On Acceptance : How do I accept World War 3? Part 2 ~ by Anna Aysea

In part 2 of Anna Alyssa’s article On Acceptance: How do I accept World War 3?, she continues her investigation into how to transition from resistance to acceptance in the face of the state of the world. This week she looks at the role that imagination and fear play in the arising of resistance.

Imagination & delusion | The rope & the snake

The ability of the human mind to imagine and create mind projections is unique to our species. It is the source of all creativity. Imagination enables us to envision realities that are beyond sense perceptions. Imagination enables us to envision a bridge that connects two riverbanks; to envision spaces that connect people; to envision art that expresses subjective realities; imagination enables us to express human experience – from suffering to redemption – in literature, poetry, scriptures. Our imagination gave rise to everything from the invention of the wheel, the aeroplane, space travel to buzzing metropolises enabling billions to live and interact together. Our imagination is an extremely powerful tool that has shaped the world we live in.

Imagination and delusion are one and the same creative force with a single difference: with imagination I know I am dealing with the creative power of my mind, with delusion I am being tricked by that creative power into believing that the creation of my mind and senses is reality. The metaphor of mistaking a rope for a snake is about this extraordinarily creative power of our imagination which can and does produce very evocative projections of fear. These anxiety driven projections are very powerful as they partly tie in with the body’s survival mechanism.

By the way, fear driven projections can also cause the reverse, that is, mistaking a snake for a rope. In that case we remain in a situation that is unsafe and toxic because we believe the anxiety driven mind projections about leaving the situation. Mistaking a snake for a rope is probably far more common, in any case it is is far more detrimental. Fear is central to imagination becoming delusion, one way or the other.

Fear
It is important to differentiate between psychological fear and what I call primal fear for lack of a better word. When someone is coming at you with a knife, that triggers primal fear, that is the instinctive survival mechanism of the body – the result of thousands of years of evolution – that is being activated. In survival mode, thought processes are halted, instinct takes over, it is all in the now and resistance does not arise. In contrast, psychological fear is very much the result of thought processes of the mind creating an evocative projection into the future and believing that projection to be reality. This gives rise to rejection and resistance.

Hyper vigilance is a state of perpetually activated primal fear caused for instance by trauma at an early age. The existential terror and the accompanying panic attacks are not caused by thought processes like with psychological fear nor are they caused by imminent danger. This makes coping extremely difficult. Meditation is not conducive to coping with perpetual primal fear, a fact that is unfortunately not much known in the spiritual community. The prevailing belief is: if you’re experiencing fear without imminent danger, that is all caused by your own mind, keep meditating! Primal fear makes it almost impossible to meditate, making meditation practice a harrowing ordeal at times. Only imagination and creativity can forge a way out of the debilitating state of perpetual primal fear.

Meditation is, however, an excellent tool for dealing with psychological fear. Being established in mediation enables you to catch mind projections and the accompanying resistance early on, learn to drop it and be fully present in the now.

Acceptance & World War 3
The fear for the state of the world, the fear of war is the result of the same process as the fear of falling into the precipice; it is the mind creating a projection into the future. Meaning, it is not reality in the now. Being aware and being present – that is the heart of zazen – is all that is needed to come back to the reality of the now.

Contrary to a fear driven projection into the future, the reality of the now can be acted upon, can be dealt with. The next step at hand – possibly moving my right foot two inches to the left – is something that is always doable. Applying myself to the next step as best as I can is trust actualized. Being grounded in the reality of the now, being grounded in trust, being grounded in not-knowing, and having the focus centered on the next step, leaves no room for fear and despair. Thus actualized trust is undeterred and imperturbable, no matter the situation. It may not look or feel like anything heroic, it may in fact feel clumsy and inadequate. Nonetheless, the power that is in fact being actualized through an act of faith is far greater than the capabilities of the limited individual.

The countering of suffering can only be done from a position of open acceptance, of trust, of not-knowing. Resistance and rejection – which at maximum intensity is hate – are symptoms indicating that we have been tricked by the power of imagination and have mistaken the rope for a snake, or worse, mistaken the snake for a rope.

Skillful means
Learning to recognize mind projections and to drop resistance is part and parcel of becoming established in meditation. There are however skillful means that can also help indirectly with getting a grip on psychological fear. This may be as simple as concentrating on the breathing; maybe you need to talk to yourself as if to a child from time to time; maybe you need to reduce your news consumption and set yourself on a media diet, shunning click-baits and limiting your news consumption to reputable sources.

The form doesn’t really matter. Whatever works to weaken the belief in the fear driven, compelling mind projections and dissolve resistance will help loosen the grip of psychological fear, ground you in the now and help to focus on the next step, help to discern right action, whatever the life situation.