On fear and faith

My father says that life is about searching for certainties. He is right. Yet there are moments when one must give up the certainties provided that he or she strives for spiritual growth. Scott Peck argues in his The Road Less Traveled that the ultimate certainty one must surrender is the life itself. However, any of the previous moments when we voluntarily opt to set out for the unknown may be liken to a death of a kind.

And there comes life after death. It seemed to me therefore symbolic that prior to my arrival to Malaysia the TN manager sent me an email with this subject ‘Tentative revival date in Malaysia’. She really meant that the date of my arrival was not certain, yet she hit the nail on the head twice. Not only did she touch on the afterlife but also what precedes – struggle with the existential fear of death. It is obvious that this fight is closely linked with faith. Thus it comes as no surprise that after a few days in Malaysia I was invited to come to a buddhist funeral. No one cried, they feared nothing, they were aware of the afterlife.

Most importantly,
they had their faith,
I buried my fear.