My new thoughts on the topic cause I saw it and I want to thought it up.
Having fear... is so un zen. Let me tell you a story to explain what I mean.
Last week I was in the dorms from which I was banned and have already received a criminal trespassing charge for being found in. I don't think there's anything wrong with me innocently seeing my lazy friends that refuse to go outside and see me. But unfortunately... it's still illegal because I got caught drinking too many times.
So an eye-witness, one of the student staff-members, saw me and reported me to the building supervisor. He came to the room in question and knocked on the door announcing, "Hall Staff!"
Now keep this in mind, were I caught one more time, I would have received a felony. I was absolutely terrified. I hid wedged behind a bed and a fridge trying to make myself as small as possible. The area supervisor was too short to see me since he wasn't allowed in the room, but he demaned they reveal me. Convinced I was in there, he demanded the occupants open one of the closets. They were pretty harshly refusing making him convinced I was in a closet, so finally when they opened it he was sort of just... stuck. It was funny.
Back to the topic, as I mentioned I used to have irrational fears but because the police were actually trying to ruin my good day, and nearly all authority figures I dealed with in the dorms were really out to get me, the became a real fear. There was a purpose behind fearing them, but fear is really just your senses getting wider and your body getting prepared for some action. Having a fear when there is presently nothing frightening is brooding about what might happen. It's natural to become afraid of high places or whatnot but it's unzen to let fear get in the way of your willingness to participate in life. Fear is just the feeling of becoming prepared to handle some real business.
When you get nervous around a girl you like, it's because your body knows something raw is possibly happening. Fear means your body wants you to talk to her, get het to know you.
So for me... it's not fear, it's excitement. Besides, you get like the best euphoria ever after you conquer a fear. It's like you just let some weight loose from your shoulders. Trust me, I used to be afraid of the bloody mary ghost story, so eventually I just had to hide myself in a dark closet with a mirror in it and just sit there until I was no longer afraid.
--------------------
A man once asked the Buddha, "How does one escape the heat of the summer sun?"
And the Buddha replied, "Why not try crawling into the blazing furnace?"
|