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Fear-Less Now

Balboa Press

Contents

Acknowledgments..........................................................viiiIntroduction.............................................................1Chapter 1: The Knot of Fear..............................................16Chapter 2: Life on Crutches..............................................40Chapter 3: Taming Your Mind..............................................72Chapter 4: Finding Your Power through Non-Attachment.....................103Chapter 5: Healing Your Body's Energy Field..............................123Chapter 6: Healing Your Emotional Body...................................160Conclusion...............................................................186About the Author.........................................................188

Chapter One

You can never control the effects of fear yourself, because you made fear, and you believe in what you made. -A Course in Miracles

In ancient Asia Minor, in the part of Macedonia that was at that time called Phrygia, an oracle consulted by local priests predicted that warring between rival factions would come to an end when a man with a wagon entered the town. That man turned out to be a poor peasant named Gordius, who was soon seen driving his oxcart into the marketplace. The priests declared Gordius king and rival factions accepted his rule. Years later, Gordius' son Midas succeeded his father as king. He dedicated his father's ox-cart to the gods, tying it with a large knot to a post in the town center. The knot was an intricate and complex Turkish one that had no ends exposed. Over time, the ox-cart and its knot became a shrine, and an oracle foretold that whoever was able to untie the Gordian knot would become lord of all of Asia. Many attempted to loosen the knot, but none were able to do so until Alexander, later known as Alexander the Great, wintered in the town of Gordium in 333 B.C.E. When he could find no end to the knot, Alexander took his sword and sliced it in half with a single stroke. He solved the problem of the Gordian knot by taking an unorthodox approach. The prophecy associated with the knot was also fulfilled, and Alexander went on to become the ruler of all Asia.

Gordian knots are intractable challenges whose solution requires taking a radically original approach. What, then, is the Gordian knot of our lives? If we are capable of liberation and fulfillment, what is it that actually ties us down? It might seem that for each person the answer to this question is different. One person might think that the primary problem he needs to solve is his lack of a loving partner. Another might feel that if only her health would improve, all would be well. Yet another might feel that his real problem is lack of money. Yet achieving any of these won't necessarily make you free or happy. You can be married to someone you consider your ideal mate, have excellent health and financial abundance, and still be miserable, restless or anxious. The real problem lies deeper.

As Vivekananda reminds us, it is an internal attitude we bring to life that generates all the other problems from which we suffer. The critical issue facing each of us is not what we have or don't have. It is how we feel inside: sad or happy, anxious or contented, irritated or peaceful. The fundamental knot of our lives lies in our emotions. The solution to our problems lies in developing internal mastery of our emotional life. If we can feel peaceful, alive and joyful deep inside, we can swim through life's problems with a sense of grace. Then we can also use our inner strength to achieve blessings such as health, abundance and satisfying relationships. But if we make our emotional state dependent on what we have or don't have, achieve or don't achieve, we can't be happy. We will suffer from fear, desire, restlessness, anger, impatience, jealousy, depression, disappointment, any and all of the host of negative emotions that can toxify our lives.

The Gordian knot we must cut through is the discontent we experience as a result of harboring negative emotions. As different as all of these emotions seem to be, they all have a single root. Anxiety, restlessness, worry, impatience, frustration, greed, jealousy, resentment, anger, and other negative emotions are all rooted in fear. It is fear that creates greed, anger, jealousy, worry, disappointment, irritation, impatience, and anxiety. It is fear that keeps us from owning our happiness. So long as fear holds a place in our hearts, we cannot be free.

How can we free ourselves from fear? Is it possible to do this? Let's begin to answer this question by taking a closer look at the dynamics of fear.

The Self-Destructive Face of Fear

None of us want to feel fear. We'd love to be free of it. Ironically, however, we cherish it. How? When we are afraid we tend to think that the problem we have is not the fear we feel but whatever it is that we are afraid of. We tell ourselves that if the situation or event that we fear would go away, we would no longer be afraid. We think that the problem is not in us. Instead, it is in the situation, event or person that we perceive as causing our fear. Yet in taking this attitude we actually rationalize fear. We justify it. We give ourselves reasons for holding on to it by telling ourselves that the cause of fear is outside, not inside.

Many of us spend an enormous amount of time making room for fear. We are afraid that we will get up too late; afraid that we will miss the commuter train; afraid that we will do poorly in school or at work; afraid that the car will break down; afraid that the weather will be lousy; afraid that our children will disappoint us; afraid that someone won't like us; afraid that we will get sick from the food we eat; afraid that we won't get hired; afraid that we will get fired. In each case, we give ourselves reasons to justify the way we feel. We assume it is reasonable or appropriate to feel the way we do. By giving ourselves reasons for our fears we give fear life. Once we give it life, we live as its victims.

You can be afraid of your boss, a colleague, your parents, your big brother or sister. You can be afraid of disapproval from your friends or of abandonment by your loved ones. You can be afraid that someone won't like you and you can be afraid that someone will try to cling to you or make excessive demands. You can be afraid of failing your exams or of failing in your profession. You can be afraid of succeeding. You can be afraid of people of a different religion, race, social group or nationality. You can be afraid for your health or for your family's health. You can be afraid of terrorism and you can be afraid of war. You can be afraid of financial loss or deprivation. You can be afraid of losing a job, of not getting a job or of not rising fast enough in your job. You can also feel a nameless generalized anxiety every day, an anxiety many of us attribute to the stress, pressures and demands of everyday life. And of course, you can be afraid of dying.

When we feel fear, we may say to ourselves that we are right to feel it. After all, this is a dangerous world, and we would be fools, misguided, or living in make-believe if we weren't afraid. We may tell ourselves that we have good grounds to fear our boss or our parents, because they hold power over us, because they have...