The Opportunity Of Fear

This month on Being Yourself, we return to the summer of 1993 in Boulder, Colorado. Gangaji speaks about the opportunity to break the trance of fear by directly experiencing fear itself.

“This is a kind of contraction against life. Direct experience is the medicine, the remedy. When you really experience fear, fear is not fear.”

Transcript

And so fear arose because this is often the case with psychological,

Physical trauma.

And this is a kind of contraction against life.

And direct experience is the medicine,

Is the remedy.

Hello and welcome to Being Yourself,

Self Inquiry with Gangaji.

My name is Barbara Denempont.

Not long after Gangaji began teaching,

She got an invitation to speak in Boulder,

Colorado.

That first meeting was in May of 1992.

But by 1993,

She was holding two,

Three,

Four meetings every week there in the summer.

And it was during that time a group in Boulder really coalesced and they came together with Gangaji to create the Gangaji Foundation.

That's really where it was born in 1993.

And now here we are celebrating the 30th anniversary.

What I know is that we can all be very thankful to this group in Boulder who stepped forward to help in such a deep way.

And we wouldn't even have this podcast today without them.

And I do mean that literally because this recording I've selected to share with you today is actually taken from those 1993 summer satsangs.

It sounds so different.

It's kind of wild when you listen to it.

There weren't any microphones in the audience,

But you'll be able to hear this profound teaching that is the opportunity of fear.

Welcome to satsang.

If you have a question or report,

Please feel free to speak at any time.

No question is necessary.

Please feel free to be quiet all the time.

Even in the midst of questioning and reporting.

Oh,

Let's see.

Okay,

Okay.

You're over your quota,

But that's all right.

Okay,

Good.

Wait.

Wait and see.

Really.

Wait and see.

And then,

You know,

If it's not answered,

Ask it.

Wait and see.

This is because we're very old friends and a lot of questions and answers have gone between us.

If you've only asked three or four questions before,

Please feel free to ask more at any time.

Once it gets up into five and six,

You might want to question the question itself and see if it's not the same old question in different semantics.

And if it is,

See if it hasn't already been answered.

Otherwise,

Please ask it.

Well,

What is it that separates you from total,

Absolute fulfillment?

Since you aren't asking me questions,

I'll answer them.

Seriously.

If you're seeking fulfillment,

What is it that separates you?

Yes.

Fear.

Find this fear right now.

Satsang is the place for fear to be investigated.

Not to be overcome,

Not to be gotten rid of,

To be investigated.

What is the reality of fear?

Are you aware of fear right now?

Good.

You immediately take your full consciousness into that fear.

In order for this to happen,

You can't be talking about the fear.

Where it comes from,

What's on the other side of it,

What it means,

Just directly,

Totally experience fear.

Tell me,

Quickly,

What do you discover?

Directly into the intensity.

Don't settle for any label.

Leave all labels behind,

All story about the fear behind.

Into the core of fear,

What is there?

Quickly,

Everyone's waiting.

Nothing.

Nothing!

Stand up and show everybody there's nothing,

Please,

Quickly.

Are you sure?

Good.

Yes,

Yes,

Invite it back.

And now you forget your fear,

Invite all of your neighbor's fear.

The whole collective fear,

You must discover what is at the core of fear.

The great dreaded fear.

You discover this and you discover what is at the core of everything.

All phenomena.

Not to get rid of phenomena,

Not to overcome phenomena,

Not to erase phenomena,

But to discover the reality at the core of everything that has been labeled something.

Okay?

This is the limit of my teaching.

That's it.

We're finished,

We all go home.

You are this core.

And this core,

Maybe in this instant,

Is called nothing.

But don't stop with any label.

Directly experience this nothing.

Discover what is at the core of nothing.

Never settle for any label.

Even if it seems better than the last one.

Even if it seems more expansive.

Never,

Never settle.

This is called non-abidance in the mind.

This is the appendix to my one teaching.

No one taking notes tonight?

It's a good night for notes.

Yes.

My came to Satsang last week for the first time.

Lots of thoughts have gone through my head.

Now when you talk about fear,

I can look at fear or whatever else is there.

I can get to the core of that.

But is it still okay to feel that?

Everything is okay.

We're not speaking of okay here,

Or right or wrong.

It's not what you should do.

It's not that you should experience the core,

Or you should not be afraid.

This is totally a different order.

In Satsang,

Those who are called to Satsang,

Those in those whom Satsang appears,

Appear,

Satsang appears,

There is this desire to discover the truth,

To be free.

What did Suzanne say?

To go home.

