Guest guest Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 namaste. There was mention of fear in some of the recent discussions. This post may be viewed as a general essay on fear rather than response to some of the questions raised in the recent posts. Fear is an apprehension of suffering and of other undesirable possibilities in life. It is a hypothetical feeling of suffering but it is more of an apprehension than an actuality. This feeling of suffering might have been experienced before and hence an apprehension of its repeat happening. Or, this may be an anticipation of an apprehension of an entirely imagined suffering. But it is to be recognized that fear is an apprehension or a mental construct only. There is another important difference between suffering and fear. Suffering is obviously painful and is sensory. Fear is of a much subtler form and is not sensory. While suffering affects only a part of our being, fear affects the whole being of us and reduces the whole being and that too suddenly. Fear arises when the security of our being or security of something to which we are attached to is *imagined* to be threatened. The root cause of fear is our attachment or passion to something, either our being or something we are associated with. So, it seems fear is a protective mechanism (in a negative way) built into us through our ignorance. Bhartr^ihari writes in VairAgya shatakam that the one who is without fear is the one who is completely dispassionate (vairAgyam). He says: bhoge rogabhayam, kule cyutibhayam, vittenr^ipAlAbhayam, mAne dainyabhayam, bale ripubhayam, rUpe jarAyAbhayam, shastre vAdabhayam, guNe khalabhayam, kAye kr^itAntAdbhayam, sarvam vastubhayAnvitam bhuvi vr^iNAm, vairAgymevAbhayam The one who indulges in pleasures is afraid of getting diseases, the one who is born with pedigree is afraid of downfall, the one who is rich is afraid of taxation by the king, the one with abhimAnam is afraid of living in a miserable state, the one who is strong is afraid of bad people and the enemies, the one who is handsome is afraid of old age, the one who participates in scholarly discussions is afraid of bad arguments, the one who is a guNavanta (with good qualities) is afraid of bad people, the one who associates with the body is afraid of death, so, on this Earth, all things are associated with fear. The only one who is not afraid is the one who is dispassionate, without attachments. This also provides a simple test for our dispassionate nature (vairAgyam is one of the sAdhana catuShTayams). If we are afraid, our level of dispassion is not high. (to be continued) regards gummuluru murthy -------------------------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 advaitin, "gmurthy_99" <gmurthy@m...> wrote: > > namaste. There was mention of fear in some of the recent > discussions. This post may be viewed as a general essay on > fear rather than response to some of the questions raised > in the recent posts. > Namaste. This is a supplement to the above essay by Shri Murthy-garu where he rightly says that the Upanishads do not talk about fear, because where there is non-duality, there cannot be any fear. However when the Upanishads come down to our vyAvahAric (= operational) level, they do talk about fear, but in a characteristic way which adds lustre to the lofty Upanishads. "bhIshhAsmad-vAtaH pavate; bhIshhodeti sUryaH" says the Taittiriyopanishad. Meaning, 'By fear of This (Absolute) does Wind blow; By fear does the Sun rise'. Note: bhIH = fear; bhIshhA = by fear; because of fear. This particular thought has been borrowed by many later scriptures and puranas, so that the same idea occurs in many places. cf. Narayaneeyam: 98 - 8. (*yadbhItyodeti sUryo ...*) See http://www.escribe.com/culture/advaitin/m15092.html The fact that the omnipresence of the Lord, who is the Transcendental absolute, will not brook any concept of fear to arise -- in poetic words, "Fear is afraid of Him" -- is again used in the literature very often. Here are two delightful instances from the Bhagavatam. The first one is an axiomatic statement about the Lord: Living beings who are entangled in the complicated meshes of birth and death can be freed immediately by even unconsciously chanting the holy name of Kròsònòa, of whom Fear itself is afraid (*yad-bibheti svayaM b hayaM*). (I - 1 - 14). The second one however is delightfully remarkable, because it mixes it up with an enjoyable story of the child Krishna. The context where this shloka occurs is the prayer-song of Kunti to Lord Krishna. She recalls the story from Krishna's childhood. The little boy Krishna roams about in all neighbour's houses, meddles with their milk-pots and butter-pots and breaks them. When He is brought to His mother Yasoda with the complaint, He feigns acute fear. Kunti in her song of prayer says: "How can you feign fear, Oh Krishna; >From You, even Fear has to fear! This is what perplexes me" !(I - 8 - 31). PraNAms to all advaitins. profvk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 --- gmurthy_99 <gmurthy wrote: [..] > Bhartr^ihari writes in VairAgya > shatakam that the one who is without fear is the one who is > completely dispassionate (vairAgyam). He says: > > bhoge rogabhayam, kule cyutibhayam, vittenr^ipAlAbhayam, > mAne dainyabhayam, bale ripubhayam, rUpe jarAyAbhayam, > shastre vAdabhayam, guNe khalabhayam, kAye kr^itAntAdbhayam, > sarvam vastubhayAnvitam bhuvi vr^iNAm, vairAgymevAbhayam > > The one who indulges in pleasures is afraid of getting > diseases, > the one who is born with pedigree is afraid of downfall, > the one who is rich is afraid of taxation by the king, > the one with abhimAnam is afraid of living in a miserable > state, > the one who is strong is afraid of bad people and the enemies, > the one who is handsome is afraid of old age, the one who > participates in scholarly discussions is afraid of bad > arguments, > the one who is a guNavanta (with good qualities) is afraid of > bad > people, the one who associates with the body is afraid of > death, > so, on this Earth, all things are associated with fear. The > only one who is not afraid is the one who is dispassionate, > without attachments. > > > This also provides a simple test for