1996-07_03 Vipassana Retreat, Part 3 of 8 - Q&A 6

Talk: 19960703-Larry_Rosenberg-UNK-vipassana_retreat_part_3_of_8-43307 Start_time: 01:11:21 Display_question: How do I distinguish neurotic fear from intelligent fear? Keyword_search: fear, clouds, source, real, intelligence, destructive, survival, security, neurotic, intelligent, damage, quality, life, free, unreal, let go Question_content: Larry: Okay, it's all right. Yeah. Questioner: Don’t all these so called clouds… don't they originally come from some real source? Like you were distinguishing between real fear and the fear that’s… Larry: I'm not saying it's unreal. Questioner: No, I’m not either. Larry: Some fear is intelligence and some fear is destructive. It's unintelligent. It's, you want to, we would call it neurotic fear. Questioner: … destructive fear. Doesn't it originate…? Larry: Yes, we're very, all we're concerned with survival and security, yes. It changes from society to society, but that need in humans is always the same. Questioner: So, what I'm saying… I define destructive fear as intelligent fear, so it’s hard to let go of. Larry: Of course. Questioner: And to discern. Larry: I understand. Yes, but it's not a matter of definitions. I have to speak so I have to use definitions. It's a matter of in the moment something comes up. Look, if you're about to step off Grand Canyon and suddenly something stops you, you're not going to say, “Oh, this is just neurotic. Larry was right.” No, there's something… And, there's a lot of fear that comes out of thinking. That's what I said. There is a piece of intelligence. If you see that the Social Security system is in danger and you start setting up some savings or something, that might come out of a piece of, so that fears have some intelligence in them. But often, first of all, often they don't. Often they're way ahead. We all know. And moreover, we repeat them internally over and over and over and over and over when the actuality isn't here. And probably fear has damaged the quality of life for all of us more than anything else because it handicaps us. We're afraid to do certain things. It distorts our thinking, our living and so forth. So one of the big things in all meditation practices is to free yourself from fear. If not totally–I don't know how many human beings completely free themselves from fear, but it's certainly possible to do a good job on it. Yeah. Please. End_time: 01:14:05