A small story:🔗

A man rushed into the post office very angrily with a bunch of papers in hand, saying, 'How dare they send me threatening letters like this!' The official at the post office said, 'Yes, sending threatening letters is a legal offense. Do you know who has been sending you these letters?'

The man shouted back, 'Of course, I do! It is the Income Tax people!'

When you are angry, just look into the anger. At the root of it, you will find a deep fear.

Try this for yourself: if you are feeling fear, express anger at that time. Throw your hands, stamp your feet – express the energy. You will see the fear disappears. You will see for yourself how fear can simply transform to anger. Similarly, fear can also transform to hate. You just need to be aware of yourself and witness how the emotions subtly change from one form to another. When you understand this play, you can easily get out of the game.

Psychologists talk about fear strokes. Say you are walking in the garden in the dark, and you see a coil of rope – you start shivering, imagining it to be a snake. That sudden shock you get before realizing it is just a rope and not a snake, is what is called a fear stroke. A fear stroke is like shaking a rose plant from its roots – if you keep shaking it long enough, it will die.

It is said that we undergo six to twelve fear strokes every day and night, in dreams and also in wakefulness. Imagine what happens to our being! Fear strokes originate from unconsciousness. When they are viewed with awareness and consciousness, they can be substantially reduced.