From Fear to Surrender 4 – FEAR acronym – 4 steps for overcoming fear

[Seminar at ISKCON, Bahrain] Video:

Hare Krishna! Today we'll discuss about overcoming fear or moving from fear to surrender with the second half of practical strategies. Till now I discussed about analysing fear.

What we fear is determined by what our faith is in, what our education is, what our attachments are and how we are able to redirect our consciousness from the sources of fear to the sources of shelter, of security. So now for this redirection. So if you consider FEAR, now the talk will be primarily the expansion of that R, redirection.

So I'll talk about four points. Focus, engage, arise and release. This is also another acronym FEAR, F-E-A-R.

Now the first step in dealing with fear is to focus on what is real. Fear attacks us by accelerating our imagination. So if we hear somewhere that there's a terrorist attack and say if that is a place where some of our family, friends, relatives, loved ones stay, immediately our mind starts imagining.

Oh what if they were there? What if they were trapped by that? What has happened to them? So fear comes by, it starts off from some reality but it imagines, accelerates our imagination. So focus means we bring our attention to what is the danger right now. What is the danger right now? In general our mind, it is meant to be in the present.

But it goes either to the past or to the future. And when it goes either to the past or the future, it makes us wild. So if we are to deal with fear, either the mind may go to the future.

This may go wrong, that may go wrong, that may go wrong. Or it may even go to the past. That time that happened, that time that happened.

I heard that happened with that person, I heard that happened with that person. And in both ways, when the mind goes off track, either to the future or to the past, then it makes us increasingly agitated. So focus means how does this matter right now? What is the immediate problem? What is the immediate danger? Say for example, I hear in my company that many people have been laid off.

Then immediately my mind will start fearing. What if I lose my job? Now, okay, that possibility is there. But what is the danger right now? Right now, there is a possibility that it may happen.

But right now nothing has happened. Right now, I have my job at my hand. If I do it well, then that is the best thing I can do to deal with the situation.

Or say if I am driving a car, and suddenly I realise the brakes have failed. Then many times when some danger happens, the problem is not just because of the danger, the problem is because of our incorrect response to the danger. So when suddenly my brakes have failed, and that time when I become panicky, what if I run off a cliff? What if somebody rams into me? What if, what if, what if? Okay, those are possibilities.

But what is the situation right now? Okay, the brakes have failed. So if our mind goes off to the past or the future, then we have no control over the past, and we have no control over the future. So the mind, how fear attacks us is by making us feel powerless.

So when we focus, what is the problem right now? Okay, my brakes have failed. So if we say, okay, my brakes have failed, let's have it. Actually, when we focus, sometimes focussing may even require, especially, like a brake failing is quite dramatic, but often we have fears which go on in the background.

So when those fears are like background noise which are nagging us, which are draining us, then focus, okay, what is the problem right now? Get it? Sometimes even verbalising it out, writing it down. Okay, this is my fear. That, what it does is, it makes things from the hazy to the concrete.

If the problem is real, but often associated with the real problem, there is a whole phantom that the mind has created. So get it down. This is actually, basically, the mode of goodness.

Satvaguna means that we are aware of reality. There are three modes, Satvaguna, Rajoguna, Tamoguna. In Rajoguna, we are craving for good things to happen in the future.

I'll get this, I'll get that, that will happen, that will happen. So, in Rajoguna, we are primarily craving. As I said earlier, in Rajoguna, we feel that we are meant to be the controllers.

And we are thinking, when will I be the controller so that I can be enjoyed? In Tamoguna, fear, as long as we are in Rajoguna, we think that we can control. And when we start realising, I can't control, this problem is very big, then the consciousness goes down to Tamoguna. In Tamoguna, either we fear about the future or we lament about the past.

And when this happens, at that time, we are often not even aware of our immediate reality. So, in Rajoguna, we are aware only of the fact that I am the controller. And there are so many things not in my control, we don't even think about it.

In Tamoguna, we feel nothing is in my control. So, again, in the fear that nothing is in my control, we become panicky. But we become aware of reality.

Reality is in the present, this is the problem. So, focus, get it down to specifics. What exactly is the danger right now? So, basically, we interact with the world in two ways.

From the outer world, certain stimuli come into us. So, that is the inflow, which happens through the Jnana Indriyas. And then, there is an outflow.

Through our Karma Indriyas, we act. So, focus means, we take in, what am I taking into the Karma Indriyas, to the Jnana Indriyas? Okay, what is the problem? Focus. So, we take in the information properly.

Now, we may take something in from the outer world, we may take in something from the mind also. Because the mind also has many impressions within it. Now, the next step for dealing with fear is, engage.

So, focus refers to the Jnana Indriyas. Get them to focus. Okay, what exactly is the problem? Right now, what is it? Right now, this is the problem.

Say, suppose, we have to give a class. And we are fearful, what if I forget? What if people laugh at me? What if somebody asks a question, which I can't answer? What if I become panicky and I am not able to speak anything at all? So many fears may come. Okay, but what is the problem right now? The problem right now is, that I have to prepare for this class.

So, then we get the mind down to the specifics. That's with respect to what to take in from the outer world. The second part is, engage.

Okay, once I have identified, this is the problem right now. Then the next step is, what can I do about it right now? What can I do about it right now? So, okay, my car, the brake has failed. So, what can I do about it? I can move.

Okay, there is, there is this. Off the road, there is this lawn. I can just move my car over there.

And, maybe it will hit some fence or something. But then it will slow down. Then, there will be some damage, but it will be minimal damage.

It will not be crashing into someone. So, what can I do right now? Maybe I can release the gas, so that at least it will slow down. Maybe I can see if there is a turn where it goes up the road.

So, it will slow down because of the cliff. Whatever. So, we can find out, what can I do right now? Fear acts by making us feel powerless.

