Strano - Slaying the three dragons: overcoming doubt, worry, and fear

SLAYING THE
THREE DRAGONS

Overcoming Doubt, Worry, and Fear

ANTHONY STRANO

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Strano, Anthony, 1951
Slaying the three dragons : overcoming doubt, worry, and fear / Anthony Strano.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-4027-6640-4 (hardcover and CD : alk. paper) 1. Meditation
Brahmakumari. I. Title.
BL1274.255.S77 2010
294.5'435dc22 2009032124

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Published by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016
2010 by Brahma Kumaris Information Services Ltd.
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Manufactured in the United States of America
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Sterling ISBN 978-1-4027-6640-4

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Contents

About the Brahma Kumaris World
Spiritual University

IN A WORLD OF CONSTANT DEMANDS, where everything appears to happen at lightning speed, people want to learn the technique of freeing themselves from the variety of tensions they face, find an inner calm to bring about balance in their lives, and sustain a positive frame of mind. Some of the greatest challenges of contemporary life lie in everyday chaos, pervasive monsters that lurk in the back of our minds: the three great dragons of worry, doubt, and fear. Although we may combat them with pills or exercises, affirmations or quick-fix cures, many people are now accepting that we must look within ourselves before lashing out at the stresses that menace us. Many people agree that meditation is the best method of finding the inner peace that can give us strength in times of trial.

However, in the West, many people who wish to learn how to meditate do so only because they want to relax. In the East, meditation is an ancient tradition that involves far more than just relaxing and being positive: it is also a way to enlighten the mind. An enlightened mind is one filled with peace, clarity, and kindness. Clarity enables the individual to make decisions, which are benevolent and accurate for the self and others; kindness protects the self and others from the harmful effects of the minds negative desires. The aim of meditation is to use the values of wisdom, peace, and kindness to enable the individual to control the mind, to keep it in order.

However, even in ancient times, the mind was understood to be extremely difficult to control. It was said to be like the wind: you could never catch it or hold itit went where it wished, and no human being could become its master. In other instances, it was said that the mind was like an elephant: extremely powerful, but equally gentle and patient, able to do a lot of work for its master. However, when an elephant turns rogue, its gentleness and patience completely disappear and it destroys and damages everything in its path. When the mind is under stress, it resembles a rogue elephant: it has no control and cannot be controlled.

Taming the mind is regarded as a great art requiring time, attention, practiceand, above all, a sincerity of heart where individuals truly want to change their way of thinking. To relax, to be positive, to be peaceful and kind all require a change in our thought patterns, and this can only happen when we look deeply within. However hard they try, other people cannot change us; we must have personal realization and the desire to make changes through our own effort. Permanent and positive change cannot be imposed from the outside; it is something that we choose.

Meditation is the discovery of that point of silence within, like a compass needle that guides us in the right direction at the right time. To become silent, to be still in the ocean of hectic, noisy action, is a choice that many people are now making. When this is achieved, this stillness acts on the mind like oxygen, giving the breath to both understand and enrich life. Of course, action is a necessity, an expression of ourselves through time, relationships, and the roles we play. However, if we do not sometimes stop and take a breath of silence, then the mind begins to suffocate, thoughts speed like bullet trains, and the brain feels as if it is in a pressure cooker. Emotions erupt and react like volcanoes, the eyes become dizzy with mountains of information, and the head feels like a roller coaster. This is stress. The mind needs to come up for air; to leave the jungle of pressures, deadlines, and speed; and to slow down and find the point of silence within.

Meditation is the method to find that point which recharges the mind with peace, clarity, and balance.

We can define meditation as the eight Rs:

1. Returning

Meditation is the technique of returning to the original qualities of the self: namely peace, purity, love, bliss, and wisdom. We can only do that by taking our thoughts inwards.

I begin to find my original strength by collecting the energy of my mind. With my concentrated thought, I focus on meeting my real self.

2. Relaxing

In meditation, the mind disconnects itself from the thoughts of anything external and connects with the inner self. In this way, it is able to receive the positive current of the original strength of the self: a peaceful source of energy. However, at first it can be difficult to disconnect the many plugs of our everyday life: the plugs of attachment, speed, worry, being busy, and so forth. It does take some effort.

As I connect to the point source of energy of the self, which is located in the center of the forehead, I start to relax, to remove the many tensions and demands of the outside world from the mind.

3. Remembering

As the mind relaxes and gently concentrates on the point source of peace energy, individuals begin to remember their spiritual identities. The reason why people are so disorientated in their lives and why they often find life boring, tedious, or empty is because they have forgotten who they truly are.

In silence, going inward, I begin to remember what I have forgotten: I am a spiritual being, a point source of positive energy. My spirit is my reality!

4. Releasing

As we remember the forgotten reality of the self as a spiritual being and begin to experience our inner source of peace, we are released from the negativity of our mind, wasteful thinking, and thoughts filled with doubt, fear, and worrythe three great dragons that dominate our mind.

As I begin to rule my own mind, I free myself from the worry that cripples my confidence, from the fear that hijacks my courage, and the doubt that ridicules every attempt I make to bring hope back into my life.