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In order to rediscover our natural confidence and live a fearless life, we must examine the challenge: we must "recognize fear."
Fear, for the neurophysiologists, is a stimulus to investigate, discern and resolve. Taking a Buddhist perspective on fear, however, requires that we make a simple, yet somewhat outrageous, observation: fear does not exist. This is not to say we don't experience fear and its many forms. Of course, we are afraid of death and pain, afraid that we can't handle life. We fear new situations and the unknown. Yet, while we may want to define fear, explore fear, and possibly even resolve it, we first must acknowledge that we cannot actually find such a solid thing as "fear" at all.
In order to recognize fear, then, we need to examine our experience, right here, right now. When the elusive, uncertain nature of life shifts from background to foreground, as it always does, we struggle and panic. Falling in love with a colleague, being diagnosed with cancer, or just missing an appointment, we instinctively sense that life happens in a way that we cannot grasp, and we become bewildered. Becoming familiar with such bewilderment is how we examine and recognize fear.
We breed cowardice with story lines of all kinds: "I'm freaked out because I am going to lose my job and won't be able to handle life!" or "I think my foot has cancer--it hasn't been behaving itself lately." Yet, when we are completely honest with ourselves, we discover not only that we are primordially exposed but that panicking is optional. Being exposed to life is sharply real and unavoidable, but being a coward is not required. And by leaping in with no guarantees, we stop seeking a life free from fear, but instead discover how to live life fearlessly.
Fear of the Unknown
Conor Mayo-Wilson, a researcher of mathematical philosophy at Carnegie Mellon University, studies how people learn and solve problems by sharing information in groups. These groups, however different, take advantage of a diverse range of experiences and knowledge, so it’s reasonable to think that collective intelligence might come to a more accurate conclusion than any one individual. But research done by Mayo-Wilson and others shows that this isn’t exactly the case.
For instance, we know today that stomach ulcers are caused by bacteria, Mayo-Wilson said. Scientists were making connections between bacteria and stomach ulcers as early as 1889. But in 1954, Edward Palmer published a paper that claimed to find no bacteria whatsoever in 1,000 human stomachs. Palmer’s study was flawed, but knowledge of that paper spread faster and more widely than the earlier work. Soon everybody knew that bacteria couldn’t live in the stomach, but what they knew was completely false. Linking people into virtual groups enables the sharing of knowledge, but when that information isn’t accurate, it can lead the group consensus astray causing widespread fear of the unknown. “When information comes from a common source, that can cause problems with individual decision making, because it can eradicate minority viewpoints,” Mayo-Wilson said.
Mayo-Wilson said, “How those people receive information can influence whether or not they make a good decision.” The group itself isn’t what matters. What matters is who they are, what they know and how they interact.
At least 15 million American adults say they have had a near-death experience, according to a 1997 survey—and the number is thought to be rising with increasingly sophisticated resuscitation techniques.
The once-taboo topic has gotten a lot of talk these days. In the movie "Hereafter," directed by Clint Eastwood, a French journalist is haunted by what she experienced while nearly drowning in a tsunami. A spate of books details other cases and variations on the theme.
Yet the fundamental debate rages on: Are these glimpses of an afterlife, are they hallucinations or are they the random firings of an oxygen-starved brain?
"There are always skeptics, but there are millions of 'experiencers' who know what happened to them, and they don't care what anybody else says," says Diane Corcoran, president of the International Association for Near-Death Studies, a nonprofit group in Durham, N.C. The organization publishes the Journal of Near-Death Studies.
As a 17-year-old college student, I had a near-death experience (before it was categorized as such) during an automobile accident. During this intense positive experience, I said to myself, "If this is what it is like to die, it's not all bad." For I was at peace; calmly watching my "life review" play out while time seemed to stand still. That experience forever changed how I lived the rest of my life; for I no longer feared death nor failure as I led a passionate life.
Sudden Discovery
Our ability to suddenly discover a powerful seat of fearless abundance may not be all that fantastic. In fact, rediscovering this fearless abundance is considered more likely than we think and is traditionally often referred to as "discovering the wish-fulfilling gem." Discovering the gem is said to happen abruptly, like winning a lottery, thus opening up a sudden physical and spiritual energy similar to that of riding a mighty horse. This frees the mind of impoverishment and revels the natural state of fearless abundance.
Ironically, this abundance of suddenly discovering a wish-fulfilling gem within our very state of mind is a not a "personal" experience, so to speak, but something larger and more fundamental. Just as a sparrow flies with ease or a tiger walks with confidence, so too we discover the jewel-like ease and wealth of our humanness. We relax back into our unshakable confidence that we, too, are exquisitely equipped to be on this planet under all circumstances.
