Showing posts with label fear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fear. Show all posts

Thursday, December 3, 2015

fear God as much as man

--> When Rabbi Jochanan was ill, his pupils visited him and asked him for blessing. With his dying voice The Rabbi said, "I pray that you may fear God as you fear man." . "What!" acclaimed his pupils, "should we not fear God more than man?"

"I should be well content," answered the sage, "if your actions proved that you feared Him as much. When you do wrong you first make sure that no human eyes see you; show the same fear of God, who sees everywhere, and everything, at all times."

from Talmud

Monday, April 23, 2012

Fear of God

You should never fear anything except God. If ever you begin to feel afraid of anything, remember the great fear, which is due to God. Throughout the day, fill your entire consciousness
with this sense of awe. 
This is the way to achieve true joy. 
In order to achieve these levels, you must combine your fear of Heaven with love. A person's main strength lies in the love he has for God. Nevertheless fear must come first.


R Nachman

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Abhaya Sutta

"And who is the person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death?
"There is the case of the person who has abandoned passion, desire, fondness, thirst, fever, and craving for sensuality. Then he comes down with a serious disease. As he comes down with a serious disease, the thought does not occur to him, 'O, those beloved sensual pleasures will be taken from me, and I will be taken from them!' He does not grieve, is not tormented; does not weep, beat his breast, or grow delirious. This is a person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death.
"Furthermore, there is the case of the person who has abandoned passion, desire, fondness, thirst, fever, and craving for the body. Then he comes down with a serious disease. As he comes down with a serious disease, the thought does not occur to him, 'O, my beloved body will be taken from me, and I will be taken from my body!' He does not grieve, is not tormented; does not weep, beat his breast, or grow delirious. This, too, is a person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death.
"Furthermore, there is the case of the person who has done what is good, has done what is skillful, has given protection to those in fear, and has not done what is evil, savage, or cruel. Then he comes down with a serious disease. As he comes down with a serious disease, the thought occurs to him, 'I have done what is good, have done what is skillful, have given protection to those in fear, and I have not done what is evil, savage, or cruel. To the extent that there is a destination for those who have done what is good, what is skillful, have given protection to those in fear, and have not done what is evil, savage, or cruel, that's where I'm headed after death.' He does not grieve, is not tormented; does not weep, beat his breast, or grow delirious. This, too, is a person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death.
"Furthermore, there is the case of the person who has no doubt or perplexity, who has arrived at certainty with regard to the True Dhamma. Then he comes down with a serious disease. As he comes down with a serious disease, the thought occurs to him, 'I have no doubt or perplexity. I have arrived at certainty with regard to the True Dhamma.' He does not grieve, is not tormented; does not weep, beat his breast, or grow delirious. This, too, is a person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death.
"These, brahman, are four people who, subject to death, are not afraid or in terror of death."

Buddha

Friday, June 1, 2007

freed of five fears


"There are, monks, four powers. The power of wisdom, the power of energy, the power of an unblemished life, and the power of benevolence.
"And what, monks, is the power of wisdom? As to those things which are good and held to be good, bad and held to be so; blameless and blameworthy, and held to be so; dark and bright, and held to be so; fit or unfit to be practiced, and held to be so; which are worthy and unworthy of noble ones, and are held to be so — to see all these things clearly and to consider them well, this is called the power of wisdom.
"And what, monks, is the power of energy? As to those things that are bad, blameworthy, dark, unfit to be practiced, unworthy of noble ones, and which are held to be so — to rouse one's will, to make an effort and stir up one's energy for giving up all these things; and as to those things that are good, blameless, bright, fit to be practiced, worthy of noble ones, and which are held to be so — to rouse one's will, to make an effort and stir up one's energy for gaining all these things — this is called the power of energy.
"And what, monks, is the power of an unblemished life? Herein, monks, a noble disciple is unblemished in his deeds, unblemished in his words, unblemished in his thoughts. This is called the power of an unblemished life.
"And what, monks, is the power of benevolence? There are four ways of benevolence; by gifts, by friendly speech, by helpful acts and by bestowal of equity. This is the best of gifts: the gift of Dhamma. And this is the best of friendly speech: to teach again and again Dhamma to those who wish for it and who listen attentively. And this is the best of helpful acts: to arouse, instil and strengthen faith in the unbeliever; to arouse, instil and strengthen virtue in the immoral; to arouse, instil and strengthen generosity in the niggard; to arouse, instil and strengthen wisdom in the unwise. And this is the best bestowal of equity: if a stream-winner becomes equal to a stream-winner; a once-returner equal to a once-returner; a non-returner equal to a non-returner; and an arahant equal to an arahant. This, monks, is called the power of benevolence.
"And this (concludes) the four powers.
"Now, monks, a noble disciple endowed with these four powers has left behind five fears: the fear for his livelihood, the fear of disrepute, the fear of embarrassment in assemblies, the fear of death, and the fear of an unhappy future destiny.
"A noble disciple (thus endowed) will think: 'No fear do I have for my livelihood. Why should I have fear about it? Have I not the four powers of wisdom, energy, unblemished life and benevolence? It is one who is foolish and lazy, of blameworthy conduct in deeds, words and thoughts, and who has no benevolence — such a one might be in fear for his livelihood.
"'No fear do I have about disrepute or about embarrassment in assemblies, nor have I fear of death or of an unhappy future destiny. Why should I have these fears? Have I not the four powers of wisdom, energy, unblemished life and benevolence? It is one who is foolish and lazy, of blameworthy conduct in deeds, words and thoughts, and who has no benevolence — such a one might have all these fears.'
"Thus it should be understood, monks, that a noble disciple endowed with the four powers has left behind five fears."