𝑭𝑬𝑨𝑹

"𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒊𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒌." -𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒍 𝑮. 𝑱𝒖𝒏𝒈

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How can the Buddhist concepts of Anicca and Annata open our minds up to understanding fear?

For starters, what is fear?

Fear is the subject apprehension of the Self encountering experience.

It is a cascading of emotions, affects, memories, projections, and feelings flowing from the floodgates of Self; fear is entirely Self-led.

Fear is directed by a presumed “unchanging Self” when the Self is not observed. By attaching to the Self as an unchanging construct, we neglect to remind ourselves about the change that all existence is subjected to.

Anicca and Annata are two of the three marks of existence in Buddhism. They signify the nuances of impermanence and no-Self, respectively. 

Awakening to Fear through the teachings of these marks, we begin to see Fear not as an affliction of unchanging associative aversion but as an evolving construct of Self attachment.

Fear is an unconscious bias grounded in the Self. It is the inability to align with impermanence and the inability to detach from the Self as an observer to this experience.

Raising Fear above subjective interpretation to higher mind and wisdom requires us to encounter it with object first.

Look to the Fear not as a limitation or an encumbrance but as a guide. 

What does Fear want you to understand about this exact moment?

Begin to pose questions to the Self in this way, and you can levee the floodgates of your own accord through observance and conscious cognizance.

You create that which you are.

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Comment or message me with what you think your fear has been trying to show you.