How to overcome fear? First, we have to understand how fear arises. We know what fear is. It is that reaction movement that appears immediately in the face of danger. When we are faced with physical danger, we know how to deal with it quickly, immediately, instantly. If you are on the street and a car comes at high speed towards you, you immediately know what to do, there is no thinking what to do. The response to that danger, the response to that moment is immediate, there is no thinking what to do. Immediately you get out of the way, you run, you hide, you make a quick movement. This is something very mechanical, instinctual, the brain has an immediate response to it.
So, dealing with physical fears is a simple thing. If you find yourself in a high height and look down, you immediately move away, because the body already reacts automatically, the brain already has this self-protection intelligence, so you move away due to the risk of falling. So, the immediate response we have to physical dangers we don't even need to deal with here. I want to talk to you about this fear common to all of us, that over time we end up getting used to, yes, we got used to it.
Note that jealousy in you, for example, is the presence of fear. There is a psychological insecurity and this psychological insecurity of being deceived, of being betrayed or of not being reciprocated the way you want, creates this feeling, which we call “jealousy”: this is fear. We have the presence of envy, it is also another form of fear; we have anxiety, which is also another form of fear; shyness is a form of fear. We know what the fear mode we live in is. So, we have a way of life that is based on fear and we don't know how to deal with that fear, because we don't understand what fear is. And here, when I use the word “understand” or “understanding fear,” I don't mean an intellectual understanding, much less an approach to fear through analysis. I mean understanding in a different sense. We have not been in contact with fear, we do not have a direct action on this psychological fear, this psychological insecurity, this psychological way of life where we are always internalizing insecurity, non-acceptance, rejection, betrayal, basically, fear. We have to have an understanding approach to fear. It is not analysis, it is not understanding the process, but having a direct understanding in this contact. First, I would like to investigate with you how this occurs, how this arises, but we are not going to analyze it, we are just going to follow this speech and understand the origin of this fear.
We live, psychologically, in a mental world. In this mental world where, psychologically, we live, we are always in a relationship with the other – for example in this case of jealousy or envy – of image. For us the other is an image, we have an image of him or her and this image gives us fulfillment in some way, an emotional fulfillment, a physical, sexual fulfillment. At some level, there is a fulfillment in this image which is, in fact, the presence of the other in this relationship with “who I am,” with this “I” with which I identify myself, which is also nothing other than an image. I have an image of who I am, which is this “I am” that I believe to be, and I have an image of the other. Our relationship with the other is within an image relationship and this is given to me by the other, this image is always “giving itself to me” – to this “me”, to this “I” –, and while it “gives itself to me,” while it fulfills me, while it satisfies me on some level – physical, emotional, intellectual, or sexual –, there is pleasure in this relationship. Notice something curious about the issue of fear, see how much so-called “pleasure” is intrinsically linked to this issue of fear – here I am referring to the psychological fear. In these speeches we are always dealing with psychological freedom, not external freedom.
The human being speaks of an external freedom; the freedom, for example, to do what you want, go where you want, be able to express yourself, say what you think, say what you believe, so this is the freedom of this so-called “freedom of speech.” We are always talking about freedom, “economic freedom,” you see, all of this linked to this issue of freedom, but always linked to this external freedom. This is the greatest concern of humans: to have external freedom, to live their freedom. And for everyone, freedom is really and externally being able to express yourself, go where you want, do what you want, having enough money to get what you want, to buy, then people talk about “freedom of speech,” “economic freedom,” always freedom in this sense. Here I am emphasizing with you the issue of psychological freedom, inner freedom. In this inner freedom, you have an approach of Truth of your Being, and it is this Freedom that we are dealing with here in the meeting, it is Freedom in Itself, it is not freedom of something.
Here I want to invite you to approach the investigation of what this psychological freedom is, and this psychological freedom can only be present when there is no fear. We need a new way of life, a new way of living, a living free from fear. And we cannot clearly understand what fear is until we understand this question between pleasure and fear. Those who offer me, who give me, are an accomplice with me in this matter of pleasure and are also those who show themselves when that pleasure is denied as the reason for this fear here in this “me,” in this “I,” in this ego. So, in this relationship that I have with this image that is the other, which is the idea that I have about who he or she is and the internal demands that this “I” has of this other, which is just an image that I have of him or her, if this is denied, if this is missing, if this pleasure that he gives me in this intellectual, physical, emotional, sexual contact, or on some other level is missing, I now have the presence of frustration, disappointment, jealousy, anger, and all this is the presence of fear.
