“You are one thing only. You are a divine being. An all powerful creator. You are a deity in jeans and a t-shirt, and within you dwells the infinite wisdom of the ages and the sacred creative force of All that is, will be and ever was.” — Anthon St. Maarten
How to live without fear is a hot topic in our local bookstores and in our online selections, Goodreads and Amazon bestsellers. We often find these selections in the categories under self-help or spiritual practices. We are all too familiar with the constant seeking of this topic: those of us with philosophical and spiritual minds are constantly seeking every guru, master and/or god or goddess from all ends of the Earth…a constant quest! We do not want to miss one take on this topic.
We want it all — the great moment of transcendence, whether it be a kundalini awakening or the moment some god or prophet spoke to someone directly on the subject of fear. The moment someone was overwhelmed with peace and trust in the Divine, that moment so powerful that they bow down and worship and cry…see the face and the glory…that out-of-body experience where someone goes through the tunnel and bursts into the light. Where they heard the choirs of angels singing and their deceased loved ones on the other side met them, but it wasn’t their time and they lived to tell us about it.
These stories stack up, universally and cross-culturally and we cannot deny the Divine. We have to trust in this truth! This topic ultimately is about facing the unknown and our own death. This is part of the human condition at its inner core. It’s about facing the inevitability of the unknown, which is prompted by changes that bring us to our body’s death. This is a path we all will cross, just like all of our ancestors before us and those behind us. The ultimate transformation involves all three: change, the unknown and death. Once we really grasp this, we can learn to process this.
How do we live without fear? We must embrace death before we die. So as we age, if we are that fortunate, keep in mind those who died an untimely death. Maybe they never had the age or intellect to process that their death was going to be untimely or even happen at all. These are thoughts that plague us as we age. Are we lucky to not die at 5 of childhood cancer or in a car accident? Or what if we almost die but we live. We get a new perspective that we lacked years before. Who are the lucky ones?
Start visualizing your body deteriorating and then picture something Divine that is transforming it into a new being, letting go of self. When Keith Richards says we are a bag of bones, it’s so true. Our organs and muscles and bones are encased in our skin — and we vaporize eventually.
Visualize the endless mystery and possibilities that death liberates. This exercise teaches us gently and forces us to trust in the Divine.
My equation goes like this: Fear of death = self torture. How can we embrace death to eliminate fear? I like David Bowie’s words: “I don’t know where I am going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring.”
