This is from the Vairagya-Shatakam, 31:
"In wealth is the fear of poverty, in knowledge the fear of ignorance, in beauty the fear of age, in fame the fear of backbiters, in success the fear of jealousy, even in the body is the fear of death. Everything in this earth is fraught with fear. He alone is fearless who has given up everything."
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Everything said, everything put into words, has truth behind it, even the lie. Finding the Truth hidden behind the lie is the end of all fear. These words hold truth and if one shifts focus becomes the lie that exists in all ‘ideas’, words, thoughts. Or so it appears to me. Namaste’
its quite correct…we all have fears..
I don’t agree, at least from my background, was taught that if one accepted his lot in life, you fear being harmed if confronted with death from an enemy. If wealthy, to be responsible for the people that rely on you for their livelihood and you have no fear–as the good from what you do out weighs any selfishness that might lurk in the way you gained your wealth. If can be wealthy in knowledge, can even envy those that are able to learn the wisdom of the sages as no one can take what your mind has gained in learning, thus, you fear not ignorance, but those that are ignorant and use their "fake" ideals as a means to destroy your right to have free will and true justice (as in the B’nai Noah laws for all mankind).
Anything can become an idol–and if you worship it enough, like "beauty", "fame", "wealth", "sex", even getting the right "credentials"–can over take your ego and you end up becoming a slave to your addiction and worship beauty, fame, wealth, etc. to the point that you let nothing stand in your way to reach your goal.
This earth is not fraught with fear. Fear has been created by religious & political fanatics that use people’s fear of hunger, roof over their heads, getting the right medical attention, free of disease, etc. to blame not their own leaders or belief system for not being stable enough, but transfer their fear to others as their cause of pain and suffering.
Like Churchill said: "The only thing you have to fear is fear itself".
The world can be beautiful and wonderful if one seeks it protect it, misusing the gifts we have been given only brings on chaos. We have the ability to change the world for the better, for all mankind, if we are willing to see the universe as it is—trillions of light years of energy, stars, planets, etc. and to quit viewing this world as your life — dedicated to making others believe like you do without regard to the consequences. Perhaps if we outlawed missionaries, we would really follow the original Golden Rule: "Don’t do to others as you wouldn’t want them to do to you."
its is a very good quote and very factual
yeah i like i
Nope I don’t like it. I seek knowledge not because I fear ignorance but because I despise ignorance with damn near every fiber of my being. I don’t want wealth because I fear poverty I simply understand that I need money in order to be able to survive in this world. In success I don’t fear jealousy, but failure is a constant cause for hesitation to me. If one fears death it is simply because they refuse to understand that it is the natural order of things. If it lives it must die there are no exceptions, eventually everything must die no matter how long lived it is.
I think it’s pretty depressing, and not at all sensible.
According to the quote, anything good is a result of fear. What about the things that are bad? Can it work both ways? Is ignorance a fear of knowledge? Is poverty a fear of wealth?
I much prefer this quote on fear: "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
I agree with it all except the last part. We cannot give up everything. It is not ours to give up. That is the key to being a Christian we do not have to fear so much. By the way, it has been a while since I feared any of those things. Thanks.
Yes,Be/align with the one who is an embodiment of wealth, knowledge, beauty, fame, success and the robust body and live without fear!
No i don’t like. Because only the impure souls has such fears.
Such fear exist only in some people who are obsessed to the attainments of this world.
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has far more eloquent hadiths than this quote.
Fear is the background for anything in this material world if you use anything for selfish purposes. but if for God then the fear disappears. for instance you would have to watch for your fame if you are arranging a gathering to preach for God and someone sick walks in who has a bad fever and coughs all the time and can make anyone else in the gathering sick. if you let him in it won’t be pleasing to God, would it?
Sort of a koan.
No. I like these instead:
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves (to free from defilement of sin and from faults) from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness (moral purity) in the FEAR of God. (2 Cor. 7:1)
Jesus said, "And do no fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather FEAR Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matt. 10:28)
Mary prophesied, while pregnant with Jesus, "And His mercy is on those who FEAR Him." (Luke 1:50) The word fear does mean fear. It also means to treat with deference or reverential obedience. So if you have that fear of the Lord’s opinion and judgment that makes you obey Him, then you will get His mercy. Mercy also means the mercy of Christ, whereby at His return to judgment He will bless true Christians with eternal life.
The FEAR of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction (Proverbs 1:7).
Thank you for this quote, Sara…it dovetails nicely with where i am right now. The "everything" that must be given up is the illusion we’ve made of separation. This is a tall order. Nonetheless, it is required to come to ultimate awakening.
What is surrender but surrender to The One Source, our Creator, from Whom and in Whom we have our being? All of the pleasures of the earth cannot compete with Truth. "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Luke 12:34)
Matthew 6:19-21 says it somewhat differently, but is essentially saying the same thing. "Do not lay up for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth or rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
When we have "given up everything" (all that is treasured in the dream), fear has no legs to chase and threaten us. We are free to enter the "heavenly realms," where our true treasure lies.
Fear feeds on the perception of potential loss. When we value what is valueless, we are prisoners of the ego’s false directives. "Everything in this earth (in this illusion) is fraught with fear." When we awaken from the dream of separation, we no longer dabble in fear of loss, for we have gained The Kindgom.
i am Sirius
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