Insight, Meditations and Reflections

For the past two months our book discussion group of has been reading Jan Frazier's When Fear Falls Away.

We had the honor to talk with Jan. We have posted our comments, ideas and insights about When Fear Falls Away on our IMCM Ddiscussion group, a community on Gaia.

To wrap up the book discussion, I am posting what I consider the seven main ideas that I am taking away from Jan's book.

If you haven't yet read When Fear Falls Away, get yourself a copy. The following posts will make more sense to you then. 

First Jewel: Transmutation of Suffering

Suffering “the bitter soup of stress, guilt, anger, frustration, worry, and general discontent” p. 45, is a universal human condition. “Most people go to their graves believing suffering is unavoidable. How sad that is,” p. 187.

Jan Frazier reminds us several times in When Fear Falls Away that “It doesn’t have to be this way.” In other words, we have an inbuilt mechanism to deal with all the sufferings we face in life.

We can choose to not be afraid and to not suffer. “We have choice in the matter” p. 36 and p. 47. “I have always had this choice,” p.42. “It could be otherwise” p. 46. The external world and the circumstances of our lives are neutral. The awakening helps us perceive the good in everything.

Suffering then becomes an invitation to recognize who we truly are. Suffering is also a gateway to our divine state p. 45. For “in the presence of extreme suffering, transmutation takes place,” p.182.

When the eyes of the seer changes everything changes, p. 98. “I can choose anything to think of, any experience I’ve ever had, any love I’ve ever loved, any mistake I’ve ever made…and it will look different to me in this light,” p. 99.