If one observes in the structure of consciousness, one sees what an extraordinarily important part is played by thought. Fear is related to thought. Right? There are various forms of fear. I cannot go into all the details of it this morning because it would take too long, because I want also to talk over with you the whole question of meditation. So we must go through it fairly rapidly in not too many details, but grasp the whole significance of fear, conscious as well as unconscious. As we said, when one observes this whole process of thought, which has created the world with all its religions, with all its gods, with its saviours, Christ, the Buddhas, Krishnas and all of them, essentially based on thought. Therefore thought is material and a materialistic world in which we live, as long as we function there and remain there, fear must continue. Right? Because fear is the outcome or the cause of loneliness, of deprivation, both physical and psychological - attachment to property, to people, ideas, concepts, nationalities, families - as long as there is this manoeuvrability of thought, functioning within the material world - and it has to function in that world - fear must remain, because what else have I or you if we live in that world. You understand? There I must seek security, as you must seek security, physical or psychological. And we went into that question the other day again, which is, as long as the mind seeks material security, as long as the mind psychologically asserts a permanency, there must be fear. Right? Please this is simple enough.

That is, sir, the brain can only function effectively, objectively, rationally, if it has got complete security. That is obvious. When it has no security it finds security in belief, in gods, in symbols, in ideologies, which become neurotic action; nationalities and their activity is essentially a neurotic action. As long as I call myself a nationalist of a particular country, it is a neurotic behaviour, because that brings about conflict, separation, division between people. And that is one of the causes of fear. Right?

So that means, when you realise that, and are aware of its whole nature, are you still a nationalist? Do you still think in terms of a country, of a people or of an idea, of a particular race, or an ideology, and so on? If you do, there must be continuance of fear. That is fairly clear. And the mind also, because it lives totally in the material world - we have described what is materialism: materialism is opinion, a concern, nothing matters but matter, nothing exists but matter, matter, which is manoeuvrable, movement, consciousness and will. All that is materialism. And thought is matter, and we live in that area. Please see that. See the reality of it, not my description of it. Unless you fundamentally grasp this, fear will go on, because there, there is nothing else but the demand for security, permanency. And where there is a demand for this, there must essentially be fear.