Reflecting On Fear Looming Large

Back in 1997 when I began a 9 year solitary retreat the first thing that I encountered in my introspections was the issue of fear. I wasn’t looking for it, I was simply in mind floating the moment and there looming large was the ancient nemesis Fear.

While I never considered myself a fearful person when I slammed into the issue through undistracted contemplation, I was overwhelmed by the realization that I’d spent almost half a century held captive by fears of one sort or another. So I examined all of my fear based behavioral patterns and started cutting them out at the roots. It took 3 years, it was a major excavation.

Fears are an inherent part of the human psyche and while some are beneficial for survival most fears when examined are trivial, needless insipient weed seeds that if allowed to germinate become the most debilitating vegetation in our spiritual gardens which need constant cultivation…I keep my hoe handy.