08-27-2021, 10:37 PM
I would add a couple of things. First, fear can be a physically amplified affair where brain chemicals flood the bloodstream and the symptoms take on a life of their own. I'm sure everyone knows this, but I'm mentioning it to offer a sense of the limitations of metaphysical thinking under such conditions.
Second--and related--is that fear is a reflexive response to vulnerability, and how one deals with vulnerability can also be a deeply reflexive response. The skill needed here, of course, is early awareness of the fear response and the ability to cultivate an acceptance of vulnerability as being simply one legitimate element of one's personality and being.
From a spiritual perspective, acceptance of vulnerability is key to accepting higher states of consciousness. When one walks that so called staircase of light, one concludes one's ascent when feels discomfort. What might that discomfort be? It just might be an accentuated feeling of vulnerability and uncertainty, a/k/a, fear. And so, in meditation, when things become uncertain and one feels vulnerable, this becomes an excellent opportunity to stop, wait and seek the light.
Many years ago, in my youth, I was in a murky lake swimming underwater and twisting round and around. When I needed air, I could not tell by the shadowy, fractured light beams which way the surface lay. So, I swam in this direction and then that, but could not find it. As you can imagine, my immediate response was concern for my longevity. I remained still for a time, not knowing what to do....and then I begin to float in a direction I had not otherwise suspected. I then accelerated my pace and happily breached the surface.
When I got to shore I was thoroughly exhausted, but felt okay. Thenceforth, I never had any fear of swimming alone, in the daytime or at night under a starry sky. All apprehension about that was physically and emotionally removed.
Even so, when I have blood drawn, my body can go into reflexive fear due to blood loss (which I suspect derives from fatal past life experiences). More work remains.