I had an odd dream last night. It was one of those–and I don’t how many people have these–where I was in a sleep paralysis, but felt like I was awake. I wasn’t awake, obviously, because I felt I was on the couch, when I was actually in my bed, but in any event a demon came up to me, hissing, and stood about 6″ from my face, trying to scare me. I felt fear, but some part of me was thinking “fuck this”, so I reached my arm out and said “bite it off”. It retreated. Then I reached my other arm. Same reaction. Then I said “BOO” while opening my eyes, and there was nothing there.
Here is a phrase which sounds meaningful, and which may actually be meaningful: Fear fears us.
I think some deep part of us hides our innermost fears, because it feels like confronting them directly will kill us; we won’t survive. But I feel, increasingly strongly, that no negative emotion you give yourself up to openly and willingly can but retreat. Your power lies precisely in your acceptance, in your openness to experience.
And how beneficial, to develop the habit of opening to ALL experience, because that will let in the good ones too. This is getting close, I think, to what the Buddha taught. The negatives pass away, but what is good remains, and we call this the nature of true reality.