How To Fight Fear According To Buddhism
For Buddhism, fighting fear is an inner work that revolves around perception. In fact, Buddhists view fear as a perceptual error, which results in fantastic and horrifying images that end up taking over our mind. The danger is not outside of us: it is within us.
Buddhists also claim that fear grows faster in those who have no love in their hearts. Resentment, envy, and selfishness are harmful ways of relating to others. Ways that contain the germ of combat.
Rejection and the fear of suffering
Buddhists point out that the fundamental essence of fear is the rejection of suffering. They also claim that pain is inevitable while suffering is only optional. The first has to do with understanding the world and the second with how to accept it.
The fear of suffering arises from our rejection of the unpleasant sensations that come from losses, conflicts, the lack of coincidence between our desires and reality. However, we don’t have to suffer because of it. Suffering is only one of the answers that are within our grasp.
We mistakenly think that pain is going to hurt us. However, this will not necessarily be the case. To fight fear, you also need to know how to deal with pain. It loses a lot of strength when we accept it and let it exist. And even more so when we seek and find the learning that she wants to give us.
To fight fear, pay attention to the present
One way or another, the fear revolves around our past or our future. We sometimes remain attached to experiences that have scared us and left a deep mark on us. So we are afraid that the same thing will happen again.
A similar thing is happening with the future. It frightens us because we imagine or assume that it will bring difficulties or painful situations. We feel small in the face of tomorrow and that scares us.
Buddhism therefore insists that one of the ways to fight fear is to focus on the present, the here and now. Full attention keeps our minds from filling up with fantasies that only feed superfluous fears.
Attachment is a source of fear
Mental and spiritual peace is found at the opposite end of attachment. For Westerners, it is very difficult to understand this idea because all our logic revolves around possession. We are not only referring to material possessions but also to emotional or spiritual goods.
Buddhism is a philosophy in which one seeks not to possess, that is to say to detach oneself. We need to understand that nothing belongs to us, not even our own life. Everything that happens in our lives and all that we are is nothing more than a transient reality.
Failure to understand this concept means seeing attachment and, with it, fear of loss. This is one of the most powerful fears there is because it turns into a vicious cycle. The more one becomes attached, the more one is afraid, and the more one is afraid, the more one becomes attached. Letting go and accepting that everything is transitory makes us less fearful.
Escape is never an option
For Buddhism, each of us is our own teacher. The reason for our mistakes is learning. When you don’t accept things this way, the mind begins to fill with fear and anxiety. It is as if we have a pending debt, a debt that is putting pressure on us.
When you let an error pass without getting anything out of it, the situation that gave rise to that error tends to be repeated. This is when you lose control of your life. This obviously allows fears to emerge, as does a feeling of weakness.
All of these Buddhist principles for combating fear are complex exercises. They are learned through continuous practice and by showing patience. You should know that they often come into conflict with our Western models and that is why they are not easy to assimilate. However, if we are constantly plagued by fears, it would be good to analyze them carefully.
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