That in love and in life, freedom from fear -- like all species of freedom -- is
only possible within the present moment has long been a core teaching of the
most ancient Eastern spiritual and philosophical traditions. It is one of the
most elemental truths of existence, and one of those most difficult to put into
practice as we move through our daily human lives, so habitually inclined toward
the next moment and the mentally constructed universe of expected events --the
parallel universe where anxiety dwells, where hope and fear for what might be
eclipse what is, and where we cease to be free because we are no longer in the
direct light of reality.
The relationship between freedom, fear, and love is what Alan Watts explores
in one of the most insightful chapters of The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message
for an Age of Anxiety (public library) -- his altogether revelatory 1951
classic, which introduced Eastern philosophy to the West with its lucid and
luminous case for how to live with presence.
