Fear

Vanquished by love and knowledge

May 6th 2024
In certain circumstances instinct can be a reliable guide, but in others it would be better not to follow it. When human beings were still at a very primitive stage closer to animals, instinct was their best guide. But once the development of the brain had raised them to a higher level, they began to have other guides – reason and intelligence – which they must follow. So, what was good in the past is no longer fitting today.
Take fear, for example: fear is a useful, in fact, indispensable guide for animals, which keeps them safe and teaches them how to avoid danger. But fear is no longer permitted to human beings. This is why the goal of initiation has always been to teach disciples to conquer fear. Fear and death are the two great enemies that have to be vanquished, and they are vanquished by love and knowledge.*
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