What is fear from a spiritual perspective?

There is a spiritual meaning of fear that I want to uncover for all of you. Fear comes in many shades and can be justified due to dangers, both real and imagined. Fear is a guiding principle that has been developed through evolution. Without fear, we would become extinct. So fear as a whole has a place in our lives. It's a requirement. Like food, water, and the air that we breathe.



Water is something that we need. Sometimes in small doses, at other times it's enjoyed in vast amounts, like swimming in the ocean or a pool. Water only becomes a problem if we don't know how to manage our bodies within it. When we fail to keep our bodies from controlling how much of it we ingest, where it is going if we can even keep our bodies afloat in it. If I was to jump into the ocean without the ability to swim, I might drown. Is that the water's fault? Does that make the ocean evil?

In the same respect, fear can help protect us, keep us safe and guide us away from danger, but can quickly overtake us if we are not especially careful of how we are managing ourselves within it. Fear has a tendency of growing out of control, and it can be spread amongst a population faster than a wildfire, becoming more intense with each passing day.



What is fear from a spiritual perspective?

We all have choices to make in these times. It's not my place to tell you, anyone, how to live, how to act, or what to do. I can say that unless you are speaking and acting from your heart, you are in fact speaking and acting from your mind. Fear is not based in the heart but in the mind. The mind, being a bit of a computer does not process things like the needs of others very well. It doesn't care so much about our neighbor as much as it's own survival.

Spiritual causes of fear

The ego is not from the heart. Being self-centered, with the mindset that you will survive above all else, above all others is not of the heart. At our core, we are, in fact, a great collective. Flying through space on a rock, orbiting a ball of fire, going God knows where. We are all in this together. Together, as a community, as a species, we can and will overcome anything and everything. We know that from experience. We also know that if we fight each other, if we all work against one another, that we will all fail.



Let's take a moment to consider the needs of others who are not as fortunate. Who do not have as much. Who's needs may eclipse our own. Let's try to be supportive of our friends and families. Let's try to counter all of the fear with facts. With love, with kindness. Let's take the focus away from our own sense of individuality, of feeling as if our own survival is of paramount importance. Let's try to act as we care about each other. Let's practice emotional closeness during physical distancing, kindness, love, care, and fight the fiction with facts. One of them being that love never ends. That we will all get through this, one way or another. That maybe drama sells but facts are boring. Boredom wouldn't be such a bad thing right now, wouldn't it?