The Fearless One

Ashtavakra observed the calm in Janaka's eyes.

"I see no fear in you, O King. Not the absence of fear through bravery, but the absence of fear through understanding. This is true fearlessness."

Janaka nodded. "You speak truly. Fear has left me, though I did not try to remove it. It simply dissolved when I recognized what I am."

"Explain this dissolution."

"Fear depends on believing you are something that can be harmed. The body can be harmed—this is true. But I am not the body. The reputation can be damaged, the possessions can be lost, the loved ones can depart. But I am not these things. When I saw clearly that I am awareness itself—unchanging, unborn, undying—what remained to fear?"

"And yet the body still reacts, does it not?"

"The body has its instincts. If a tiger leaps, the body moves. If a loud sound occurs, the body startles. These are animal reflexes, preserved for survival. But I do not add fear to the reflex. The body responds; I remain untroubled."

"Some would call this denial of natural emotion."

"It is not denial—it is freedom from identification. The emotion may or may not arise; either is acceptable. But I do not believe the emotion defines me. Fear is a weather pattern; I am the sky. Weather comes and goes; the sky is unmoved."

"What of the fear of death?"

"This was the deepest fear, and the first to dissolve. When I understood that what I am was never born, the fear of death became absurd. How can the unborn die? The body will certainly end—this form is temporary. But I was here before this body appeared, and I will be here when it disappears. What is there to fear?"

"You speak with great confidence."

"It is not confidence as the ego knows it. The ego's confidence is built on uncertain ground; it can collapse. This is certainty—the certainty of direct seeing. I have seen what I am, and what I have seen cannot be unseen."

"What about the fear of suffering?"

"Suffering happens in experience. It is painful when it occurs. But I no longer fear that it will occur, because I know it cannot touch what I am. The fear of suffering was worse than suffering itself. Without the fear, suffering becomes simply intense experience—unpleasant, perhaps, but not threatening."

"And the fear of the unknown?"

"What is unknown? The future is imagination; I am not going there. I am always here, always now. The unknown is a story the mind tells about what might happen. But I am not in the story—I am the awareness in which stories appear. Let the unknown remain unknown; I am complete as I am."

"You have described freedom," Ashtavakra said.

"Freedom from fear is the foundation of all other freedoms. Fear is the root of clinging, of aggression, of seeking. When fear dissolves, these branches wither naturally. I do not need to work on my anger or my attachment—they were expressions of fear, and they fade as fear fades."

"Is there anything left that could frighten you?"

"Nothing external. And internally, there is no one left to be frightened. This may sound like boasting, but it is simply description. The one who could have been frightened was a phantom. Phantoms cannot feel fear—only the believed-in self can feel fear. When the self is seen as illusion, fear has no home."

"May all beings taste this fearlessness," Ashtavakra said quietly.

"They already are this fearlessness," Janaka replied. "They only believe otherwise. The invitation is always open: look at what fears, and see that it does not exist. In that seeing, fear itself becomes impossible."