What Is The Purpose Of Fear?

I think it is safe to say that fear is pretty common in the world compared to those who love. I like to think of fear as resisting and love as accepting. From what I can see, it seems like fear comes as a result of ignorance, usually people do not know who they are. The fear of death creates irrational survival beliefs such as greed, violence, isolation, etc. The fear of punishment makes people run both physically or mentally. The fear of vulnerability creates arrogance. The fear of looking at one's self image creates aggressiveness and hatred. Fear seems to be the opposite of love. If fear didn't exist, I wonder how things would be.

Maybe fear exists to show the meaning of love? Is it love that we really fear?

What do you think the purpose of fear is?

Two answers: your built-in fear response is a survival instinct. The 'flight' part of fight or flight. If you fear something potentially dangerous you are less likely to tangle with it and get injured/killed.

But fear as we know it is 'induced fear'. External parties triggering a fear response by manipulation. Why? Because it is one of the most effective ways to control people. The Church has used fear (fear of damnation, excommunication, loss of grace) to keep people in-line. Fear by threat of violence, 'If you do that I'll kick the living snot out of you'. Fear of the boogeyman 'You have to give us lots of money because there are people out there who don't look like you who are coming to try and kill us all. Do as we say and we'll keep you safe.'

Sure, theres bad things in the world but it doesn't help anything to sit around and worry about it. I have a friend who worries about EVERYTHING...we call him "Mom". He has irrational fears about police, his parents (he's 27 btw) and all sorts of other things I could never spend time and brain power worrying about. He worries he has STDs, cancer, he's worried his kids will be mentally handicapped (for whatever reason). He's worried about his haircut, his car, his job, his debt and about a thousand more ridiculous, irrational fears. The other day he was freaking out until I slapped him in the face and told him "Everythings going to be ok". He was ok for the rest of the day after that.

It may sound niave but the biggest fear people have is the fear of letting go. To free yourself from fear you have to realize that everyhing is always going to be ok. It all works out in the end. Always. Most people who live in constant fear try to control EVERYTHING around them. They feel like if something is out of their control that its anarchy, wildness and bound to hurt them. But the world isnt like this. The world looks out for you if you look out for it.

People also fear other people because they dont undestand other people. The rich fear the poor because they can't undestand the desperation of the poor. The poor fear the rich because they can't understand the apathy and meanness that pours out of moneyed families. But once you realize that everyone's more similar than different (that "Everybody Poops" -remember that book?) then what is there to fear. If you fear other people you fear the darker parts of yourself. Fear of others disappears if you come to terms with yourself...your whole self: good and evil parts, pretty and ugly parts, winner and loser parts.

Fear of death is really fear of life. Many people fear death because they put off living their life until "retirement" or some other distant date when they think everything will be better. People think that if they die young that they didn't get to do all the things they wanted to do, like they got ripped off or life owes them a raincheck. Like "IOU one good life - the universe". But if you're living your life with as much fun and love as you can, today, not tomorrow, you'll find your fear of death melts away because you're actually living, here and now, not putting off fun and life for some future date.

Its not hard to do, its simply a choice. To live in fear or to live in love.

reply to post by Ralphy


The purpose of fear is to control

reply to post by Ralphy


Fear stops us from endangering ourselves.
Love helps us co-exist.
I don't care how much you love the lion at the zoo, if you jump in its cage and ignore fear your probably gonna get ripped to pieces.

reply to post by Ralphy


Well... from limited experience here on earth... I would say that Fear in one sense is the absence of Love. Love is both light and information as it manifests to the creative knowledge and consciousness.

The concept of fear operates on may levels for different reasons. As a physical awareness to avoid harm the body learns to fear fire, snakes, spiders, raging rivers possibly full of crocodiles... you get the gist. We can learn to be the Captain of those fears through understanding/information/knowledge of the external creature/situation and our relationship to it.

Fear of heights, dark places, crowds and loud noises that create an anxiety within but we need to understand something of ourselves our knowledge as it translates to wisdom as a balanced state between the emotions and the rational.

There often appears to be a double edged sword, as to know of certain things/people/situations is to fear them yet it is also part of the process to be able to grow past the anxieties and overcome the fears. Enter the fires of the mind type thing.

So in this way, fears present as an opportunity to learn something of yourself and for yourself through the outside world by entering inside the world of the mind. Once a fear is conquered you take on board a new state of information/knowledge/wisdom to return to a natural/original state of Love/light/consciousness as one progresses through the layers of fires within the mind. Its now the creative reality of who you have become rather than just a state of mind. Then you get to teach others once you have mastered these fears and have become one with love and the light..

