The teacher left the grounds every day around the same time. The students never questioned where the teacher went. A newer student, however, was not aware that the students didn’t ask about their teacher’s habits, and so he asked, “Where does the teacher go at that time every day?”
“We never ask,” they replied. “We just assume he needs his time. I guess we have always just been too afraid to ask.”
But the new student was not satisfied with this answer, and so he went out to look for the teacher.
He walked through the valley and across a brook, and then he climbed the nearest hill. At the top sat the teacher, legs crossed, arms folded in a meditative position in his lap. The teacher was smiling, as though he expected this young man to find him here. He nodded for the student to sit next to him, which the young man did. The two of them looked out over the valleys.
“So is this where you come every day?” he asked the teacher.
“It is.”
“I can see why. The view is spectacular. I really like watching nature,” the student replied.
“I am not watching nature,” the teacher replied with a smile.
“Well then, what are you watching?”
“I come here to meditate. I come here to watch fear, anxiety, sadness, and anger.”
“I don’t understand,” the student questioned, “How can you watch those things?”
The teacher turned and faced the student. He looked deeply at him, almost through him, and replied, “Fear is an illusion. We are not our fear. Anxiety is an illusion. We are not our anxiety. Sadness is an illusion. We are not our sadness. Anger is an illusion. We are not our anger.
“When you learn to watch these things, you will see that you are not any of those things, nor will you ever be. Those states are not you. For instance, you cannot be afraid, because you are so much more than fear. Therefore, it is nonsense to say that you are afraid, because there is no way for you to be anything other than that which you are.
“You cannot be anxious, sad, or angry either. You are so much more than all of those things. I come here every day to watch these things float through the land. I watch them. I observe them without accepting them into me.”
The student smiled. He began to understand. “It’s unfortunate the other students have been too afraid to ever learn this lesson,” he said.
“That’s just it,” replied the teacher. “They are not afraid; they only allow themselves to believe that they are. If fear really existed as a being, it would stop all, but it did not stop you. Fear is an illusion. You are more than fear. Watch it, but never allow yourself to become it.
