Various types of fears eat away a human being. How can he get rid of these fears unless he
gets the support of the 'true understanding' behind these fears? Dadashri has explained
us the 3 types of fears. Every living creature has fear. However, in humans, these fears end
in adverse results.
Normal Fear
Every 'life' in this Universe is oppressed by fear. Fear is present in every living creature and that is normal. When circumstances of fear arise, only then, do living creatures feel fear, and due to this fear, man remains within his bounds (straightforward or true or cautious). To understand this, let's take an example. Dadashri: At any time in your life, did you steal? Even in secret? You may not have stolen something openly, but you may have stolen something secretly.
Questioner: No. I haven't.
Dadashri: You haven't? You don't like to steal?
Questioner: Of course, I would like to, but I am afraid to do so!
Dadashri: People don't have strong minds. They only remain steady or true or cautious out of fear. Similarly, this normal fear always stops us from committing any offence. For example, whilst driving a car, a person drives with caution only due to the fear of an accident!
Adverse Fear
Adverse fear starts after the development of the intellect, so it exists only in human beings. The more he considers himself temporary (destructible), the greater his fear. There may have been two obstacles during the month, but he harbours the fear of those obstacles everyday – this is due to adverse fear… if a bowl of curry is spilled once, it does not mean that it will happen every day. At night, if you see someone walking towards you in the darkness, in your mind, you may fear that he will rob you…
There are two types of adverse fear:
1) Magnified – Only one incident of fear may occur, but it will seem like it is a hundred fold!
2) Hallucination – There may be no imminent fear, but it will only seem to be there! One person may be coming to dine at your home, but you fear that 100 people may visit. This is 'magnified' adverse fear. Nobody has told you about inviting anyone for dinner, yet you fear, “What if somebody comes unexpectedly?” Such thoughts are 'hallucination' type of adverse fear.
Let's look at some more examples: We asked some readers of Akram Youth magazine as to what fears they had. Here are their revelations:
1) Just before the Board exams, you hear through someone that this year's question papers are going to be 'hard' (difficult), so fear grips you.
2) If I have told lies about any of my family members or friends, I start to fear that they may come to know about the lie.
3) When I have been given responsibility to do any kind of work, I always fear that I will not be able to finish it.
4) If I have seen an accident on the road or when I see such videos, I constantly fear that I might also meet with such an accident while driving.
5) At school, when a friend informs me that the principal has called me to his office urgently, I start fearing (without waiting to find out the reason), as to what my mistake could be, because we have the wrong belief in our mind that 'Sir' always scolds everybody.
6) If I have seen a snake by the roadside once, every time I pass that spot, I feel fear.
7) If one is afraid of cockroaches, lizards or mice, one will not step into the room out of fear, and will not even bother to find out if they are really there in the room.
8) When I have not done well in one of my exams, then I fear that I will not be able to do well on the rest of my exams.
9) If I have to do a 'presentation', and I am weak in English, I fear that I will make a fool of myself, if I make mistakes when speaking English.
10) I always fear that a snake bite will result in death, although we are aware that many types of snakes are not poisonous.
11) As soon as the phone rings, I am afraid, before even answering the phone to find out who is calling. This is due to a bitter experience in my past.
12) After climbing a mountain, I fear that I may slip and fall down from the mountain, although I know that such incidents do not happen that often.
13) When one has fear of water (hydrophobia) and he goes boating, he is afraid of drowning, although he knows that such incidents will rarely happen.
14) If I happen to have damaged any expensive item in the house and have not told anyone about it, I am afraid to face my parents.
15) After seeing a 'horror movie', I fear ghosts in the night!
16) When one has had an electric shock, he is afraid of doing any electrical work.
17) When I have to go for my medical check-up, I am afraid of the pain from the injection!
