THE
GOD CONSCIOUSNESS PROJECT
presents
Chapter
20:
FEAR!
Fear
can get your ear.
Ha!
I could not resist, could I?
Well,
that is a bit of an inside joke between me and you and the other you
who is reading this part of this book, and you know who you are, at
least as far as the joke thing is concerned.
This
might be the only time in this whole book where I indulge in doing
something like this, so I hope YOU are smiling knowingly!
And
you know who you are, don’t you?
Enough
of that (this!)!
Fear
has your ear and you get scared.
I
will share an intimate truth:
There
is a human I know who gets scared when certain types of dogs come up
to him. He feels a flow of fear.
He
is intimidated by the dog(s).
He
doesn’t know if they are going to take a bite out of him, and he
doesn’t like the fact that the dogs can bite
him
on the level of height they are at in relationship to certain parts
of his body.
And
he has this feeling that the dog(s) can sense this trepidation in him
and that they therefore take or might take further liberties with
him.
He
doesn’t like the feeling that they might jump on him and put their
paws on him, maybe scratch him with their claws.
He
doesn’t like the way they just feel free to come around him and
sniff at his body.
He
feels vulnerable and exposed.
Who
knows, they might take a bite out of a particularly sensitive part of
his body.
He
feels fear.
And
there are other times that he feels fear, too.
Sometimes
when he thinks about his future and how he is going to get by, well,
he feels uneasy. He thinks that there won’t be enough money for
this or for that.
He
wonders how his old-age is going to go, whether he will have enough
money to get by.
He
has some health concerns and wonders how he will make enough money to
pay his way and take care of him self, let alone meet his family
obligations.
So
he feels scared. He feels fear.
In
his life he has felt fear.
Sometimes
he has been threatened with physical violence.
He
felt fear.
He
has been caught doing activities that were wrong, or he worried about
getting caught, and he felt fear.
Maybe
you have felt fear?
Have
you felt fear?
Ever?
Most
of you have felt fear at sometime or other, haven’t you?
Yes,
you have.
And
fear is important:
It
can be a strong and powerful guidance to keep you from making a
mistake.
Fear
can also keep you paralyzed into NOT doing what you need to do.
Fear
can be considered a double-edged sword. Think of fear as a component
of doubt, or think of doubt as a component of fear: Doubt is a
double-edged sword.
When
the man comes and tells you he has a gold-mine in his back yard that
he is going to sell you at an unbelievable price, and he seems a
little too shifty and weird, and you are getting those strong
doubting vibes, well maybe that is the useful form of doubt: The
sort of doubt that keeps you from blowing your money and being taken
advantage of.
Doubt
can help you sort through the lies and deceit. But doubt can also
keep you from the truth, too.
So
too fear, and so to fear. There is the fear that keeps you from
doing something really stupid and harmful, and there is the fear that
keeps you locked up as your own prisoner, or someone else’s
prisoner.
Doubt
can make you fearful and fear can make you doubtful.
I
can use fear to make you make decisions.
People
can use fear to make you do things, too.
Here
is an example: The gun to the head syndrome.
The
threat of imminent death will motivate you to do what you would
normally NOT do, like hand over your wallet or pay your taxes.
Fear
will get you to lock your door at night. Fear will get you to tell
your children to beware of strangers. Fear will get you to distrust
those foreigners.
Put
another way, fear gets your ear and doesn’t let go (easily).
Fear
can rule your life and keep you very, very small- minded. Fear will
keep you from the truth.
Fear
can make you EXTREMELY lazy, and being lazy can come from fear, too.
When
you feel fear, it is important to use me as a self-referral process
and really check it out, get to the bottom of your fear.
So
you need a specific technique to deal with fear when fear comes up in
the moment. Let us use the example of the dog(s) ‘cuz it is
relevant.
Let’s
say some dog(s) come up to you and they are big enough to make you
feel uncomfortable and they are not on leashes. You know they can
sense your discomfort.
So
what do you do?
Begin
the technique of saying, over and over, ‘I love you’.
Say
it in your own mind.
Remember,
you are not directing this thought-construct to the dog(s).
You
are directing it to me.
