How do we overcome fear of the unknown?

Answer 1

Face straight up to it and once you know then it is no longer unknown and so the fear is gone because the reason for it has gone!

Answer 2

You've already gotten some good answers. All I would add is:

1. You ATTRACT what you fear so it is definitely something to focus on and eliminate from consciousness.

2. It is a conditioned response to a particular stimulus that remains in the brain/body as an electrochemical reaction long after the original fear is no longer relevant. The fear of the unknown is most probably a past imprint from childhood - being confronted by unpredictable events caused by unreliable adults so consistently or intensely that the body's survival system continues the response inappropriately.

3. Fear that is dissociated does NOT lose its power to influence reality and it should not be ignored.

4. Any fear (or pain) fully, consciously experienced and validated disappears. Any time you notice a twinge of fear, stop, focus on the body sensations it provokes and exaggerate them as strongly as possible. In some cases you can stay with the fear until it is experienced away completely, but with other more phobic issues, the fear must be dealt with by alternating periods of relaxation. Or if the fear is debilitaing we have to contemplate the origin and reframe it - i.e. see the original source outside of self - to release it. This requires a bit of work.

Answer 3

I think the way to overcome any fear is by facing it.

We might not succeed to overcome our fear, but at least by facing it, we are challenging ourselves and the positive part is that we will learn something about our fear each time we do it. If at first we don't succeed, try, try again.

In regards, to the unknown, it has been helpful for me to realize that everything is unknown in the present moment.
In the present moment everything is unfolding. Past is that which already happened, future has not yet come.

A more profound truth is everything is unknown.
If everything is unknown, then why do we fear it?

We are afraid of the unknown because we want to believe we know. It is the 'story maker', the constant 'dialog maker', this echoe inside of our minds, that is giving us feedback on what is happening, that gives us the feeling of 'knowing'.

When we get very, very, quiet then it feels like we are going to be swallowed, when we don't have that voice inside making it's noise. This voice fools us by giving us a reassurance that we are alive. When we can't hear it, we feel like who we are in truth is going to die.

To be comfortable with the state of 'not knowing', we have to realize that the 'little voice inside our minds', can only echoe the happenings that occurred in the present moment. This voice is always a moment behind the happening. It's a reflection. The reflection can never know.

Another way to say all this with a poem I wrote:

Watching the watcher
questioning one’s reaction
looking for the cause.
Finding out one knows nothing
one can set aside the mind.


Betsy

Answer 4

There is far too much emphasis on the concept of self or other, on known or unknown, on god or bad in the popular culture. That excessive emphasis includes those in power of various sorts and causes them to lend further authority to the delusion of either-or.

Fear of the unknown is an expression of separation between the known and unknown. It is an epistemological knot that creates great confusion.

Almost no one has much of a clue of what goes on in ones body or life. The vaunted present is a rendition of recent events presented to the awareness of by the integrative function of the brain that filters most of what happened out. So then, the mind is always wandering a boundless expanse viewed with the help of a small flashlight.

What is important is to dispense with delusion by abandoning reliance on structures that propound powerlessness because that creates fear. We must abandon concepts of superiority-inferiority because that creates fear and negative causes. We must abandon greed, rage, and striving for superiority of position. Accomplishment based on effective work done with ones best information and effort is a very different reality than merely trying to beat someone else out of something.

Once we have abandened these poisons, we can strive to make good causes for ourselves and others and seek teachers who will not confuse us with their concern for money and power.
Under those conditions, the known and unknown can be seen to be a sea upon which our life can peacefully navigate and strive to realize the unblemished consciousness beyond karmic storage. The effort to continuously learn and seek wisdom will make the unknown a playground.

Answer 5

Consider your work as a duty to perform and leave the result to take its own course. In other words, you are in full control of the works you do now, but do not have control on the result that will bring forth. That is why people say that you should have positive thinking, you should be optimistic etc. More better if you do not expect any thing in return. But that requires either renunciation or courage. Thousands of us are with you, Be brave and do your duty! regards Mano Indian Air Force Retd.

Answer 6

One must make fear one's best friend, rather than one's enemy. In every situation in life, if one becomes fearfull and therefore shy's away from facing a situation; shorly the fear is self defeating. Instead, view a potential failure as something one has to get through in order to reach a success. Therefore with every potential failure one is closer to one's success. Never rest one's happiness upon one specfic desire or achievement, and never give up on any of your hearts goals.

We are all born into the unknown, so what is the point of fearing life or death, success or failure: Both extreames are inevitable. In life, one's self is defined by how one deals with dissappointment. Read 'IF' by Rudyard Kipling!! With most unknown situations, it is possible to learn skills to help one understand the unknown. One should never enter the unknown totally unprepared, that would be pointlessly masochistic.

However, one can only have so many skills. One should not avoid facing fear through excessive learning/preparing. Courage is the will to face fear, not the ability to dissolve it. One is only truely alive when one is facing one's fears and pushing the boat. The best way to avoid the negative effects of fear is not to obsess over a particular future outcome (even if it is a goal). Rather than become defined by progress towards a distant goal, instead set smaller targets. To live in the moment is to enjoy every situation for what it has to offer. If one is too concerned about winning or losing, one is not able to focus upon the task at hand.

Answer 7

By accepting and being at peace with the fact that there are things over which we have no control. By living in the moment. By changing our perception of the unknown from something to fear into an adventure. (Ever notice how similar excitement and fear feel? They're first cousins!)

Answer 8

This is a fair question. I don't know if the unknown should be feared. It is usually a response to loss of control. Most folks are apprehensive about what they don't know, but the only solutions would be to find out about it if that is possible, and to realise that fearing something when you can't know whether or not it is to be feared is quite irrational.

Answer 9

All fear is overcome by allowing yourself to feel it. Fear is just a feeling. It controls us because we don't like the feeling so we will fight it, try to get rid of it without feeling it completely. There are many tricks the mind uses to hide from fear. They all boil down to refusing to look at it. Look at your fear, not at what you feel afraid of but the fear. What does it feel like? Allow yourself to examine it and all its little nuances. Every time you are tempted to look away look more deeply instead. Eventually you will have overcome your fear by surrendering to it. You do not surrender to the unknown, you surrender to and accept your fear. Fear is strengthened by fighting it and by running from it, by trying to overcome it and by trying to hide from it. Fear dissolves in the light of your awareness of it.

Answer 10

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, "Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown." And he replied, "go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be better than light, and safer than a known way."

These words were quoted by King George VI in his Christmas broadcast to the Empire at the beginning of the Second World War and brought comfort to many listeners.

http://www.ntu.edu.sg/home/hblim/passages/ManAtGate.htm