I hear many of you speak of overcoming your fears as an important part of progressing along the spiritual path

Question

Does fear ever serve a useful purpose?
Are there any fears you should trust?
How do you tell the difference?

Answer 1

It has been my experience that fear is a basic emotion.

There are healthy fears , and then there are fears that are more linked to ego and loss.
(ex. fear of losing something that i think i need, or fear of not getting soming that i think i want or need)

Healthy fears are good, rational thoughts and intuitions that serve a purpose for us. Gut instinct...being an alcoholic in recovery and knowing that if i make the choice to drink, than nothing good will come out of it....
As for progressing on my spiritual path, i know that as long as i maintain my spiritual fitness and do what is required of me, then it allows me to replace fear with faith...knowing that everything will work out as it should.

Fear came knocking at the door, Faith answered: nobody was there.

Blessings to all
)o( Trinity

Answer 2

Fear serves a very useful purpose with regards to your self-belief and strength. If you can face your fears and overcome them, it ultimately makes you stronger.

Fear is also a natural defense. All animal life learns to fear anything that can and will cause them harm, keeping them alert and ultimately safe.

Sentience is what helps you determine what is unnecessary fear and what isn't. You know the spider's not going to hurt you, but you're scared anyway. You know it's smaller than you and is likely more scared of you as it sees you as a threat, but your heart still races. Whereas with something like a sodding great train hurtling towards you, your fear is saying "get the hell out of the way or die."

Answer 3

Fear is useful as a caution - but unless it is checked against reality it can "freeze the rabbit" so it's easily shot. A fear stemming from a real risk for which the potential rewards are inadequate (such as leaping from tall buildings, with or without a parachute etc) is one worth trusting, I reckon. It's that kind that makes one prepare a yacht and one's self thoroughly for the sea, or undertake any other enterprise from business to marriage intelligently. Most people are mostly merely afraid of anything that challenges their inherited opinions, or their ideas of the world and their place in it - because exploring them critically entails potentially a "little death". But we all meet that sooner or later, one way or the other, or remain infantile for life - until that ends too. If we're imaginative, creative, flexible, we really don't have anything much to lose. There's a profit in everything,, though not always the one we hoped for.

Answer 4

You are right. this is a most important question when you become a seeker from bottom of heart. Lot of questions start emerging in your mind, there is a sort of war in your mind. Sant Tukaram said, "Ratran din amha yuddhacha prasanga", means there is a war in my mind day and night. Initially you become very frustrated to know exact answer, which is convincing to you. Personally every one goes through it. even for this question I was too much frustrated and I got a answer though many ways including what you have mentioned. Sadguru is a best way but you are not always with Him, physically. But, it is the main source to find the basic and fundamental answers. Aryan Princess has rightly said your own mind is the best way. Once you start sadhana, you must surrender to your deity/sadguru/mentor completely. This surrendering leads to give you many gurus. like, 1. event events in life, 2. any news article, 3. any book, 4. any known or unknown person-literate or illiterate, 5. scriptures, That supreme power is so great that it perfectly guides you without hesitation and when ever you require the answer. Now I will tell a small example of my own, once I was worried whether fasting is must in spirituality? I was engrossed in this question for many days (this event is some 10 years back) . No convincing answer was arriving with many sources. I was standing on one rail way platform and one fast train passed by. Suddenly I noticed a small chit and I felt to pick it up and read, it said, " Naam Gheta graso grasy, to nar jewooni upashi"... sant tukaram's abhanga. meaning, "if you recite the name all the time the person is as good as doing fasting, though taking regular food." I can not quote all but, many many such experiences you get and your querries are answered. "Y/A" is also one of the way! and You gentlemen are also there to solve many queries, to solve our doubts. Otherwise, many would not have wasting time here. Do you agree? Thanks. Jai Shree Ram!!!!!

Answer 5

When I'm outside and I hear the coyotes wailing out here in the middle of nowhere at night, I feel a tinge of fear and I make sure my dogs are safely penned; then I go inside. Is this a good thing? I have a feeling that under the right circumstances, I could approach the coyotes without fear or stand as they came into sight. But I am not inclined to test this. If I go outside with my pistol, my fear is somewhat lessened, but I still have the fear that my dogs will try to tangle with the coyotes; that would mean I couldn't use the gun anyway, because I might hit one of my dogs. (Another type of fear, the fear for my dogs.) I suppose one might call this rationality too. I face the fear and I react accordingly. I accept that there are coyotes out there and that I might have to face them. But the fear does not come until I hear them. I trust that fear, because I know what to do. But I don't wake up in the night in my bed fearing the coyotes...that'd be crazy!

Answer 6

So many fine answers given already...such wisdom speaks volumes of the folks here..CC brilliant, Valerie V, a wonderful answer and Innerpeacemum's answer is great indeed....

There are indeed 2 types of Fear, real and imagined...living in the moment then requires us to be aware of those things which can hurt and those things which we only imagine to be so...many are imagined because .. as Innerpeacemum so rightly points out, we often think in the future yet live in the present....

Many of our fears are learned or taught to us...the fear of failure, the fear of rejection to name a couple...yet these are only so If we allow them to be so...

To know and be aware that some things will hurt us is wise...to avoid the sharp bits and act to avoid the dangers allows us to live and enjoy Life knowing that these dangers are a part of Life and add to its complexity and wonder and although dangerous to us, allows that dangerous things are still valid...

Being aware that dangerous folk exist allows us to steer clear thus avoiding the Khamma inherent there....

To be strong and face the other more insidious, irrational fears then helps us to overcome the effects that these fears hold on the MInd...once freed from theses effects, the Mind becomes able to think better, allowing for wiser choices to be made thus allowing for better outcomes...a happier Being and a happier life....

To tell the difference, you need to examine the fear itself...what is it a fear of..? Is it a fear of flying..? A fear of death..? A fear of guilt..? Then examine it and its effects on your Mind. Does the Fear make your mInd freeze..?

Often it can be seen as irrational if it stops us from examining it....by examination will it become clear...examination doesn't hurt ... yet we fear that it will...

Facing fears opens up a new door which is often closed by the original fear...both phenomenon and answer...

A Buddhist....

Answer 7

The fears you should trust are the ones that tell you to get away from real danger...like a dangerous person or a tornado or a hurricane.

How do you tell the difference? I am working on that. I ask myself. Am I in mortal danger? If my self answers 'no', then I know the fear is not real.

Answer 8

I fear touching the stove when it's on...that would be a fear that serves a purpose.

I used to fear the darkness, fear the light, fear freedom, fear my prison, these are fears that do not serve a purpose. These are fear's I put aside and no longer experience.

Answer 9

Fear enables us not to do things that we know are not right. We know the norms of good vs bad thus if we fear God - we will not go against His will.

Fear is a normal feeling especially of things unknown or of things beyond our comfort zone. It serves as a challenge that we have to overcome to enable us to move on.

I believe if we TRUST in HIM, then we should not harbor any fear. Having faith in HIM will be our guide to live a more worthy life. Once we put our trust in Him - we can be sure that He is there to guide, comfort and support us.

Answer 10

Fear is never about living in the moment. I have been in a war when guns were firing above my head, and the fear that gripped me was whether or not the "next" one would hit me and kill me. In that particular moment I was fine, but I wasn't living that, I was living in the future.
That is much like the fear we experience everyday. We are usually afraid of what is next, and we spend a vast majority of our lives running interference. So the only reason I could see fear is useful is that when we feel it, we remind ourselves to come back to this very moment.