Conquering fear

Everything will happen just as it is supposed to happen. Once I fully understood that, I was able to conquer fear.

My journey began when, in my darkest moment, God spoke to me and told me "everything is as it should be" (His words, not mine). Even though I knew it to be true, because I felt the truth of it in my heart, it took me many years of searching to finally understand. We have been set upon a path of discovery; whether it is a path we chose, or one that was chosen for us (depending on your point of view), it is what it is, and we must follow it to it's destination, and experience the things set out along that path. Once you realize that we must travel the road ahead, like it or not, and that there is eternal bliss waiting for us at the other side, fear becomes less of a factor.

Alan Watts speaks about the battle of black and white as opposed to black vs white. Black must exist for white to be realized; for every winner there must be a loser, and we should celebrate both sides, because without the loser, there would be no winner. Every emotion has it's flip side: love/hate; hot/cold; and the flip side of fear is bliss. The emotion comes from the same place, and if you break it down, feels the same, just from a different perspective. When I feel fearful, I stop, acknowledge the emotion, and then look at the situation and chose to accept that flip side of it.

"Fear is not real.

The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present and may not ever exist.

Do not misunderstand me, danger is very real, but fear is a choice."

Cypher Raige quote from After Earth

den385 wrote: The code and the Doctrine state that fear can be conquered through faith in the Force. But how is it applied?

It depends on the individual. All I can say is what it is for me.

As one who has fought with anxiety and fear for as long as I can remember, I've come to understand a bit about it.

I recently had a lesson on fear and I started it with this quote:

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing....only I will remain

-Litany Against Fear (Dune by Frank Herbert)

For me, conquering fear isn't about NOT fearing at all, simply not letting it rule me.

Meditating to get over an active fear hasn't worked too well for me...it HELPS, it took the edge off, but I have trouble settling down during a panic attack. Meditating ON my fear brought a different result. I was approached by several Shamans who told me this:

“Fear in itself is a healthy thing. It is what keeps the lion safe while hunting. But if the lion fears injury so much that she will not even go out to the hunt, she will die anyways. Fear is to be befriended and understood. Respected. He has the capabilities to keep you safe. But fear is fickle, and he likes to play tricks. And if he finds he can get away with it, he’ll control you. Befriend him, know him, understand him, love him, and he will help you.”

Fear alone is no reason.

I`d say that fear may be different in many dimensions. It can be useful or paralizing, big or small, instant or prolonged. But within my question, if meditation can be applied to particular fear, I see a single property that matters:

Is the fear "standalone" or is it "rooted".

I think, all new experience brings us "standalone" fears - if the experience is totally new, than fear will have nothing to cling upon in us. It may be huge and heavy, like a truck, but, once conquered, it does not regenerate.

In the beginning of life path all fears you meet are "standalone". If conquered immediately, they vanish. If you run/hide from them, they grow roots.

And rooted fears can regenerate. To vanquish such complex I see no other way then to walk the path of this fear time and time again, facing it every time and uprooting this weed day by day. AFAIK it's a common practice in psychotherapy.