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THE ART OF POSITIVE THINKING
love. These are the great emotions that last all through life, that live with man for ever. It is these emotions that arise more often.
Fear is the greatest of them all. Man fears everything. One fear follows another; there is never an end to it. One tries to get rid of one fear and in the very attempt to do so another fear rises in its place. Such is man's nature. Fear is his constant companion; he never can get rid of it.
We are seeking to find the very mainspring of fear. Why is there fear at all? What is its root cause? Wherefrom does it arise? We know of provocative situations where excitement is the rule. When confronted with a fearful situation, man is afraid. A loud voice, an explosion, is enough to frighten him. The thunder-cloud' in the sky makes men on earth contract with fear. Likewise, a flash of lightning in the heavens makes a man quiver while sitting in his own house. The thunder of lightning unnerves him quite. A loud noise provokes fear.
It was night. Two travellers were going together. One of them fell behind, the other went on, rapt in himself. After a while he became aware of his being left alone - his companion had lagged
behind. Instantly he was filled with fear. His feet trembled. • Loneliness provokes fear.
We have talked about certain situations which stimulate fear, but stimuli cannot be said to be the root cause thereof. We have to find what the root causes are.
There are said to be four sources of fear:
Lack of Vitality: The Fear Complex; Constant Thought of Fear; and Stimulation of the Atoms of Fear
(1) Lack of Vitality
Some individuals have no courage, no strength, no power, no guts. In the absence of these, fear is born. Guts may be said to be inner heroism of the man who is constantly aware of himself, who has no inferiority complex, has a pure consciousness. The purity of consciousness thus implies constant self-awareness, an awareness of one's inner peculiarities. In the absence of self-knowledge, a man is frightened of others; he is easily influenced by others. To be influenced is also a kind of fear. Lack of inner vitality is the cause thereof. It is one's own feebleness that creates fear. The game of power versus powerlessness, weakness versus strength, goes on for ever. Noboby comes to the aid of the weak and the powerless whereas strength invites cooperation from unknown sources. A Sanskrit poet says:
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