Even
if you don’t feel like you love me or that I even exist (which I do
not, by the way), keep on saying, ‘I
love
you’ in the privacy of your own mind, in your own thinking, in your
own thoughts.
What
this does is it helps to keep the mental noise down.
It
helps to keep your thought noise focused in a different direction.
It
helps to change your mind’s activity.
It
helps return your identity to more of me and less to worrying about
dog(s).
Another
activity that will help you deal with dogs is to learn more about
dogs. This is called learning more about what it is you fear.
Check
out facts, not fancy. Get the back story behind dogs. Learn about
how dogs communicate.
What
we don’t know much about can make us quite uncertain, even fearful.
Of course, it is possible that you will amplify your fears by
getting to know more about something.
Fear
can colour what you learn about something.
Fear
can make you see what you want to see so that you don’t have to
change.
It
can keep you locked in to a viewpoint and set of opinions that you
believe in or are comfortable with.
It
takes less energy to stay stupid and ignorant than it does to get
open and learning. But that is what I want you to get doing. I want
you to learn more about everything.
I
want you to take action on the stuff that you are NOT taking action
on because of being too busy or too this or too that.
It
is time for you to take charge of YOUR life and make things happen
that you are really wanting and needing to have happen. And let me
include stuff that you have been putting off.
And
sometimes fear is a good motivator for change:
Fear
of starving might get you to take proper care of your food situation.
Fear
of getting lung cancer may get you to stop doing something really,
really stupid like smoking tobacco.
But
you know that motivation from a negative state can only take you so
far.
Let
us consider the opposite of fear. What is the opposite of fear?
The
polar opposite:
The
black and white opposite:
Here
is-are some examples:
You
come up to a swimming hole that you just checked out, plus you have
been there earlier in the day, and the
day
before, and you’ve been coming there for years, and you dive in
this time because you KNOW that it is safe.
You
get in your car and you know it is safe to turn on the engine because
you have done it before and nothing bad happened. So you turn on the
engine.
You
go to sleep at night without worrying that you will not wake up
because you have always woken up, eventually. You are not
experiencing fear that you will not wake up.
Not
unless you have some specific reason based on a certain level of
perceived risk will you experience fear.
So
what is the opposite of fear? The best way to describe this is the
absence of fear. Some words have a good and clear opposite: Cold,
hot; black, white; love, hate; rich, poor;
Fear,
not-fear;
What
I am suggesting to you is that it is better to make your decisions
and your actions based on a positive orientation, not a fear-based
orientation.
I
want you to think about what you want, not what you don’t want. Do
you see what I mean?
Ask
me for what you do want.
If
it is about dogs, ask me in a way that gets at what you do want.
Here
is an example:
‘God,
please help me get along really well with dogs’
‘God,
let me be very easy and at peace with dogs’
‘God,
when I am near dogs, let me be in control of the situation so that
the dogs do what makes me feel easy and peaceful’
You
may wonder about ‘…being in control of the situation…’ and
‘…so that the dogs do what makes me feel…’ but you will come
to understand that it is important to ask for what YOU want, NOT what
the dogs want.
If
you keep the fear stuff out of your wanting and focus on the stuff
that makes you feel good and happy and feeling at peace and so on,
well, that is a good start.
Here
is an example that is fear-based:
‘God,
please keep all dogs away from me so that I feel safe and secure and
not threatened.’
You
may be asking me for help with dogs BECAUSE you have some fear around
dogs, but you build your asking around the positive aspect, NOT the
negative.
Doing
this helps to sculpt the thought-flow and keeps you out of the
fear-game. Plus you get a chance to deconstruct the monopoly that
fear has on whatever it is that you are fearing.
‘Cuz
once fear is in the mix, well, it is going to be influencing you and
the outcomes of your thinking and feeling.
I
don’t want you to suppress your fear.
I
don’t want you to disregard your fear(s).
I
don’t want you to live a state of denial of your fear(s).
This
is what I want you to do:
When
you become aware that you are having some fear, I want you to know
that something important is happening to you.
You
need to pay attention to what it is you are wanting, NOT what you are
NOT wanting.
And
you need to come to me for help.
You
need to bring your feeling(s) to me.
You
can confess to me what it is you are feeling.
