the cessation of fear

in a search today i discovered that Science News put a Buddha on it’s cover for the Feb 17th, 2001 issue and covered a group of researchers who were studying mystical experiences. i found a mention of this in a 2001 zen sangha newsletter. in that they summarize one experience:

The report begins with a description of the experience of neurologist James H. Austin, who, after 8 years of Zen training, spent a sabbatical year at the London Zen Center. One morning, while waiting for a train, he suddenly felt the loss of his “I-me-mine” perspective, and the scene around him seemed to acquire an “absolute reality, intrinsic rightness, and ultimate perfection.” He felt that his experience was impossible to fully describe, that he had nothing to fear, and that he immediately took himself less seriously. In his book Zen and the Brain (1998, MIT Press), Austin described how the experience inspired him to initiate a scientific investigation into the neurology of enlightenment.

i’m quite struck by this theme, and ani pema chodron mentions it in her writing too, that meditation can lead to the cessation of fear. but it doesn’t seem to do so by checking out of our situation particularly. it’s the removal of fear within the messiness of the world. sorry if i sound like i’m selling something. but i hadn’t heard this particular claim when i first started meditating. and i’ve had some small tastes of it personally. but that kind of fruition is very very appealing.

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