Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through The Storm

Concentration means you keep the insight alive for a long time. It’s not just a flash; that’s not enough to liberate you. So in your daily life, you keep that insight of nonself, of emptiness, of impermanence alive. When you see a person, a bird, a tree, or a rock, you see its nature of emptiness. Then it becomes an insight that will liberate you.

If we have a peaceful moment, a moment of meditation, we can call it up again. “My dear fear, come up here so I can embrace you for a while. It is my nature to die; I cannot escape death.”

“Come with me, dear one. We have grown up. We no longer need to be afraid. We are no longer vulnerable. We are no longer fragile. We don’t have to be afraid anymore.”

you’re not only this body, but also your environment—you’re all of this.

From that moment on, the idea that I had lost my mother no longer existed. All I had to do was look at the palm of my hand, or feel the breeze on my face or the earth under my feet, to remember that my mother is always with me, available at any time.

you’re afraid of what other people might think of you, it comes from that same place. You’re afraid that if others think negatively about you, they won’t accept you and you’ll be left all alone, in danger. So if you need others to always think well of you, that is a continuation of that same original fear.

When you let go mentally, you relax physically, because the body and the mind are two aspects of one reality.

How closely you’re in touch with reality depends on your way of breathing and looking.

Helping the other person feel safe is the best guarantee for your safety.

That child is afraid to come out to the present moment, and so your mindfulness, your breath, can help this child to realize that she is safe and can be free.