Accept fear and it disappears

One man came to me and he said, ‘I am very much afraid of death.’ He had cancer, and death was very near; any day it could happen. And he could not postpone it. He knew it was going to happen. Within months it would be there, or even within weeks.

He was really physically, literally, trembling, and he said, ‘Just give me one thing: how can I get rid of this fear of death? Give me some mantra, or something which can protect me and give me courage to face death. I don’t want to die trembling in fear.’ The man said, ‘I have been to many saints. Many things they have given. They were very kind. Someone has given me a mantra, someone has given me some sacred ashes, someone has given me his picture, someone has given something else, but nothing helps. Everything is in vain. Now I have come to you as the last resort. Now I will not go to anyone any more. Give me something.’

So I told him, ‘Still you are not aware. Why are you asking for something? – just to get rid of fear? Nothing will help. I cannot give you anything, otherwise, as others have proved failures, I will also prove a failure. And they gave you something because they don’t know what they are doing. I can say only one thing to you. Accept it. Tremble if trembling is there – what to do? Death is there, and you feel a trembling, so tremble. Don’t reject it, don’t suppress it. Don’t try to be brave. There is no need. Death is there. It is natural. Be afraid totally.’
He said, ‘What are you saying? You have not given me anything. Rather, on the contrary, you say to accept.’

I said, ‘Yes, you accept. You just go and die peacefully with total acceptance.’ After three or four days he came again, and said, ‘It works. I couldn’t sleep for so many days, but for these four days I slept deeply, because it is right, you are right.’ He said to me, ‘You are right. Fear is there, death is there, nothing can be done. All the mantras are just hocus-pocus; nothing can be done.’
No doctor can help, no saint can help. Death is there, a fact, and you are trembling. It is just natural. A storm comes and the whole tree trembles. It never goes to any saint to ask how not to tremble when a storm is passing by. It never goes for a mantra to change it, to protect it. It trembles. It is natural; it is so.

And the man said, ‘But a miracle has happened. Now I am not so afraid.’ If you accept, fear starts disappearing. If you reject, resist, fight, you give energy to fear. That man died peacefully, unafraid, fearless, because he could accept fear.

Accept fear and it disappears. -- OSHO