Now, both these things, focus and engage, are basically about getting back some control. So, you focus, okay. There is so much, this thought, this fear, this problem, this danger, this imagination.

The mind is going, control. Okay, what is it right now that is the problem? Focus. What can I do about it right now? That is the next.

This is in terms of the Karmendriyas. What we can get out? How can we act in the situation? So, when we, okay, I have to give a class and I don't know what is going to happen in that class. So, what can I do about right now? I can prepare.

What if I forget? Okay, I'll make notes. I can make elaborate notes. What if somebody asks a question which I can't answer? Okay, I can try to see what are common questions asked on this question.

Or, I can always tell that I can ask some senior devotees and get back to you. So, what can I do right now? This again, if you just do this in a specific way. Now, the fear acts by keeping things vague.

This may go wrong, that may go wrong, that may go wrong. But focus and engage is bringing things to specifics. By this, we learn to take as much control as we have.

Whatever little control we have, we manage to take that. Ultimately, Krishna is the supreme controller. But even to surrender to Krishna, we need some control.

That is, how can I call out to Krishna? When Draupadi found she was completely powerless, at that time, she had no control over the situation. But at least, she had enough control over her consciousness so that she could offer it to Krishna. She could surrender to Krishna.

Otherwise, she could just become panicky, fearful, resentful, hopeless. She didn't do that. So, even to surrender to Krishna, some amount of control is required.

So, focus and engage gets us to see what is in our control. In every situation in our life, something is in our control and something is not in our control. And how much is in our control and how much is out of our control, that varies from situation to situation.

So, if we are giving a class, then while we are giving the class, the topic that we are going to speak on, that is more or less in our control. But after the class, when people are asking questions, what questions they will ask, that is not in our control. If we are driving a car, how we drive is in our control.

How other people drive, that is not in our control. So, in every situation, something is in our control and something is out of control. And fear operates by directing our focus to that which is not in our control.

And thus, it makes us feel powerless. The first step, the first two steps to dealing with fear is focussing on what is in our control. Even if it is very tiny, still that is also enough.

So, if this has gone wrong, that has gone wrong, what can I do? Nothing else, you know, I can pray to Krishna. That is what I can do right now. Now, one definition of intelligence is that intelligence means to know what to do when we don't know what to do.

So, Arjuna at the start of the Bhagavad Gita was confused. He didn't know what to do. He said, first I thought, he came ready to fight, then he realised that I can't fight against my loved ones.

He started giving reasons for not fighting. But he started thinking, if I don't fight, what will happen to my loved ones, the other Pandavas, what will happen to us? They will kill us or we will all have to live in poverty. That's also not palatable.

So, then he says, na chaitadvitmah kataranno gariyo yadvajayem yadivano jayeyu yaaneva hatmana jijivishamas te avasthitah pramukhe dhartarastra He says, I don't know what is good for me. So, at this stage, Arjuna doesn't know what to do. Should I fight or should I not fight? So, when we don't know what to do, what does Arjuna do? Arjuna surrenders to Krishna.

So, he says in 2.7 that, prichchami tvar dharma samudh chetah shishya steham shadi mam tvam prapannam I surrender to you. I ask you, what is dharma? Just as Krishna and Arjuna are on a chariot. And Krishna is a charioteer.

Similarly, the body is also like a chariot. And inside us also the Paramatma is present. So, when we pray to Krishna, when we seek guidance from Krishna, that is also we are doing something tangible.

So, for Arjuna, he did not know what to do, but he knew what to do in the sense that turn towards Krishna. So, when fear operates by taking our vision to that which is not in our control, we deal with fear by dragging our vision back to what is in control. Life always has problems.

But the problems of today are always manageable today. But when on top of the problems of today, the problems of tomorrow and the problems of yesterday are piled up, then it becomes unbearable. If a porter has to lift 10 kg, 20 kg, 30 kg, they can lift it.

But if a porter has to lift 100 kg, then it is unbearable. So, how fear works is, when actual problem is 10, 20, 30 kg, fear by its imagination adds one more 100 kg on it. So, to the problem of today, the mind's imagination adds the problems of yesterday and the problems of tomorrow.

This may go wrong, that may go wrong. And thus we become overburdened. So, what we are doing is, get off the problems of yesterday, get off the problems of tomorrow.

This doesn't mean we are not preparing. We will prepare. But right now, what is the exact problem? Right now, what is it that I can do? These two things help us to come back to the present.

And thus, to come back to that which is in our control. The third step is, A is Arise. Arise means that with spiritual knowledge, we raise our consciousness upwards.

We understand that, okay, this danger is there. But actually, I am a soul. As a soul, I am indestructible.

I mentioned at last time, in yesterday's class, I mentioned I was in Florida recently, when one of the hurricane Irma hit that place. One of the worst hurricanes in American history. So, when that hurricane came, along with that, it broke some embankments and floods also started coming.

So, this one devotee who told me this incident, he was staying, he had gone to meet a relative. And that relative had gone out and he was staying there, in their house. And he could see, he heard that this hurricane is coming and the internet went off, the power started going off and he could see the water rising, rising, rising, rising.

And what do you do? The water is so high, you can't go out also. And as he is looking panicky, panicky, panicky, and then he was just looking around, where to go, where to go. And then, he just noticed that there is a closet and near that closet, he thought there is just another, another closet kind of thing is there.

But he saw there was a door. And he just pushed the closet aside and he opened the door and he found there was an attic over there. He just went up to the attic and the water rose, rose, rose, rose.

It rose to the first floor level. But in the attic, he stayed safe over there. And then gradually the water went down and he came back.

Now, if he had not seen the attic, he would have been flooded. He might have been drowned also. But he found the attic and he found the way to the attic.

So, we can similarly consider our existence is like a two-story building. There is our material side and our spiritual side. So, most of the time, we function at the material level.