‘God,
I am feeling scared.’
You
do not have to name it or explain why you are scared or try to
rationalize to me about being scared.
Then
you ask me for help:
‘Please
help me, god’
And
I will help you.
Learn
to listen to me.
I
will come into your mind and sooth the thinking. I will tell you
something that you need to hear. Let me speak to you. I will help
you if you ask me to.
I
know this sounds too simple, too easy. But this is the nature of our
relationship. You ask me for help and I help you.
And
fear is a really, really good feeling to get some help with.
When
you get fear gone then you can move on with what it is that you are
really wanting to do, really needing to get done.
Maybe
I will help you in very direct ways.
Maybe
they will not be so noticeable.
I
might give you some opportunity for a change that is much needed,
much wanted. When these opportunities come to you, act on them.
The
more you move to take action and move past your fears the easier it
gets. And other fears become easier to move past. Some fears will
just disappear, poof!
Gone!
Like
they were never there in the first place;
Ever
had this experience? ‘I don’t know what I was so scared of!’
OR ‘I don’t know why I was so scared of doing that!’
Or
you might have had this experience:
‘Now
I know why I was so scared.’
Fear
can keep us prisoners and it can also keep us safe. So you can also
end up being a safe prisoner.
Sure,
you can end up getting hurt, even seriously injured, even dead.
You
can end up losing money, maybe even losing everything, and maybe you
will never recover financially.
But
if you get me involved and follow my advice, you will move past your
fears and get where you are really wanting and needing to be.
It
depends on what you do and how you do it.
Fear
is something not to fear.
It
has important information locked up inside it: Fear can make you
rich, it can make you health, it can bring you true-love, it can make
you happy, it can bring you me.
It
depends on how you focus your awareness: When you notice fear, that
is the time to go into the fear, not away from the fear. It is the
time to discover what is the power-structure of the fear: Where is
the fear coming from?
Ask
me,
‘God,
why am I afraid?’ and or, ‘God, where is this fear coming from?’
and then listen to my answer.
Ask
me what to do about this fear:
‘God,
what do you want me to do about what I fearing?’ and listen to my
answer.
Remember,
being afraid can get to be a habit. You can get addicted to fear.
You can get addicted to making other people fearful. Being a fear
monger can give you a false sense of power. Making other people fear
you and or fear something else can give you a sense of power and
control.
When
people fear you, you can make them do all sorts of things that they
would otherwise NOT do.
Fear
is a sick version of the motivation deal. Fear makes your bodies
chemistry go crazy. It will make you do things you would never, ever
normally do.
Being
scared will tense you up and make you freeze-up, it will put you in a
state where you cannot make a good decision. It will make you panic.
It will lead you from bad to worse.
But
inside the fear is great power.
It
is the power of insight. And if you can travel into your fear you
will discover great answers to questions you did not know you even
had.
Here
is one of those questions:
‘God,
why am I afraid?’
You
can add whatever it is that you are thinking and feeling that you are
afraid of, like dogs. You might be afraid of dogs because you think
they are going to bite you and you won’t be able to stop them from
biting you.
And
you are afraid of being bitten by the dog because it will hurt, and
you might get an infection, and it will hurt, a lot.
And
you might be afraid of getting bitten by a dog because you have
already been bitten by a dog. Or you have seen a dog bite someone.
Or a dog has acted like it was going to bite you.
Fear
is a motivator to think and feel in a certain way. Often I am
portrayed as someone to be afraid of. I am used to strike fear into
the hearts of sinners and or potential sinners.
You
can be very afraid of thunder and lightning. You can be afraid of
losing your job. You can be scared of your spouse’s disapproval.
You can be fearful about slipping and falling and hurting your self.
There
is legitimate fear. There is fear that you cannot help but have.
There is fear that transcends common sense. People sometimes might
say to you, ‘You don’t have to be afraid of such and such or so
and so, he it she wouldn’t hurt a fly’.
Fear
is the great immobilizer. If you could make a fear gun, you could
make a fortune selling it to the military. If you can make people
fear you, you can have power over them.
Power
and fear often are intimately related.
But
did you know there can come a time when even fear will not stop you
from doing something? Did you know it is possible for you to go
forward even though you know you are going to die?
