We fear losing the things dear to us. And ultimately we fear losing our very life, the basis for enjoying various things.

In our youth, life seems to stretch out long ahead of us. Even if news of death, sudden and brutal, periodically reminds us of our mortality, we brush aside those reminders and remain consumed by our temporal goals.

But as the years pass, our body starts creaking and crumbling. As our imminent mortality becomes increasingly undeniable, our fears hike up – disconcerting whispers become scary screams. Trying to get away from our fears, we bury ourselves in myriad entertainments and distractions.

However, we can do better than cover up our fears; we can cure them. How? With the medicine of spiritual sound taken in through the ears. The Bhagavad-gita (13.26) states that those who dedicate themselves to hearing spiritual knowledge transcend death.

Sacred sound as embodied in wisdom-texts such as the Gita reminds us of our eternal essence. This reminder decreases our fears, especially our fear of non-existence after death.

Moreover, hearing sacred sounds is central to bhakti-yoga. By steady bhakti practice, we become spiritually awakened. We realize our core indestructibility and rejoice in our inviolable relationship with our unfailing Lord, Krishna, whose parts we are eternally. Bhakti practice infuses us with the conviction that wherever we go, he will be with us and will protect us. In fact, even now, he is with us, within us. And he will take care of us if we just take his guidance coming through sacred sound.

Being thus devotionally reassured, we let go of our worldly attachments, thereby decreasing substantially our fears about losing those things. And as we become devotionally adept, we become attached to Krishna. When we learn to habitually relish his remembrance, our fears dissipate and disappear.

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