Acharya Prashant explains that losing something requires a method only if that thing is either central to you or sticks to you on its own. Fear, he states, is neither central to you nor does it stick to you; it is acquired and external. Therefore, rather than asking how to give up fear, one should figure out how one admits fear. The way to stop admitting fear is by simply seeing the ways in which you let your life be governed by it. He elaborates that fear is lifeless on its own; it does not stick to you, rather, you clutch fear. Instead of asking how to give up fear, one should ask, "How do I invite and retain fear in my life?" This requires self-observation. Fear is not something that happened once upon a time; day in and day out, we allow ourselves to live by fear and in fear. Every time you accept something that seeks to control you by tempting or threatening you, you are admitting fear. This admission of fear happens daily in our homes, workplaces, and the marketplace. For instance, an advertisement for insurance that talks about the situation after your death is trying to control you through fear. When you let yourself be drawn towards that advertisement and buy the product, you are admitting fear into your life. Similarly, if your boss's threat about a poor appraisal makes you work harder, you have admitted fear. The solution is not an elaborate process; it is to stop letting in fear. Not inviting it is sufficient for it to be gone. This principle applies even to intimate relationships and the concept of a "God-fearing" person. Our relationship with the universe and the so-called God is itself often of fear. By admitting a God that keeps you in fear, you are letting fear rule over you. The speaker points out that our language even contains the expression "God-fearing." If you have a God that rules over you through fear, you must first give up that God. Keeping that God, you will only be afraid all the time.
