Where the mind is without fear
And the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is lead forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my
Father let my country awake. – Rabindranath Tagore

This poem was written by Rabindranath Tagore during India’s pre-independence days. The poet is writing that a country should have people living without fear and with dignity.

Is it not contemporary even today. Our Prithvi, Mother Earth is over run with acts of violence, terrorism and brutality. Desecration of places of worship and environment is rampant and we all have fear in our hearts. Shoot outs in schools and malls. I can rattle on and on to the misery we face because of our misbehavior and lack of respect. Abhayam means fearlessness.

Fearlessness is not the absence of fear, fearlessness is the total presence of fear with the courage to face it. – Acharya Rajneesh

Vedic prayers for fearlessness

Free us Indra from the fear of all that we are afraid of, may thou with thy saving power turn away the hater and the enemy. – Atharva Vedas (Shaunaka Samhita) 19.15.1.

Let there be no fear from friend, from foe, no fear from the known, no fear from that which lies unknown.
Let there be no fear for us from night, no fear from day. May all the directions be my friends. – Atharva Veda

Fear in all its aspects is the greatest enemy of man. Constant fear saps the vitality and destroys one’s ability and confidence, which makes one powerless. What paralysis does to the physical body, it does to the mind. It is a most destructive emotion. It creates worry makes the state of happiness and peace of mind impossible. Clinging to life and body, or love of earthly life are the main causes of fear. – Swami Sivananda

The root source of fear is our chatter with our thoughts. Our thoughts cling to us and many of us enjoy their prattle. It is not easy ridding ourselves of fear and the friendly enemies (thoughts) which never leave us alone. There is a way and that way is the way of Yoga through constant awareness of the pause between inhalation and exhalation.

Aim Hrim Klim

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