How is the mind to find the truth in fear? First of all, one has to understand that fear is the result of thinking. If you did not think, you would not be afraid, would you? That is, if you did not think about death – I am taking that as an example – you would have no fear of death. It is the idea that you are going to die, it is the idea from seeing others die, the idea of putting it as far away as you can and not thinking about it, that causes fear. That is, thinking about death causes fear. So, is it possible to live without thinking? Not going to sleep, not vegetating, but to see the fact that thinking about death creates the future. Thought creates the future; thought creates the idea of public opinion and what people are going to say, and that public opinion might deprive you of your job. So thinking about the future creates and breeds fear. And thinking about the past – when you were well, when you were happy, when you had comfort, whatever one has had – thinking about that as the past and thinking about the future is fear. So to understand fear, one has to understand the machinery of thought, not how to get rid of fear. As thought breeds fear, you will say, ‘How am I to stop thinking?’ You cannot stop thinking – that would be too idiotic – but if you understood the whole process of the machinery of thinking, you would be able to understand what fear is and be rid of fear.
From Collected Works, Vol. 15
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