Fear vs Danger

At any moment we can scare ourselves with our thinking. We do this by projecting a scary world that we need to protect ourselves from. We do this because its how our mind works.

Our personal mind works like a projector, not like a camera.

We believe that the world is the world and we are reacting to the circumstances and things that are happening around us. In reality, we are projecting the world and then trying to solve the world that we projected in the first place.

Typically when I describe this, the most common question I get is “well what are you saying, bad things don’t happen in the world?”. Well yes and no.

Let me start with the no, because that’s the more acceptable and common belief.

When I say no, what I am referring to is that things happen in the world that we may prefer not happen to us, those we love or to any human being. However, when we fear them, we are not fearing something that is happening right now. We are fearing an idea of what happened in the past or of what we think may happen in the future. We are fearing an image in our mind. We are not fearing anything that is happening now.

This is evident in people that have phobias. Individuals that have a phobia to snakes for example, become just as scared at the thought of a snake as they do when a snake is right beside them. How can that be? Well, once you understand fear, it makes total sense. We don’t fear what we think we fear, we fear our thinking about what we think we fear. (you may have to read that twice :))

This is why some people have what some of us think are strange phobias. There are individuals that fear belly buttons for example. How can that be? Well, makes total sense when we start to realize that fear is an illusion. Fear is a set of sensations attached to story. We look in the direction of the story to understand our fear, not realizing that the story is simply that, a story, an illusion, a creation of the mind.

Now for the yes, which is a bit harder even for me to fully grasp, though I’m seeing more and more about this. Ok let’s give this a try.

The reason why “bad things don’t happen in the world” is because bad things don’t exist without the interpretation of the mind. Actions are neutral until we judge them. They simply are what they are. The world of good, bad, better, worse is a mind created world. It can not exist on its own, without the active participation of our personal minds. Hence, not real in the truest sense of the world.

Then there’s the idea that this thing we call the world is made up. War for example is a concept that is made up. What do I mean? Well, war does not exist in the same way within a 2 year old that it does within an adult. Why? Because war is a mental concept we’ve invented to describe a set of events. But the set of events can only be combined over time in our mind, they don’t exist in the now. It’s not that people are not dying and fighting, it’s simply that the idea of war is an idea, not a thing we can point to in the now. We can point to someone dying in the moment, but that is different than war. War is a mind created illusion that we create and then fear. And the more you look at language and words we have to describe things that do not exist in the present moment, the more fear looks like a creation of the mind and the less likely we are to take it seriously or try to find a solution to an illusory problem.

And then lastly, more recently I’ve been playing with the idea that everything comes from one source energy. In physics, this is called the Theory of Everything and based on my research it’s not yet well understood. But let’s simply take this as a given for now. If everything comes from a common source of energy that exists before form (the manifestation of energy) then what is the nature of this energy. Well, in my experience I’ve felt what seems to me to be this energy when I’m in what I call pure awareness. It’s the state of no thought or presence of thought - a felt sense that sits at the heart of who I am. It’s the me before the concept of me, void of any mental constructs. And when I touch this place, when I am sitting in this pure awareness, my experience of it is peace, love and abundance. And so, without personal thinking, as best as I see, that’s all that exists - peace, love and abundance and anything beyond that is simply part of the illusion.

Which brings us to danger? What is it and how is it different?

Danger is a response to something that is occurring right now. It’s a built in survival mechanism that we are all born with. It’s a testament to how well we are made. It’s a testament to the intelligence that lives within, beyond our intellect, beyond our personal thinking and beyond any conscious analysis of what is going on around us. It’s instinctual, unconscious and occurs in real time. And isn’t it great to know this. To know that we have an innate wisdom, a real time response system, that keeps us safe. That has our back. A self regulating system that sits beyond the ME that needs to do anything.

Personally this is not only good to see, it is the secret to a beautiful life, a wondrous career and a love that knows no bounds!