Some teachings important to me as a mystic.

[IzakielSturge]

I strongly suspect that familiarization begets confidence, and that this is what induces the mastery of most kinds of skill. 

Familiar territory likely would've inspired more a sense of safety because there, in terms of our evolutionary history, was less a chance of an undiscovered predator in the neck of the woods we'd already thoroughly explored. It would be useful to be ready to run or attack when exploring new places, because a statistically higher probability existed of encountering threatening lifeforms.

In my experience, it seems like the confident person "gets the girl," the desired job, and wins at sports. And seemingly the fearful person misses out on these things proportional to their insecurity. 

I consider love the source of creativity, including even the ability of the actor to create the target emotions of hir character role.

If familiarization begets confidence, I believe it is possible, through prolonged practice meditating on inducing target emotions, to learn emotional control. Once confident enough to identify success increasing and decreasing target emotions, I believe fear should be transcended; release all fear, then create the internal impression of an immunity to fear. You do not have to be certain you are immune, just without insecurity concerning your newfound immunity. Have faith you are immune, and doubt it not.

Once immune to fear, meditate on releasing impulsive internal verbalization (internal dialogue) and reflections, so that the present moment is experienced apart from all distraction. Do not induce a trance, induce the permanent perfection of focus, "samadhi".

You are the whole of existence because a part of existence. 

If you want, minimize pride, and enlarge love. You could, if you think you would do better by your attachments, release all attachments in objectless love. Objectless love will expand without being triggered, and is immune to sorrow. You could experience objectless love and attachment.

Seek, from the whole of the universe, the answer to the questions, "How can I best serve all sentient life, the loyalties important to me - by order of importance, and myself?"

[andy06shake]

I strongly suspect that familiarization begets confidence, and that this is what induces the mastery of most kinds of skill. 

Familiar territory likely would've inspired more a sense of safety because there, in terms of our evolutionary history, was less a chance of an undiscovered predator in the neck of the woods we'd already thoroughly explored. It would be useful to be ready to run or attack when exploring new places, because a statistically higher probability existed of encountering threatening lifeforms.

In my experience, it seems like the confident person "gets the girl," the desired job, and wins at sports. And seemingly the fearful person misses out on these things proportional to their insecurity. 

I consider love the source of creativity, including even the ability of the actor to create the target emotions of hir character role.

If familiarization begets confidence, I believe it is possible, through prolonged practice meditating on inducing target emotions, to learn emotional control. Once confident enough to identify success increasing and decreasing target emotions, I believe fear should be transcended; release all fear, then create the internal impression of an immunity to fear. You do not have to be certain you are immune, just without insecurity concerning your newfound immunity. Have faith you are immune, and doubt it not.

Once immune to fear, meditate on releasing impulsive internal verbalization (internal dialogue) and reflections, so that the present moment is experienced apart from all distraction. Do not induce a trance, induce the permanent perfection of focus, "samadhi".

You are the whole of existence because a part of existence. 

If you want, minimize pride, and enlarge love. You could, if you think you would do better by your attachments, release all attachments in objectless love. Objectless love will expand without being triggered, and is immune to sorrow. You could experience objectless love and attachment.

Seek, from the whole of the universe, the answer to the questions, "How can I best serve all sentient life, the loyalties important to me - by order of importance, and myself?"

Fear is part of the human condition.

It's important because it alerts us to danger, helps us react quickly, and encourages us to learn from mistakes. 

Without fear, humans would take reckless risks, ignore threats, and struggle to survive in the world.

Being immune to fear might not be the best of ideas.

[IzakielSturge]

Caution not rooted in fear might be more objective than paranoia.

When I was in elementary school or middle school, someone a couple years older than me was trimming the bushes with a particular electronic tool. He showed me that he could put the length of the tool, while still operational, against his pants without cutting into his leg or the material. He was very careful to show me this. 

Then he began to hold the tool against my own pants leg, without asking.