Follow this here: while there is some form of psychological dependence within you on the other, the dependence on pleasure within a relationship – and it is natural that this relationship is based on an image, an expectation, an idea that I have of who he or she is – as long as that remains present, there will be that presence of fear. As long as this pleasure, which is based on this purely egoic self-fulfillment, is there, there will be this presence of fear. What I mean is that we don't know what a life free of fear is, because our life is always within this relationship, a relationship of images – images of people, images of places, images of objects. What are these images? They are projections of the mind. My contact with an object is also nothing more than an image, it is simple for us to observe this. This emotional bond of ours with these objects, be it a painting, a musical instrument, a car, a living room rug, we are always attached to them. And why are we attached to these objects? Because they are an image that represents an identity for us, they give us an identity. That’s why we are so attached to objects and also to people. What we have of these people are images that bring gratification, that add something to us psychologically, give us another form of psychological fulfillment. So, people give us this, objects also give us this, ideas that we have inside of us, too – which are the result of propaganda, of beliefs. What is given to us as propaganda becomes within us a belief, a concept, something we cling to, hold on to, and this is just another image, it is something that also gives us an identity.
“To feel yourself as someone” means belonging to some idea, it is feeling like you belong to some ideal, to some set of concepts, to a model of belief, so we are always being “someone” within that experience of the image, with ideas, with beliefs, be it philosophical, political, religious, or spiritual beliefs. We are always being “someone” in this image, in this relationship with objects: “my house,” “my car,” “my piano,” “my rug.” Objects with which we are in relation every day, we attach ourselves, because they give us identity. With regard to people, it is the same thing, they are giving us identity, giving us some form of fulfillment, satisfaction, and identity, which is purely egoic.
The sense of an “I” present as being the center of these experiences, with objects, with ideas, with people: this is pleasure, this is satisfaction, this is fulfillment, but there is no truth in it, there is no security in it, there is no reality in it. So, when one of these objects is taken away from us or when they don't give us something, we feel frustrated, angry, and jealous. Our psychological behavior in this false “I,” which is this “I” that we always refer to when someone asks us about ourselves and we use the expression “I,” the pronoun “I.” This illusory “I” is always within this condition, which is a completely chaotic, insufferable and unhappy condition, in fact, a condition of deep misery. This is our internal condition when there is no Freedom. If there is no Freedom, there is no awareness of the Divine Truth, of the Truth of Love. So, people have questions like, “How do I get rid of fear?” You cannot get rid of fear, you cannot get rid of fear because you are fear. It is important that we understand this. This sense of a present “I,” which is an image that you have about who you are, is fear, because this sense of “I” is always in this dependence on pleasure, on the search for fulfillment, on the search for identity in experiences with people, objects, and ideas. Are we in this together?
We are here working with you to end the illusion of a present identity, and that is the end of fear. “How do I get rid of fear?” That “I” is fear, there is no “how.” “How” implies time for this “me” to reject, to throw something out of itself, but this “me” is that thing. That “I” is not separate from fear, it is fear – we need to see that too, clearly. You see, I already hinted at this now, here, that this “I” is fear, but let’s explore this a little further. It’s like when questions are made that way, implicit in those questions is always the idea of something that this “I,” this “me,” has to get rid of. We are not interested in that, in its end, in the end of this “I,” this “me.” We are interested, based on this “I,” this “me,” to continue having our lives and being free from what bothers us, what bothers this “I,” this “me.” What gives pleasure, I want to hold; and what does not give pleasure, I want to get rid of it. That which favors pain for this “I,” as in the case of jealousy, envy, and fear, I want to get rid of, but fulfillment, satisfaction, and gratification, I don't want to get rid of, I want to sustain. And yet all this is within this psychological dependency, this psychological identity that “I” – this “me” – finds in all of this. Do you follow this?