And the problems come at the material level. Oh, what if my health gets spoiled? What if I lose my job? What if this happens? What if that happens? So, these problems are there. But they affect only our material side.

They don't affect our spiritual side. So, when we, with the spiritual knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita, understand that I, at my core, am a soul. In 2.22 Krishna said in the Bhagavad Gita that, 2.23, that none of the things that destroy the body ever destroy the soul.

The soul cannot be cut, the soul cannot be withered, the soul cannot be dried, the soul cannot be dissolved. So, the soul is indestructible. And that soul is who we are.

Just understanding this, even at an intellectual level, gives us some peace. And the process of yoga, so, it's first thing, okay, there is an attic over there. Now, what is the way to go up the attic? So, the process of yoga is essentially meant to raise our consciousness from the material level to the spiritual level.

When people meditate, the purpose of meditation is not just to sit in some nice looking posture. The purpose of meditation is to shift our consciousness from the changing to the unchanging. From the material to the spiritual.

And Bhakti Yoga offers us the easiest ways to raise our consciousness upwards. Because Bhakti Yoga offers us, not just that I am a soul, but also that there is a Supreme Soul, Krishna. And He is a living, loving person.

He performs wonderful pastimes. He has attractive names. So, in Bhakti, when we focus our consciousness on Krishna, we are basically climbing up that ladder.

Climbing up those steps by which we raise our consciousness upwards. So, many times when fears are coming upon us, if we can just arise, raise our consciousness upwards, by understanding our own spirituality, understanding Krishna's supremacy, that will itself give us some relief. The problem is there, but we don't feel immediately, personally threatened by the problem.

So, we can be concerned about problems, but we don't have to be disturbed by the problems. When I feel the problem is an immediate threat to me, I feel disturbed. But when I see, ok, I am at a higher level, the water is coming here, I am concerned.

How high is the water going to rise? I am concerned, but I am not disturbed. So, with spiritual knowledge and especially by practising spiritual processes, we can raise our consciousness upwards. And that gives us inner security.

By understanding our spirituality, we get security. Ultimately, actually, the search for security is the search for spirituality. Because security is found only at the spiritual level.

Because everything at the material level is temporary. And the last point is F.E.A.R. R is Release. Release means that which is not in our control, we stop trying to control it.

So, in the Bible, when Jesus comes to know that the next day is going to be poisoned, then he prays to God. He says, O Lord, let this cup pass. Let this cup pass means at that time when somebody was to be killed, often they were given a cup of hemlock, cup of deadly poison.

That is how Socrates was killed. So, he was thinking that maybe that's how he will be killed also. Let this cup pass.

But he says, let thy will be done, not mine. So, just release. Ultimately, we are not the controllers.

Krishna is the controller. And whatever Krishna does, it is ultimately for our good. So, by stopping our effort to control that which is not in our control, we get a sense of release.

We get relief from that. So, now release is not actually quitting or abandoning or accepting failure. Releasing is simply acknowledging reality.

The reality is there are certain things in my control and there are certain things not in my control. I tried to do what I could, but now this is not working. So, I release.

Krishna, you take care of things. So, when we release the things which are not in our control, what we can do by that is we can get our thoughts in our control. The more we try to control the things that are not in our control, the more our thoughts go out of control.

I'm trying to do this, I'm trying to do this, I'm trying to do this, but this is going wrong, that is going wrong, that is going wrong, that is going wrong. So, thoughts go more and more out of control. And that's how we become more and more panicky.

But if we release, Krishna, you take care of this. I've done my part, but this is not in my control. So, then by this, by stop, there are things externally and there are thoughts internally.

And we are the sources of channels, the sources of souls, the sources of consciousness. So, as long as we are trying to control things that are not controllable, our thoughts go on to those things and our thoughts also go even more out of control. But this is not in my control, Krishna.

I surrender to you. That creates a break between the things and the thoughts. And the thoughts which are going wild with the outside things, the thoughts can be disconnected from them, then we can direct those thoughts constructively.

Krishna, I surrender to you. We raise our thoughts towards Krishna. We pray to Krishna, release Krishna, you take care of this.

So, as I said earlier, even if nothing is in our control, at least our thoughts are in our control. And with our thoughts in our control, we can do the best that is possible in our situation. But if our thoughts are not in our control, we cannot do even the best.

Often we end up doing the worst. So, release. Tyagat Shanti Anantaram.

When we release, we become peaceful. That doesn't mean the problem is solved. But that simply means that we are no longer a part of the problem.

Our thoughts are no longer aggravating the problem. And then, when we turn up, Krishna, you are in control, you take care. Then by that, we connect with Krishna, we calm down.

And we calm down, then we can deal with that situation. When Srila Prabhupada was in America, at that time, he, after great efforts, reached America. And after reaching America, he went to New York.

First he was in a yogi's ashram. Then he went to the Lower East Side, where it was like, in India, we have slums. So, they had bovary over there.

It was over there. And at that time, there was one boy, David, who seemed to be very seriously interested. And among all the people who were coming, he was quite interested.

And eventually, Prabhupada got a loft, where he was staying, and David was staying with him. And David expressed some desires that, you know, I also want to become a devotee. And Prabhupada wrote to India saying that, you know, he may become the first western devotee, western Vaishnava.

And then, but this David was also taking drugs. And one day, under the spell of the drugs, he just went mad and he came to attack Shilaprabhupada. He came charging towards Shilaprabhupada.

Prabhupada was in a tall five-story building. And he just, as soon as he rushed out of the building, he just ran down the stairs. And he just, whether that boy was going to chase him or not, he didn't know.

He just came out on the streets. And on the streets, hippies were lying on the street, somewhere unconscious, somewhere drugged, somewhere doing all kinds of crazy things. And Prabhupada was just as derelict and homeless as they were.