Well... I don't know that I've explained it well enough as I'm not much of a writer but rather a one on one person with a cup of tea or coffee.

reply to post by Ralphy


It's there to prevent us from taking risks.

In some ways fear is used as a natural danger warning. In other situations its used as a tool to ball and chain the unknowing mind.

Fear becomes hate when obscured from the will to survive.

When coupled with the will to survive, fear becomes love.

To cover the light and warmth of the sun of Love

With a dark cloud that is not solid and can evaporate like a cloud, if we CHOOSE to.

The sun can never evaporate.

Love

Elf

One who studies should learn to accept fear because GOD is love and GOD is the ultimate fear and he has described his fearsome wrath in his commamdments so that the earth opened up and took them away at high speed then sealed itself again. No one really wanted to fear anything but GOD for at least until breakfast...like, forever though. Love IS fear. God does not instruct us to love him, but rather to fear him because he is the love of the universe and nothing should scare you more than love. Love is fear.

Fear, to me, is my response to an experience in my past.

Fear is great in a survival situation. If I know from past experience hungry tigers are dangerous and I see a hungry tiger, me being afraid of that hungry tiger is a fine thing indeed. I will possibly not be eaten. This time.

Fear is not so great in non-survival situations. If I am afraid my current relationship partner will be abusive to me because a past relationship partner was abusive, that fear prevents me from truly seeing and being with my current relationship partner. Fear gets in my way in non-survival situations.

The trick, for me, is distinguishing betwixt survival and non-survival situations. Acknowledging my fear and reacting appropriately I find is useful in the former. Acknowledging my fear and letting go of it I find is useful in the latter.

How do we define survival? We all know we are going to die so there has to be a balance of acceptance of death too. Do we sometimes confuse the desire to live with survival? Suppose we don't really die when our bodies no longer hold our consciousness, then what is the point of survival if we wouldn't ever die?

What is the purpose of fear?
The reason fear has a reason d'hetre in our psychic is because we have created a space for it, why do we fall so easily to fear?

The people at large fear every thing that can challenge ones belief system, not only the religions one but also belief system about our self and for sure the great otherness.
The biggest fear of all is the fear of discovering the real You.
All other fear derives from this one above.
If someone care to auto-criticise himself, at first he will found a lot of beautiful things about himself. Then later the dirt will emerge, if courageous this man/woman will tackle the dirt in equal to the beauty.
If fear take over his observation, then soon the observation will turn in to an ego trip.
In my view we should bring fear to the open all the time.
Deserting the feat of oneself.

reply to post by Ralphy

Reasonable or unreasonable fear?

Fear comes from future experience, a warning system of the mind. So I guess it's function is to warn you.

If you should listen is entirely up to you and your ability to differentiate between reasonable and unreasonable.

Not the answer you were looking for, is it? Sorry....

Peace

Fear originated as a survival mechanism, fight or flight. If a cave bear approached it is a good thing to have an adrenalin rush so that you can fight better or flight better. However, fear is not as useful now. For example,you cannot run from your job or punch the boss.
Fear in the modern context has lost most of its survival value. As a matter of fact it works against survival. Fear produces stress, high blood pressure etc because one cannot vent by fighting or running away.

reply to post by KennyDurazo


Kenny...do you really believe that?

I don't say this with malice or to be condescending, but you must educate yourself. I would start with not thinking of God as a person, or one that you should be fearful of. If you want to learn more about God research other religions to get a perspective.

Agreed with most of the comments. Fear used to be a natural response. Somehow fear has been manipulated and twisted for control purposes.

Ignorance is fear's survival in this world. Fear would be lessened if more were aware.

Fear developed to keep us safe, to warn us that a situation may cause us physical harm.

Our world has changed so much, there is little reason to fear being eaten by a wild animal, or dying of a broken bone. But we still have the fear instinct, evolution has not yet caught up.

Our parents used fear to ensue we follow their rules, our churchs use fear for the same reason.

Fear ensures we conform, it drains us of power, it keeps us down and in our place. TPTB have ensured we fear to attempt to stop us questioning them, changing the world, to keep the status quo.


After loosing (giving up) all I had in the world and having to rebuild, I fear very little nowdays, Ive faced my worst fears, lived through the nightmares, came out the other side a better person.

They don't want people like me, if I don't fear, they can't control me.

Creating fear in others = power and control of the state/organisation

Calming fear in others = brave and able individuals who do not need the power of the state or organisation behind them.

reply to post by eccentriclady


Well put! If you have no fear, you cannot be controlled. Calming fear in others is the mission for the fearless.