Fear is the Thief of Peace

That which we do not understand we fear. Understanding requires deep listening, open mindedness, and compassion but it seems most of us are preoccupied with promoting our own agendas or explaining ourselves instead of taking the time to truly listen, learn and understand. I most often find myself thinking about what I am going to say instead of truly listening. In this case it is the ego that is leading the charge and the ego, by definition, is fear-based.

How am I going to get and protect mine, least I be destroyed?  

This is the ego’s manifesto and mantra and there is no end to that pursuit. Fear begets fear and more fear ad infinitum.

I also realize that I cannot speak to or judge a situation unless I have truly walked in that person’s shoes/skin or have seriously had a concrete shared experience. That is often not the case, so the best way forward is to listen while honoring another’s experience. But, listening takes effort, it is hard. Compassion takes kindness and open-mindedness, it is also hard. It requires time, patience and presence. It’s worth it though, because when we vow to take up these tasks, we can arrive at a place of understanding that rests at a point of balance, silence, or one could even say, peace. And the more we listen to one another the more we realize we all want the same thing, love, security, freedom.

Now, we live in an imperfect world and are from utopia at our current state of consciousness. It does seem to me that at our current state of being: arguments, disagreements, and individual or collective war, are sometimes necessary to protect the innocent and vulnerable, or to come up against true evil. Even if we can’t come to a true consensus, we could at least come to a place of mutual respect and that too can lead to peace.

Moreover, how do we even begin to get our arms, hearts and minds around all of the different forms of fear? When it comes right down to it, fear is all about how we think we need to survive. We learn that survival is about learning to accept and listen to the fear in order to find our own peace. We can only ponder all of the deep questions and do our damndest to bring our best selves to the table and while we are here let me share a few of my favorite quotes:

• The world will not end in destruction but in its translation into heaven. A Course in Miracles
• There is no time, no place, no space, where God is absent there is nothing to fear. A Course in Miracles
• Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion. Thich Nhat Hanh

Fear is the Thief of Peace, but it is also a necessary aspect of our very survival. To truly find peace, we must learn to accept, listen and explore our fears. We must do what is hard. When we embrace the discomfort of fear and bring our best selves to the table, we can evolve. That which we don't take the time to understand we fear. Understanding takes deep listening, open mindedness, and compassion. Are you up for the challenge? You might even say our survival depends on it.

Let us hear about your journey and thoughts on this topic at our ThirdEye Community Forum. We are listening.

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