Do all fears stem from the fear of death?

allkosong SG

Hello all,

Do all fears stem from the fear of death? If that is the case, then it would imply that once we overcome the fear of death, all other fears cease to exist. Is that correct?

I would like to hear your views on this, especially those of you who have gained much wisdom in your practice. Thank you.

An Eternal Now SG

No... you can fear not getting your good exam results, not getting your bonus, you can fear the pain of thorn going into your leg, whatever. A lot of kinds of fear :)

Basically, all fear stems from insecurity, and is one of those emotions linked to sense of self. Insecurity arises due to attachment to possessiveness, 'I', me, mine... when you have I, me, mine, and insecurity arises when 'I' feel insecure about 'me', 'my situation', 'my things', 'my future', etc...

You know when you drink alcohol (not that I recommend it), you feel very brave. You dare to do things, approach girls... whatever. Why? Because of blood circulation etc... due to secondary conditions you feel strong, you don't feel weak, you don't feel insecure. So there are a lot of conditions that make you feel fear. If you feel weak, you feel insecure and fearful.

So, if you feel secure, you will not have fear. Even if you have sense of self and you feel secure, you won't fear... you will feel brave.

But if you have no more attachment to 'I', 'me', 'mine' you also won't feel fear anymore... and that is cutting the roots of afflictions. You don't need alcohol or adrenaline or a big ego... naturally you become fearless.

An Eternal Now SG

Forgot to add... originally, there never was an 'I'. It is merely illusion. But before you realize 'from the beginning never was self', the illusion is very strong :)

allkosong SG

No... you can fear not getting your good exam results, not getting your bonus, you can fear the pain of thorn going into your leg, whatever. A lot of kinds of fear :)

So, if you feel secure, you will not have fear. Even if you have sense of self and you feel secure, you won't fear... you will feel brave.

I see, thank you, AEN. Fear stems from our false sense of self then.

A follow up question: All human beings and animals have a built-in sense of self preservation (eg. avoiding dangerous situations, not going to near a fire, etc) Is this also due to our false sense of self too?

Jacky Woo SG

fear of death. the great late ajahn chah had problems with fear when he was a new monk when he was spending the night with a fresh corpse in a cemetery. in the middle of the night, there were some rustling sounds, came toward him and then gone and then back again. he didnt dared open his eyes. but suddenly he asked himself this. what are you really afraid of? then suddenly he realised on the fact that there is nothing to fear death really and he no longer feared anything.

Fugazzi SG

Behind the facade of self is the fear of the death of one’s mind! As long as there is no consious self-destruction of one’s persona, roles, individuality, the fear will always be there. ’’Self’’ is useful in the marketplace, business and so on so forth – however, when it is identified with and is made to be an aspect of oneself (one’s beliefs, traditions image, – security thru this mental construct of oneself and attachment to roles – it is the fear of loss of these roles and … maintaining a ficiton (mind constructs of life, love, ....) is tenuous. It is not existential but psychological and it does not exist!

Jacky Woo SG

I have great respect for the great late Ajahn Chah. his tradition is that of forest meditation, a monastic lifestyle modeled after the era of the Buddha, a dying tradition in the modern era. he and his disciples went on alms round. I listened to his disciple talk that he forbade his disciples from cultivating food and farm so that they can live with the community. he didnt want them to be self sufficient and then dissociate them from the lay community.

Fcukpap SG

it is the fear of detachment and loss that is worse than death

Jacky Woo SG

do you dare to spend the night with a dead corpse in a cemetery?

just to test if you are able to conquer your fear. you can meditate on the impermanence of life too.

Sandy17sandy17 SG

No, fear of death is not the root of the other fears.

Of course,fear of death seems to be the most prominent one because all living things will face it.

But there are other fears that not everyone has.

Ie.fear of heights

Fear of people

Extreme Fear of germs