FEAR

In India the popular saying goes, “he who is afraid, is dead”, but then the other side of the saying goes, “he who is scared, lives to tell the tale”. But I feel, that we have nothing to fear, but fear itself. All our actions and reactions are driven by fear. I feel that fear is the driving force, the reason and the impetus in our lives.

Since our childhood days, our parents control us by instilling fear, “ don’t do that/ this.... or else …God / Father will punish u”. The childhood curiosity is quelled and controlled by use of fear. A child’s imagination is snipped at the bud, using fear, never reason, because fear is so easy to instil and invoke whenever needed. Our child-like curiosity scares the hell out of our parents ('But mum, I just wanted to see what would happen if I used the phone in the shower'), which is why parents then try to scare it out of their kids. How? With stories about curious children who insist on prying into things that are best left alone and who end up getting turned into things, shoved into ovens or eaten by wild animals.

Even the Holy Scriptures and epics do a good job of instilling fear too. You'll find the Old Testament a rich source of this stuff: God says to the human race (the two of them) 'Listen you crazy kids, do anything, go anywhere but keep the hell away from the tree of knowledge... eat not of its fruit or you're history.' Well, you know what happened next - Eve got curious and God does some pretty heavy smiting. You can imagine God as a Robert DeNiro type... 'Are you listenin' to me? Are you listenin' to me? I'm askin' you if you're listenin' to me? Huh? Well BAM! How do ya like that?')
The good book makes the penalty pretty clear - mind your own damn business or the entire human race will be damned to live and die in pain.

Every culture tells the same story - a forbidden thing, a curious spirit, eternal damnation and death. These stories serve to keep kids at home and men & women in line... and by and large, they work pretty well.

The Indian epics and beliefs also instil this fear in abundance into the masses. Personally I believe God is man’s greatest invention. God and religion, the tools, invented to make the mankind compliant and obedient. “God is everywhere, God sees everything, and God is Omnipotent, Omniscient & Omnipresent”. The concept of heaven & earth, of liberation, mukthi & niravana, all invented to make people feel guilty. Guilt!!! The realisation of ones sins, the best tool used in conjunction with repentance, to harness mankind. Great were the minds, who realised the Fear Factor and invented the tools to make man subservient.

We as humans are scared about everything. We are afraid of what others think about us. We are afraid of making a fool of ourselves, or being laughed at. We are afraid of being hurt, we are afraid of losing our near & dear ones. Well, we are afraid of fear itself. Fear rules and governs our behaviours, actions and beliefs. Couple, fear with guilt and it becomes too potent a mix to handle, Heady & dangerous.

We love someone, with a fear of losing them; we work, fearing a life of joblessness and hardship. We do things, fearing what would happen if we didn’t. We have fun, but with a feeling of uneasiness involved. Always with a nagging thought or two we move ahead in life.

Cant we do things, for the sake of doing them and not because of the fear associated with it. Can’t we live our lives not having to cringe, whinge and complain? Can’t we live for the sake of living, without fear to cloud our thoughts and actions? Can’t we just BE??