Even a little progress is freedom from fear

This view of progress is one expressed in chapter two of the Bhagavad-Gita:  ’No step is lost on this path, and no dangers are found. And even a little progress is freedom from fear.’ This struck home the first time I read it. That’s understandable, for I’ve always (from earliest childhood) felt that if I didn’t face my fears, the fears would run me over. Of course recognizing that and facing the fears are two different things. However, the more I’ve trusted the premise, the easier it has been to put into practice.

In pondering dreams, my own and those of others, I always found fear to be the driving force. Not the kind of hair-turns-white screaming fear mind you. Although some nightmares probably fit the bill. The fears to which I refer are the general apprehensions, insecurities, worries and concerns that haunt waking moments. I’ve always been amazed at how when I am deeply concerned with something, and trying to solve the problem, an answer comes more often than not after sleeping on it.

In a biological sense, I’d say dreams are one way the nervous system works on the emotional currents that drive life. Naturally, we need to look beyond any bizarre details of a dream to see the ‘bottom line’ of the dream. The nervous system (mind), in building a dream, is not concerned with how logical the dream is. It just needs to reproduce the emotional context. The dream needs to match where we are at emotionally. Then the nervous system can work on that.

Science News had a little piece on dreams, When dreams come true, which supports some of what I’m saying. At one point the researcher, Morewedge, says, “Our results suggest that the dreams most likely to affect our daily lives and relationships are the dreams that accord with our existing beliefs and desires”. Just one quibble: He left out ‘fears’ upon which many if not all our desires and beliefs rest.