We all have fearful thoughts. They arise from conditioning – from genetics, epigenetics, family values, societies, cultures, etc.
When something triggers a fearful thought, the first thing we must do is recognize it as qualia.
Let’s say it’s nighttime on a street in an unfamiliar neighborhood, and that a person came toward you who looks different, unfamiliar, and you have the anxious thought that they could be harmful. That idea is qualia and it needs to be ritualed with.
So, you are walking towards each other and you are thinking, qualiadelically, how can I examine this thought, how might I play with it, experiment with it? Chances are that before you even have time to consider it the person has passed you. If not, maybe you had time to make eye contact, and even force a smile.
Okay, well, that in itself is a ritual. Perhaps not much of one, but at least for a moment you stepped out of the routine and began to focus on the nature of your anxious thoughts. And then it was over! Perhaps not enough new qualia to keep the same fear from arising again, but that is not really the point.
The point is your shift in that brief ritual from frat to courage. We ought not to operate in fear, but in courage. It takes courage to consciously ritual.
It is so easy to tap into fear. Fear is the low road. Courage is the high road.
There is a gray area between instinct (jumping out of the way of an oncoming car) and fear. Courage does not mean carrying a gun. Courage means doubting the fearful thought in the first place.
Consciously ritual with qualia and make the world a better place for everybody.