Here, he was a person, he was an elderly scholar and author, who had, in India, was a respected sannyasi in Vrindavan, who had met the Prime Minister of India, who had met the President of America, who had standing invitations to give talks in many libraries and places, books there. But here he had come to America and now he was just as homeless as these hippies. Now, he could have just become, become dejected by that.

But instead, what did Prabhupada do? Prabhupada focused on his mission. What am I here for? Ok, he has turned against me. What am I here for? I am here to share Krishna's message.

I am here to carry out my spiritual master's instruction. So, what can I do now? So, as Prabhupada was thinking, he remembered, at that time, phones were also not very common. But, and most of the hippies, they had no home.

So, what to speak of having phones? They did not, at that time, cell phones were not there 30-40 years ago, only 50 years ago. So, but there was one person who was a little more respectable and he was, he was having a, most of these hippies didn't even have jobs. But this person had a job and he had his own.

So, Prabhupada, in his diary, he had kept the phone number of that person. So, he went to a nearby booth and he called him. And when he heard it, he immediately, he says, Prabhupada explain what had happened.

He immediately came there and then he invited Prabhupada to his house. And then from there, they arranged for another place for Prabhupada to stay. And at that place, just nearby, there were many other people who were very interested.

And that's how that thing, which actually at one level seemed to have been a very bad thing. Prabhupada is being attacked. But Prabhupada, it was not that Krishna suddenly miraculously came and Krishna revealed something or Krishna pushed David back or something.

Nothing like that happened. But Prabhupada, Prabhupada explains that devotion is not sentimental imagination or it is not imaginative ecstasy. It's substance is practical activity.

Devotion means we practically act in the service of Krishna. And yes, there are times when Prabhupada, in Prabhupada's life, Krishna miraculously intervened also. But Prabhupada did not demand that kind of miraculous intervention.

Prabhupada focused on practically, what can I do? And through the practical, Krishna revealed his transcendental hand. Krishna enabled something. Although that bad thing happened, Krishna brought something good out of that.

In fact, the situation, although initially it became worse, but eventually it became much better. So when we are facing our fears, we need to know that, yes, the problem is there, but rather than impulsively reacting to the problem, we try to come to the mode of goodness. The more we can come to the mode of goodness, the more we think, what is it that I can do practically? What is it that is the exact problem right now? How can I raise my consciousness spiritually? How can I release that which is not in my control to Krishna and focus on that which is in my control? This will help us to deal with the fear.

In my last US tour, I was at one airport, it was a Denver airport, and as I was going to the security to go to my flight, suddenly a loud bell rang. And within a matter of a few moments, almost like a dozen security people came around pointing their guns at me. So what had happened, while my crutches were going through the security device, apparently the crutches gave off an alarm of an explosive.

So they all said, you got an explosive. So I said, I don't have any explosive. Then they said, no, your crutches are there.

So then because this is a high alert, so they said, they immediately took me to a separate room and frisked me. And they said, there is something suspicious in your crutches. So I said, there is something in the crutches.

They said, no, we'll have to break the crutches. I said, if you break the crutches, how will I walk? So that one particular security person, he was in charge and maybe he was overworked or he was tired or whatever. He just snapped at me.

That's not my problem. So now at this point, actually initially I was thinking, this is a small inconvenience. Maybe they are just going to check.

But they said, I'll break your crutches. Then I said, how will I travel? So then, as I was getting a little fearful, because I was already a little late for the day. So I thought I had to clear to the security and I had to reach my flight.

Initially I was thinking I was going to miss my flight. But then I started realising this is a much bigger problem. So then I started becoming a little panicky.

And then as I started becoming panicky, somehow I have a habit of reciting Bhagavad Gita verses. I just love to recite verses. So I just started reciting some verses that came to my mind.

And somehow I started reciting the 18th chapter. So 18th chapter, Krishna says, Ishvara sarva-bhutanam hrideshe arjuna tishtati, brahmayan sarva-bhutani, yantra rudhani mayayam. Krishna says, I am guiding the wanderings of all living beings.

And the next verse is, you surrender to the Supreme Lord. Tameva sharanam gaccha, sarva-bhavena bharata, tat prasadat param shantam, sthanam prapsase shashvatam. You surrender to Him, you will get the supreme peace, you will get the supreme destination.

So as I was reciting this verse, suddenly just a thought came in my mind that, actually I have been travelling through so many places. So many things could have gone wrong in so many places. Planes could have crashed.

So many things could have happened. In fact, what to speak of travelling in so many planes, I am a soul who has travelled through so many lifetimes. And through it all, it is Krishna who has been guiding me.

So Krishna will guide me now also. Krishna will protect me in so many situations, He will protect me now also. So, just thought like that, suddenly I started feeling peaceful.

I was thinking what to do. And then at that time, this security person was a little irritating, was a little aggressive. So then some other, his boss came here.

He saw me and he said, why are you troubling him like this? So now there is an explosive in his crutches. We are going to break the crutches. Then it suddenly struck me that actually these clutches are detachable.

So it was a simple thing, but in the panic, I didn't think about it. He said, you can open the crutches. Oh, we can open, then we don't have to break.

Then they opened the crutches and they said there is something suspicious inside. I said there is nothing, now we can see it. Then they started putting their probe and taking it out.

And what was there was actually, there was some mud over there. Now, before I had gone to America, I had gone to Vrindavan. And while I had been in Vrindavan, the rubber padding that is there below my crutches, that had come off.

So, the Vrindavan dust or Vrindavan dirt, at some places there was, it was a little sticky. So that had gone inside and stuck. And apparently in that dust or in that dirt, there was a high metallic content.

And that metallic content had set off their alarm. So the explosive was actually Raja Raja. So then they started removing it and they said, what is this? I said, what does it look like? It looks like the, I said it is dirt.

