FEAR AND REASON
Categories: Chapter I - The Twin-VersesBooks: Mastery of Self
"In civilized life it has at last become possible for large
numbers of people to pass from the cradle to the grave without
ever having had a pang of genuine fear Many of us need an attack
of mental disease to teach us the meaning of the word"--William
James
We have all heard the seemingly discriminating remarks that fear
is normal and abnormal, and that normal fear is to be r
a friend, while abnormal fear should be destroyed as an enemy
The fact is that no so--called normal fear can be named which has
not been clearly absent in some people who have had every cause
therefor If you will run over human history in your mind, or look
about yea in the present life, you will find here and there
persons who, in situations or before objects which ought, as any
fearful soul will insist, to inspire the feeling of at least
normal self-protecting fear, are nevertheless wholly without the
feeling They possess every feeling and thought demanded except
fear The idea of self-preservation is as strongly present as with
the most abjectly timid or terrified, but fear they do not know
This FEARLESS awareness of fear--suggesting conditions may be due
to several causes It may result from constitutional make-up, or
from long--continued training or habituation, or from religious
ecstasy, or from a perfectly calm sense of spiritual selfhood
which is unhurtable, or from the action of very exalted reason
Whatever the explanation, the fact remains: the very causes which
excite fear in most of us, merely appeal, with such people, if at
all to the instinct of self-preservation and to reason, the
thought-element of the soul which makes for personal peace and
wholeness
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Contracts And Outrages
"He that does not restore a loan to the man who lent it, steals the thing and robs the man. This he doeth every day, every night, as long as he keep in his house his neighbor's property, as though it were his own." O Maker of the material world... COURAGE ABROAD
And I hold that our life is growing better for the reason that I discover, in all this new adjustment to truth, this expectation and assumption that Good will not withhold itself, and BECAUSE of these things, a new era of courage sweeping the hea... CULTURE OF COURAGE
The route by which we approach the pinnacle of MASTERY OF SELF now takes a new turn It is neither that of Business and Financial achievement, as we studied in the First Division of the course, nor is it that of Success and Magnetism as was taught... Cut down the whole forest (of lust), not a tree
Cut down the whole forest (of lust), not a tree only! Danger comes out of the forest (of lust) When you have cut down both the forest (of lust) and its undergrowth, then, Bhikshus, you will be rid of the forest and free! ... Cut off the five (senses), leave the five, rise above
Cut off the five (senses), leave the five, rise above the five A Bhikshu, who has escaped from the five fetters, he is called Oghatinna, `saved from the flood' ... Cut out the love of self, like an autumn lotus,
Cut out the love of self, like an autumn lotus, with thy hand! Cherish the road of peace Nirvana has been shown by Sugata (Buddha) ... Death carries off a man who is gathering flowers and
Death carries off a man who is gathering flowers and whose mind is distracted, as a flood carries off a sleeping village ... Death comes and carries off that man, praised for his
Death comes and carries off that man, praised for his children and flocks, his mind distracted, as a flood carries off a sleeping village ... Death subdues a man who is gathering flowers, and whose
Death subdues a man who is gathering flowers, and whose mind is distracted, before he is satiated in his pleasures ... Difficult (to obtain) is the conception of men, difficult is
Difficult (to obtain) is the conception of men, difficult is the life of mortals, difficult is the hearing of the True Law, difficult is the birth of the Awakened (the attainment of Buddhahood) ... Discovery Of The Zend-avesta
The "Zend-Avesta" is the sacred book of the Parsis; that is to say, of the few remaining followers of that religion which reigned over Persia at the time when the second successor of Mohammed overthrew the Sassanian dynasty (A.D. 642), and which h... Do not follow the evil law! Do not live on
Do not follow the evil law! Do not live on in thoughtlessness! Do not follow false doctrine! Be not a friend of the world ... Do not have evil-doers for friends, do not have low
Do not have evil-doers for friends, do not have low people for friends: have virtuous people for friends, have for friends the best of men ... Do not speak harshly to anybody; those who are spoken
Do not speak harshly to anybody; those who are spoken to will answer thee in the same way Angry speech is painful, blows for blows will touch thee ... Doing Our Best at All Times
Life is a wondrously complex problem for the individual, until, some day, in a moment of illumination, he awakens to the great realization that he can make it simple,--never quite simple, but always simpler. There are a thousand mysteries of rig... Earnest among the thoughtless, awake among the sleepers, the wise man
Earnest among the thoughtless, awake among the sleepers, the wise man advances like a racer, leaving behind the hack ... Earnestness is the path of immortality (Nirvana), thoughtlessness the path of
Earnestness is the path of immortality (Nirvana), thoughtlessness the path of death Those who are in earnest do not die, those who are thoughtless are as if dead already ... Even a good man sees evil days, as long as
Even a good man sees evil days, as long as his good deed has not ripened; but when his good deed has ripened, then does the good man see happy days ... Even an evil-doer sees happiness as long as his evil
Even an evil-doer sees happiness as long as his evil deed has not ripened; but when his evil deed has ripened, then does the evil-doer see evil ... Even in heavenly pleasures he finds no satisfaction, the disciple who
Even in heavenly pleasures he finds no satisfaction, the disciple who is fully awakened delights only in the destruction of all desires ... Even the gods envy those who are awakened and not
Even the gods envy those who are awakened and not forgetful, who are given to meditation, who are wise, and who delight in the repose of retirement (from the world) ... Even though a Gatha (poem) be a thousand (of words),
Even though a Gatha (poem) be a thousand (of words), but made up of senseless words, one word of a Gatha is better, which if a man hears, he becomes quiet ... Even though a speech be a thousand (of words), but
Even though a speech be a thousand (of words), but made up of senseless words, one word of sense is better, which if a man hears, he becomes quiet ... Every one in the world knows that the soft overcomes
