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KARMA THE MECHANISM
ing the dispute will only last for a short time while the outcome can easily open a new sovereign and more independent life for us.
SUTRAS
And - no matter what the result of this conscious confrontation may be - we always profit from it. We will in any case experience new freedom because we now know how courageous we can be. We further realize that we are quite capable of carrying out what we set ourselves to do. The confrontation removed karma that previously blocked our expansion into new fields of life. And last not least we released the pressures that often accompany such unresolved issues.
The conscious confrontation with situations whose outcome is uncertain and unforeseeable often causes initial fear or apprehension. Yet this fear and disquiet is nothing other than one form of the very karma we consciously intend to dissolve. Overcoming these effects 'burns' karma (tapas literally: 'heating by fire'). It is an active process that requires courage, but is highly effective.
It makes no sense to be afraid of this 'initial fear' itself because this again binds exactly the same type of 'fear-' karma. As long as fear is a theme of our life - i.e. as long as this type of karma exists within us - we cannot escape it by trying to avoid fear. By avoiding situations that we believe will produce fear, we merely direct this negative emotion towards other situations, persons or objects. Only by consciously confronting fear - by realizing how irrelevant it is for our progress - will we remove its original cause.6
6 Once we consciously enter a situation of unknown outcome, our fear usually disappears without a trace: - we now are far too busy for feeling fear because our attention is fully occupied by handling the challenges of the new situation.
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We experience this e.g. when we intend to speak publicly. The nearer the moment comes, the more we feel apprehensive and nervous (stage fright) - our heart is racing, our throat is choked etc. But once we are on stage, all this falls away and we speak with a self-assuredness that may surprise us. - By going on stage we removed the original cause of our apprehension: - our fear of the unknown. We confronted it and passed through it. Now the situation (us being on stage) is known, the cause for our fear exists no more and in consequence all apprehension disappears.
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