fear and anxiety

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Johnny Dangerous
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fear and anxiety

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

These are states I just don't read that much about in Buddhism, I know they are one of the reasons for taking refuge, and they appear here and there.

I'm wondering if anyone knows some specific Dharma teachings on these subjects they've found insightful.
Meditate upon Bodhicitta when afflicted by disease

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when sad

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when suffering occurs

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when you are scared

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Jesse
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Re: fear and anxiety

Post by Jesse »

I dont know any specific dharma teachings about them. I do believe dharma protectors listen to our prayers when we are suffering a lot. also Zazen, and Shamatha meditation are great for anxiety..

Anxiety in Buddhist terms is probably monkey mind on speed. So any method that reduces mental attachment will temporarily cure it. So shamatha is especially good.
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Dan74
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Re: fear and anxiety

Post by Dan74 »

Johnny Dangerous wrote:These are states I just don't read that much about in Buddhism, I know they are one of the reasons for taking refuge, and they appear here and there.

I'm wondering if anyone knows some specific Dharma teachings on these subjects they've found insightful.
Hi Johnny :hi:

Interesting question. I guess you've googled them. I suspect Pema Chodron would have a talk or two about these. Might be worth check out if you haven't already.

When I was a student, our Buddhist club was visited by an American Theravada nun, who gave a talk boldly entitled "Embracing Fear, Aggression and Sexuality on the Path to Awakening". It was a very good talk (at least I thought so at the time) especially coming from a celibate nun with a shaved head. The nun herself, Ajahn Thanasanti, impressed me as a genuine article - an intense vibrant presence yet very open, laughing easily. It made me realise just how half-alive I was. Now I see that the talk (or one with the same title and by the same person) is online. You might want to check it out:

http://awakeningtruth.org/teachings/tal ... -awakening
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Re: fear and anxiety

Post by LastLegend »

Johnny Dangerous wrote:These are states I just don't read that much about in Buddhism, I know they are one of the reasons for taking refuge, and they appear here and there.

I'm wondering if anyone knows some specific Dharma teachings on these subjects they've found insightful.
I don't know of any specific Dharma teachings on this subject. Of my experience, fear and anxiety has its root in attachment particular desire, usually family. We worry about losing or leaving our loved ones behind, not being able to care for them. That's one form of fear and anxiety. Another form (I am not sure of the cause of it, but in my experience drug related) of fear and anxiety is it comes automatically in any situation, be triggered by anything. In short, this form is a result from delusional thinking, projecting that something might happen. But this has a preceding cause, when triggered will lead to a series of other delusional thoughts which result in fear. Very overwhelming. Very sensitive experience.
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Dan74
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Re: fear and anxiety

Post by Dan74 »

Johnny, there's an interesting post on Quora that deals with depression and anxiety, but offers some good stuff for all sorts of cognitive distortions (coming from a CBT background). It's very long, I am not sure if I should post it in its entirety here. I can PM you, of you like. Here's a snippet:

http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-anxi ... sion-hacks
Amin Ariana wrote:Like with most "mindbody disorders", Western medicine fails to address anxiety and depression adequately because of misdiagnosis. Medicine expects all human body conditions to be chemically caused. This is a fallacy. And this fallacy causes doctors to confuse chemicals as the cause of anxiety and depression as opposed to its effect. Therefore, when you go to a doctor, you end up being prescribed medication for anxiety and depression. Only for a few conditions this makes sense. For majority of the conditions, this is simply misdiagnosis and mistreatment. Medicine treats the effects of anxiety and depression, not its causes.

Anxiety is a mind condition most frequently (with some brain-atrophy exceptions) caused by cognitive disorders. Simply stated, during your life time, through observation of certain events, you come to take certain "rules" for granted through thinking and belief. These rules might be observations such as "I'm never good at attracting a partner" or "I'm always last at my workplace / school", or "I never get a break". Your brain will then take these cognitive observations and use them to chemically optimize your body's processes to live up to the observed challenge. For example, when you're thinking "I'm always last", your brain kicks your heart into gear, which will make you sweat, because you brain wants you to run and be first -- even though in reality, it's not a physical match but a proverbial match in which you're last. Or when you say "I never get a break", your body tenses up and you become angry, because your brain is gearing you up to finish your job faster to catch a break, even though you meant "I never catch a break in life".


Cognitive distortion:

The subtlety of cognitive disorders (of which anxiety is one) is that we end up not realizing the transition of these one-time personal or social observations into automatic subconscious thoughts. In other words, your brain is usually so smart that it can automate things for you, for example, when you discover how to stabilize yourself on a bike -- and it does the same thing for repeated observations: it starts saying the sentences in the back of your mind, without you having to use your mouth! It's critical for you to realize this: you're actually saying things to yourself in the back of your mind, without so much as a peep.

The key hack to completely reversing anxiety is to train yourself to stop the moment you're having anxious feelings and realize this: You're not having anxious feelings. You're having anxious thoughts. The distinction is night and day: feelings are treated by chemicals, vitamins and hugs. Thoughts are treated by thinking correctly.

