The Passion of Fear - Parts 2 & 3 of 5

[Bob Hubbard]

The Passion of Fear
by Kaith Rustaz

The Jedi Fear, Fear. They teach that one should train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose. That Fear leads to the Dark Side. They say this, as if fear in of itself, is an evil thing.

Fear is fear. The Jedi teach the suppression of emotion. A Sith will instead, master emotion.

Fear is normal, a natural thing. All creatures know fear.

"Fear leads to Anger"

This is both true, and not true.

Fear leads to many things. Mastered and focused, it can lead to anger, which can energize you and empower you. If fear however masters you, it leads not to anger, but paralysis.

Many times in life you will face fear. You will be afraid.

If you allow your fear to win, you will be defeated.

Master it, and you will be the victor.

Through out history men have gone to war. Only the defective have not faced fear. It is normal to be afraid, when ones life is at risk. This fear is normal, it is natural, it is part of what makes us alive.

Allowing the fear to take hold of you while in a fight, will freeze you. It will cause you to hesitate, to pause. This hesitation can allow your opponent to defeat you.

Many situations in life will cause you to feel fear. A dark alley, a vehicle that cuts you off, a rickety ladder, and hundreds of other situations. Every day, fear will be around you. It is normal to feel fear.

The key is to master the fear, to feel the fear, and then let it motivate you to action, not freeze you into inaction. Feel the fear, be strengthened by it, and then do it anyway!

Ignoring fear, pretending it doesn't exist, is not natural. Suppression of emotion is suppression of self. When self is suppressed, one can never truly achieve greatness.

Fear is seen by the unenlightened as something to avoid, something to ironically fear. But fear is a natural reaction, one that is ingrained in us all. To ignore it, to suppress it, is to ignore and suppress our natural senses, and in effect, our self.

The path of the Dark Side is the path of mastery of ones self.

Feel the fear, let it power you through anger, and give you victory over that which you fear the most.


[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]===[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Bob Hubbard also known on various on-line forums as "Silent" Bob, "Kaith Rustaz" and just "Kaith", is a long time sci-fi fan. Currently head of the I.K.V. Devisior, an independent science fiction, anime and fantasy fan club, he has held positions with numerous other groups. He has organized activities at Media Play and Barnes & Nobel, worked con security, participated in club challenges for charities, and participated in masquerades, art shows and model shows at several Toronto conventions.
You can reach Bob at his website, http://rustaz.com[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]

Copyright [/FONT]©2007 Bob Hubbard - Copies of this article are free to distribute, provided all text is retained intact.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

To those wondering, I'm working on a series of articles based on the tenents of the fictional Sith of the Star Wars series. I'm posting them here, for comment, conversation and such. I welcome all comments and hope that these brief articles will be the basis for some fun discussions over the next few weeks.

Enjoy.

 

[Blotan Hunka]

LITANY AGAINST FEAR
I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

-Dune

 

[Makalakumu]

Herbert's work is a must read for MAists. The first book especially.

 

[Blotan Hunka]

I think the "fear" aspect the Jedi preached was more akin to the Budhist concept of "grasping"/attachment. Like Anakin (sp?)..he feared loosing his love, he would do anything to ("grasp") keep her, more for his own needs than out of real "love". Attachment is what leads to "evil", anger, aggression etc.

That being said, many real world gunfighting schools teach you to indeed "get angry", anger is better than fear in combat. "How dare that bastard attack me?!?!". "Hes not gonna kill me IM GONNA KILL HIM!!"

As a movieworld interpretation of the warrior-monk, it was an interesting concept...in the real world though....

 

[thardey]

In reality, the Jedi were completely motivated by fear.

They feared going to the dark side.

This fear began to hypnotize them, to control them, making them blind to what was actually happening around them.

Instead of reaching towards goodness, they began to run away from the Sith. The exception to this being Obi-wan, who didn't fear the potential power of Anakin, but hoped for a new standard of "good" in the Jedi ranks.

It was the fear of the Jedi council that drove them to treat Anakin the way they did, and the Sith capitalized on this fear.

They began to focus on not being "dark", and lost the focus of being "light", and in doing so, they gave the control of the environment to the "dark" that they were trying to avoid.

Like you said above, only the "defective" have no fear. The key is in keeping the fear in it's place, usually by invoking a counter-fear.

Are you more afraid of getting hurt and possibly dying, or are you more afraid to lose somebody close to you? The fear of having your family attacked will give you courage. The fear of getting hurt can paralyze you.

Choose the fears that will give you strength.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

The Passion of Fear, Part Deux
By Kaith Rustaz

What is Fear?

Fear is the Mind Killer, wrote an unknown Mentat.

This is true. Fear kills the mind, and unmastered will paralyze you.

Do not let fear paralyze you, instead focus fear so that it will instead immobilize your enemy. If you enemy fears you, you have the advantage.

Fear takes many forms. Anxiety, Nervousness, Paranoia, Distrust, Terror and more.

All have power. All can kill. All can be useful.

Before battle, relax. Do not fear what is to come, welcome it. At the moment of battle, feel your fear, let your anxiety heighten your senses, let your nervousness speed your reaction. Let your enemy’s anxiety and nervousness cause them a sleepless night, leaving them tired and sluggish.

Do not react to your enemies attempts to intimidate, to terrorize you. Instead, let them be terrorized by your non-reaction to their actions. Sow distrust and paranoia amongst them, let their fears defeat them before you even raise your blade.

Fear is power. Despots rule by fear. Terrorists are masters of it’s use. Do not fall prey to their illusions. Feel it, acknowledge it, let it pass. Let their fear feed your anger.

To control your fear you must learn to control yourself. Left unchecked, your fear can injure you, lead you into unwise and untenable situations, even kill you.

Do not allow your fear to cause you to rush in recklessly. Recklessness is the victor of many a fool. Do not allow fear to a fool make of you. Sith are not fools, and do not allow their emotions to make fools of them.

Fear has caused many a fall. Anakin fell into darkness due to his fears. They conquered him, as he was weak and unable to let go of his selfish fears.

Fear is the mind killer. Be wary, lest it be your mind it kills.

===
Bob Hubbard also known on various on-line forums as "Silent" Bob, "Kaith Rustaz" and just "Kaith", is a long time sci-fi fan. Currently head of the I.K.V. Devisior, an independent science fiction, anime and fantasy fan club, he has held positions with numerous other groups. He has organized activities at Media Play and Barnes & Nobel, worked con security, participated in club challenges for charities, and participated in masquerades, art shows and model shows at several Toronto conventions.
You can reach Bob at his website, http://rustaz.com


Copyright ©2007 Bob Hubbard - Copies of this article are free to distribute, provided all text is retained intact.

 

[grydth]

Was it not Heinlein who observed that it was unwise to scare a little man - because he will kill you?