Sugar Pie’s
Seven Great Teachings
~ The Fourth Great Teaching ~
NO FEAR
Well, fear isn’t an easy thing for me to write about because I never had much of it so I don’t know much about it. But most other Beings seem to have a lot of it, so I know it must be important.
For example, for most cat dudes getting into a moving vehicle is terror time. Not for me. For me this is the ultimate in getting everything cool in one swell foop. I’m with Mom, I’m getting everything I want where and when I want it, and I’m the center of attention. Not bad, huh? And when we moved from Arkansas to California, this went on for days!
As an added bonus, BV met us at the Arkansas house and rode all the way with us in a U-Haul, so I had not only one but two full-time attendants. I even got to get out sometimes.
I had my box, my water bowl, my kibble dish and all kinds of treats, not to mention the hidy-hole behind the seats (I’m really big on hidy-holes).
I was always offered anything Mom and BV ate, but for the most part they have lousy taste in food (with the exception of hot dogs and lunch meat which I think they probably got as treats just for me anyway).
Besides all the perks that go with traveling the open roads, we stayed in motels along the way. I had a new place to scope out every single night! This was heaven on earth!
I did, however, have to do the shower thing in these unfamiliar places because I was always snooping around under the beds and other questionable places, and I guess Mom wanted me to stay tolerably clean.
One day I slipped out the door of our room when she wasn’t watching. I didn’t intend to go far, but I guess she didn’t know that. She may have thought that since I was a cat with cat instincts that I was freaked out about the move, so she went looking for me.
She was totally terrified (for me, of course).
I was just a little ways from the motel door behind some bushes, and when I felt her fear I figured I’d better call out, so I meowed as loudly as I could. She came and got me and held me tight to her chest. She was so scared for me that I could even feel her heart beating fast.
It’s really rockin’ to have someone care about you that much.
Thank you, Sugar, I really do care about you. But you seem to have gotten off the subject of FEAR.
We understand now that you are fearless — you don’t have much of that — but what about all those other Beings that do?
Well, let me think about that a little. It’s kinda hard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ! ! ! !
OK! I got it! You may have noticed by now that it wasn’t me who had to deal with fear, but my Mom.
Come on now, Sugar. I’ve seen you get scared before. What about that time at the beach?
Oh yeah, but that was really dangerous.
If I was in any kind of real danger, fear was Mom’s best communication. Now that I can savvy. When she’s afraid for me, I’m all ears, nose, whiskers and full-on attention. I go to her. Situation code-red, minus one second and counting.
See, there’s real fear and there’s cluttered fear that comes from cluttered minds (like humans have). My mom never threw cluttered fear at me; all the fear from her was real and I was so cared for that fear didn’t come up very often for me.
Now that I think of it, “No Fear”
may be the most important Great Teaching, because if you are not governed
by fear (and I wasn’t — I was a truly fearless guy), love
is easy, good relationships are a cinch, going places is not only easy
but fun, and trust comes of its own accord.
On the other paw, uncluttered love, good relationships, good yum-yums,
and trust are the foundations for not having to be fearful in the first
place! Unless of course, there’s a big predator two feet away, and
then it’s only natural and supremely wise.
All
Beings receive the emotional transmissions of others Beings. |
Small
Beings understand a caregiver’s fear for them in a threatening
situation. It serves as a kind of communication that something is
unsafe. |
If
you are not governed by fear, love is easy, good relationships are
a cinch, trust comes of its own accord, and the things you want
to do become doable. |
Fear
is a natural asset of the body that is intended by nature as as
survival tool, but fear that is learned through bad experiences
becomes an obstacle to JOY. (Bad experiences are experiences of distorted “really smart stuff.”) |
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The
Fifth Great Teaching |
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Copyright ©2003 First published May 1, 2003, Lauretta Graham, Durga Ma. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including the use of information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from Lauretta Graham, AKA Durga Ma.