My instinct of fear was the only reason the tool cut me - I almost lost a finger instinctively attempting to protect my leg, jerking the tool away from me with my hand!

The teeth were braced so that the object wouldn't cut anything larger than a branch - like a finger.

My point being, fear isn't necessarily safer.

As to immediate reaction time, maybe perfected focus begets immediacy.

Coincidentally, my most serious physical wound in this lifetime, a broken ankle, was also because of fear: I froze up instead of bracing myself to land properly.

[Kurokage]

I don't think you're understanding fear? 

 Fear is a healthy emotion when reacted to correctly.
Fear is an early warning system to alert you to possible danger. It's how you deal with that fear that helps with things like how to react, build confidence and so fourth.

[andy06shake]

Caution not rooted in fear might be more objective than paranoia.

When I was in elementary school or middle school, someone a couple years older than me was trimming the bushes with a particular electronic tool. He showed me that he could put the length of the tool, while still operational, against his pants without cutting into his leg or the material. He was very careful to show me this. 

Then he began to hold the tool against my own pants leg, without asking.

My instinct of fear was the only reason the tool cut me - I almost lost a finger instinctively attempting to protect my leg, jerking the tool away from me with my hand!

The teeth were braced so that the object wouldn't cut anything larger than a branch - like a finger.

My point being, fear isn't necessarily safer.

As to immediate reaction time, maybe perfected focus begets immediacy.

Coincidentally, my most serious physical wound in this lifetime, a broken ankle, was also because of fear: I froze up instead of bracing myself to land properly.

Problem being your example doesn't actually show fear is unsafe.

Fear didn't move the tool to your leg without consent.

Fear didn't design the tool demonstration that violated safety boundaries.

Fear didn't put you in a fall you couldn't control.

Fear is a warning system which sometimes narrows options, but that's a tradeoff, not a flaw.

I suggest you may be labeling fear as the cause because that's how you remember the situation.

In reality through it was the person a couple of years older who created the problem.

Again, fear is part of the human condition, and it's directly linked to our fight-or-flight mechanism.

Without fear, you would simply walk out in to trafic or step off a bridge without care.

[SurferSoul]

I get why you guys disagree about fear, but I also agree for the most part with what the OP is saying. You have to consider irrational fear which for many people can be crippling, how many phobias do people have that are illogical? What about anxiety attacks etc…

Yes fear is there for our general survival but it also is the source of many of our failings. Even things that just make us feel uncomfortable for example we generally avoid, unless motivated enough to do them anyway by some other desire. Consider things that people avoid through irrational fears.
The weak and the timid aren’t so much born that way but made that way, they lack the confidence to assert themselves because they got hurt for doing so in the past, they then become fearful of trying again and simply give up. On the other hand those that have achieved mastery of anything have been burnt, been hurt, either emotionally or physically or both, yet they have been resolute and determined and most of all courageous enough to push through and achieve great things. 

They say fortune favours the brave for good reason. But more than that it our ability to overcome our instinct that truly makes us human.

[SurferSoul]

I strongly suspect that familiarization begets confidence, and that this is what induces the mastery of most kinds of skill. 

Familiar territory likely would've inspired more a sense of safety because there, in terms of our evolutionary history, was less a chance of an undiscovered predator in the neck of the woods we'd already thoroughly explored. It would be useful to be ready to run or attack when exploring new places, because a statistically higher probability existed of encountering threatening lifeforms.

In my experience, it seems like the confident person "gets the girl," the desired job, and wins at sports. And seemingly the fearful person misses out on these things proportional to their insecurity. 

I consider love the source of creativity, including even the ability of the actor to create the target emotions of hir character role.

If familiarization begets confidence, I believe it is possible, through prolonged practice meditating on inducing target emotions, to learn emotional control. Once confident enough to identify success increasing and decreasing target emotions, I believe fear should be transcended; release all fear, then create the internal impression of an immunity to fear. You do not have to be certain you are immune, just without insecurity concerning your newfound immunity. Have faith you are immune, and doubt it not.

