Self Liberation from Fear, Worry, & Anger by Tejguru Sirshree Tejparkhiji - HTML preview

Self Liberation Book One : Fear
1
What is Fear

Fear is a response to an external threat, and usually produces changes in the sufferer’s action and body. Generally, humans react to fear in three ways : fight, flight or freeze. We may muster up courage and fight the source of danger (fight); we may feel terrified and flee frantically to escape (flee); or become immobilized, motionless and mute (freeze). This book will give you the fourth way to win over fear.

Fear is misuse of man’s imagination. Fear is a psychological disease. Fear emanates from man’s ignorance. Fear is just a thought. Fear is an invention of human mind.

Once an epidemic (personified) was entering a village. The guard of the village asked the epidemic as to how many people it intended to kill. The epidemic replied that it had intentions of killing five hundred people. When the epidemic was returning back, the guard stopped it and accused it of lying. “You said five hundred, but you killed 1000 people.” The epidemic replied, “I killed only five hundred. The other five hundred died fearing that they had the disease.”

Such is the menace of fear. Anger, worry, hatred, greed, guilt and hopelessness are some of the harmful thoughts people carry. Fear tops the list. It can even be fatal.

Fear is a disease that, like a termite, destroys a person’s life. Fear makes a person feel inferior. Fear itself is the root cause of most failures. The fear of failure sometimes leads a person even to commit suicide.

We unknowingly carry such a dangerous thing within us. We see people around us leading fearful lives. We learn of many tragic events through TV, newspapers etc., which take place only due to fear.

Aggravated fear is termed as phobia. A phobia is an excessive, enduring fear of objects or situations that interferes with a person’s normal life. Although they know their fear is irrational, people with phobias always try to avoid the source of their fear. Common phobias include fear of heights (acrophobia), fear of enclosed places (claustrophobia), fear of insects, snakes, or other animals, and fear of air travel.

Panic attacks are intense, overpowering surges of fear. Some people experience panic attacks - periods of quickly escalating intense fear and discomfort accompanied by physical symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, trembling, shortness of breath, dizziness or nausea. Because people with this extreme form of fear cannot predict when these attacks will strike, they worry about having more panic attacks and may limit their activities outside home.
A : Do you fear anyone?