This Boo Shall Pass

 

10.28.2022 THIS BOO SHALL PASS My boyfriend is a huge horror movie fan. In preparation for Halloween, and more specifically the release of the last of a trilogy within a decades-long franchise of Halloween films, he recently watched the whole film franchise. All spooky number thirteen of them. Since When Harry Met Sally is my preferred autumnal film of choice, I asked him why he liked horror films so much. “They’re not scary,” he said, “they’re hilarious!” I realized that with the intention to watch a slasher film to find the funny, the ridiculous, and the whimsy within it, one may come to realize that the films aren’t inherently scary at all. The Buddhist path asks us to recognize all of life as passing phenomena. Everything is dynamic and in constant flux, even a horror film does not have an inner core of spookiness. Yet, in those moments of experiencing a passing fear, the antidote is a tenderization of the heart. Perhaps my challenge for this Halloweek is to turn on a Halloween film and practice fearlessness. How does fear or the expectation of fearful situations prevent us from recognizing, in the words of Joseph Goldstein, the “gifts of experience?” The three teachings below all look at answering this question — maybe a few mini candy bars will help support this inquiry. —Naomi Matlow, editorial intern, Lion’s Roar

Smile at Fear If you want to pitch in and help solve the world’s problems, says Pema Chödrön, you’ve got to start with yourself. Here’s her advice for making friends with the fear that can hold us back. If we come to the understanding that we are needed and commit ourselves to doing something about our own pain and the pain around us, we will find that we are on a journey. A warrior is always on a journey, and a main feature of that journey is fear. This fear is not simply something to be lamented, avoided, or vanquished. It is something to be examined, something to make a relationship with. Fear is a very timely topic now, because fear these days seems so palpable, so atmospheric. You can almost smell the fear around you. The polarization, fundamentalism, aggression, violence, and unkindness that are happening everywhere on the planet—these bring out our fear and nervousness and make us feel that we are on shaky ground. The truth is that the ground has always been shaky, forever. But in times when fear is prevalent, that truth is more obvious. All this fear surrounding us may sound like the bad news, but in fact it’s the good news.

The Nature of Fear An excerpt from a 1981 talk by Joseph Goldstein on sitting with fear and holding onto it within our practice. Part of the great beauty and power of dharma practice is the growing appreciation that the dharma is part of the totality of our lives. It’s not something that we do separate from the rest of our lives. “Dharma” means “reality,” it means truth,” how things are. When we understand dharma practice in this way, fear, along with every other aspect of experience. becomes eminently workable. It is not something apart, which we have to avoid. Rather, it is simply another facet of our experience, of how we relate to ourselves and to the world.

The Warrior Tradition: Conquering Fear Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche on fearlessness and how to recognize and conquer real enemies in the world outside. The starting point on the path of fearlessness is the discovery of fear. We find ourselves fearful, frightened, even petrified by circumstances. This ubiquitous nervousness provides us with a stepping stone, so that we can step over our fear. We have to make a definite move to cross over the boundary from cowardice to bravery. If we do so properly, the other side of our cowardice contains bravery. We may not discover bravery right away. Instead, beyond our nervousness, we find a shaky tenderness. We are still quivering, but we are shaking with tenderness rather than bewilderment.

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