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Dharma Thoughts

Vijaya Samarawickrama is an accomplished Dharma educator,
teacher, and author. He retired after 60 years of teaching in
schools, colleges and universities. However, he continues to give
Dharma talks throughout the country, participates in inter-faith
dialogues, speaks at various international seminars, and writes
for Buddhist books and journals.

Facing Fear

By Vijaya Samarawickrama

It has been reported that the most used word in 2020 knowledge and an understanding of how the universe
was ‘lockdown. If one were then to ask what was the works, these ‘gods of the gaps’ were replaced by a more
most commonly felt emotion the answer surely must rational approach to confront the challenges posed
be ‘fear’. Given global interconnectedness and density by human existence. The Buddha was among the first
of population it is safe to say that at no other time in thinkers to encourage humans to use knowledge to
human history did we as a species feel so much fear in dispel irrational fear and anxiety.
the face of an invisible common enemy. Fear is nothing
new because over the 200,000 years that humans While there has been considerable progress in reducing
inhabited the world they experienced numerous the element of fear in many aspects of life, however, we
tribulations never knowing when the next calamity have been rudely alerted to the continued prevalence
would strike. Fear is so much a part of existence that of ignorance and the experience of fear on a scale
the Buddhist scriptures enumerate no less than 25 never experienced before. Covid- 19 was the great
different types of fear ranging from fear of rebirth, old equalizer. Unlike in the past when geography served
age, disease and death to fear from fire, floods, wild to contain natural calamities within limited areas, this
animals, hunger and punishment. tiny virus has served to remind all humans how puny
and vulnerable they are. Rich or poor, developed or
We could even say that it was fear and the attempt to undeveloped, young or old, all of us experienced some
alleviate it that gave rise to religion. Anthropologists form of fear driven by ignorance on how to combat it.
call this kind of fear Numina – the fear of the unknown.
Driven by ignorance about the way the universe What is fear? The Penguin dictionary of Psychology
operates they attributed their sufferings to the working defines it as an “emotional state in the presence or
of malevolent forces which they tried to subdue by anticipation of a dangerous or noxious stimulant.
invoking the support of invisible benevolent powers Fear is usually characterized by an internal, subjective
designated as ‘gods’. The rites and rituals which were experience of extreme agitation, a desire to flee or to
devised to invoke the protection of these gods eventually attack and a variety of sympathetic reactions”. Fear is an
gave rise to the religions we have today. The irony is extremely complex emotional state which is expressed
that while religions had their origins in the attempt to in myriad ways but in Buddhism it can be traced to
overcome fear they eventually gave rise to priesthoods a single cause among humans: “The cause of all fear
which exploited fear, (particularly fear of punishment by is self-grasping ignorance and all the delusions such
supernatural powers) to control the masses. as selfishness, attachment and anger arise from that
ignorance, as well as all the unskilful actions motivated
Over the years however, as ignorance gave way to by those delusions”. Fear arises in a person because