fear and reason

"In modern society, it's finally become possible for a lot of people to go from birth to death without ever having felt real fear. Many of us need a mental illness to teach us what the word means." James, William.

 

We've all heard people say that there are two kinds of fear, normal and abnormal, and that normal fear is a friend and that abnormal fear is an enemy that needs to be destroyed.

 

In reality, there is no so-called normal fear that has not been missing in some people who had every reason to have it. If you think about human history or look around you, you'll see that there are some people who don't feel any fear at all, even when they are in situations or in front of things that any fearful person will tell you should make them feel at least normal self-protective fear. They have every thought and feeling that is needed except fear. The idea of self-preservation is just as strong in people who are very shy or scared, but they fear what they don't know. This lack of fear even in scary situations could have more than one cause. It can be caused by the way a person is built, by long-term training or habituation, by religious ecstasy, by a calm sense of spiritual selfhood that can't be hurt, or by the action of very high reason. No matter what the reason is, the fact remains that the same things that make most of us afraid only make these people appeal, if at all, to their instinct for self-preservation and to reason, the part of the soul that makes them feel peaceful and whole.

 

Get rid of all fear.

 

Because of these things, I've come to believe that all real fear should and can be taken out of our lives, and that what we call "normal fear" should be replaced in our language by "instinct" or "reason," with the word "fear" being taken out of the picture entirely.

 

"Everyone can agree that the emotional state we call fear is made up of mental images of certain painful outcomes" (James). The images may be very vague, but the idea of hurting oneself is definitely there. If, then, it can be deeply believed that the real self can't be hurt, if the mind can be made to consider all calming thoughts vividly and with faith, if the self can be held consciously in the knowledge that the White Life surrounds and is within the real self, and will let "no evil come near," even though all instincts for self-preservation may be fully active, fear must be removed "as far as the east is from the west."

 

Then, any reason to be afraid can be broken down in these ways:

 

As a warning and to make people feel scared. But let's say that the warning should be seen as a warning to reason, that fear doesn't have to show up at all, and that the pain of panic is completely pointless. With these differences in mind, we can move on to a first look at fear.

 

first look at the study of fear.

 

Fear is an urge, a routine, and a disease.

 

Fear, as it exists in people, is a make-believe of sanity, a creature of the mind, and a state of insanity.

 

Fear is also a matter of the nerves, the mind, and the moral conscience.

 

The split depends on how you look at it. Reason should take the place of what most people call "normal fear." This word includes both instinct and thought. From the right point of view, all fear is bad as long as it keeps people busy.

 

Fear is always a mental state, no matter how it shows up or where it seems to be. It can affect a person in many ways, such as in the nerves, the mind, a single impulse, a long-term habit, or a state of total imbalance. The reaction is always meant to be helpful and means, "Be careful! Danger!" This is clear when you look at the three main types of fear: fear of oneself, fear for oneself, and fear of others. Fear of the self is, in a way, fear of danger to the self. Fear for others means that you can sense or imagine that you will feel bad because you expect bad things to happen to other people. I often wonder if when we worry about other people, we are most worried about hurting ourselves or hurting them.

 

So, fear is usually seen as the soul's warning sign for danger. But instinct and careful thought are the real signs.

 

Even instinct and reason, when used as a warning, can do their job in a strange way or grow out of proportion. Then there's the fear we feel. Normal warnings are caused by real dangers that are seen by a mind that is calm and in control. This kind of warning is always possible for a normal mind. There are only two ways to get rid of so-called normal fear that acts like reason: by replacing fear with reason or by being sure that the white life is good.

 

Now, let it be clear that what we mean by "normal fear" here is that real normal fear has no place or purpose. Then we could say that this is a good thing that reason does for people. It is the generosity of the way things are in us, which comes with pain and weariness.

 

One person said: "Tired? In my house, you can't say that!" This can't be a good or healthy way to act. At a certain point in an effort, getting tired is a sign to stop. When a person works so hard that he or she forgets how tired they are, they have put out a "hurry call" for death. I don't deny that the soul can develop a sublime sense of buoyancy and power; in fact, I encourage you to look for this beautiful state. However, I believe that when a belief or a hallucination keeps you from hearing what your nerves and muscles are trying to tell you, Nature will bring about disaster. Let's stand up for the larger freedom that gives us the joy of being able to use everything Nature has to offer for our true happiness. There is a partial freedom that tries to find itself by denying that certain things are true. There is a higher freedom that really finds itself by admitting that these things are true and using or not using them as the situation calls for in the best interest of the self. I think this is true wisdom: to take advantage of everything that seems to be good for oneself, without caring about which theory is right or wrong, and to freely use all things, whether they are material or not, logical or spiritual. I agree with your science or your way of doing things, but please don't hold me to your philosophy or your consistency. So, I say that the feeling of being tired is a sign that nerves and muscles need to rest and recover.

 

"There is no pain!" is neither free nor good for you if you say it. No matter what you say, pain does exist, and the fact that you say it doesn't is proof that it does. Why (and how) would you say something doesn't exist when it doesn't? But if you say, "I'm in pain, but I'm working hard to ignore it and improve my thought health so that the pain will go away," that's a wise and beautiful thing to say. This is what the Bible character who said, "Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief," was doing right. To take on pain with a cloud of mental fog is to turn against Nature's good government and become an anarchist. Pain is how nature tells a person that something is wrong with him. This is just a normal warning. When Will's imagination irritates his nerves over and over again, he starts to feel strange, and the discord and psychic chaos make him cower and shiver with fear.

 

I don't say that fear doesn't exist. Fear does exist. But it's only in your life because you let it, not because it's necessary to warn you about "evil."

 

Fear is caused by exaggerating real danger or making up fake dangers through overreacting and going in the wrong direction. This could also be seen as a sign of danger, but it is a false witness because it is not needed, is harmful to the individual because it makes it harder to control oneself, and uses up life's energy on useless and destructive work when it should be used to create values.

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