So then they scraped off the dirt and then they opened the other crutch, there also some dirt was there, they took it out. And then they said, okay, you can go now. And by the time I reached there, my flight had already gone.

But because I had come more or less on time and the security had delayed me, so they said, so when I told them this is what happened, they said, we will arrange for another flight for you. And without any charge they arranged for another flight. And fortunately, I had a programme in that evening.

But fortunately from this place to another place, there is just another flight after one hour. So that one hour I got to that flight and I reached the destination. So this is my small experience that, that actually if you just try to remember Krishna, Krishna comes to our help.

There is no miraculous help, but some practical common sense comes in. Sometimes in some situations, the help may not come immediately. Some intelligence may not come, some guidance may not come.

And the problem may be more of an enduring problem, not a sudden problem. And that fear can sap us. Because when the problem comes suddenly, it stays for some time and goes, that is easier to deal with.

But if a problem is constantly there, and that is causing us fear. Then for that, we have to do this exercise consciously and repeatedly. Whenever the mind starts getting agitated by that fear, what can I do about it? What is the exact problem right now? What can I do about it right now? So quite often we need to have our intelligence ready with us.

That means, whatever it is, I found that reciting the verses is the way I calm my mind. For somebody else it might be just hearing some kirtans. So having some sweet kirtan of Hare Krishna Mantra going on, or having a picture of Krishna with us.

Or just having a picture of our spiritual master with us. Or whatever is it, what we have to find out, what is it that connects our consciousness to Krishna easily? And we keep that ready with us. So if there is a regular thing which causes us fear, then maybe we can have a small diary or in our phone we can have some notes where we write down.

Okay, what is the exact problem right now? What is it that I can do about it right now? And then we keep ready that thing which will enable us to easily remember Krishna. And if we do that, then we will find that the fear will come, but we will be able to deal with it. It will not overcome us.

It will not overpower us. And gradually, as we keep resisting the fears, what will happen is, initially when the fear comes, the fear appears very big and we appear very small. But with Krishna's help, when we keep fighting the fear, keep fighting the fear, the fear starts becoming smaller and smaller and smaller.

And then we realise that with Krishna by our side, we can deal with that fear. So generally we understand whatever dangers come in our life, they come ultimately by our own past karma. But I'll conclude with one thought that whatever karma may get us to, Krishna will get us through.

Whatever karma may get us to, Krishna will get us through. Thank you very much. So I'll quickly summarise.

I spoke today about how to deal with fear at a practical level. I talked about the acronym F.E.A.R. So F was focus. So fear operates by dragging our mind to the past or the future.

Focus means what is the exact problem right now. We get the mind to the present. So we interact with the world in two ways.

We take in information from outside through the jnana indriyas, the knowledge acquiring senses. And we do action on the outer world through our action executing senses, karma indriyas. So focus means we direct our jnana indriyas to focus on what is the exact problem right now.

And then second is engage. What can I do about it right now? So in the mode of passion, we think we can control everything. In the mode of ignorance, we feel we can't control anything.

But in the mode of goodness, we can focus on that which is in our control. So when fear starts accelerating our imagination, we can get our consciousness back on the present by asking these two questions. So we all need a sense of control.

And fear takes away a sense of control by making us feel powerless. But these questions can get us to focus on that which is in our control. And then after that, A was arise.

So okay, this situation is dangerous. This can damage me. But actually it can damage only my material side.

I am a soul. So we can raise our consciousness upwards. It's like a flood is coming and we find there is an attic on top where the flood can't reach.

So like that the problems come to our material side. But we have a spiritual side, the spiritual core which cannot be damaged. So the spiritual knowledge helps us understand there is another story to this building.

And the spiritual process of yoga shows us the ladder, shows us the stairs by which we can go up. And Bhakti Yoga reveals us that Krishna is there. All attractive supreme reality is there.

Therefore it becomes much more easier to climb up that ladder. And last R is release. So that which is not in our control, we stop trying to control it.

We leave it to Krishna. And then we, as long as we are trying to control the things we can't control, our thoughts keep going out of control. But when we release, then we can gain control over our thoughts.

And then we can offer our thoughts to Krishna. And by offering our thoughts to Krishna, we get calmness. We get clarity.

So I talked about Krishna Prabhupada when he was attacked by David. Prabhupada just focused on what, he immediately left their place. He didn't expect Krishna to come miraculously.

But he focused on his purpose. It was practical and Krishna arranged for something better for him to happen. So I also talked about how I was able to remember the Gita's verses and that's how the situation came under control.

So we have to find out how we can easily remember Krishna and keep those sources of remembrance readily available for us. And whatever our regular fears, the regular counters to those fears, in terms of the questions which can guide us back to what is in our control, we can keep those questions and their answers ready with us. And that way, by focussing on what is in our control and using whatever control we have to connect with Krishna, we can gradually, instead of those fears seeming to become bigger and bigger and bigger, we'll see that our connection with Krishna will show us that we have Krishna on our side.

The fear will become smaller and smaller and smaller. And we'll be able to face that fear and go through it. So whatever problems come in our life by our past karma, whatever karma may get us through, Krishna will get us through.

Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. So are there any questions or comments? Let's focus on the questions related to this first.

So tomorrow we'll have mostly a question and answer session itself. So today we'll focus on the questions related with this topic today. And other questions we can take tomorrow.

Okay, I think these are general questions. Are there any questions related with the topic today? So knowledge can remove fear, but knowledge can also lead to fear. When we have knowledge, that may lead to success and pride and arrogance and then we may hurt others and then that enmity comes up and then those who become our enemies, they trouble us and that again leads to fear.

