You must have heaven in your Heart || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Kabir (2016)

Questioner (Q): There are times when one meets a lot of resistance and suffering during the spiritual process. All kinds of fears and pains come to the surface, and the temptation to just drop the whole thing and go back to one’s normal patterns is high. How can one withstand all this and keep moving even when the situation seems hopeless?

Acharya Prashant (AP): There is no method here. One has to live through it. One has to pass through this hell. You can only pass through hell if you have heaven in your heart. You will have to live through it. It is the smoke; your accumulated conditioning is burning. It is the smoke, fear is the smoke. You will have to tolerate it. Jesus said, only faith enables you to tolerate it.

So, there is no shortcut here. And fear will tear you apart, fear will really make you tremble, shiver; don’t then ask for a remedy. The only remedy is only to go deeply within. The experience of fear, mind you, will still be there; it will still be there. What prevents us from just passing through this fear and be done with it is the hope that we can avoid it and yet become free. Just drop this hope.

You need not drop the fear. Drop the hope of some kind of an escape from fear. Let there be fear and be certain that you will have to face it. That is the price you pay. You see, fear is the smoke of the annihilation of the ego. If the ego will burn, this smoke will arise.

Q: This fear is probably the last thing that will go, particularly the fear of death.