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THE ART OF POSITIVE THINKING
no Pirji-only a stool covered with a white cloth. From far it looked like a human being, but actually nobody was there. The imaginary shade vanished in no time.
Such imaginary shades, innumerable images, float before us day and night. The picture of imagination assumes a definite shape and it seems somebody is there. The sight thereof is frightening.
Sometimes one hears a sound and is filled with fear. A torch sighted in the cremation ground at night affords concreteness to the imaginative form of a ghost. The sight of a burning pyre makes one uneasy. If we can put an end to our imaginative apprchensions, we should be free from fear almost 90 per cent. Only 10 per cent of fear then remains. I don't discard all stories of ghosts and sprites as being figments of imagination-these too may partake of some reality, but this is rare. But even factual fcar can serve to confound and weaken us. If a man's morale is high, a spectre can do him no harm. As a matter of fact, it is not the spectre or the ghost that excites fear; fear pre-exists in a man's being. If this inherent fear were not there, nothing in the world could do any harm to him. Lord Mahavir said, "Only a fearful man is afflicted by a ghost; the fearless man is not disturbed by any phantom." The goblins and sprites have their spheres of action. They have their limitations and cannot harrass all and sundry. They can only permeate a body that would accept them: a reluctant body they cannot penetrate. A fearful person is the most apt vessel to receive them. It is a noticeable fact that more women are haunted by ghosts than men. It is because they are less courageous than men; they get frightened very soon, and are therefore more apt to receive them. It is a very significant fact that only a fearful person is permeated by a ghost; the fearless is beyond its reach.
The third state of fear pertains to like and dislike, which means the fear of being united or of being separated, of getting things or meeting situations one dislikes. It is such a big fear as to exert its pressure at all times. What is acquired must not be lost, and what is undesirable must never afflict us-such is the eternal tension thereof. When someone dear to us goes on a journcy, we are naturally concerned that no mishap should occur to him. And the cycle of union and separation goes on. Nodoby wants to be separated from the pleasant; nobody hankers after the unpleasant. Wherever a man goes, he carries with him his burden of fears. Those who attend shivirs (meditation camps) are no exception; they bring their fears along with them. After a few days they are heard to remark, "All fear has vanished!" Those who are full of fear cannot quite appreciate this state of complete freedom from fear.
Masters of ayurved say it is not proper to inhibit the senses too much; nor should these be pampered. The children of parents who
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