So what can we do? Yes. Krishna talks in the Bhagavad Gita in the 13th chapter about gyanam ghenam gyanagamyam. He says there is knowledge, there is the object of knowledge and there is the objective of knowledge.

There is a difference between the object of knowledge and the objective of knowledge. For example, a student may be studying engineering. So the object of knowledge is engineering.

But for the student, the objective of knowledge is a job. The objective of knowledge is to earn money. So the object and objective are different.

But in spiritual life, the object of knowledge and the objective of knowledge are the same. We study about Krishna and our goal is also Krishna. So when we acquire knowledge, our purpose primarily in acquiring spiritual knowledge is to know more about Krishna so that we can devote ourselves more to Krishna and so that we can share about Krishna with others.

So if our objective in acquiring knowledge is to show the whole world how knowledgeable I am, then that objective will cause competition. Yes, knowledge can lead to arrogance, but it doesn't have to lead to arrogance. If we understand the purpose of knowledge is to increase my focus on Krishna, then we won't let that knowledge agitate us.

And that applies, the same thing can happen in material life also, yes. So whenever we acquire knowledge, we have to see what is the purpose for which I am acquiring knowledge. So if I keep that purpose clearly in mind, then when the temptation of pride or arrogance comes up, actually it is that purpose that will bring us down.

If in spiritual life I think that, oh, you know, I have so much knowledge, I have attracted so many people to Krishna, I have made so many people into devotees, and this person has not made anyone. But then I can think that actually, okay, some people, Krishna may have used some people to become devotees through me, but there are so many other people who are not there. There are so many more people who are out there who are still not knowing about Krishna.

Let me try to share more about them. It's like, suppose there is a hospital, there is an emergency, there is an epidemic, there are hundreds and hundreds of people who are sick. And suppose one doctor, you know, treats one patient, second patient, third patient, fourth patient, and that doctor starts thinking, you know, I have treated so many patients, this doctor is not doing anything.

And I am better than that doctor. Okay, that's fine, you may be better. But the fact is there are so many patients who are sick over there.

The doctor's purpose primarily is not to prove that I am better than other doctors. Doctor's purpose is to treat the patients. Now, for treating the patients, sometimes if the other doctor is doing something wrong, we may have to correct it.

But the primary purpose is not to prove one superiority over another. So, if both, from the spiritual perspective, our purpose is to go towards Krishna, from the social perspective, if we understand that people who are disconnected from Krishna, they are, even if they are not in distress right now, but still they are in this distressful material world. Where sooner or later distress is going to come.

And if we have that vision, then we will not have that, we will not give in to the temptation of arrogance. Arrogance is also a temptation. Ultimately, if we keep practising bhakti, over a period of time we realise, okay, even if I become proud, even if I become famous, even if many people praise me, but the satisfaction coming from that praise is actually very temporary.

Once, I gave a class and I had prepared that class very well. And I thought I gave that class very systematically. Every point flew into another point.

All the examples were good. And then, after that class, not a single person came and spoke anything appreciative about the class. Everybody just walked away.

And I was feeling agitated at that time. Nobody appreciated. And then somehow at that time it struck me, actually when I was preparing for the class and when I was delivering the class, I was actually much more happier than after the class when I was expecting appreciation from others.

Because before, I was absorbed in Krishna. When I was preparing, I was absorbed in Krishna. When I was delivering, I was absorbed in Krishna.

But now, instead of thinking of this as a service to Krishna, what has happened, I was expecting. So, yes, sometimes people may praise, sometimes people may not praise. But whatever pleasure may come from our proving our greatness, that is actually very small as compared to the joy of relishing Krishna's greatness.

So, if we have that understanding, then even if some enmity happens, even if some competition happens, see, this is not very important. So, my focus is to serve Krishna, let me keep serving Krishna. And that way, we can avoid the fear that knowledge will lead to fear.

We can focus on simply serving Krishna and if some problems come, we will deal with them and they come. Any other questions? Yes, please go on. We are talking about Krishna and all here, but suppose I am a Krishna, I also have the same fear as what a Krishna conscious person has.

So, how do I apply this principle what you have told to solving my fear problem? Not if they are Christian or Buddhist or an atheist or whatever. Say somebody is a Christian or a Buddhist or atheist, how can they deal with fear? There are the modes of nature, goodness, passion and ignorance. They are universal patterns of human thinking.

So, broadly in the mode of goodness, there is first contemplation, then there is action. In the mode of passion, there is first action, then contemplation. There are some people who think and then they speak.

Some people, they speak to express their thoughts. There are some people who speak to discover their thoughts. They speak, ah, I didn't want to speak that, what happened? So, first there is action, then there is contemplation.

And then, in the mode of ignorance, there is neither action nor contemplation. There is just delusion. Aprakasha apravratistha, Krishna says.

So now, as far as coming to the mode of goodness is concerned, through, I said, these questions, you know, what is it? What is the exact problem? What can I do about it right now? This coming to the mode of goodness is something which anyone can do. Even if that person is a non-believer, they can do that. And that also provides significant relief.

However, if you want to go beyond goodness towards transcendence, then we have to have some understanding of transcendence. So, if it is a theistic tradition, then every theistic tradition has some conception of God. And there is some methodology by which people can connect with God.

Now, if it is a non-theistic tradition, then they can go primarily to the mode of goodness. So, our purpose is primarily to help people raise their consciousness. Our purpose is not simply to promote an institution.

The institution is a means for raising our consciousness. But the purpose is to raise consciousness. So, some people may be able to raise their consciousness from ignorance to passion.

That is also a step forward for them. Some people are able to rise from ignorance to goodness. That is even bigger step.

If some people can raise their consciousness from ignorance towards transcendence, that's even better. So, our purpose is to provide the knowledge by which people can raise their consciousness. And to the extent they can come from the lower modes towards goodness, to that extent they can deal with their fears.

