Fear is not something abstract. We don't face fear as an abstract thing, but as something that presents itself in a very real way to that sense of “person” that we believe ourselves to be.
This sense of “person” does not have fear as an abstraction, but as a reality. And here I want to continue showing you how to deal with this fear, since fear will always be based on this image, this self-image, this image that you have of yourself.
You've been building an image about yourself, you're holding that image, and that image is the one that suffers, and it’s that image that feels that this pain, which we call fear, is not an abstract thing.
Another aspect of fear is that it is always in a relationship of duality, of separateness, between this image that you have of yourself – and that image is an idea, a belief… The sense of a present “person” is the sense of a self-image, engendered, built by thought.
The foundation of this image has been reinforced by this whole context of society, the world, culture and this whole set of beliefs that you have kept, accumulated, acquired over the years.
This self-image... This is what gets hurt, what feels this weight, this pain, which we call fear. So, it’s not an abstraction for that reason as well – because it’s something that’s always within a relationship, it’s always within a relationship of duality between this “me,” this “I,” this image, and this given experience that thought says is the cause of fear.
So, this is not an abstraction, this is something very real for this sense of “person,” for this self-image. But that’s one aspect… Now, I want to put another thing here.
Despite not being an abstraction, I will keep telling you that sustaining this model of life, this model of existence, where there is this separateness between you and the experience, which is always seen as the cause, the culprit of fear…. I will always say that this duality is always supported by unconsciousness.
And if it is sustained by unconsciousness, it has no real life.
In that sense, what we call fear is an illusion.
I don't mean the physical fear of imminent, physical danger that you face.
The brain itself has a movement of physical, psychophysical self-defense, to protect itself or not to be injured, for example, when a car comes towards you at high speed. In those few seconds, if there is this perception of danger, the brain has a self-defense movement, and the body is taken out of that condition of risk, of danger.
This fear is natural.
When you come across a snake, there is a movement, already physical, of self-protection, of immediate distancing. You can even be far from the snake, but when you see it, when you spot it, you move a little further away. So, this movement of self-protection, which we also call fear, is a natural movement of the body’s own intelligence, of the brain itself, of self-protection.
Here, I am referring to psychological fear, the fear that your parents once had, your grandparents once had, your great-grandparents once had, the fear that you have – the fear of the invisible enemy. Thought constructs non-existent dangers. They are dangers idealized in an alleged future, imagined by thought. So, thought anticipates, it creates the future and makes enemies there.
If you have a talk to give… You know the subject, you've studied the subject, and you're faced with fear. When you go to sleep, before the day of the presentation, thought arises and puts you in front of the audience, making mistakes or not getting it right or leaving something to say that you had prepared to say, and you see the audience rejecting your presentation. This is an example of psychological fear.
But here you can see and find many other examples: the fear of being betrayed, the fear of being deceived, the fear of not being accepted, the fear of not being understood, the fear of not being understood... All of these are forms of psychological self-protection, of anticipation, within this purely egoic background, within this principle of separateness between this “I,” which is basically self-image, and the given experience, which in this case is a lecture, which in this case is contact with another person, a presentation, or the imagination of “why is he taking so long? He should have arrived! Why didn't he send me a WhatsApp?”
These are examples of present fears that have no reality. So, in that sense, these fears are abstractions, idealizations created by thought.
In the sense of being felt, in that sense of feeling, for the body and the mind, this proves to be something that is not an abstraction. But, looked at closely, it is a construct of self-image, and that self-image is an illusion sustained by this lack of attention to the Truth about who You are.
You see, the sense of ego, the sense of that self-image, which is that ego, creates that separateness, because it creates the future, it creates the imagination, it creates the image, it creates the fear. The ego is the basis of fear, psychological fear. Fear is basically suffering, it is staying in suffering, it is living within that sustenance of suffering.
So, this fear of the future is similar to the fear of the past; it’s because something didn't work out yesterday that thought anticipates saying “it won't work out tomorrow,” “do you remember that it didn't work?”, “do you remember that you were rejected?”, “do you remember that you were not accepted?”, Do you remember that you really didn't say things you were supposed to say?”, “Do you remember the last time you presented a lecture?”, “Do you remember that first boyfriend cheated on you?”, “Do you remember that when she was late, she was really with someone else?”
So, it’s always based on thought, based on memory, that self-image, which is the ego, builds the future and puts you in this condition of apprehension, of psychological pain, of emotional pain, of fear.
The Truth about who You are is the end of fear, of that non-abstraction, which is the fear being felt by that body-mind, and the end of that abstraction of that ideological fear, which is held simply by that self-projection of thought.
So, thought puts you in that condition of psychological time. It is this psychological time that has to be broken, has to be broken up. There is no psychological time! Tomorrow is not real... tomorrow is not real!
Reality is here and now, as Consciousness. There is only Consciousness! Anything else is a construct idealized by thought.
So, thought upholds fear, thought upholds that non-abstract fear that you feel in your body and mind; this thought sustains this abstract fear idealized by thought.
So, the psychological time factor has to be understood by us.
