Stress Relief

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How do I overcome fear? I seem very bold but have many fears. I experience panic attacks often. Mᴀʜᴀɴᴛᴀ, please help me.

Panic attacks were once thought to be a psychological problem. Recent studies, however, find many cases have a physical basis. I’m not allowed to give specific health advice, but do check with a health practitioner to ensure your vitamin and mineral levels are normal. Go from there.

The symptoms certainly do cause alarm.

Our bodies have down-to-earth needs, and much of our spiritual insight must be directed at finding ways to treat ourselves better. And of course, singing HU goes along with your search for real answers to your panic attacks.

Through it all, I am always with you.

—Sri Harold Klemp

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Last year two of my old friends from high school committed suicide. This came as a shock to me, and I’m sure to a lot of other people, because these individuals were outgoing and seemingly well adjusted.

What is suicide all about, Sri Harold? Why do people do it? I am reaching to make sense of it and keep a balance for myself?

Thank you for your guidance on this sensitive issue.

It is very disturbing when someone we know decides to end it all. What are some likely reasons for suicide?

A big factor is an overexposure to electronics. Today’s technology has far outpaced human evolution, so our many gadgets blast our nervous system, weakening it.

Add to that a deficient diet. Soda and energy drinks are often loaded with caffeine, which stresses the nerves even more. Fast food does not supply us with the necessary nutrition, which also robs us of the right fuel for our bodies and minds.

All the above devolve into insufficient sleep.

Of major concern is how the above items may relegate one’s spiritual exercises or quiet time to the very bottom of one’s daily schedule. We all need time alone; our intricate systems must have a chance to recharge and freshen up.

Not mentioned yet is severe pain as a reason for suicide. People are always meeting their own past deeds but are hardly set for the terrible pain that illness of body or mind can inflict.

Still, who are we to judge? Love only.

—Sri Harold Klemp

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I am often concerned by the chaos and upheaval in the world and the apparent lack of competency in its political leaders. How can I better deal with this concern?

The point of everything is that the higher one goes spiritually, the greater becomes his vision. It then calls for an even greater state of detachment.

No matter how corrupt government becomes in any part of the world, we must do our best to rise above the moral squalor. The only way to do that is to fill yourself with love and let that love see the light of day in some way, every day.

Small kindnesses will answer, and they go a long way toward making this corrupt social creation we live in somewhat more tolerable.

—Sri Harold Klemp

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Nowadays most people, at least in the Western world, feel they are in need of more time. They rush around trying to accomplish a lot of things. The pace of life is speeded up, and some feel that time is taking more and more of their attention. Is this fast pace of life made up by mankind, or does it come from somewhere else? What lesson is Soul supposed to get from these experiences?

Life today truly flies at a supersonic speed. Two main viewpoints in regard to this phenomenon exist.

One, people are victims of technology. But its attractions, like the cell phone, to name only one of hundreds, is like candy. It’s hard to give up one’s need for it. Yet both, in excess, are a health concern—one spiritual, the other physical.

We love our addictions. Otherwise we wouldn’t do them.

The second view of today’s rat race is less common. In short it says, “We don’t have to live like this.” So people rearrange their jobs and lifestyles to enter a calmer, more sane existence. Of course, it means the sacrifice of some candies.

Lin Yutang, a modern Chinese wise man, said to let one thing go. Sage advice with many ramifications.

When your schedule gets out of hand, just let one thing go. In fact, it may take doing more than once in an hour. You’d be surprised how such a simple idea can put you in control of your time again.

Make no mistake, people in this supersonic world wanted to be reborn into this era. Even if they had a choice to come at a more placid time or in a more settled age. Yet complaints are an inborn part of human nature. People like to complain about self-made troubles.

The lesson for Soul is patience and humility. The gadgets are like badges that scream: “Look how important I am!” “Me, top-drawer stuff—compared to you.”

What else is that but vanity? So it needs humility.

—Sri Harold Klemp