Every one in the world knows that the soft overcomes the hard, and the weak the strong, but no one is able to carry it out in practice ... EXPECTATION IN ADJUSTMENT IS ASSUMPTION
The world no longer merely ASKS for truth; it harmonizes with Nature and Life, and so, APPROPRIATES The World's New Dawn You are invited to make this thought a lifelong affirmation: IN ... Failure as a Success
It ofttimes requires heroic courage to face fruitless effort, to take up the broken strands of a life-work, to look bravely toward the future, and proceed undaunted on our way. But what, to our eyes, may seem hopeless failure is often but the da... FALSE THOUGHT--SELFISHNESS--FEAR
And when fear vanishes, replaced by the WHITE LIFE, selfishness will die as impossible, and thought will no longer be false for the reason that only truth will be possessed If the whole world, then, would but thrust out fear and receive th... Favour and disgrace would seem equally to be feared; honour
Favour and disgrace would seem equally to be feared; honour and great calamity, to be regarded as personal conditions (of the same kind) ... FEAR AND REASON
"In civilized life it has at last become possible for large numbers of people to pass from the cradle to the grave without ever having had a pang of genuine fear Many of us need an attack of mental disease to teach us the meaning of the word"--Wi... FEAR-THOUGHT AND FEAR-FEELING
The INTELLECT coldly reflects What Is: An icy, crystalline lake portraying earth and sky In shadows beautiful as death-- And void of pulse, or warmth, or music of good life This is no Eye with which to view the world! The SOUL reflects ... Few are there among men who arrive at the other
Few are there among men who arrive at the other shore (become Arhats); the other people here run up and down the shore ... FIRST--THE DAILY REGIME OF DENIAL
I deny the existence of error, so far as I am concerned I deny disease to be my necessary portion I deny the need of any of my fears I deny the reality of any cause for fear I deny that I am less than a king I deny that ignorance is an esse... Fishes should not be taken from the deep; instruments for
Fishes should not be taken from the deep; instruments for the profit of a state should not be shown to the people ... Flowers
Who shall overcome this earth, and the world of Yama, the lord of the departed, and the world of the gods? Who shall find out the plainly shown path of virtue, as a clever man finds the right flower? The disciple will overcome the earth, and the... Follow not after vanity, nor after the enjoyment of love
Follow not after vanity, nor after the enjoyment of love and lust! He who is earnest and meditative, obtains ample joy ... Follow the law of virtue; do not follow that of
Follow the law of virtue; do not follow that of sin The virtuous rests in bliss in this world and in the next ... Fools follow after vanity, men of evil wisdom The
Fools follow after vanity, men of evil wisdom The wise man keeps earnestness as his best jewel ... Fools of little understanding have themselves for their greatest enemies, for
Fools of little understanding have themselves for their greatest enemies, for they do evil deeds which must bear bitter fruits ... For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time:
For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by love, this is an old rule ... For regulating the human (in our constitution) and rendering the (proper)
For regulating the human (in our constitution) and rendering the (proper) service to the heavenly, there is nothing like moderation ... For self is the lord of self, self is the
For self is the lord of self, self is the refuge of self; therefore curb thyself as the merchant curbs a good horse ... For with these animals does no man reach the untrodden
For with these animals does no man reach the untrodden country (Nirvana), where a tamed man goes on a tamed animal, viz on his own well-tamed self ... Forests are delightful; where the world finds no delight, there the
Forests are delightful; where the world finds no delight, there the passionless will find delight, for they look not for pleasures The Thousands ... FOREWORD
"There is no limit to the knowing of the mind that knows"-- Indian Upanishads I wish to indulge in a little Foreword because in this way may be indicated a warning against contentment with a seemingly very sensible conclusion which will pr... Four things does a wreckless man gain who covets his
Four things does a wreckless man gain who covets his neighbour's wife,--a bad reputation, an uncomfortable bed, thirdly, punishment, and lastly, hell ... From affection comes grief, from affection comes fear; he who
From affection comes grief, from affection comes fear; he who is free from affection knows neither grief nor fear ... From greed comes grief, from greed comes fear; he who
From greed comes grief, from greed comes fear; he who is free from greed knows neither grief nor fear ... From love comes grief, from love comes fear; he who
From love comes grief, from love comes fear; he who is free from love knows neither grief nor fear ... From lust comes grief, from lust comes fear; he who
From lust comes grief, from lust comes fear; he who is free from lust knows neither grief nor fear ... From pleasure comes grief, from pleasure comes fear; he who
From pleasure comes grief, from pleasure comes fear; he who is free from pleasure knows neither grief nor fear ... Funerals And Purification
If a dog or a man die under a hut of wood or a hut of felt, what shall the worshippers of Mazda do? Ahura Mazda answered:-- "They shall search for a Dakhma, they shall look for a Dakhma all around. If they find it easier to remove the dead, t... Gentleness is sure to be victorious even in battle, and
Gentleness is sure to be victorious even in battle, and firmly to maintain its ground Heaven will save its possessor, by his (very) gentleness protecting him ... Give up what is before, give up what is behind,
Give up what is before, give up what is behind, give up what is in the middle, when thou goest to the other shore of existence; if thy mind is altogether free, thou wilt not again enter into birth and decay ... Good people shine from afar, like the snowy mountains; bad
Good people shine from afar, like the snowy mountains; bad people are not seen, like arrows shot by night ... Good people walk on whatever befall, the good do not
Good people walk on whatever befall, the good do not prattle, longing for pleasure; whether touched by happiness or sorrow wise people never appear elated or depressed ... Gravity is the root of lightness; stillness, the ruler of movement
Gravity is the root of lightness; stillness, the ruler of movement ...