I notice that any belief tends to fuel a range of emotions, and these emotions seem to have fear as their kernel.
Whenever a story is taken as true, there is an identification with the story, and right there, a sense of I with an Other is created. And with a sense of a separate self, there is birth and death, and things that either further or creates problems for the life and well-being for this separate self.
In short, there is fear.
And this fear can take many forms, including the whole range of human emotions from frustration to anger to sadness to joy. I have a story of being a separate self, stories to flesh out the identity of this separate self, and then stories about how to support the life of this separate self and what to avoid to endanger it as well. If things get bumpy in getting what is wanted, there is frustration. If there is a block, anger. If something desirable is lost, sadness and grief. If it is gained, joy.
Again, it is very simple.
There is a belief in a story, which creates a sense of separate self, which creates fear, which in turn takes the form in the whole range of emotions.
When I am with whatever emotions is there, I may – usually for a short time – notice the fear within it (before it is revealed as something that cannot easily be labeled). And when I investigate beliefs, I may similarly notice the fear created by – and fueling – the belief.
Taking it a little further, I see that fear is created by the initial belief in any story – which creates a sense of separate self. And this fear in turn fuels that sense of a separate self, fleshed out and maintained by a belief in any story.
There is a belief that people should be good, creating and fueled by a fear of what may happen (to me and those close to me) if they are not. There is a belief that I am not like those rednecks, created/fueled by a fear of what may happen to me if I was. There is a belief that all is God and good, created/fueled by a fear of how life would be if that was not the case, and what would happen to me and those close to me.
For any belief, it seems that it creates and is fueled/maintained by fear of what would happen to me if life was not as the beliefs makes it appear to be. There is a fear of what would happen to this separate self.
Source: Todd at CSS talking about this briefly, prompting me to explore this further for myself.
This idea was also expressed by David at Just Perception. He specifically said that even love, as most people understand it, is based in fear. This is a radical idea for most of us, but I find it makes sense once explored.
Yes, as in possessive love, the “I need you” form of it. “I am a separate vulnerable self, and I need you to make me happy.”
What happens when I believe that thought? If the object of my affection is around and “mine”, I fear I’ll lose her. If she is not “mine” I am despondent because something that could enhance my life is not around, and there is fear around living a sub-optimal life.