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    Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm
    Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm
    Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm
    Ebook149 pages2 hours

    Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm

    By Thich Nhat Hanh

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    “Written in words so intimate, calm, kind, and immediate, this extraordinary book feels like a message from our very own heart….Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the most important voices of our time, and we have never needed to listen to him more than now.”
    —Sogyal Rinpoche

    Fear is destructive, a pervasive problem we all face. Vietnamese Buddhist Zen Master, poet, scholar,  peace activist, and one of the foremost spiritual leaders in the world—a gifted teacher who was once nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King Jr.—Thich Nhat Hanh has written a powerful and practical strategic guide to overcoming our debilitating uncertainties and personal terrors. The New York Times said Hanh, “ranks second only to the Dalai Lama” as the Buddhist leader with the most influence in the West. In Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting through the Storm, Hanh explores the origins of our fears, illuminating a path to finding peace and freedom from anxiety and offering powerful tools to help us eradicate it from our lives

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateNov 13, 2012
    ISBN9780062123817
    Author

    Thich Nhat Hanh

    Thich Nhat Hanh was a world-renowned Buddhist Zen master, poet, author, scholar, and activist for social change, who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was the author of many bestselling books, including the classics Peace Is Every Step and The Art of Living. Through his books and retreats at the monasteries he has founded in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Australia, he became a pre-eminent figure in contemporary Buddhism, offering teachings that are both deeply rooted in ancient wisdom and accessible to all.  Sister Chan Khong is Thich Nhat Hanh’s most senior monastic disciple and lifelong collaborator. A leading force in his engaged Buddhism programs and humanitarian projects, her books include Learning True Love and Beginning Anew. Sister True Dedication is a former journalist and monastic Dharma Teacher ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh. 

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    Reviews for Fear

    4.5/5

    138 ratings10 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be a mixed bag. While some appreciate the wisdom and interesting perspectives, others feel that it doesn't address their personal struggles. However, there are positive reviews that highlight the book's ability to provide guidance and help in overcoming challenges, particularly in terms of breathing and meditation practices. Overall, readers find this title to be a valuable resource in navigating the complexities of life and finding gratitude.

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Hanh writes simply enough for anyone to understand the concept of mindfulness and gives some simple, straight-forward ways to develop it. He even relates some of what he shares to Christian tracings. I especially appreciate what he says about peace and his emphasis of living so as to bring happiness to others.
    • 5/5
      Despite the simplicity of his style, he engages effectively with the difficult ideas.
    • 5/5
      I am learning to incorporate his breathing and meditations into my every day life. It is helping me recover from a life-threatening illness. I am so grateful.
    • 4/5
      Best for:
      Those looking for ways to process and manage fear.

      In a nutshell:
      Zen master Nhat Hanh shares thoughts related to processing, confronting and addressing fear.

      Worth quoting:
      I took so much away from this book, but some highlights:

      “When we climb the hill together, we don’t need to make an effort; we enjoy every step.”

      “Each of us is life without limit.”

      “We cannot remove violence with hatred and anger. We can only remove violence and fear with compassion and love.

      Why I chose it:
      I really enjoy Nhat Hanh’s writing. Also, I can always use some help in the fear department.

      What it left me feeling:
      Calm.

      Review:
      I find reviewing books on spirituality and mindfulness a bit challenging because I think they are such personal experiences. Like most books, people will take away different things based on what they need and what they are feeling at the moment.

      What I can say about this book is that I found Nhat Hanh’s stories and way of writing about fear to be beautiful and meaningful to me, and I know that the many different exercises included will be helpful on my journey.

      I think his writing is accessible and easy to understand but still gets me thinking, and that’s just what I need.

      Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
      Keep
    • 5/5
      Very interesting book that everyine should read in this world of confusion and materialism
    • 5/5
      It's hard to describe how important and powerful Thich Nhat Hanh's work is. This is no exception.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      I am of mixed feelings for the wisdoms distributed through the book. My conundrum is that it is based on the past which is great, but my present is abusive due to financial circumstances. This is not addressed in the book. The book makes statements of assumptions which then are expanded upon with more assumptions - I'm am not afraid to die, I'm not afraid of the 5 experiences so found the book not able to address what I am fearful of.
    • 3/5
      This is a good book, and there is some essential wisdom in it. However, I also believe that it is not always easy to glean the wisdom from the more general stuff that is written in the book.