our dispassionate nature > (vairAgyam is one of the sAdhana catuShTayams). If we are > afraid, our level of dispassion is not high. > Thank you for posting from Bhartr^ihari about the source of fear as [the loss of] one's own prized possessions. Thus, one who has absolutely no possessions lives absolutely fearlessly! It is one of the most practical points concerning life that I have heard so far. -Kartik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 reference: advaitin/message/26741 advaitin, "V. Krishnamurthy" <profvk> wrote: > This is a supplement to the above essay by Shri Murthy-garu where > [...] namaste profvk-ji, Thanks for your post. I have a question here and would appreciate your comment. As I understand, the fear that I described in my two posts (parts 1 and 2) is different from the fear that you presented in your post. The fear that I was presenting is the same type that Bhartr^ihari described in his verse. That fear comes from attachment to some aspect and the danger that is thought of as imminent for that attachment. Hence the jIvA responds (through ignorance) with this negative sensation of fear. The danger may be imminent or imagined. This fear is a vritti of the antahkaraNa. which is ignorance-generated. Now the fear which you described: upanishads say this fear (which you described) is that felt by the Sun, the vAyu, Yama etc of brahman. And because of this fear, they attend to their regular duties. Now, my understanding of this portion of TaittirIya upanishad. This fear is not generated by ignorance. This is the fear which a lower-ranked person feels towards or of a higher being. The lower ranked person has to perform his duty, no questions asked. This fear of brahman makes the Sun rise regularly in the east, for the wind to blow and for Lord Yama to do his duties. shri shankara says in His bhAShya that this fear is like the fear felt by a servant towards the king. In another context I read that the seeing by the eyes, the in-breath and the out-breath by the nose (the regular functioning of the components of the human body doing their duties without fail) is because of the fear of a higher-being, the antaryAmi. But coming back to the point I am trying to make: the fear generated by the ignorance and the fear of a higher being and hence performance of the duties faithfully and regularly are different types of fear. The former is due to ignorance and the latter is like the duty performed by a lower official out of fear of the higher official. I would be grateful for your comment on this and particularly if this understanding is correct. regards gummuluru murthy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 reference: advaitin/message/26742 advaitin, S Jayanarayanan <sjayana> wrote: > > Thank you for posting from Bhartr^ihari about the source of fear > as [the loss of] one's own prized possessions. Thus, one who has > absolutely no possessions lives absolutely fearlessly! > > It is one of the most practical points concerning life that I > have heard so far. > > -Kartik > namaste shri Kartik-ji, Indeed, Bhartr^ihari's vairAgya shatakam (and in fact all the three shataka-s) is full of such gems. If we contemplate on those, we would notice that they are as valid today as they are at time of Bhartr^ihari. Another gem from the VairAgya shatakam kshaNam bAlo bhUtvA, kshaNamapi yuvA kAmarasikaH kshaNam vittairhInah, kshaNamapi ca sampUrNanibhavaH jarAjIrNairangairnaTa iva valImaNDitatanuH nara saMsArAnte vishati yamadhAnIyavanikAm In a drama called saMsAra, the jIvA acts, for a brief period as a child, for another brief period as a youth indulging in lust, for another brief period as a poor person, for another brief period as a rich person, for another brief period as an old person with skin shrunk and shrivelled and finally disappears behind the curtains which is the yama's abode. regards gummuluru murthy ------------------------------ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 advaitin, "gmurthy_99" <gmurthy@m...> wrote: > > reference: advaitin/message/26741 > > advaitin, "V. Krishnamurthy" <profvk> > wrote: > > > This is a supplement to the above essay by Shri Murthy-garu where > > [...] >> But coming back to the point I am trying to make: the fear > generated by the ignorance and the fear of a higher being and > hence performance of the duties faithfully and regularly are > different types of fear. The former is due to ignorance and > the latter is like the duty performed by a lower official out > of fear of the higher official. > > I would be grateful for your comment on this and particularly > if this understanding is correct. > > > regards > gummuluru murthy > Namaste Murthygaru, You are perfectly right in distinguishing the fear in "bhIshhAsmad- vAtaH pavate" and the fear generated by ignorance. Thanks for pointing out the difference. I didn't intend to equate the two. PraNAms to all advaitins profvk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 advaitin, "gmurthy_99" <gmurthy@m...> wrote: > > > > Indeed, Bhartr^ihari's vairAgya shatakam (and in fact all the > three shataka-s) is full of such gems. If we contemplate on > those, we would notice that they are as valid today as they > are at time of Bhartr^ihari. Namaste Murthygaru, Kartik-ji and all Your excellent quotes from BhartRhari are tempting me to quote one more gem of Vairagyashatakam (#43), which happens to be my favourite: Adityasya gatAgatair-ahar-ahas-saMkshhIyate jIvitaM vyApArair-bahu-kArya-bhAra-gurubhiH kAlo'pi na jnAyate / dRRishhTvA janma-jarA-vipatti-maraNaM trAsashcha notpadyate pItvA moha-mayIM pramAda-madirAM unmatta-bhUtaM jagat // Meaning, Each day and night is taking away our lives but we are not even aware of the passage of time because of our deep involvement in the weight of our businesses; we do not get a jolt of fear(*) even after watching, almost daily, the inescapable sequence of birth, old age, adveristy, misfortune, disaster, failure and final death; we are just overdrunk with the delusion of attachment which is our own making. P.S. (*) Incidentally this is the right kind of fear that we should all get! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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