Ego and fear.

I expect that, if you are reading this blog, you regard yourself as a seeker. As a seeker you will most probably have noticed that at certain times, perhaps when attending 'new age' groups or therapy of some sort that fear will have come up and prevented you from the change you most desperately want.

Of course there are times when fear is quite appropriate - standing on a cliff or the edge of a tall building. If you are not happy with your life as it is, and are not standing on a tall building, and not only do you want change but are actively seeking it then fear is not so appropriate or desirable.

How do you overcome this fear? Well, you know that you can't just turn off the fear generator, can you? Having a closer look at where fear comes from and why it's there will make it clearer though.

When we were pre-two years of age all was well. We don't remember those times as the brain was still developing, but in watching other two year olds it can be observed that they still don't see themselves as a separate entity - an individual, yet. Life for these children is great most of the time as every need is supplied to them, food, warm clothes etc.

When the brain is sufficiently developed it is able to conceptualise, and one of the first concepts is to see itself as an individual able to move about in space/time. This is a great, fun and a natural process of development, but once the child sees itself as an individual it also sees itself adrift from it's mother, separate; the supplier of all it's needs is often out of reach or completely out of sight. This is where the fear starts, the fear of survival, of the body/mind.

The developing brain is able to understand more and more concepts and defends itself ever increasingly. Any attempt at change creates fear in an attempt to maintain the status quo. Fear is the first but with separation comes new challenges - there are more people in the family to compete with and all sorts of emotions appear, to this ever developing and sophisticated life.

Stopping the fear isn't directly possible but by honestly questioning the many beliefs that the brain developed will weaken the beliefs and the resistance to change and over time a clearer vision based on a rational view rather than on belief is acquired.