past is gone. The future isn’t here yet. If you dwell only at this moment, in this second, there is no fear. You can’t fear the future if you’re not thinking of the future. You can’t fear the loss of past memories if you’re putting aside the past.”

In other words, when fear manifests itself in our minds, what we need to do is to simply embrace it. And this can only be done by observing the nature of our fear and reconciling ourselves with it.

Let’s say we are afraid of thunderstorms—we can either turn on the television full-blast, and try to forget about the storm outside, or we can observe to the storm, listen to its every sound, and then notice our own fearful thoughts in a detached way.

“Don’t judge, simply observe,” said Hanh, “the simple act of observation, in the present moment, almost immediately slows your pulse rate, your breath, and your racing, fearful thoughts.”

But how can we observe and be detached at the same time?

Hanh explained: “When you first start observing your fear, you’ll still feel entangled in it. But observe even that entanglement. Don’t try to remove it, or analyze it, or destroy it— simply observe it.”

Zen teacher Sylvia Boorstein added her own interpretation: “Fearlessness also comes from benevolence and goodwill in the face of whatever oppresses you. You are afraid, but instead of fighting what faces you, you embrace it and accept it—you develop loving-kindness as a direct antidote to fear.”

But are love and kindness the antidote to fear?

“If you understand them,” the Zen masters say, “there’s no reason for fear.”

Unfortunately, most of us don’t! For the unfortunate ones, any form of happiness in this world ultimately turns into fear. This is when happiness and fear become two sides of the same coin—on the one side, there is hope for more happiness, while on the other there is fear of more pain and suffering. So, as long as we remain attached to the world of ego and desires, hope and fear will always be on the front and back of that coin. And knowing that ego is entrenched in our basic and intrinsic nature, fear persists.

Knowing that fear is an uncomfortable feeling, Zen considers it as a form of suffering. It makes life really difficult for us, especially when our rational mind becomes attached to the world of delusions and desires. In fact, even the weakest delusions and tiniest desires are capable of taking over our rational minds. And when that happens, our whole lives become determined by our cravings.

So, how to keep our rational mind in control of our cravings?

The first step, according to Zen, is to realize that our emotions are not based on any real danger. How does this work? Simply through rational thinking, and mainly through habituation. In fact, Zen describes fear as false evidence appearing real. Therefore, the only way to get through it is to face it head-on.

In the past, I used to listen to a number of motivational speakers encouraging people to face their fears by taking the plunge, or by pushing themselves to the limit. Instead, Zen teaches us to build up our abilities, and to develop our endurance slowly and gradually, until our fears and doubts vanish like mist into the distance... never to disturb us again.

According to Zen, what frightens us the most is the thought of being afraid... and that is the greatest fear of all! However, the Zen masters believe that the same way we are able to create fear, we are capable of uncreating it.

In other words, it is a habit that could be broken. And a good remedy against fear would to actively provoke it. So, instead of feeling powerless, we should confront our worst fears.

Similarly, if we are frightened of losing an object of value to us, we simply give it away, the same way we stand before an audience if we are afraid of speaking in public.

According to Zen, this is the simplest way of mastering fear...

Of course, there is the ultimate fear, or the fear of all fears, which is the fear of death—but that is a different story. I am not sure what the cure for that is, but I believe that if we stop thinking about the afterlife, as well as heaven and hell, we might become less afraid of death—well, there is nothing else we can do about it anyway!

So why fear?

Here is the answer, which the Dhammapada, one of the most widely read and best-known Buddhist scriptures, provided:

From what is dear, grief is born,

from what is dear, fear is born.

For someone freed from what is dear there is no grief

so why fear?

From what is loved, grief is born, from what is loved, fear is born.

For someone freed from what is loved,

there is no grief so why fear?

From delight, grief is born, from delight, fear is born.

For someone freed from delight there is no grief

so why fear?

From sensuality, grief is born, from sensuality, fear is born.

For someone freed from sensuality there is no grief

so why fear?

From craving, grief is born, from craving, fear is born.

For someone freed from craving there is no grief

so why fear?