The Great War

Photo by Guillermo Ossa

A great war rages, as it has for millennia. Its bombs destroy families. Its rockets burn cultures. Its bullets shred the insides and leave behind a dead husk.

It’s children are the ancient and modern conflicts in the middle east. Its echos are in the turmoil in Tibet.  And the genocide in Darfur. It fuels the gangs in LA, and it supports the hubris of nations.

And every day, The Great War destroys parts of your life, just as it destroys the possibilities of our children.

You are part of this war. You fight in its battles and continue its perpetration on humanity. Yet, you have the power to end your part right now, and in every moment.

The Battle

The Great War is the battle of Fear and Hope. Fear shuts down experience and forces our action from automatic reactions and responses. Fear evolved purely for “emergency use only,” yet in our ignorance we apply it to many unrelated things. We apply it to the thought of starting a new career, or meeting a stranger. We let it shut down our critical thinking when we learn that our airplane seatmate is a Muslim, and we let it blindly guide us into following unscrupulous leaders and institutions when they scare us with ideas of terrorism or some abstract idea of soul-damnation.

Hope is just inverted fear. Hope stands in fear and says, “I don’t want to be afraid,” but she does not take action to end fear, thus continuing the cycle. Hope looks for answers outside. For some, hope is a first step away from fear, but hope without action simply keeps you in the war.

When someone has grown weary of the prison of the Fear vs. Hope war, then they can end it in a moment. Ending the war is simply a matter of stepping aside and facing the fear.

Photo by Becky Stern

You must realize that fear is an illusion created by your mind. Are you afraid of your computer keyboard? Most likely, no. Do this thought experiment: imagine that you are afraid of your keyboard. Perhaps its keys randomly turn to spikes and try to skewer your fingers. Watch how your perception changes.

Now come back to reality. Just as that experiment took place in your mind, so-called “real” fears are just the same. Things are as they are. Unemployment, ill health, meeting someone new–these are all just situations. Their meaning and any fears attached occur in the mind. When fear arises, imagine it as a jacket that you are wearing, and take it off and hang it in the closet. It’s extra and unnecessary in 99.9% of situations.

When you remove yourself from fear as or before it arises, you also eliminate the need for the fear/hope struggle and you exist in true freedom.

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