When you feel fear, fear comes, just when you feel fear coming, realize, then fear will disappear. Alertness and fear cannot coexist. How can you be afraid while awake? But when you lose alertness, you can be afraid. Indeed, the cowardly man is not the afraid man; the cowardly man is the man asleep, and the brave man is the man who can bring wakefulness in moments of fear. So the fear disappears.
In Japan, they train warriors in vigilance. Basic training is alertness training, and everything else is secondary: swordsmanship, archery, everything else comes second. It is said that the great Zen master Rinzai was never successful in archery, never hitting the right spot, the right target. His arrows always missed; never got to the right spot. And he was known as one of the greatest archers. That’s why someone asked: “How is Rinzai known as the greatest archer when he never hits the target, always misses? His arrows never reach the right spot, so how is he known as one of the greatest archers?”
Followers of Rinzai said: “This is not the end, it is the beginning. We are not concerned with the arrow reaching the target, we are concerned with the arrow starting its journey. We are dealing with Rinzai. As the arrow leaves the bow, he is awake; that’s it. The result is not important, the result is meaningless.”
There was a man who was a disciple of Rinzai. He was a great archer, he could never miss his target. He had come to Rinzai to learn, so someone said: “Who do you go to learn? He is not a master; not even a disciple. He’s a failure. You are a great master and you go to Rinzai to learn, right?”
The archer said: “Yes, because I was technically successful. But I am a failure with my consciousness. He’s technically unsuccessful, but he’s an archer with a knack for consciousness… because he’s awake when his arrow comes out of the bow, and that’s what counts.”
This technically adept archer had to take lessons from Rinzai for years and was hitting targets 100 percent every day. Rinzai said, “No. You failed. Technically your arrow is correct. But you are not there, you are not awake. You lose him in your sleep,” he says.
In Japan, they trained warriors to be alert first, and everything else followed. A warrior is a brave man if he is vigilant. In the Second World War, it was felt that the Japanese warriors could not keep up; Their courage knew no rival. Where does this come from? They are not that strong physically, but in consciousness, in alertness, fear cannot come. They are not afraid and when fear comes they try the Zen methods.
When you feel anxious, when you are very worried, try it. What to do? What do you normally do when you’re worried? What do you do? You try to solve it. You try options and you get more and more into it. You create even greater confusion because worry cannot be resolved by thinking. It cannot be solved by thinking, because thinking itself is a kind of anxiety. So you help him grow more. You cannot get out of it through thought; you go deeper. This technique says to do nothing about anxiety. Just be vigilant. Just be vigilant!
I will tell you an old story about another Zen master, Bokuju. He lived alone in a cave, all alone, but one day or night, he would shout loudly from time to time, “Bokuju!” he said… His own name. Then “Yes sir, I am here!” he says. And there was no one else there.
His followers used to ask him: “Why do you say ‘Bokuju!’, say your own name, and then say, ‘Yes sir, I’m here!’?”
He said: “Every time I start thinking, I have to remember to be alert, and so I say my own name: ‘Bokuju!’ And the moment I say, ‘Yes sir, I’m here!’ the thought, the anxiety disappears.”
Then, in his final days, he didn’t even “Bokuju!” for two or three years. never said, “Yes sir, I am here!” he didn’t answer.
His disciples asked: “Master, why don’t you ever do this anymore?”
He also said, “There is always Bokuju now. It’s always there and it’s not needed. I felt your absence before. I used to get anxious at times, choked with anxiety, and Bokuju wasn’t there. So I had to remember Bokuju, and when I did, the anxiety disappeared.”
Try your own name. When you feel deep anxiety, call out to yourself. Try this. This is a beautiful thing. Try your name. When you feel deep anxiety, call yourself… Call your name… “Bokuju” or any name, but your own name… And then reply: “Yes sir, I am here!” Feel the difference. Worry will disappear. At the very least, for a single moment, you will see beyond the clouds, and that view may deepen. Once awake, knowing that there is no worry, anxiety disappears; You come to a deep knowing about your own self and the workings of the inner mechanism.
Osho – “The Book of Secrets”
