How to deal with a phobia that consumes our consciousness?

Podcast:

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.

Summary

When a severe phobia—such as an intense fear of dogs—starts consuming our consciousness and raising anxiety about our spiritual practice, it can feel overwhelming. Drawing from spiritual wisdom and practical psychology, here is a breakdown of how to navigate these challenges without losing sight of devotion.

Main Points

• Krishna is Fair and Understanding: God does not hold uncontrollable conditions against us, just as He appreciates any sincere service regardless of our physical limitations or mental struggles.

• Do Not Blame Yourself: Phobias are generally irrational and uncontrollable; therefore, we should not beat ourselves up or fear that Krishna will hold involuntary anxieties against us.

• Practice Step-by-Step Avoidance and Management: Within the limits of the condition, try to practice bhakti as best as you can while actively observing and managing your triggers.

• Utilize the Three-Step Approach to Fear:

  • Step 1: Avoid sudden, severe, and overwhelming triggers.

  • Step 2: Gradually confront the fear in tiny, manageable steps (similar to the step-by-step method mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita for managing the mind).

  • Step 3: Share your struggles candidly with a trusted, supportive friend who can act as an emergency sounding board and accountability partner.

• Trust in Divine Care: Instead of worrying about worst-case scenarios like remembering something else at the time of death, focus on making a sincere daily endeavor. Krishna sees our effort and takes care of the rest in due course.

Full Transcription

To our faith. Thank you. So if we have a phobia of dogs and that is making us paranoid, making us take vaccines and worry about the places that we visit and avoid visiting even devotees and we are fearful that we may remember a dog at the time of death instead of Krishna, what can we do in such a situation? Answer, Krishna consciousness is not just about knowing Krishna but also knowing that Krishna knows us and Krishna knows what we know.
So generally phobias are uncontrollable and Krishna is a fair God. He doesn’t hold against us things over which we have no control or very little control. Just as if we were short or tall, if we were fair or dark, it’s not that, suppose we are involved in a service which requires a hefty build, say we are a book distributor.
Now if we are built slightly then we may not be able to carry a lot of books. That particular service may be impeded but is it that Krishna is going to hold our diminutive build against us? No, Krishna did not hold the small squirrel who wanted to assist in building the bridge. Her size, her small size and her extremely small contribution against her.
He saw that she was doing whatever she could and he appreciated that. So what applies to the body also applies to the mind. Of course some conditionings of the mind can be controlled and changed and some may be very very difficult to go.
So first we don’t know in advance which are changeable and which are not. But we need to understand that if we are endeavouring to practice bhakti sincerely then even if something goes awry, some things are not working properly then Krishna is taking care of us. Krishna will take care of us and sometimes that fear or that inability to control our mind in a particular way may well be what will bring humility and gravity and intensity in our connection with Krishna.
So in the case of Bharat Maharaj, it was an intentional choice. Maybe initially it was incidental when he just saw a baby deer and wanted to protect that orphan baby deer. But when he started neglecting his sadhana and made himself the self appointed maintainer of the baby deer then it was definitely not just incidental.
It was intentional. So in this case generally phobias are considered irrational and also uncontrollable. So don’t think that Krishna is going to hold it against us and therefore we shouldn’t hold it against ourselves.
Within the limitation of the phobia, try to practice bhakti as well as we can and then try to find out what through self observation, what are the best ways in which we can manage that phobia. So we can try to avoid triggers for ourselves. Generally fear is dealt with in three broad steps.
First is avoid sudden and strong and several triggers coming simultaneously. Having said that, this may sudden, several and severe triggers may overwhelm us. So if we know there is an area filled with dogs, we can avoid going there.
Having said that, one of the most time tested ways to deal with fear is to confront it. So when we know a particular situation, okay there is a dog, I don’t want to go even 10 feet or 50 feet near it, okay. But can I go 51 feet near it? Can I take one step closer, one step closer? So who knows that small small steps closer.
Krishna says that the way to manage the mind is by step by step method. So take small steps and see. Although the mind may be fearful, we will soon realize that there is no catastrophe happening.
Oh I went 49 steps, I went a 49 step distance from the dog and I came to 48 step distance. So the first step is avoidance, second is gradual encounter, gradual approach. And by this we will find that the phobia will at least become manageable even if it does not disappear.
And third is it is helpful if you can find at least one person with whom we can share this candidly and then they can be our emergency go to person whenever we start getting overwhelmed or panicky or start taking excessive measures for protection. So hopefully if we have a friend who understands us and who will not look down upon us then we can share with them our struggles and challenges and they will help us to ensure that we don’t lose perspective. So they could both be our sounding board and our accountability partner as well as a support friend.
So by these three steps we will be able to manage whatever phobia we have and ultimately Krishna sees what we do with what we have. So with whatever control we have if we are making the best endeavor that will please Krishna and take us closer to him. He will draw us closer to himself and what happens at the time of death, don’t worry about that.
Krishna will take care of that in due course.