No fear

Manly P Hall was an American esotericist. He founded a group called the Philosophical Research Society, which still exists, disseminating Hall's writings. “Basic Fears and How to Correct Them” contains a short lecture on fear.

Most of the lecture contains self-help tips 101, such as the importance of positive thinking, the necessity to face our fears squarely instead of running from them, the need to give our empty lives purpose, etc. The lecture was given at the height of the Cold War, when many feared nuclear war. Hall had met several people who had taken to the hills in response. One of them had gotten his wilderness compound confiscated by the authorities, who wanted to clear the ground for a – wait for it – nuclear testing site! Hall calls on people to stay put in the cities and work for positive social change instead…

Hall's main point, however, is that religion and philosophy is the basic tonic against fear. Humans need faith in a higher law which providentially works itself out for the good of all. Our lives should be based on moral values grounded on this faith. We also need to believe in the immortality of the soul. Not even a nuclear blast can kill us! Hall calls for the reform of the old religious traditions, without specifying what this means. As for philosophy, he wants to replace materialism with “idealism”, a term which seems to cover both a belief in a spiritual reality and the need to be idealistic. (It doesn't seem to be a technical philosophical term.) Thus, Hall's main remedy for fear is more spirituality.

I end with a quote:

“We can recognize, if we are philosophically minded, the importance of our belief in the immortality of man, and in the total rulership of Good in the great universe of which we are a part. We can prepare ourselves for our citizenship in eternity with the full realization that, regardless of whether immediate things are better or worse, ultimate things remain the same. Whether we are allowed to live eighty-five years and die in the midst of our relatives, or whether, years before this, we might be victims of atomic speculation—in the end we are going to gather our trailing robes of glory.”