Once immune to fear, meditate on releasing impulsive internal verbalization (internal dialogue) and reflections, so that the present moment is experienced apart from all distraction. Do not induce a trance, induce the permanent perfection of focus, "samadhi".

You are the whole of existence because a part of existence. 

If you want, minimize pride, and enlarge love. You could, if you think you would do better by your attachments, release all attachments in objectless love. Objectless love will expand without being triggered, and is immune to sorrow. You could experience objectless love and attachment.

Seek, from the whole of the universe, the answer to the questions, "How can I best serve all sentient life, the loyalties important to me - by order of importance, and myself?"

I take you are new here, this post is much better in terms of length and readability compared to that other post you made I just replied to. Please think of the reader when making posts and be as concise as possible. You can always follow up with replies and this makes for a more engaging discussion. Other than that welcome! 

The only thing I disagree with in your OP is when you say “love is the source of creativity” we’ll have you heard of Machiavellian schemes? Quite creative but hardly based on love. No imagination is the source of creativity. That long overlooked tool and increasingly sidelined in modern society. Imagination is the greatest tool we have and we should oil and sharpen it regularly if we want to pursue anything creative and original. A good imagination also unlocks the powers of the intellect. But don’t tell that to any potential Machiavellis out there. ;)

[andy06shake]

I get why you guys disagree about fear, but I also agree for the most part with what the OP is saying. You have to consider irrational fear which for many people can be crippling, how many phobias do people have that are illogical? What about anxiety attacks etc…

Yes fear is there for our general survival but it also is the source of many of our failings. Even things that just make us feel uncomfortable for example we generally avoid, unless motivated enough to do them anyway by some other desire. Consider things that people avoid through irrational fears.
The weak and the timid aren’t so much born that way but made that way, they lack the confidence to assert themselves because they got hurt for doing so in the past, they then become fearful of trying again and simply give up. On the other hand those that have achieved mastery of anything have been burnt, been hurt, either emotionally or physically or both, yet they have been resolute and determined and most of all courageous enough to push through and achieve great things. 

They say fortune favours the brave for good reason. But more than that it our ability to overcome our instinct that truly makes us human.

Have you ever had an anxiety attack? 

They can be crippling to say the least.

The thing about fear is that it isn't just an instinct to overcome.

It's learned, contextual, and unevenly distributed.

Overcoming instinct isn't what makes us human.

Understanding, regulating, and sometimes respecting our instincts is what defines us. 

Courage isn't the absence of fear, it's a negotiation with it.

[IzakielSturge]

"Without fear, you would simply walk out in to trafic or step off a bridge without care." - andy06shake

I very seriously doubt that. Lack of fear doesn't induce a craving for injury and death. Injury and death seem illogical to a happy person even when there is no fear.

On the other hand, maybe you're right.

If you can turn off susceptibility to fear, you can turn it back on.

[andy06shake]

"Without fear, you would simply walk out in to trafic or step off a bridge without care." - andy06shake

I very seriously doubt that. Lack of fear doesn't induce a craving for injury and death. Injury and death seem illogical to a happy person even when there is no fear.

On the other hand, maybe you're right.

If you can turn off susceptibility to fear, you can turn it back on.

Fear isn't just panic through, it's part of the system that assigns urgency to danger.

People with impaired fear responses, say down to brain injury or other disorders, don't crave death(some might).

But they do take objectively dangerous actions because the risk doesn't register.

Knowing something is illogical isn't always enough to stop behavior in real time, i wish that was not the case.

Fear isn't a simple on/off switch you can toggle at will.

It's part and parcel of the human condition.

You can regulate fear, yes, but you can't fully remove it without severe consequences.

Here is a question, how long do you imagine a soldier would last on a battlefield without fear?