ZenView
By Mary Layton
Fear of the unknown
Human nature is hungry for information and knowing stuff. We don’t do so well with the
unknown. In the ancient world kings would go ask the advice of an oracle or gaze into a crystal ball to see the future. Today we ask Siri, Alexa or go on the internet. The more specific our questions, the more we learn about any given subject. The more we can find out ahead of time the more secure we feel. We can now find out and communicate moment to moment information about weather and road conditions. We can send pictures and emojis showing our location and emotional states. Thanks to Facebook and similar entities, we are traceable, no matter where we are in the world. We can let others know the moment our plane, bus or train has arrived, or whether we will be delayed.
But even though technology has given us greater certainty in some areas of our lives, fear of the unknown remains. No matter how much data we have on anything, the way things are actually going to play out in the end we do not know. The time of our birth and time and cause of death is a mystery. Fear of the unknown in a nutshell. We really have no other choice but to bow to it. In that way we stand where our ancestors once stood. For myself, rather than fighting I like the idea of embracing the fear of the unknown. It means that I have to learn to let go off my conditioning and become completely quiet in my mind. It is only then, in the absence of thought and information that I can hope to find the answers I seek. All forms of meditation lend themselves to learning to fall into this silence and to encounter the sacred.
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