Why is fear gone when we are free from attachments?

Question

From what's loved is born grief,
from what's loved is born fear.
For one freed from what’s loved
there's no grief
—so how fear?

-Dhammapada, 213, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu


Namaste

Peace and Love

I see a lot similarities in All religions. Here is Jesus' message from th Book of Matthew.

"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

Added for my Christian friends. From the Book of Matthew

Bide you the Wiccan laws you must, in perfect love and perfect trust.
Live and let live, fairly take and fairly give.
Cast the circle thrice about, to keep the unwelcome spirits out.
To bind the spell every time, let the spell be spake in rhyme.
Soft of eye and light of touch, speak little and listen much.
Deosil go by the waxing moon, chanting out the Wiccan rune.
Widdershins go by the waning moon, chanting out the baleful tune.

When the Lady's moon is new, kiss your hand to Her times two.
When the moon rides at Her peak, then the heart's desire seek.
Heed the North wind's mightly gale, lock the door and trim the sail.
When the wind comes from the South, love will kiss you on the mouth.
When the wind blows from the West, departed spirits will have no rest.
When the wind blows from the East, expect the new and set the feast.
Nine woods in the cauldron go, burn them quick and burn them slow.
Elder be the Lady's tree, burn it not or cursed you'll be.
When the wheel begins to turn, let the Beltane fire burn.
When the wheel has turned to Yule, light the log, the Horned One rules.
Heed you flower, bush and tree, by the Lady, blessed be.
Where the rippling waters go, cast a stone, the truth to know.
When you have and hold a need, harken not to other's greed.
With a fool no seasons spend, or be counted as his friend.
Merry meet and merry part, bright the cheeks and warm the heart.
Mind the Threefold Law

Mind the Threefold Law you should, three times bad and three times good.
When misfortune is enow, wear the blue star on your brow.
True in love you must ever be, lest their love be false to thee.
These words the Wiccan Rede fulfll: An it harm none, do what you will.

Answer 1

How is anyone ever free from attachments? on earth we have attachments all the time whether it be taxes, jobs, etc,etc,

Answer 2

Attachment is the root of all suffering. Not desire, nor fear, nor rage...but attachment to these these things causes great suffering. Fear comes and goes. A snake startles me; I jump to avoid it. Then I am ease again. Attachment to fear, however, would leave me feeling fearful and anxious and in a hurry to run out of the woods. Attachment sustains a thing beyond its natural reality. I see danger, I feel fear. When the danger is gone, no more fear. I see injustice, I feel anger. When the injustice is gone, so is the anger. I see someone attractive, I feel desire. When they are gone, the desire is gone. Attachment to fear or hate or desire sustains a thought process and emotional reality beyond its context and into whatever the present context is. Freedom from attachment is freedom to be present to experience whatever is NOW and relevant to NOW.

Answer 3

:) You already know the answer but I will attemt to answer you anyway:

You yourself quaoted "from what's loved is born fear", this refers to carnal love not metta, love being attchment or craving to a conditioned state such as the body. From attachment arises delusion and the notions of belonging and self, without attachment one sees clearly the nature of the universe; change, suffering and non-self; with this wisdom comes the realisation that we are a composition of of different factors such as volition, predisposition, consiousness etc. none of which are of us. When there is no us how can any thing belong to us? When nothing belongs to us what do we have and what can we lose?

When freed there is fear but it is not us nor ours for we do not love it.

Answer 4

The attachment most asociated with "fear hath torment" is "law": "law worketh wrath", which is also notably a "ministration of death"; destructive, not constructive.

Law: the schoolmaster witch fails every student(disciple);
When done using you, then it gets busy with abusing you.

Solution: flush law as "dung" to be rid of fear hath "torment".
For I heard new F5 Law Harvestor cuts a mile wide swath.
Why so wide? To get the Many: X-ians marked with an X;
They mark themselves saying Peace & Safety in Law Law.

The GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ with you all. Amen.

Answer 5

Freedom from attachments begets freedom from that born of attachment. In the above verse, attachment to what's loved begets both grief from loss and fear of loss, freedom from the cause begets freedom from the consequences.

Release from attachment releases us from fear for without attachment there is nothing left to fear.

Thanissaro Bhikkhu is one of my favourite teachers..and a nice message for those of other Faiths, nice work, very inclusive..

Peace from a Buddhist...

Answer 6

Are we upset that there is winter? Are we fearful or upset by changing seasons?

Life itself has changing seasons, and acceptance of that means that we can face them without being upset or fearful.

Peaceful acceptance of the temporary nature of any and all circumstances of life does not lead us to loving them less. It simply leads us to loving them without grasping at them.



Peace out.

Answer 7

One of the attachments to be free from is the self. If you are no longer attached to the self or the "atman" you have nothing to fear.

Answer 8

The Master stays behind;
that is why she is ahead.
She is detached from all things;
that is why she is one with them.
Because she has let go of herself,
she is perfectly fulfilled.
--Tao Te Ching

Answer 9

Aaaaaagh!

Are you Enlightened?

Because we fear being SEPARATED from what we love.

As is inevitable...

No attachment = No Fear.

Insightful question. :-)

Answer 10

i dont agree