The greatest danger is to be afraid

The greatest danger is to be afraid. Our answer to fear is to try to anticipate. We want to know beforehand, we want tomorrow to be certain. And so we keep thinking, we keep thinking…

We think about polishing weapons. We think about building walls. We think about making shields. We want to know the future. And so, we start thinking. How could we do this?

To want to know the future is a fantasy created by fear. The knowledge spoken of in Buddhism is direct, immediate knowledge, where we let truth, reality, come to us, come into our heart; we trust our Buddha nature and when we do, Buddha embraces Buddha.

Some people tell me: “I don’t understand what you are saying.” All I’m saying is that the greatest danger is to be afraid. Fear only locks us in, barricades us in, walls us up, fear looks for all kinds of legal, technical, scientific weapons… It is not the solution.

A great man of the past said: “You will cease to fear when you cease to hope.”

To be afraid of the slightest thing denotes a weak character, which lacks greatness of mind, which does not have an unlimited mind, undefiled, beyond mental activity, beyond all offensive and defensive strategies. Some people conduct their lives only through strategies of the mind, but they never use the true mind, the mind that never stops on anything, the mind that makes us encompass the whole situation at a glance, where we instantly become aware of what is around us, of what we are.

So, when I say: “Let us not be afraid.”, what I am saying is: “Let us make room for the true mind, the mind that does not cling on anything.”

A French aphorism says: “Let’s not complicate the issue.”, literally, “Let’s not look for noon at 2 o’clock.”  Full light is always here and now. Full light is always present, this is the mind that doesn’t stop on anything.

The way our society is going is precisely the way of fear, where we want to intellectualize everything – and where we cut ourselves from reality. We do not believe that we are able to have an immediate knowledge, an instantaneous answer, where Buddha meets Buddha. It is one aspect of our life, but it is the most important aspect.

Some people practice Zen, but are unable or unwilling or lack self-confidence to let go of mental activity and open themselves to reality as it is, always there, just before us. To step into the world without weapons, without armours.

This is to lack the greatness of the true mind.

Taiun JP Faure, december 2021