Day 5 - From Fear to Freedom

“Envy and fear cause the face to pale, and love makes it glow.”- Paramhansa Yogananda

“The essence of the Way is detachment”.--Bodhidharma

When we are freed from our deepest fears we are given the gift of freedom—we are free to love, to act in compassion, to give of ourselves.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your planning small does not serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God with us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people the permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”— Marianne Williamson

“In detachment lies the wisdom of uncertainty... in the wisdom of uncertainty lies the freedom from our past, from the known, which is the prison of past conditioning. And in our willingness to step into the unknown, the field of all possibilities, we surrender ourselves to the creative mind that orchestrates the dance of the universe.”--Deepak Chopra

Suggested Activity

Reflection questions:

• Where do you find yourself on the spectrum between fear and freedom?

• What are some things you might need to detach from to open yourself to freedom?

• Reflect upon an event or relationship in your life where you have felt and known fear. Describe it. Where was God in the fear?

Ritual:
Take some pieces of paper. Write down a fear or fears you would like to let go of on the sheet or sheets of paper. Pray or set the intention to detach from the fears. Sit with them briefly. Imagine that you are going to hand these fears over to the divine. You do not need to shoulder the burden of them any more. You are infinitely loved and cared for.

When you are ready, crumple up the sheets of paper and dispose of them, giving the fears up as you do so. Feel what it's like to be liberated from them.