Is it possible to eliminate fear completely? || Acharya Prashant (2017)

Questioner: Is the goal to eliminate fear completely, or to be not affected by fear as one witnesses it within? I ask because as long as one has expectations from others, one needs to fulfill their desires, which can inhibit freedom and create fear.

Acharya Prashant: Fear is not an external object. Fear is your relationship with that object. When you say, or ask, “Is fear about remaining unaffected by fear?”, then you are talking about that relationship between you and that object. If you can remain unaffected, then the relationship is broken. So, there is no fear.

Are you getting it?

If there is a monster, in this room, and you are not conscious of it, and thereby you have no relationship with it, would there still be fear? If there is a monster in this room and you know of it but have forgotten it, would there still be fear? So, fear is an active relationship with something. The moment you say that you can remain unaffected by that thing, the relationship is already broken; so, there is no fear. It is not ‘things’ that disturb you, but your perception of what those things can do to you. Are you getting it?

Does a tiger in a cage, terrify you? When you go to a zoo, does a tiger in a cage terrify you? Now the cage is suddenly lifted, gone, what happens to you? Now, the same tiger can do something to you! So, was it the tiger that was scary? Had the tiger been scary then you should have been afraid even when it was in the cage. You were not afraid then. So, it’s not about the tiger. It’s about what the tiger can do to you. Is the fear about the other? Or, is it about your own sense of perceived vulnerability?