What to do when moments of fear arise?

When moments of fear come, what to do?

Why should you ask to do anything? When there is fear -- be afraid! Why create a duality? When moments of fear come -- be fearful, tremble with fear, allow fear to take possession. Why this constant enquiry: WHAT TO DO? Can't you allow life in any way to take possession of you? When love takes possession, what to do? Be loving! Don't do anything, allow love to take possession of you. When fear comes -- tremble, like a leaf in a strong wind. And it will be beautiful. When it has gone you will feel so serene and calm, as when a strong storm passes by everything is left calm and quiet after it. Why be always fighting something? Fear comes -- it is natural, absolutely natural. To think of a man who is without fear is impossible, because he will be dead. Then somebody will be honking the…

Can cowardice and hypocrisy also be beautiful? Can I accept even my cowardice, my hypocrisy, my miserliness and a tendency towards privacy that you yourself have called "idiocy"? And if I accept such tendencies, all of which tend to bottle me up, how will I get free?

See the beauty of fear, see the alchemical work of fear. It is simply trying to prepare you for the situation so that you can accept the challenge. But rather than accepting the challenge, rather than understanding fear, you start rejecting it. You say, "Ashoka, you are such a great man, a great sannyasin, and you are trembling? Remember what Osho used to say, that there is no death, that the soul is immortal. An immortal soul, and trembling? Remember what Krishna said: 'Death cannot destroy you, fire cannot burn you, weapons cannot penetrate you.' Remember! And don't tremble: hold yourself in control!" Now you are creating a contradiction. Your natural process is that of fear, and you are bringing in an unnatural process to contradict fear. You are bringing ideals to interfere in the natural process. There will be pain, because there will be conflict. Don't bother whether the…

Osho, I am frightened of meditation. Please explain what the reasons might be. And how can I be free of this fear?

Fear of meditation is natural—it will be there. Because meditation means: to lose yourself, to dissolve. Meditation means: to be effaced. Your entire familiar ground will vanish. You will move in an unfamiliar realm. The world of your thoughts—which has been your home for ages, for lifetimes—will be left behind. Suddenly you will be homeless. The shade of thoughts will be removed, the roof torn away. You will descend into the void, you will be submerged in no-mind—there is danger in it. It is like taking a tiny canoe into the ocean. The far shore is not visible and you have to leave this shore. Naturally there will be fear. The waves are high, and you carry no map. You have no firm assurance that someone has reached the other bank, because no one returns. Meditation is a very deep journey. So fear will arise. Fear is natural; nothing unnatural…

Osho, yesterday you told the story of Saint Peter and the three women. Please tell us what happened after that?

Saint Maharaj! Do use a little of your own intelligence. No story is ever told in full, because some trust must also be placed in your imagination—that you, too, can think a bit. You could have figured out for yourself what would happen next. The matter was so clear. My friend, what else could happen! What had to happen is exactly what happened. Saint Peter had barely dealt with those three women when three goddesses arrived. One had a white mouth-cloth tied over her face—she was a Jain nun. The second was a beautiful French model, and the third a Rajneesh sannyasin. Saint Peter first pointed toward the part below the French girl’s waist and asked, “What did you use this for?” Preening, the beauty replied, “I used it to revel with my eight wedded husbands and about a hundred and fifty lovers. I also used it to earn money…

This is certain: if, in that moment, you hold steady and do not lose courage, you will soon go beyond fear and become fearless forever. Then no fear of the world will ever catch you. He who goes beyond the fear of spirituality—no fear in the world can catch him. He whom even this moment cannot shake, cannot frighten—no power can frighten him. Not even death can ruffle a single hair—for this danger is greater than death. In death the body only perishes; in this moment it seems my very life-breath is breaking. I am nowhere now. I will become pure nothingness. As if one has fallen into an endless abyss whose bottom is never found. And there is no way to climb upward. And one falls, and falls—and no bottom appears—just such is the feeling.