“Driven by fear, people run for security to mountains and forests, to sacred spots and shrines. But none of these can be a safe refuge, because they cannot free the mind from fear.” —The Dhammapada

Have you heard the acronym FEAR stands for False Evidence Appearing Real? Well, I have another phrase for you: Forget Everything And Run.

Isn’t that what we often do when a fearful thought appears in our mind, triggering our emotions? We turn from the fear and run as fast as we can.

Sometimes we numb the fear with drugs, alcohol, food or another diversion, when what we really need to do is turn and meet our fears head on.

In his book “The Seat of the Soul,” Gary Zukav states, “When fear ceases to scare you, it cannot stay.”

We might best understand the anatomy of fear by first dissecting it and seeing it for what it is and what it is not.

Where does fear originate? At first, it might appear that fear comes from the very thing we are fearing, threat of physical harm or a scary prognosis from a doctor, for example. 

The reality is fear can’t come from outside of us: Fear is a feeling that wells up inside us as a reaction to an outer stimulus that comes from a concern about the loss of something.

The stimulus could be the fear of losing a job, a reputation, a material possession or (fill in the blank). It might even be a fear of the ultimate loss: a loss of the life of a loved one or even our own. In fact, we could say that all fear is attached to the death or the demise of something or someone we don’t want to lose. 

Perhaps that to which we cling the most tightly and fear the most of losing is what causes the greatest pain and suffering.

If there is one thing I’ve learned as I followed my own spiritual path, it’s that we come into this life without any possessions and, irrespective of who or what we may be fearfully hanging on to, we can’t take it or them with us when we leave.

Great wisdom can be found in poet Don Blanding’s words: “Because there is no desire to possess, there is no fear of losing—we live in an anticipation of life, not in dread of death.”

Much of our fear originates in our mind because, try as we may, we can’t control tomorrow.

As we spiritually evolve we automatically loosen our grasp (death grip) on that which we want most to possess or control and, as a result, the fear attached to its loss dissolves as well.

Even our worst fears can be mitigated by our awareness of our oneness with the source of all life, all good.

Fear is the offspring of the imagined belief that somehow we could possibly be separated from our source, which is an impossibility.

Fear is a great messenger to get our attention and can even serve us well in certain circumstances, but it has no life of its own other than that which we choose to give it. As we call forth the awareness of Infinite Presence as our sole source, we in turn take back all the power we have bestowed on that fear.

When fear ceases to scare us, we can then watch it disappear into the nothingness from which it came.

Fear knocked at the door and faith answered. No one was there. 

Dennis Merritt Jones is a local spiritual mentor, keynote speaker and author of the book “The Art of Being: 101 Ways to Practice Pur pose in Your Life.” Contact him at www.DennisMerrittJones.com.