Overcome fear

Fear is a primal instinct of a living species, whether animal or human. The fear of predators is prominent for animals, whereas fear of the unknown is common to the human mind. Where there is ignorance, there is fear, leading to beliefs in uncanny superstitions and viral videos based on speculative knowledge.

Ignorance may be bliss when particular knowledge is of no practical use, but it is imperative to learn correctly about matters that bother or interest us. Marie Curie said, 'Nothing in life is to be feared, only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.'

She said this almost a century ago, and it still holds special significance today, when access to knowledge is at our fingertips and just a tap away.


Fear sometimes consumes a person. It could be related to the future, advancing age, career, education, children, or the fear of being alone. It is said that the time-tested chanting of the names of Vishnu, as in the Vishnu Sahasranam, removes all fear of disease, old age and death.

Another elementary solution is to live simply in the present, as fearing the unseen robs one of today's equanimity. Yet another way is to remember que sera, sera - what will be, will be - and that the future is not ours to see.