Overcoming Fear

For many, fear is a controlling factor of their lives. Sometimes, it's the same for me. Overcoming fear can be a long, difficult struggle. Even when you get to a point that you can say you have "conquered" it, you will face opportunities to prove it by overcoming again. (and again, and again, and again)

Many sources - religious and spiritual advisers, psychologists, positive thinkers, e.g. - tell us that fear is actually at the bottom of most, if not all, of our negative emotions. If this is true, it's even more important to learn to overcome the fear barrier.

One thing I do to continue "conquering" fear is to use as a meditation passage the Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear, from Frank Herbert's Dune. It takes very little time, so it can be used to calm the nerves almost any time. For example, if you have difficulty speaking to groups, you could use this meditation immediately before giving a presentation. If you have a fear of flying, you could use it while waiting for take-off.

As I explained, my process for a "full" meditation is to:

• Center the breathing
• Say (or think) passage through one time, a sentence or phrase per breath.
• Repeat each phrase through four breaths.
• Repeat entire passage as a whole.
• Center and return to the world.

If necessary, you can shorten this process to fit it into a smaller time frame. Here, then, is the Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear:

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

In peace,

Lane