      I have read "The Miracle of Mindfulness" and "Silence", and these are outstanding books.
      What I felt, in this one, is that he skirted the issue of fear. Fear runs deep, and while mindfulness breathing can help, it is not the whole solution at times.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This is a truly valuable work; it is simple yet challenging.

      And like other writers I like, he combines this beautiful Eastern thought with a good English-language style.
    • 4/5
      An interesting (very easy to read and follow) book. Mindfulness does seem to offer a solution for all things that ail us. A very useful book and should hold a place in anyone's personal library.

    Book preview

    Fear - Thich Nhat Hanh

    THICH NHAT HANH

    FEAR

    ESSENTIAL WISDOM FOR

    GETTING THROUGH THE STORM

    Contents

    INTRODUCTION: Fearlessness

    A Time Before

    Original Fear

    Reconciling with Our Past

    Releasing Fears About the Future: The Five Remembrances

    No Coming, No Going

    The Gift of Fearlessness

    The Power of Mindfulness

    Learning to Stop

    Calm in the Storm

    Transforming the Fear Around Us

    Blue Sky Above the Clouds

    Transforming Fear into Love: The Four Mantras

    The Opposite of Fear

    Practices for Transforming Fear

    Releasing Fear from Body and Feelings: Eight Simple Mindfulness Exercises

    Transforming the Roots of Fear in the Mind: Eight Breathing Exercises

    Deep Relaxation for Transforming Fear and Stress

    Metta Meditation: May We Be Free from Fear

    About the Author

    Credits

    Books by Thich Nhat Hanh

    Copyright

    About the Publisher

    INTRODUCTION

    Fearlessness

    Most of us experience a life full of wonderful moments and difficult moments. But for many of us, even when we are most joyful, there is fear behind our joy. We fear that this moment will end, that we won’t get what we need, that we will lose what we love, or that we will not be safe. Often, our biggest fear is the knowledge that one day our bodies will cease functioning. So even when we are surrounded by all the conditions for happiness, our joy is not complete.

    We think that, to be happier, we should push away or ignore our fear. We don’t feel at ease when we think of the things that scare us, so we deny our fear away. Oh, no, I don’t want to think about that. We try to ignore our fear, but it is still there.

    The only way to ease our fear and be truly happy is to acknowledge our fear and look deeply at its source. Instead of trying to escape from our fear, we can invite it up to our awareness and look at it clearly and deeply.

    We are afraid of things outside of ourselves that we cannot control. We worry about becoming ill, aging, and losing the things we treasure most. We try to hold tight to the things we care about—our positions, our property, our loved ones. But holding tightly doesn’t ease our fear. Eventually, one day, we will have to let go of all of them. We cannot take them with us.

    We may think that if we ignore our fears, they’ll go away. But if we bury worries and anxieties in our consciousness, they continue to affect us and bring us more sorrow. We are very afraid of being powerless. But we have the power to look deeply at our fears, and then fear cannot control us. We can transform our fear. The practice of living fully in the present moment—what we call mindfulness—can give us the courage to face our fears and no longer be pushed and pulled around by them. To be mindful means to look deeply, to touch our true nature of interbeing and recognize that nothing is ever lost.

    One day during the Vietnam War, I was sitting in a vacant airfield in the highlands of Vietnam. I was waiting for a plane to go North to study a flooding situation and help bring relief to the flood victims. The situation was urgent, so I had to go in a military plane that was usually used to transport such things as blankets and clothing. I was sitting alone in the airfield waiting for the next plane when an American officer came up to me. He was also waiting for his plane. It was during the war, and there were only the two of us at the airfield. I looked at him and saw that he was young. Immediately, I had a lot of compassion for him. Why does he have to come here to kill or be killed? So out of compassion I said, You must be very afraid of the Viet Cong. The Viet Cong were Vietnamese communist guerrillas. Unfortunately, I wasn’t very skillful, and what I said watered the seed of fear in him. He immediately touched his gun and asked me, Are you a Viet Cong?

    Before coming to Vietnam, U.S. Army officers had learned that everyone in Vietnam could be a Viet Cong, and fear inhabited every American soldier. Every child, every monk, could be a guerrilla agent. The soldiers had been educated this way, and they saw enemies everywhere. I’d tried to express my sympathy to the soldier, but as soon as he’d heard the word Viet Cong he’d been overwhelmed by his fear and went for his gun.

