New Translation: Fear

-Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

“In today's discussion of Ego and Mine, I'd like to discuss fear. Fear is a form of suffering that hugely disturbs human well-being. Some of that fear ought not to be so disruptive, but is. Yet, we mostly hear about lust and greed (rāga and lobha), anger and hatred (kodha and dosa), when discussing the sources of suffering. Delusion (moha), with its broad boundaries, gets less attention. Here, we will consider fear as a variety of delusion. You should situate it correctly within the three kinds of kilesa, the defilements that obscure and pollute mind's natural freedom and purity. Fear isn't a form of greed or hatred,which means it's a form of moha (delusion), of stupidity and blindness, of non-understanding. Not understanding something, we can be afraid of it continually...”

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