Sometimes
there is a fear that is even greater than the fear you are facing.
You
can fear fear.
There
can be that moment when you are scared of being afraid: When you
have had it with being scared.
You’ve
had enough of being afraid of something or someone and at last you
get unstuck and you react. You act out of fear. You act out of fear
of being afraid.
What
you need is that calm reassurance that you are going to die, anyway.
So what does it matter if you are afraid? You might as well die
trying. And death isn’t exactly something to be afraid of.
Perhaps
you are scared of the pain that might accompany your death. Maybe
you are hesitating because you are afraid that you might end up in a
wheel chair. Or end up a drooling spastic: Worse than dead.
So
what is your greatest fear? Do you even know if you have one?
What
is it?
Being
tortured? Being abandoned? Being left for dead? Being betrayed?
How
about discovering that there is no god (which there is not) and that
all your belief systems are wrong?
How
about discovering that it doesn’t matter what you do, there is no
meaning to your life?
How
about discovering that Jesus Christ really is the Son of God? And
all that fundamentalist, Christian mumbo-jumbo is true, and the world
really is only six or seven thousand years old?
How
about that?
What
is your greatest fear? Ending up broke? Nobody loves you? Nobody
even likes you? Having to do more dirty dishes? Being bored? Being
alone and lonely? Nobody really cares about you?
What
fear can do for you is to help you highlight what needs to be done,
now.
Fear
can isolate the parts of you that you need to pay attention to.
Fear
can change the way you are and what you will do next.
Too
much fear can kill you. It can turn you into a very sick person.
Fear can make you sick, and being sick can make you feel very scared,
too.
So
you know there are things that make fear larger, that increase fear.
That one fear can lead to the next fear. There is a kind of fear
that feeds on itself: A self- perpetuating sort of fear.
Fear
can be triggered, too. It can come into you from an event or
stimulation that is not really real:
A
horn can honk and set you off.
You
can over-react and cause further problems.
A
certain gesture can make you afraid.
That
is why I want you to use fear to understand why you are afraid and
then begin to point your awareness in the direction that is what you
really want and need.
I
want you to ask me for help, too.
Look
to fear as a golden opportunity: To express what you DO want and to
move away from what you do NOT want, and to learn what it is I want
for you.
Perhaps
this will be one of your fears: The fear of me, of my influence in,
of, and over your life. Perhaps it will be the fear of me telling
you what to do. Or the fear that what I want for you is not what you
really want for your self.
Well,
before we get into that, here is a real poser for you to consider:
What about my fears? Do I have fear? Do I even know what fear is?
What can god possibly fear? The Devil? Do I fear demons?
This
is what I fear: And I have no answer to this. Let’s put it this
way, I have yet to fear. And let’s put this yet another way: I am
fear.
Let’s
put this yet another way: I understand fear. I can empathize with
my creation, with the parts of my creation that experience emotion.
I can feel the feelings of every part of my creation.
I
can feel the feelings of the physical, manifested parts of my
creation, AND I can feel the feelings of the non- physical,
unmanifested parts of my creation.
I
can feel the feelings of every bit of every little bit, right down to
the tiniest bit of bits. I can certainly feel the feelings of all
creatures that have been, that are, and that will be.
Contemplate
that for a moment or two, will you?
I
know your fears and tears. I know your ecstasy. I know your
innermost and secret longings. All of it, I know.
Every
angry thought that has been thought, is being thought, and will be
thought…I know all of it. And mentioning anger brings me to my
conclusion of this chapter on fear.
Fear
and anger are closely related. Often one triggers the other.
Let
both be a way to come closer to understanding what it is you are
really wanting, and in this way, let both be a way into what it is I
am wanting for you.
When
you experience the fear-anger combination reaction, it is a good time
to tune into me and get my guidance working in your consciousness so
that you can avoid the suffering that is yet to come.
The
more you practice coming to me when you become aware that you are
being aroused by the fear-anger combination reaction, the sooner you
can switch to getting guidance out of the trap of the fear-anger
wham-a-dang-ding-dong.
So
what comes out of all this is our next chapter which is on the
subject of trust.
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