Is the fear of hurting one's ego, the root cause of all fears?

[An online spiritual discussion was conducted on January 23, 2021, in which several devotees participated. Some of the questions of devotees answered by Swāmi are given below.]

[Smt. Suganya Raman asked: This question is about fear and ego. I feel, most sins happen out of fear. The fear of losing may cause us to cheat in order to win, or just to feed one’s ego. The fear of failures may push one to follow some illegal methods to succeed. The fear of telling the truth leads to hiding it, which is as good as a lie.

So, except for natural fears like the fear of falling from a height or the fear of a sudden loud sound, are all the other fears just generated to feed one’s ego? Is having fear also a sin? Please let me know if my understanding is correct, Swami.]

Swāmi replied: Fear is not a sin. Making others fear you is a sin. It is correct to say that fear is mainly connected to the ego and you have given several examples to support this point. If the ego is smashed, all these problems of fear related to the ego will vanish. In Christianity, the symbolism of the cross is said to be the cancelling of the ‘I’ with a horizontal stroke. Several sins happen due to ego and the ego is linked to almost all sins, directly or indirectly. The ego generates the sense of doership in the person and the person tries to get fame through it (Ahaṃkāra vimūḍhātmā, Kartāhamiti manyate—Gītā). ‘I’ is ego and ‘my’ is selfishness. ‘I’ and ‘my’ should remain only to a basic level. If both these rise above that basic level, they become dangerous. Both these should also not fall below the basic level. Unless the basic ‘I’ and ‘my’ exist, you cannot have the satisfaction of sacrificing anything to God. Fear of a basic level is also needed. For instance, using that basic fear, children can be disciplined. But anything that is either above or below that basic level is dangerous like the temperature of the body.

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