On Fear

by Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov

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"There are circumstances in life in which instinct is an excellent guide and others where it is just the reverse. When man was still in a very primitive phase of his evolution, not far removed from the animals, instinct was his most reliable guide, but once his brain developed and he rose to a higher level, he began to need other guides: the guides of reason and intelligence, and today it is these that he must follow. Many things that were acceptable and even good in the past are no longer so, and one example of this is fear. For an animal, fear is a guide to be trusted: fear can save an animal from danger and teach it a great deal. But man can no longer be guided by fear, and that is why the role of Initiation has always been to teach the candidates to conquer fear. The terrifying ordeals to which disciples in the ancient sanctuaries of Initation were subjected, often had no other goal than to force them to overcome the fear inherited from the animal kingdom.

No better remedy than love has ever been found for fear. If you love you no longer fear. Knowledge is very effective also, but not always as effective as love, because love, like fear, springs from the instinctual dimension and one instinct is more easily defeated by another than by knowledge or reason. There are times when reason can calm one's fears, but the effects are not always long-lasting or very reliable, whereas if you touch someone's heart he will go through fire for you! Take the example of a woman who sees a stranger in danger: not knowing him she would hesitate to risk her life to save him, but if it were her own child who was in danger she would not hesitate: without a second thought she would rush to his rescue. Or take the case of a young girl who was too fearful to walk through a graveyard alone at night: if she had to do so to meet her beloved she wold not hesitate. Only love can give such courage.

In other instances, it is true, knowledge can be an effective weapon against fear. Suppose you have lost your way in the middle of a forest: you don't know which path to take and, naturally, you are frightened. But if you have a compass or a flashlight and know which direction you should take, then you have no need to be afraid. Man is always afraid of something he does not understand or know how to use, just as animals fear fire or, in the past, primitive men trembled before the forces of nature. Now that men have tamed these forces they can work in electric or nuclear power stations and throw this switch or turn on that tap without a tremor, because they know what they are doing. But someone who did not know what all those switches and lever were about would be afraid to touch anything.

Cultured, civilized man, therefore, is no longer afraid of the elements or of the forces of nature. No, but he is afraid of his wife, his neighbor or his boss; he is afraid of illness, poverty and death and, above all, he is afraid of public opinion! He may fear neither God nor the Devil, but he trembles before public opinion and is ready to sacrifice everything rather than offend it. Civilized man still has many unconquered fears, for the instinct of fear is deeply rooted in the human soul, and it takes a very long time to vanquish it. Fear can take many different forms, and when it is driven out of one area of our lives it sneaks in to another.

Nastradine Hodja (Known in English as Mullah Nashrudin) who was no fool, had noticed that, although they would not admit it, everyone was afraid of something. One day, finding himself without a penny to his name, he decided he would make his fortune by forcing people to admit that they were afraid of something. He went to see the Sultan, and said, 'May the blessings of Allah be on your head! I have come to beg a favour of you: grant me permission to demand one penny from every one of your subjects who is afraid of something.' 'That's not much to ask.' said the Sultan; 'Request granted!' Some time went by, and Nastradine Hodja returned from his travels leading three camels loaded with the coins he had collected, for, one way or another, all those he had met on his way had revealed either by their words or their attitudes that they were afriad of something or someone. Nastradine Hodja appeared before the Sultant and said, 'Everybody was obliged to give me a penny; not one man did I meet who was not forced to admit that he was afraid of something. And now I have come to collect a penny from you, too!' 'Ho, ho!' said the Sultan; 'You'll have to go away empty-handed, for I am afraid of nothing!' However, the Sultan was a generous man and he invited Nastradine Hodja to eat and drink with him and some of his concubines. In the middle of the banquet, Nastradine Hodja, who was sitting next to the Sultan, said in a loud voice, 'Majesty, I met the most beautiful woman on my journey. You have been very kind to me and enabled me to become rich and I want to thank you by giving you this woman. She is really worthy of gracing your harem. If you like, I'll go and bring her to you.' 'Shh!' exclaimed the Sultan; 'Not so loud, my favourite concubine will hear . . .' 'Ah, you see, Majesty. You are afraid of something: give me my penny!'

Perhaps you will say, 'But is it so important not to be afraid of anything? One can live perfectly well even if one is afraid!' That is true, of course, but suppose you come across a fierce dog in the street: if you are frightened and start to run away, it will sense your fear and run after you, barking. And if other dogs see their friend chasing you they will join in and start barking and chasing after you too. So, there you are, with a whole pack of dogs on your heels all because you were afraid of one of them! If, instead of being afraid and running away, you had turned on the dog and ordered it to keep quiet it would not have bothered you.

In any case, speaking in general, if ever you find yourself in some kind of danger, before reacting in any way, stay absolutely quiet for an instant. Don't move, don't say a word; clench your right fist and take a deep breath and unite yourself to the Lord, and in this way you will be in control of your cells. Then do whatever you have to do to escape the danger, but always begin by staying absolutely still. If you move at once you will be releasing a dam and the flood waters will sweep everything away beyond your control. You can see examples of this when people panic and jump from a top-story window or dash into a burning building.

In the face of danger you must remain motionless for an instant and unite yourself with Providence. If you do this you will feel that peace is taking control, and it is this peace which is the primary condition for the mobilisation of beneficial forces dormant within you. You will feel them springing into action and witness their power; they are always there, within you, but conditions have to be right for them to manifest themselves.

. . . Cosmic Intelligence has one single goal: the evolution of all creatures. Cosmic Intelligence drives them to behave in a particular way and after some time it drives them to behave in a different, more sophisticated way because time has moved on. Let us take fear for instance: fear is an atavistic reflex which nature incites in all animals to ensure their preservation. It is a good thing that animals have fear because it makes them flee from danger. And the same applies to human beings, because if human beings never experienced fear, they would soon be annihilated.
If human beings are to attain a higher evolutionary level, however, they must shake off this instinct of fear, which manifests itself in all kinds of ways, including fear of others, fear of misfortune and poverty, fear of ill health and fear of death. If fear was an instinct that was vital to the survival of mankind in a previous evolutionary stage, it has now become detrimental to mankind's spiritual development, and the only way to conquer fear is through love."
- Omraam Mikhakl Aivanhov

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