Greetings once again. In our last several articles we discussed depression. So far we discussed anger, we discussed depression, and we touched on how to work on fear. These three things, I think, are the most dangerous feelings and emotions that people can experience. In their natural state they work to enhance ones life, but when they are taken out of context and last too long, they can be harmful to our physical, mental and physical health.
We talked about ways for dealing with our anger, and just a little about dealing with our fear. In this article we will discuss fear more in depth. As we speak of fear here we are talking more than fright. Everyone is frightened one time or the other. That is natural. What we are discussing here is anxiety, and especially floating anxiety.
When one is anxious one fears the future, or just about everything in the world. There is no respite from this type of fear.Originally fear was for fight or flight. It made the body aware of some type of danger. Through the right physical mechanisms the body became more aware of its surroundings. There was more adrenaline.
The energy that went to protect one from the threat was often halted when it was gone, and the body returned to normal stasis. With free floating anxiety this doesn't happen, because there is no danger. The danger is in one's mind. One is always is a slight state of tension.The best way to deal with this type of anxiety is by doing Tang Lin, the exercise that we discussed in our earlier articles. As we to Tang Lin we inhale the fear, convert it to calmness and peace, and send it out through the body.
This, along with a silent meditation practice, will allow us to understand from whence the fear comes.As we sit and meditate thoughts will arise. During the earlier stages of meditation we just let those thoughts float on by as we concentrate on our breath, or use many different techniques. In later stages we grasp the thoughts for just a moment and then let them go. As we do this we can begin to ride on the waves of our thoughts.
As we do this we will begin to see patterns. These patterns repeat themselves and we come to understand what is effecting us through a deep sense of knowing.What do I mean by a deep sense of knowing? As we sit day after day, week after week, year after year, the higher part of the consciousness, the divine essence of the human soul, develops. Instead of relying on verbal cues, or much thinking to learn what is causing the fear, we wait and the higher mind presents it to is. This can be done in dreams, or it can be done instantaneously as the answer to our question pops into our head seemingly from nowhere.The Stoics would have said that this is the working of the logos.
The logos is also translated as the word, or the reason. The logos was the divine spark that resides within every human being and in all matter. It is a divine spark of God. The logos is also the creative nature of God and it is the true self. As two ideas come together and there is a synthesis it is the logos working. Two things are brought together and a third is created as if by magic.
Every one of us has access to the logos. If we will learn to meditate, to be quiet and still, we will discover secrets about ourselves that are buried in the collective subconscious. It doesn't really matter what type of meditation technique that we use, as long as it creates stillness. When we know the object of our anxiety it is easier to work at dealing with it.
If you are a person who is anxious and who is fearful, begin to work on your anxiety and fear through meditation techniques. There are many ways to do this. You can work with a psychologist. You can work with a clergy through pastoral care. You can do it yourself through meditation and contemplation.
Sitting silently and allowing thoughts to drift by first, taking a look at them second, imagining drawing the feeling of fear from the body into the ball of light in the center of the body third, and exhaling the opposite feeling throughout the body forth. We can then go on to help deal with the aura of fear that we build around us and also with other peoples fears. If it is possible get a book on Tang Lin, or learn meditative techniques from you friendly neighborhood meditator . Even more important then that, however, is to begin to do it every day for just about 20 minutes. If you can't do anything else, just pay attention to your breath going in and out.
.Dr. John Gilmore is a writer, spiritual coach, martial artist, a healer and ordained Unitarian Universalist Minister living in Costa Rica. For more articles like these visit or free Practical Spirituality Journal at http://www.
dswellness.com Ask for our free do it yourself Spirituality ebook, On Being Love's Warrior: A Warrior's Manual on Becoming the Compassionate Warrior Within, by Dr. Kendall Ronin.Recommended Reading: Reunion of Souls, Dr. John W.
Gilmore. A book of deep spirituality in Sci-fi form.
By: John Gilmore
