Problems Bared, Essays on Buddhism

26
places. Then there is a problem with a dual approach. One is that
of fear of an accident, if by mistake a wrong manipulation produces
the opposite of the effect desired. The other approach is that of an
intense alertness which is constantly alive to every move and every
action. The approach of fear is more likely to produce the chaos
of an accident, than the approach of awareness which is without
discipline and without fear.
A problem, such as truth, is not a thing to be thought about;
it is a fact. And if the truth of being a hypocrite is seen as the
fact of a poisonous snake, there will be no discussion as to how to
cease being a hypocrite. One need not then ask how to be free; for
then one is already free. And thus the understanding of a truth is
not more important than the understanding of a falsehood; for, the
understanding of one is the understanding of all.
That is how enlightenment comes in a flash and cannot be
brought about by argument or in instalments. Thus the truth of
insecurity has to be understood so that fear may cease. Fear cannot
be conquered, but in understanding the cause of fear, its foundation
will disappear and therewith fear itself, for “fear arises in the fool,
but not in the wise man”.