"Head in the Crowds" The New York Times Magazine, December 23, 2012
Comments
Fearless Living
In order to rediscover our natural confidence and live a fearless life, we must examine the challenge: we must "recognize fear."
Fear, for the neurophysiologists, is a stimulus to investigate, discern and resolve. Taking a Buddhist perspective on fear, however, requires that we make a simple, yet somewhat outrageous, observation: fear does not exist. This is not to say we don't experience fear and its many forms. Of course, we are afraid of death and pain, afraid that we can't handle life. We fear new situations and the unknown. Yet, while we may want to define fear, explore fear, and possibly even resolve it, we first must acknowledge that we cannot actually find such a solid thing as "fear" at all.
In order to recognize fear, then, we need to examine our experience, right here, right now. When the elusive, uncertain nature of life shifts from background to foreground, as it always does, we struggle and panic. Falling in love with a colleague, being diagnosed with cancer, or just missing an appointment, we instinctively sense that life happens in a way that we cannot grasp, and we become bewildered. Becoming familiar with such bewilderment is how we examine and recognize fear.
We breed cowardice with story lines of all kinds: "I'm freaked out because I am going to lose my job and won't be able to handle life!" or "I think my foot has cancer--it hasn't been behaving itself lately." Yet, when we are completely honest with ourselves, we discover not only that we are primordially exposed but that panicking is optional. Being exposed to life is sharply real and unavoidable, but being a coward is not required. And by leaping in with no guarantees, we stop seeking a life free from fear, but instead discover how to live life fearlessly.
Fear of the Unknown
Conor Mayo-Wilson, a researcher of mathematical philosophy at Carnegie Mellon University, studies how people learn and solve problems by sharing information in groups. These groups, however different, take advantage of a diverse range of experiences and knowledge, so it’s reasonable to think that collective intelligence might come to a more accurate conclusion than any one individual. But research done by Mayo-Wilson and others shows that this isn’t exactly the case.
For instance, we know today that stomach ulcers are caused by bacteria, Mayo-Wilson said. Scientists were making connections between bacteria and stomach ulcers as early as 1889. But in 1954, Edward Palmer published a paper that claimed to find no bacteria whatsoever in 1,000 human stomachs. Palmer’s study was flawed, but knowledge of that paper spread faster and more widely than the earlier work. Soon everybody knew that bacteria couldn’t live in the stomach, but what they knew was completely false. Linking people into virtual groups enables the sharing of knowledge, but when that information isn’t accurate, it can lead the group consensus astray causing widespread fear of the unknown. “When information comes from a common source, that can cause problems with individual decision making, because it can eradicate minority viewpoints,” Mayo-Wilson said.
Mayo-Wilson said, “How those people receive information can influence whether or not they make a good decision.” The group itself isn’t what matters. What matters is who they are, what they know and how they interact.
At least 15 million American adults say they have had a near-death experience, according to a 1997 survey—and the number is thought to be rising with increasingly sophisticated resuscitation techniques.
The once-taboo topic has gotten a lot of talk these days. In the movie "Hereafter," directed by Clint Eastwood, a French journalist is haunted by what she experienced while nearly drowning in a tsunami. A spate of books details other cases and variations on the theme.
Yet the fundamental debate rages on: Are these glimpses of an afterlife, are they hallucinations or are they the random firings of an oxygen-starved brain?
"There are always skeptics, but there are millions of 'experiencers' who know what happened to them, and they don't care what anybody else says," says Diane Corcoran, president of the International Association for Near-Death Studies, a nonprofit group in Durham, N.C. The organization publishes the Journal of Near-Death Studies.
As a 17-year-old college student, I had a near-death experience (before it was categorized as such) during an automobile accident. During this intense positive experience, I said to myself, "If this is what it is like to die, it's not all bad." For I was at peace; calmly watching my "life review" play out while time seemed to stand still. That experience forever changed how I lived the rest of my life; for I no longer feared death nor failure as I led a passionate life.
Sudden Discovery
Our ability to suddenly discover a powerful seat of fearless abundance may not be all that fantastic. In fact, rediscovering this fearless abundance is considered more likely than we think and is traditionally often referred to as "discovering the wish-fulfilling gem." Discovering the gem is said to happen abruptly, like winning a lottery, thus opening up a sudden physical and spiritual energy similar to that of riding a mighty horse. This frees the mind of impoverishment and revels the natural state of fearless abundance.
Ironically, this abundance of suddenly discovering a wish-fulfilling gem within our very state of mind is a not a "personal" experience, so to speak, but something larger and more fundamental. Just as a sparrow flies with ease or a tiger walks with confidence, so too we discover the jewel-like ease and wealth of our humanness. We relax back into our unshakable confidence that we, too, are exquisitely equipped to be on this planet under all circumstances.
