Story Of Fear
Many sorts of fear are created or made by man and they are different just like the leaves on a tree. So, are we going to deal leaf by leaf? It would be a very long story. I remember that in my childhood days, I was very interested in hearing stories. Every night I wanted someone to tell me a story. And my parents provided it. When I was young, First they used to tell me then afterwards some people were there. Every night before going to bed, a story was necessary. And how long can you continue with the stories? And my memory was very sharp, if once a story was told, I knew the story. I would say, this I know, tell me something else, this is boring, I know the end. How can you go on repeating? One night a man came and said, “I will tell you a very good story.” I insisted, “It should be long. Short stories are not welcomed because I need to sleep.” He said, “It will be very long.”
He sat just next to my bed and started telling the story, “There was a huge tree of Peepal. It was a very beautiful tree. Winds were passing through it and it was making noise. Many Pigeons were living on that peepal tree. Do you know how many?” he asked me. I said, “You keep on saying. Just tell me the story. I will just do ‘Hmm…Hmmm. ‘ I don’t know. How can I know? You are telling the story. Tell me how many.” He said, “There were as many pigeons as there were leaves on the tree. It was full of pigeons and suddenly one pigeon took one leaf and furrr,” I heard. Then he again said, “The second pigeon took the leaf and flew furrr, third pigeon took the leaf and furrr” he continued for fifteen- twenty pigeons, and I said, “Okay! Okay. Now I know. Just go. Go on.” He said, “I am telling you the very fact, what happened there, one after the other.” I asked, “Okay. What happened then?”
He continued till hundred more. I had to face him. Then I again asked, “Oh! Please tell me now what happened after this.” He told that first the leaves must be finished and when the leaves shall be finished, then new and more leaves will grow there. Because one after another the pigeons are taking leaves and while the last leaf is plucked, a new leaf is growing. It was a never- ending story. Same are your fears.
If you take your fears one by one then it is a never ending story. You can go on taking, the new leaves may grow on and you may go on thinking. So, isn’t it better that we go in the root, take out the root, understand the root of the fear, and the nature of the fear; not one by one. So, when we are understanding here about fear, don’t operate your mind on a particular fear you may have. Try to be together. Try to understand, to go deep into the root or the very basic nature of the fear. It is a very complex thing and you have to understand it with very deep attention.