To be free from the psychological,

Physical trauma.

That is lodged in memory.

And this memory has to do with the past,

And the belief that it's real.

And there is a mental aspect to that,

There is a physical aspect to that,

In terms of cellular memory,

And there is an emotional aspect.

The opportunity is,

Without any technique to get rid of that,

Or analyze it,

Or trace it,

To actually discover what is the reality.

Not what seems to be the reality,

Not what is assumed to be the reality,

But in direct experience,

What is reality.

And so fear arose,

Because this is often the case with psychological,

Physical trauma.

And this is a kind of contraction against life.

And direct experience is the medicine,

Is the remedy.

So it's not that it's a should,

And you're certainly free to experience fear.

Fear,

When it is discovered,

Really,

In its reality,

In its essence,

As nothing,

Then fear is quite wonderful,

As it was before it was contracted against.

I mean,

What is fear?

Sensation,

You said.

Adrenaline,

Excitement,

Movement.

It's phenomena.

Emotional phenomena.

Physical phenomena.

So what does like a storm,

Or clouds,

Or seasons?

There's nothing wrong with that.

It's the play of the Self,

The play of God.

Weather.

So I'm not speaking of shoulds.

And you're free to suffer also.

I'm not saying you should not suffer.

It's not about that.

Suffer.

Really,

You really suffer.

You really,

Really suffer,

And suffering is not suffering.

You really experience fear.

Fear is not fear.

And this is the opportunity.

It's not a should.

It's just an opportunity.

And this opportunity naturally quietens the mind,

Because the agitation of mental activity is some defense or strategy against being overtaken by this monster that fear portends.

So it's simply breaking a certain trance.

Breaking it,

Not analyzing it,

Not finding the cause and the effect,

Just directly experiencing it to discover what is at the core of all phenomena.

It's like waking up in a nightmare.

I don't know if you've ever had this experience.

It's called lucid dreaming.

Oh,

Excellent.

Well,

Then you know.

You wake up in the nightmare,

And it's terrifying.

You have heart palpitations.

You have adrenaline.

It seems very real.

You wake up in the nightmare.

You turn and face that that you are running from.

Face it.

This is an ecstatic experience.

This is the release of that contraction of energy against life,

As if you are separate from life,

And life is coming to get you.

This isn't that it,

Always running,

Running,

Running.

This is stopping and facing directly life.

In life,

It appears to be fear facing that.

Despair,

That.

Joy,

That.

Bliss,

That.

Nothing,

That.

And see,

This core in which you and it dissolve.

So it's okay.

It's okay.

Already there's quiet,

Right?

Just it's okay.

You know,

People bring to the spiritual search all the conditioning of learning in our culture,

All cultures,

That you must learn to read.

You're bad if you don't learn to read.

You'll never make it if you don't learn to read.

This is a different order.

You are the Self.

That's just a fact,

Whether you recognize it or not.

The opportunity is to recognize it.

That's all.

Doesn't mean you're wrong if you don't.

You get this?

It doesn't mean you're wrong if you don't.

Just simply an opportunity.

You're birthright.

Somehow,

As a human being,

A certain evolution,

There is the opportunity to recognize yourself as being-ness.

Not separate from life.

Not a particular being,

But being-ness itself.

Not separate from other human beings or any being.

So-called sentient or insentient.

Being is not separate from life.

Okay,

It's going to be a quick night,

I can tell.

Very fast.

I'm very happy to have the opportunity to share these recordings with you.

And perhaps you'll take an opportunity to share these recordings with others or give us a review.

This podcast is reaching out all over the world.

The last time I checked,

Downloaded in 190 countries.

And it's a message I know that resonates with so many hearts around the world.

And that is part of the arc,

The trajectory of the Gangaji Foundation over the last 30 years.

Here we are,

Offering this message in more countries than we ever could have imagined back in 1993.

If you would like to connect with the Gangaji Foundation or learn more about the Foundation,

You can go to gangaji.

Org.

That's G-A-N-G-A-J-I dot O-R-G to see the work of this community.

I'm Barbara Denempont,

And I am very grateful for you listening.

Until next time.

Reviews

Perfectly aligned words. 🙏🏼

Interesting. 🙏

Thank you 🩵

❤️

Thank you GJx

Thank you for this direct and compassionate teaching 🙏🏾 ❤️!

Profound reminder🙏🏼✨

This was divinely timed and cracked me open to more expansion and direct moments of fear, to uncover the joy. How beautiful. Thank you for sharing. 💖🙏🧚🏻

Wonderful as always 💜