Shot By Brock

I haven’t read Frank Herbert’s Dune, nor have I seen the recent movie. Scenes from the cult David Lynch film are, however, imprinted on my mind, and I’m not just talking about Sting in his underpants. I’m referring - of course -to the Litany Against Fear, a poetic mantra recited by the Bene Gesserit, and it goes like this: "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." Who is this I, that remains when the fear has gone? Maybe somewhat tangentially, but this makes me this think of the words of Pema Chodron: “Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible in us be found.” This fearless I, this indestructible, intrinsic self, could this be who we really are when we strip away all that we have acc