Here's the kicker: The subconscious part of your brain, which is responsible for automating your thoughts and forming your personality, has evolved a long time ago. So long ago in fact, that it's childish in its level of intelligence. You let it hear from you "Gosh, why can't I catch a break in life" and its childish response is to think "Oh! Master is tired. Master needs a break ... let me turn on ALL the machines under my control to get everything done as quickly as possible so master and I can catch a break together." BOOM - your heart is suddenly in high gear, your muscles are tense or otherwise fatigued, you're hyper-ventilating, you're having a panic-attack and eventually if this pattern repeats itself frequently enough, you're giving up on life completely and going into depression. Why? Because the subconscious brain has the IQ of a moron, and you're feeding the moron confusing information. This confusing information enters your subconscious mind and gets mis-interpreted. This mis-interpretation is called Cognitive Distortion.
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Mkoll
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Re: fear and anxiety

Post by Mkoll »

There's a sutta in the Majjhima Nikaya actually titled "Fear and Terror" (bhaya = fear, bherava = terror, dismay). Here's the relevant excerpt, but as usual, I recommend clicking the link and reading the whole thing.
Bhaya-Bherava Sutta, MN 4 wrote:"The thought occurred to me: 'When brahmans or contemplatives who are unpurified in their bodily activities resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings, it's the fault of their unpurified bodily activities that they give rise to unskillful fear & terror. But it's not the case that I am unpurified in my bodily activities when I resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings. I am purified in my bodily activities. I am one of those noble ones who are purified in their bodily activities when they resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings.' Seeing in myself this purity of bodily activities, I felt even more undaunted about staying in the wilderness.

"The thought occurred to me: 'When brahmans or contemplatives who are unpurified in their verbal activities... unpurified in their mental activities... unpurified in their livelihood resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings, it's the fault of their unpurified livelihood that they give rise to unskillful fear & terror. But it's not the case that I am unpurified in my livelihood when I resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings. I am purified in my livelihood. I am one of those noble ones who are purified in their livelihood when they resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings.' Seeing in myself this purity of livelihood, I felt even more undaunted about staying in the wilderness.

"The thought occurred to me: 'When brahmans or contemplatives who are covetous & fiercely passionate for sensual pleasures... I am not covetous...'...

"...'When brahmans or contemplatives who have minds of ill will, with destructive attitudes... I have a mind of good will...'...

"...'When brahmans or contemplatives who are overcome by sloth & drowsiness... I am devoid of sloth & drowsiness...'...

"...'When brahmans or contemplatives who are restless & with an unstill mind... I have a still mind...'...

"...'When brahmans or contemplatives who are uncertain & doubting... I have gone beyond uncertainty...'...

"...'When brahmans or contemplatives who are given to praising themselves & disparaging others... I do not praise myself or disparage others...'...

"...'When brahmans or contemplatives who tend toward panic & dread... I have gone beyond horripilation...'...

"...'When brahmans or contemplatives who are desirous of gains, offerings, & fame... I have few wants...'...

"...'When brahmans or contemplatives who are lazy & lacking in persistence... My persistence is aroused...'...

"...'When brahmans or contemplatives who are muddled in their mindfulness & unalert... I have mindfulness established...'...

"...'When brahmans or contemplatives who are unconcentrated, with straying minds... I am consummate in concentration...'...

"The thought occurred to me: 'When brahmans or contemplatives who are drooling idiots, resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings, it's the fault of their drooling idiocy that they give rise to unskillful fear & terror. But it's not the case that I am a drooling idiot, when I resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings. I am consummate in discernment. I am one of those noble ones who are consummate in discernment when they resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings.' Seeing in myself this consummate discernment, I felt even more undaunted about staying in the wilderness.

"The thought occurred to me: 'What if — on recognized, designated nights such as the eighth, fourteenth, & fifteenth of the lunar fortnight — I were to stay in the sort of places that are awe-inspiring and make your hair stand on end, such as park-shrines, forest-shrines, & tree-shrines? Perhaps I would get to see that fear & terror.' So at a later time — on recognized, designated nights such as the eighth, fourteenth, & fifteenth of the lunar fortnight — I stayed in the sort of places that are awe-inspiring and make your hair stand on end, such as park-shrines, forest-shrines, & tree-shrines. And while I was staying there a wild animal would come, or a peacock would make a twig fall, or wind would rustle the fallen leaves. The thought would occur to me: 'Is this that fear & terror coming?' Then the thought occurred to me: 'Why do I just keep waiting for fear?

What if I, in whatever state I'm in when fear & terror come to me, were to subdue that fear & terror in that very state?' So when fear & terror came to me while I was walking back & forth, I would not stand or sit or lie down. I would keep walking back & forth until I had subdued that fear & terror. When fear & terror came to me while I was standing, I would not walk or sit or lie down. I would keep standing until I had subdued that fear & terror. When fear & terror came to me while I was sitting, I would not lie down or stand up or walk. I would keep sitting until I had subdued that fear & terror. When fear & terror came to me while I was lying down, I would not sit up or stand or walk. I would keep lying down until I had subdued that fear & terror.
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
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Hieros Gamos
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Re: fear and anxiety

Post by Hieros Gamos »

f you feel okay about jumping into midair with a parachute, then you do not know what is going on. Anybody without wings—which is all human beings—who jumps out into midair in a parachute without fear is a bit of an idiot. But there is a need for idiocy! Once you jump, your fearfulness creates—aah!—first thought. This is a very important point; you catch yourself before the first moment. You catch yourself at that zero situation where you have some kind of wakefulness.
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Re: fear and anxiety

Post by supermaxv »

When I saw the OP I immediately thought Pema Chödrön too.

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Re: fear and anxiety

Post by Losal Samten »

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