אות - פג

About anxiety and fears. Most things and persons that people fear cannot harm them at all.

The only time a person can think clearly is when he is dead. When he is lying on the ground with his feet to the door, 120 Immediately after death, it is customary to place the corpse on the ground with his feet toward the door ( Derekh Chaim ). he will have the calmness and clarity to see himself, and will finally see the truth. For then he will realize that all his anxiety and fear of those who stood in his way were mere foolishness. All his anxieties were for nothing. For what can a mere mortal do to him!

The same is true of his desires and temptations. Lying there dead, he will realize that he wasted his days in vain (cf. Psalms 78:33) . He will know that his most overwhelming desires were mere foolishness and confusion. Who really forced him?! But only then can one fully understand these things.

There is also a deeper meaning to this.

It is not the person who fears, but something else within him.

One may realize clearly that the thing he fears cannot harm him. Still, he cannot help but be terrified of it. This is because of that something within him that generates his fear.

We actually see many people with ridiculous phobias. They themselves realize the foolishness of their fears, but they cannot overcome them.

When we shout suddenly behind a person’s back, he becomes startled. He exhibits fear even before he knows of what to be alarmed. He can have fear without it entering his conscious mind.

But fear is not in the conscious mind and therefore does not have to be rational. For the fear actually stems from something else within a person.

The same is true of desire.

One may realize that his desire is utter foolishness, but still it remains strong. Here again, it is not the person who desires, but something else within him. Even when one realizes the foolishness of a desire, this something else continues to want it.

If you learn to settle your mind, you can easily rid yourself of all fears, anxieties and desires. You must realize that what you fear or desire is really nothing and that something else within you is responsible for them. Understand this, and you can overcome everything.

For you have free will. You can easily train your mind to discard that which is inside you that has caused your fears and desires.