Fearlessness

Dr. Jayadeva Yogendra in Parisamvada.

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Fearlessness i.e. Abhay is a state of mind where you either have total belief in something and therefore have no fear, or possibly without much thinking you carry on and don’t entertain any feeling of fear. This is a very difficult state. To reach the state of fearlessness is hard for intelligent people because we have been, right from early childhood, brought up in this atmosphere of fear. Fear is a trait common to other living creatures. All living creatures have these 4 things: Ahara (desire for food), Nidra (sleep), Bhay (fear) and Maithuna (procreation).

So this Bhay or fear is an intrinsic faculty and it is always there. We will agree that all our activities happen because of fear. Otherwise, left to ourselves we can just hibernate, animate. Fear is the driving force. In a way we are worked upon and played about by Nature by these kinds of strong emotions and instincts. There is hardly much chance for clear thinking. We believe we make decisions, but they are made under those compulsions.