Book Title: Art of Positive Thinking
Author(s): Mahapragna Acharya
Publisher: Health Harmoney

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Page 234
________________ XXV. TOTAL FREEDOM FROM FEAR Things happen outside, as well as inside. Our being is divided into two the inner and the outer. The outer world of phenomena is clearly visible, not so the inner world. But it can be perceived, felt, expressed. Our vision is turned outward. How one sits, the shape of the hands and the mouth, the structure of the face and its expression, the fingers- -all these relate to bodily posture. The facial expression and the inner feeling are intimately connected; inner feeling determines the outward bearing. When anger arises, the face would automatically assume the pose of anger. One knows that a person is angry without being told. His facial expression gives a clear indication of his inner state. In ancient Indian poetics is to be found an eleborate analysis of emotion. There are three streams of feeling: the enduring, the indicative and the evanescent. What kind of feelings are inspired by a particular posture? How does an individual manifest himself? The erotic sentiment expresses itself in one way, pathos in another, and disgust still in another way. There is one facial expression peculiar to wrath and another peculiar to tranquillity. There are different gestures for every feeling, every sentiment. Thought, feeling and gesture are linked with one another. Our facial gestures are determined by inward feeling. Fear expresses itself in a way peculiar to itself. The face of a man in the grip of fear shrinks. Likewise his body. Both the body and the face shrink and expand. Fear contracts, and joy expands. Irradiated by joy, the face opens up like a flower. On the other hand, the face of a frightened person gets shrunk. It appears to be quite emaciated. Changes wrought by fear in the outer appearance are quite apparent. However, inner parts of the body also manifest these changes. The heart beats faster, the blood-pressure goes high, the throat gets dry, the glands secreting saliva are inactivated, the face becomes lean, the stomach and the intestines contract; there is loss of appetite. A man who constantly lives in a state of fear has little appetite. The conductivity of the skin stands altered; it grows hyper-sensitive. A man tells a lie. Telling lies is a crime. He is presented before the judge. The man is afraid of being exposed. But how is the judge to establish that the man is a liar? That he is a criminal? Of late certain devices have been evolved, like the galvanometer. The Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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