Hi Aachi

Insightful and lucid post. Indeed all of maya spins on the fulcrum of fear. And if we could stare at our fear in all its nakedness, we would instantly make a quantum leap of consciousness. Interesting that you should post this while Anusheh writes about Tantra. For in essence Tantra's central tools are aimed at attacking, revealing and neutralizing fear.

Though I am not in agreement with the concept that 'renunciation' ends fear. At best it suppresses and turns it latent. Again that is how Tantra becomes such a bold path for it asks you to absorb all within, Samasara within Nirvana and Nirvana within Samsara, an acceptance that all is part of the perfect whole and hence lose all fear of what would be termed one's own 'dark side' , see it for the toothless tiger that it is and hence be free of obsessions/slavery to anything and everything.

Renunciation on the other hand instantly judges and separates us from existence. And in that it teaches us to fear greed, sex, anger, attachment etc. Rejection must involve suppression and in rejection one can never Master or transform that energy. It will lurk. Tantra articulates the alchemy of transformation- of sex into love, anger into compassion and greed into abundance. Instead of fearing the demon you stare it in the eye, tame it and finally befriend it hence recreating it as an attribute rather than a vice.

Just some thoughts.

fear is the presence of the other in us.

Dear Aachi

Lovely post. I would replace the word renunciation with attachment. Renunciation is an action often rooted in fear and attachment is a state in which fear is born and nurtured. Something like a pendulum effect I feel. When you renounce you move to one extreme of rejection then the other extreme must come into play. The middle path accepts all and one gets there only when the extremes have been exhausted.

Loved the title of your post and the "bones of the past and future".The story of the ghost and also the sage. You have a knack for weaving an interesting tale. Simple yet profound and always with an element of magic and mystery in it.

Lots of love

Harb ji Hello....but fear is also the absence of that other in us;-)

anusheh ji, gal tan tuhadi vi theek hai(what you say is also right)as there are always two ways to see everything...let us hope jasjit ji in some way joins us...;)jasjit ji kario jara kirpa..

Hi Aachi,

Once again you have put forth your ideas in such a simple manner.

But Aachi I guess it was not becuase the sage had 'renunciated' that he did not fear the lion but because he had tackled within him the fear of death and that is why he did not fear the lion :)

Dear Jasjit,

your post has opened up a thought channel that I never knew before. I used to think the renunciation was the end word but now tantra seems more magnificent and sensible.

am sure now am double waiting for Anusheh's second article. :)

Dear Anusheh,

I am after all a doc. :) so bones and anatomy are a part of my daily jargon. what u said about the pendulum and the swing is again a new concept for me. I will ponder and reply again. :)

Dear Harb, Anusheh....let me add a third dimension...

fear is both the presence ( duality ) and the absence ( angst ) of the other in us.

Dear Annie,

hmmm...I agree but I think both of us are telling the same point in a differnt word phrase...

in the story by renunciation I meant the absence of fear of death...as he has given up worrying about everything dear to him...in this case and in all cases....the most dearest of one is ones own life.

p.s. I saw Darna zaroori hai today...I liked a few stories.

lots of love.

Dear Harb & Anusheh

All I can think of adding is that if there is an 'other' in us then the presence and absence must both create fear. Both sides of the same coin. Now whether the other is a side of ourselves we are uncomfortable/unresolved/struggling with or in fact soemone else, the principle remains the same. Actually as long as there are split selves in us, even a small lurky self at variance with our larger being, then that self will manifest always in the form of an external 'other' in our lives too. Simply put that is the mirroring principle. Life mirrors all that you contain within.
So I gues when all sleves merge within into an undifferentaited whole, the other disappears altogether from our lives. :)

I think renunciation does not make our fears vanish ..It is faith in the universe which makes our fears melt.Fear is a good emotion.It made the cave men escape death.We are born with fear so that we think about our actions and consquences ..

dear Diya

I think that's a great point. It is indeed faith in the universe that makes us drop fear. And yes fear is protective at a very basic level but if it continues unchecked then all it does is create an impenetrable armour around us which keeps us from experiencing our true nature and life.

Hi Diya,

Diya I don't think it was fear per se that made the cave men escape death but the awareness of the source of their fear. They realised that their fear lay in their inability to protect themsleves from wild animals, from the harsh wheather conditions, from darkness. Knowing this they set about tackling the fear by making tools to protect themselves from wild animals and discovered fire to warm them in the winters and give them light in darkness.

Have you noticed how small kids are told that if you do or don't do this then so and so will come and take you away or somehting bad will happen to you. If we were born with fear then I don't think paretns would need to CREATE fear in their children to make them do something :)

You are right when you say that it is faith that melts away fear. Once you have faith in yourself, you begin to have faith in the universe around you and then automatically the fear factors disappear.

Chaitali a very good point. Indeed the roots of fear lie in our inability to comprehend. That which is unknown, creates fear. Man feared lightning when he had no explanation for it. That gave rise to innumerable myths like it being the rage of God etc. In fact I think it would be fair to say that the first Gods too were created by man out of a sense of fear of the unknown.