Yes. Almost similar lines, my question, like what Krishna Prabhupada said, that all are not as lucky as you are in Krishna consciousness or are not grown to that level. They may have this idea of prakriti kriyamanani kind of an attitude.

And they may not have even any belief in God or anything like what you said. In that situation, to be, let's say, any person in the congregation also, may also have this kind of an attitude. How do we explain this kind of an attitude? What kind of attitude can you specify? In the sense that, I am in control of that kind of attitude.

Okay. prakriti kriyamanani guna karmani satsa aham dharam mudha satsa So, those people think they are the doers. Yes.

Okay. So, if somebody is not practising bhakti, not interested in bhakti, and they think they are the doers, then what can we tell them to help them deal with their fears? Yes. See, just by living in the world, we sooner or later start understanding that there is much that is not in my control.

Even if I think that I am the doer, still, if you see sports, there is practically no field of activity which is as performance driven as sports. A cricketer, a batsman has to bat well. A bowler has to ball well.

A fielder has to catch the ball. So, performance matters in sports. But, almost all sportsmen all over the world have some kind of superstitions or the other.

There was a celebrated Australian batsman, Mark Taylor. I was just in Australia. So, one Australian devotee was confirming.

He says, Mark Taylor, whenever he would go out to bat, first he would go to the pavilion restrooms and close the lids of all the commodes. And then he would go out to bat. And if he got out early, he would come back straight to the restrooms.

And if any commode lids would open, he would go and blast his teammates. Why did he keep it open? We say, what is the position of the lid got to do with his batting? There is another, no. Steve Waugh was an Australian captain.

I am giving you an example from Australia because Australians were considered at that time to be the toughest cricketers. They were rough and tough. But even they were, he would always have a handkerchief in his pocket.

And he would have a red handkerchief, one third outside, two third inside. And if that handkerchief would fall out, he would feel something bad is going to happen. He was a very good fielder.

Sometimes if he would drop a catch, he would look down. How do I drop the handkerchief? How do I drop the catch? So, a simple point I am making here is that sports players, they know that performance matters. But they also know that performance is not all that matters.

There is something beyond that also shapes the results. And in their own quirky ways, through their idiosyncratic superstitions, they are trying to appease that unknown. So, keeping the commode lid closed or having a kerchief, there are their own ways by which they think they will appease whatever is out there, whatever is unknown.

So, it is not very difficult for us to recognise, even when we are very much of doers, that there are things beyond our control. So, if we recognise this point, there is something in my control, there is something beyond my control, then it is a choice I have. Do I think that things are just out of control or do I think that that which is out of my control is also in someone else's control? There is some higher control.

So, say for example, there is a patient who is sick and the patient is being treated. But amidst the treatment, some complications happen. Now, those complications are possibilities.

The doctor knows about it. The doctor knows how to address the complications. So, from the patient's point of view, it may seem the condition is worsened.

And the patient may think that this doctor doesn't know anything, I am sick and I am going to become worse and I may die also. The patient can become panicky. Or the patient talks to the doctor and the doctor says, yeah, this is unfortunate, but this complication sometimes happens, this is what we are going to do to deal with it, it will get over, we will feel better day or two, whatever.

Then, that means the condition of the patient is not in his control. But that doesn't mean the condition of the patient is out of control. It is in the doctor's control.

So, if we, first step is, understand the things out of my control. Second step is, that we analyse and we need some philosophy for understanding that, that there is some controller beyond us. Even people who do not believe in a God, even they talk about some kind of pattern or plan that operates in life.

And they say that actually, this plan, it works, what that plan is, we can't know while going to the future. But eventually when that plan works out, then when we look back, we understand it. Okay, this happened like this, this happened like that, this happened for this purpose.

So, the point which I am making is, if we, even if we don't believe in a personal God, even if we don't know about a personal God, just the conduct of life, if we are honest with ourselves, many times people ask, why do bad things happen to good people? Why did this go wrong in my life? Why did that go wrong in my life? If we are honest with ourselves, we can also see situations when things went right in our life. So, a student may study, I studied so well and I cracked this exam. That's true, the student studied well.

But, we can see there are so many other things that time went right. My health stayed good, I remembered what I had studied. And, sometimes students, they say, I studied so much but came out of syllabus, you know, I didn't do well in this exam.

But sometimes on students, I do a lot of college outreach, earlier I was doing, so I talk with students, say, you can think of the other times, when you study very little and that only thing comes in the exam. You do well. So, if you see in the long run, we see that whenever we are successful, our effort was important.

But, there are so many other things that fall right in place and that's how we become successful. So, basically there is a plan and a pattern. Now, we may attribute the plan and pattern to God or we may not attribute that.

But, the simple fact is that there are things out of our control which also fall in place when we are successful. So, to ascribe that there is some benevolent order, plan, planner, whatever you want to use, in life, by which sometimes things will work out right, sometimes they will not work out right. That is, not necessarily requiring a huge amount of devotional faith.

Just cool-headed analysis can help us realise that. And then we focus on understanding that there is a pattern. And sometimes things work out by that, sometimes things don't work out by that.

So, we do our part and we leave the rest. So, this is a policy that can be adapted by even people who are not necessarily spiritual or religious. Does this answer your question? Are there any other questions or comments? Okay.

Okay. Yeah. One of my friends has asked me, he said, I am a very great surgeon.

I have done this surgery so many times and it has come out successful. So, one of my friends from some other state recommended my name to that friend and he comes and he gets operated and that person died. It is a real story.

Now, my fear is not gone or not, it has become much more accentuated now. Now, I was very confident in my abilities and I have done got good results, but this patient literally died, a simple surgery patient died. So, how do we understand what is happening and how do we deal with this situation? Yeah.

