Working With Fear and Uncertainty

We are currently facing some challenging days ahead. There's a lot of fear, a lot of anxiety, and many unknowns. Now is the time when our Dharma practice can really come alive and be of great use.

The Buddha said: "Everything is based on mind, is lead by mind, is fashioned by mind. If you speak and act with a distorted mind, suffering will follow you, as the wheels of an oxcart follow the footsteps of the ox. Everything is based on mind, is lead by mind, is fashioned by mind. If you speak and act with a pure mind, happiness will follow you, as your shadow follows your body."

Read Also: Buddhahood: The Four Seals of Buddhism

Dharma practice is about becoming aware of, and working with our body, speech, and mind to eliminate the causes of suffering and to uncover our awakened potential for the benefit of others.

Although we experience suffering in the body, its causes start in the mind. When we feed the fires of fear, aggression, and craving, suffering follows. When we practice bearing witness to and having compassion for the upheavals of mind with self-awareness and compassionate conduct, happiness follows. 

Fear and anxiety start in the mind. Therefore we must turn towards the mind if we want to develop a healthier relationship with them.

That being the case, external conditions do matter. Our political and social structures have an immense impact on our health, livelihoods, and communities. We need to consistently work towards developing more compassionate systems and taking better care of each other. We need to support policies and leaders that are caring and wise. But continuously pointing our finger outwards is not going to solve our problems completely. Eventually, we need to take a look at how we are relating to our habits of mind. Here are a few suggestions.

Slow Down

In times of high anxiety and social unrest, it's a good idea to slow down. Our modern, fast-paced environments push us to do more, be better, and outperform our competitors. This is a guaranteed recipe for more considerable anxiety and dissatisfaction.

If you have the flexibility, please take the time to rest more, nurture your relationships, and spend a bit more time on your dharma practice.  

Bear Witness

Cultivating embodied awareness is beneficial in the beginning, middle, and end. What this means is that we need to re-train our habit of turning outwards when fear and anxiety begin to grip us. 

Most of us are addicted to the mind that projects outwards. When anxiety arises, we look for an external cause and ruminate endlessly on it. 

Instead, drop into the body and be present with the feelings that are arising. Meet the body compassionately just as you would sit with a friend in need. Feel it and offer it kindness, presence, and non-judgment. 

Attuning to our bodies in this way can take some adjustment, so be gentle. We are not trying to conquer or change anything here. We are just practicing bearing witness. Remind yourself that this is a process, not a project.  

As the body settles, look back at the mind that projects and just rest in awareness for a little bit.

In addition to the practice above, it would be good to cultivate awareness with or without an object (shamata or calm abiding practice). Calm abiding strengthens our connection to present moment awareness, which is the root of meditation and forms the basis for attuning to the body more fully.

Read Also: How To Be In The Body (Without Jumping Out of Your Skin)

Take Refuge

Throughout the day, remember that the dharma is a refuge for you. Cultivate an appreciation that you have this refuge in your life. Refuge helps us to uplift the mind and turn it towards the dharma when we most need it.  

Soften and Step Up

Remember others, as we are not a world of one. Over the coming weeks and months, we have a choice of how we want to respond to others in a time of crisis. Even though we cannot see it, others are afraid. Most people genuinely fear sickness and death. Many have no safety nets. You don't have to be a hero to be compassionate. Compassion starts with how we treat ourselves and extends into how we see and treat everyone with whom we come into contact. Compassion is a way of life and an attitude we cultivate consciously through a recognition of our deeply interdependent lives.  

Read Also: Our Underlying Wholeness, a Reflection On Buddha-Nature

When we cultivate compassion for our habits and projections, compassion towards others is more natural and available. Therefore our practice of self-awareness and bearing witness is not cut off from the collective. 

Authentic dharma practice is not an isolated event where we are only just taking care of our side of the fence. Instead, we are taking care of our side of the fence so that when we do venture out into the neighborhood, we can have a more beneficial impact on those around us. 

This helps us to live a meaningful and peaceful inner life despite the circumstances that surround us. We must work as one community, rather than against each other. Please take care.