Then, there is no getting rid of fear. Here we have to inquire into the nature of the “I,” that brings the understanding of fear. The understanding of fear is the understanding of pleasure. The end of fear is the end of pleasure, of this pleasure that sits in this image, of this psychological dependence on fulfillment and satisfaction in relationships, which we call “love” and now we are seeing that it is just pleasure, fulfillment, and satisfaction – here we introduce another expression that we are now investigating with you. The expression “love,” for us, is fulfillment, it is satisfaction, it is fulfillment with another, but it has this “I and the other,” this mutual satisfaction, this mutual fulfillment, this mutual pleasure. If that is present, we call it “love,” but it hides hatred, anger, spite, envy, fear, and if all this is present, it is not love. Love must be something else.
After all, what is love? Now I want to touch this here with you. Love is that which is present when there is no “I,” and that is present when there is no “me” because when the “I” is not, fear is not. I will say this again to you: there is no fear without the “I,” fear is the “I,” the “I” is the basis of that pleasure, so the presence of that pleasure is the presence of fear, which is the presence of “I,” that is the end of this so-called “love” as we know. Notice that in our relationships, the one who gives us “love” is the same one who frightens us, who makes us afraid because we don't want him to run away, to go away, to betray us, this makes us angry, choleric, aggressive, violent, frightened, and jealous. How can this be Love? What that “I” feels is not Love, it is dependence, it is neediness.
I know this is a little complicated at first – even to hear it – but look at how much fear there is within our relationships, how much dependency there is in our relationships, jealousy and envy, because our relationships are not based on the Freedom of Being Consciousness, that psychological freedom from the “I,” from the ego. It is when the ego is gone that we have the Truth of Love, but that is nameless. It is indescribable. A Real relationship, where the Truth of this One is present, It assumes another form, another name, apparently, but it is the same Presence, which is the presence of God, it is the presence of Grace, it is the presence of Truth, it is the presence of the Self, whatever name we want to give it. That is the presence of Beauty, that is the presence of Love. So, we have the end of fear, we have the end of so-called “pleasure,” we have the end of that image. It is already clear that the image is a construct of memory, of thought, of an idealization, of an engendered project, created by thought in its search for fulfillment. That’s that image and that ends.
So, God Realization, the Realization of your Being, the Realization of Truth is the presence of Love, and That is present when there is no more “I.” All that ends when the time that thought creates to sustain it all disappears. I am referring to the psychological time, because it is this psychological time, it is exactly there that this “I” has its continuity. “I was this yesterday; I am this today and I will be something else tomorrow": this is all part of that psychological time, of the “I.” “I loved you yesterday and I don't love you anymore.” So that “I” says this: “I love you,” “I loved you,” “I don't love you anymore,” there is the presence of time. “I liked you, I don't anymore.” This “wanting,” this “like,” this so-called “loving” is something present in this psychological time, in this game of images that we have in our relationships.
We are always moving from one image to another, from one that no longer satisfies you to another that will fulfill you for a while. It’s always the “I” time, the ego time, that psychological time. When the Truth of God, which is the Truth of the Presence, of Grace, of Love, is present, there is no longer this psychological time, so there is no longer this relationship of the ego, of this “I,” in this dependence on fulfillment and satisfaction with objects, people, and ideas. All this ends because there is no longer any sense of a present identity, which is the “I.” This is the presence of psychological Real Freedom, which is the end of the ego in this Revelation of the presence of Love.
Here I want to invite you to discover the Truth about your Being and realize that it is within this duality – “I and fear,” “I and pleasure,” “I and the other,” “I and the world,” “I and life,” “I and love” – that is the whole problem of human existence. An “I” that sees itself separate from what it thinks, what it feels and what it does. That’s what we're investigating here on the channel.
We have a playlist here on the channel talking about approaching Meditation. This approach of the True Meditation is possible when what just happened here in this speech occurs: a work of self-observation and clear perception of the illusion that constitutes this “I” in this approach to Life. So, the basis for this Revelation of your Being is in this Self-Awareness. Here, we have just worked with you on the investigation of the illusion of identity in relation to people and objects.
I want to leave this invitation to you: we are working on this here on the channel, in online and face-to-face meetings, as well as retreats. If this is something that makes sense to you, leave your “like” and subscribe to the channel. OK? Here’s the invitation and we'll see you in the next one! Thanks for the meeting, until next time!
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