So, if say something goes wrong, if a surgeon was very experienced, suddenly one surgery, the patient dies, then how does one deal with that? Yes, it is the reality of this world that even the things which we have control over, we don't always have control over them. So, I will take a surgery and somebody dying is a very serious example. No, no, I am coming back, I will come to that, but let us start with something simple.

Say somebody may be a very good batsman and that batsman can play effortlessly and there are different batsmen who are good at particular strokes. Somebody say hits a cover drive and just hits the ball effortlessly and they hit that cover drive hundreds of times and on this particular time that batsman goes out of form and a simple cover drive misses and gets clean bowled. Or a school boy could have hit that ball but I got clean bowled with it.

What is this? So, the fact is no batsman would like to be out of form. But sometimes they get out of form. So, even in areas where we have control, we don't always have control.

Now the mind's tendency is that to think that when we thought that I had control over a particular situation and suddenly I find that I don't have control over that situation. Then we start thinking what if next time I don't have control and we become panicky about that. But let us say that all of us we go through ups and downs in our life.

That is the very nature of the mind, that is the very nature of life. So, what is a one-off incident doesn't have to be made into a life-defining incident. So, when problems come, when things go wrong, when especially something wrong happens, not just things go wrong, something goes wrong because of us, then it is very easy to beat ourselves down by it.

But we have to recognise that there are times when things just don't work for us. It's okay. That doesn't mean that everything that we have done in the past is false.

It's just there are times when things we are good at turn out to be bad. That is a time we need to acknowledge and embrace our humanity. To be human means to be finite.

To be human means to be fallible. To be human means to be not God. So, we will all commit mistakes at times or things will go wrong.

At that time, if our defining identity was I am this, I am this great surgeon and then I do something wrong, I'll just be shattered. But if I see that this is a gift that I have, I may have trained and developed the gift, this is a gift that I have and this experience is simply a reminder to me that this is not mine. It is given to me.

It is not mine. In the Bhagavatam, there is an example of Arjuna who was a great archer. He fought and defeated hundreds, thousands of warriors single-handedly.

He defeated the whole army at Virat. But then later, he was fighting against some plunderers and he couldn't. They defeated him.

They plundered him. He was shattered at that time. But then, he remembered the Bhagavad Gita.

He remembered Krishna. And he remembered that it was Krishna who had given him these abilities. So, by that remembrance of Krishna, he calmed himself down.

So, we can see such situations as opportunities to grow internally. To grow in our self-understanding. So, just because that gift was not there once, does not mean that it is never going to be there.

But the fact that it was not there when I thought it would be there is just evidence to me that it is not mine. That it is a gift which is given to me and sometimes it will be taken away from me. I have memorised a lot of Bhagavad Gita verses.

So, many times devotees ask me, have you memorised all the Gita verses? Now, actually, I am afraid to say yes. Why? Because although I have memorised all the verses, every time I say yes, next time in the class I forget a verse. So, quite often, when we think that we are the controllers, then sometimes nature shows us that we are not the controllers.

So, rather than thinking that we are the controllers, we say, okay, this is a gift I have. I will use this gift as well as I can. But sometimes that gift is not there.

I accept that as a lesson in humility and grow in self-understanding. It's an opportunity to grow spiritually. Sometimes our losses empty our heart of ourselves so that God can fill our heart.

But it also could be a situation where the man has not been able to face the facts in real life. He may get shattered in his life and go to an entirely negative track. Yes.

So, when something which we are good at, we fail to do it, we can get shattered. Yes, that's why we need some shelter. See, the nature of the mind is, it goes into extremes.

The mind makes us think that either I will be the best or I will not be there only. That sort of ego-driven idea. Either I will be the best or I will not do this at all.

That is undesirable. Okay, even if I can't be the best, that doesn't mean I have to give it up. Even if I can't be flawless.

So, if somebody is going to get shattered, at that time, the social group that one has, one's friend circle, what kind of support they give, when a soldier is wounded, the soldier is to be sent to the hospital. Not to the jail. Isn't it? So, sometimes we all may commit mistakes.

Suppose a soldier while fighting a war has committed a mistake. And because of that soldier got wounded. The mistake is there, we acknowledge the mistake.

But the soldier was still fighting a war. So, A, for that mistake the soldier is sent to a jail. That's the wrong thing to do.

So, sometimes our own mind may send us to a jail. Or sometimes if people around us are very judgemental or very critical, they may sort of send us to a jail. And then that will be very crippling for us.

So, we need to have friends around us who understand us. And who help us to understand ourselves. So, that kind of supportive social circle is extremely important.

Then, when the mistake happens, we need to be able to acknowledge the mistake. At the same time, we need to be able to separate the mistake from the person. The two extremes could be, I just deny the mistake.

No, it is not my problem. Because of that happened, that happened, that happened. We just push the blame to others.

Then we don't learn from it. But, if we identify the mistake with the person. And equate the person.

You are irresponsible, you are this, you are careless, you are incompetent, you are this, you are that. Then, that makes the person feel powerless. That makes the person feel victimised.

So, we have to separate the two. Acknowledge the mistake, but see that the person is not defined by the mistake. In our lives, failure is an event.

Failure is not a person. Failure is an event that comes, it stays for some time, and it goes. Our mind tends to catastrophise problems.

When a problem comes, the mind tends to catastrophise. But, we don't want to catastrophise problems. We want to contextualise problems.

Okay, in this situation, this happened. I will be more careful in the future, and I move on. So, to gain that understanding, if we have friends, if we have spiritual guides.

Especially, spiritually minded friends. They can help us to prevent our mind from catastrophising the problem. We contextualise the problem.

We acknowledge the problem, but separate the person from the problem. And then, the person can deal with the problem in the future better. Okay, thank you.

Shri Prabhupada Ki Jai. Gaur Bhakta Vrindaki Jai. Tai Gaur Premanandi Jai.