It is necessary to go beyond the psychological time, to position ourselves outside this psychological condition of identification with what thought says.
The word “identification” here means to confuse oneself with what thought says, to believe what thought says, to accept that what thought is saying is real. Thought is just thought; thought is just an idea.
The word “cup” brings you a form, it brings you an image, it brings you an object. Is this image, this shape, this object the glass? But one word – “cup” – is all it takes for the glass to appear! Right? If I, for example, say to you: don't think about the table! Don't think about the table! How does this mechanism of thought work? Thought has an offer, and it offers because of a demand. So, the thought “table” is not the table, but the table has already appeared for everyone here! The thought “cup” is not the cup, but the cup has already appeared for everyone here! You know what happened?
The brain has this mechanical, biochemical, physiological, neurological movement of putting thought as a reality. So, there is an offer because there is always a demand.
So, here, I am going to give you the key to go beyond the egoic mind: watch the movement of the image, how it arises... The next time a thought arises within you – “I am being deceived,” “this will not work out”, “but if I do and it doesn't happen?”, “what if, in front of the people I'm going to talk to, I go blank?” ... The next time thought appears, stay with it, that’s all! It’s just a thought, it’s not real. It’s like the presence of the “cup": there’s no cup, it’s just an image; it’s like the presence of the “table": it’s just an image, an offer given by thought.
It presents itself and you don't put an identity on it. If you don't put an identity on it, as a thought, it’s harmless.
This requires Mindfulness. If you are in that Full Attention or if along with that offer comes that Mindfulness, there will only be an offer, but no demand. And if there is no demand, this image is not valued.
Do you understand this? This image is not fed, it is not sustained.
So, the liberation from fear… And here, when I address fear, I mean all forms of fear: there is the fear of loneliness, there is worry – and that is fear.
We just put it: worry… Worry is always in the future. It is not here and now. Loneliness is a negative hope, it is not here. It is thought that builds loneliness; it’s an offer. All forms of anxiety regarding any aspect of your life… anxiety is an offering, it is a thought arising. It’s like thinking “cup” or “table.” If you don't give importance to the thought “cup” or “table,” as just happened, who still has the cup and the table there? They’re gone.
You don't do that with thoughts because there is a self-appreciation of that self-image in the thought that appears. An important detail: thoughts appear due to demand.
The search strengthens new thoughts arising. So, thoughts in you are processed like this. In all of you! Supply and demand.
Each mechanism, each organism, each body-mind has its predilections, its demands and its offers. It has been strengthened, is being strengthened, by this inattention.
You are unaware of this habitual model that, when the thought arises, you immediately welcome it, embrace it, then you identify yourself with, you create an identity. Your desires are like that and your fears too. And, for each one present here, the model of thought that arises is different, which is the offer, and the search, which is the demand.
So, what’s the secret to getting beyond this ego-identity, this self-image? So, to go beyond anxiety, depression, loneliness, worry, all forms of internal, psychological anguish, such as negative imagination, negative thoughts, low self-esteem or the illusion of high self-esteem?
To go beyond the psychological need to be loved, to be accepted?
Don't you realize that these are all offers of thought to a search of an illusory identity, which is sustaining fear and therefore suffering?
The care given to the end of the ego is the care given to the end of fear.
It is the end of suffering in all its representations. And how is that done? Looking at the thought as an offer.
In that look, in that Mindfulness that is given, the movement of search does not enter. These images arise here and now… they don't need to be fed, held, they need to be seen. And they are seen when there is this Full Attention of the movement of the mind. This I have called Meditation.
Meditation is this Attention on the movement of consciousness. Everything inside reveals itself and is seen, but it must be seen that way, as one looks at the cup, as one looks at the table. You don't cling to the table, you don't reject the table either. You don't fight with the thought of “table.”
Because you don't fight, because you don't cling, because you don't locate yourself as an experiencer of the table or the glass, it disappears. Why? Because it does not find an identity in this experience. This is the point! This is Meditation.
When you learn to look at the movement of thought without giving it an identity, it doesn't hold up, there’s no identity in that apparition, so it’s just an existential phenomenon, like rain. The rain comes and goes! Thoughts are like that! What you have been doing, inadvertently, for lack of this awareness of the art of what I have called True Meditation, which is the direct observation of the movement of the mind, which begins like this, within this Mindfulness…
An entirely new, unknown Space takes place and your brain opens a Space of Stillness and Silence, not forced.
The very absence of thought, because it is not sustained, brings a Silence that transcends the illusion of time, of the psychological time. This is Meditation.
So, the body is present, thought is present, you are whole, complete, here and now… Whole, completely! Just sitting, or walking, or watching TV, or writing, but there’s no illusion of that present identity, that self-image, sustaining these frames of negative anticipation, sustaining fear.
Then, there is complete Liberation from that body-mind.
Here, I have said that now the Awakening of this Power begins, coming from within. I put it like this, in sequence, but it’s not like that, in sequence; it happens simultaneously. This Power already takes over the body and mind, breaking this pattern of identity and identification with this “I,” with this ego, with this self-image. That’s the end of fear.
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