Fear and Worry

Are you worried? Are you miserable? If so, you are invited to read this page to develop a better understanding of your problems. It is dedicated to you and to those who worry...

Fear and worry are born of the imaginings of a mind that is influenced by worldly conditions. They are rooted in craving and attachments. In fact, life is like a motion picture in which everything is constantly moving and changing. Nothing in this world is permanent or still. Those who are youthful and strong have fear of dying young. Those who are old and suffering worry about living too long. In between these two are those who crave for merriment all year round.

Joyful expectations of the pleasant seem to pass off too quickly. Fearful expectations of the unpleasant create anxieties that do not seem to go away. Such feelings are natural. Such ups and downs of life play with an illusory self or ego, like a puppet on a string, but the mind is supreme unto itself.

The training of the mind, otherwise known as mental culture, is the first step towards taming mental unrest. The Buddha had explained,

"From craving springs grief, from craving springs fear, For him who is wholly free from craving, there is no grief, much less fear."

All forms of attachment will end in sorrow. Neither tears nor long goodbyes can end the transience of life. All compounded things are impermanent.

Both the old and the young suffer in this existence. No one is exempted. Many teenagers have growing pains. Being neither frogs nor tadpoles, teenagers are understandably in-experienced at building stable relationships with members of the opposite sex. They try to show off their attractiveness in trying to impress the members of the opposite sex, who are flattered to see themselves as sex objects. Both try to behave not as they really are, but as what they think is adult. They are afraid that if they behave naturally, they will be laughed at. This type of behaviour has the potential for being exploited. There is fear of rejection as well as worry about deflated egos. Unrequited love will often 'break' many teenage hearts because they feel they have made 'fools of themselves'. Some are even driven to commit suicide. But such traumas could be avoided if life is seen as it really is. Young people must be taught the Buddhist approach to life, so that they can grow and mature in the correct way.

"Wheresoever fear arises, it arises in the fool, not in the wise man," said the Buddha.

Fear is nothing more than a state of mind. One's state of mind is subject to control and direction - the negative use of thought produces fear, while the positive use of thought enables our hopes and ideals to be realised. The choice rests entirely with ourselves. Every human being has the ability to control his own mind. Nature has endowed man with absolute control over one thing, and that is thought. Everything that a man creates begins in the form of a thought. Here is the key to help one understand the principle by which fear may be mastered.

A noted British anatomist was once asked by a student what was the best cure for fear, and he answered, "Try doing something for someone."

The student was considerably astonished by the reply, and requested further enlightment, whereupon his instructor said, "You can't have two opposing sets of thoughts in your mind at one and the same time." One set of thoughts will always drive the other out. If, for instance, your mind is completely occupied with an unselfish desire to help someone else, you cannot be harbouring fear at the same time.

"Worry dries up the blood sooner than age." Fear and worry in moderation are natural instincts of self-preservation, but constant, irrational fear and prolonged worry are relentless enemies to the human body. They derange the normal bodily functions.