    I knew I had to be very calm. I practiced breathing in and breathing out very deeply and then said, No, I am waiting for my plane to go to Danang to study the flooding and see how I can help. I had a lot of sympathy for him, and this came through in my voice. As we talked, I was able to communicate that I believed the war had created a lot of victims, not only Vietnamese but also Americans. The soldier calmed down as well, and we were able to talk. I was safe, because I had enough lucidity and calm. If I had acted out of fear, he would have shot me out of his fear. So don’t think that dangers come only from outside. They come from inside. If we don’t acknowledge and look deeply at our own fears, we can draw dangers and accidents to us.

    We all experience fear, but if we can look deeply into our fear, we will be able to free ourselves from its grip and touch joy. Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvelously. Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky. Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones.

    The first part of looking at our fear is just inviting it into our awareness without judgment. We just acknowledge gently that it is there. This brings a lot of relief already. Then, once our fear has calmed down, we can embrace it tenderly and look deeply into its roots, its sources. Understanding the origins of our anxieties and fears will help us let go of them. Is our fear coming from something that is happening right now, or is it an old fear, a fear from when we were small, that we’ve kept inside? When we practice inviting all our fears up, we become aware that we are still alive, that we still have many things to treasure and enjoy. If we are not busy pushing down and managing our fear, we can enjoy the sunshine, the fog, the air, and the water. If you can look deeply into your fear and have a clear vision of it, then you really can live a life that is worthwhile.

    Our greatest fear is that when we die we will become nothing. To really be free of fear, we must look deeply into the ultimate dimension to see our true nature of no-birth and no-death. We need to free ourselves from these ideas that we are just our bodies, which die. When we understand that we are more than our physical bodies, that we didn’t come from nothingness and will not disappear into nothingness, we are liberated from fear.

    The Buddha was a human being, and he also knew fear. But because he spent each day practicing mindfulness and looking closely at his fear, when confronted with the unknown, he was able to face it calmly and peacefully. There is a story about a time the Buddha was out walking and Angulimala, a notorious serial killer, came upon him. Angulimala shouted for the Buddha to stop, but the Buddha kept walking slowly and calmly. Angulimala caught up with him and demanded to know why he hadn’t stopped. The Buddha replied, Angulimala, I stopped a long time ago. It is you who have not stopped. He went on to explain, I stopped committing acts that cause suffering to other living beings. All living beings want to live. All fear death. We must nurture a heart of compassion and protect the lives of all beings. Startled, Angulimala asked to know more. By the end of the conversation, Angulimala vowed never again to commit violent acts and decided to become a monk.

    How could the Buddha remain so calm and relaxed when faced with a murderer? This is an extreme example, but each of us faces our fears in one way or another every day. A daily practice of mindfulness can be of enormous help. Beginning with our breath, beginning with awareness, we are able to meet whatever comes our way.

    Fearlessness is not only possible, it is the ultimate joy. When you touch nonfear, you are free. If I am ever in an airplane and the pilot announces that the plane is about to crash, I will practice mindful breathing. If you receive bad news, I hope you will do the same. But don’t wait for the critical moment to arrive before you start practicing to transform your fear and live mindfully. Nobody can give you fearlessness. Even if the Buddha were sitting right here next to you, he couldn’t give it to you. You have to practice and realize it yourself. If you make a habit of mindfulness practice, when difficulties arise, you will already know what to do.

    A Time Before

    Many of us don’t remember this, but a long time ago, we lived inside our mothers’ wombs. We were tiny, living human beings. There were two hearts inside your mother’s body: her own heart and your heart. During this time your mother did everything for you; she breathed for you, ate for you, drank for you. You were linked to her through your umbilical cord. Oxygen and food came to you through the umbilical cord, and you were safe and content inside of your mother. You were never too hot or too cold. You were very comfortable. You rested on a soft cushion made of water. In China and Vietnam we call the womb the palace of the child. You spent about nine months in the palace.

    The nine months you spent in the womb were some of the most pleasant times of your life. Then the day of your birth arrived. Everything felt different around you, and you were thrust into a new environment. You felt cold and hunger for the first time. Sounds were too loud; lights were too bright. For the first time, you felt afraid. This is original fear.

    Inside the palace of the child you didn’t need to use your own lungs. But at the moment of your birth, someone cut the umbilical cord and you were no longer physically joined with your mother. Your mother could no longer breathe for you. You had to learn how to breathe on your own for the first time. If you couldn’t breathe on your own, you would die. Birth was an extremely precarious time. You were pushed out of the palace, and you encountered suffering. You tried to inhale, but it was difficult. There was some liquid in your lungs and to breathe in you had to first push out that liquid. We were born, and with that birth, our fear was born along with the desire to survive. This is original desire.

    As infants,

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