Everything we do and everything we fail to do is governed by the fear of death, that is, by the fear that the thing we call "I" will disappear forever. Almost no one admits to having that fear, yet everyone admits to fearing the loss of a job, of health, of loved ones, of one's own self-image. All those fears are the same fear.

Suffering is not a virtue or a teacher. It is an indicator, a warning signal telling us that the future has closed, just as a stomach ache tells us that something in the body is not working.

In the face of that fear, an entire life becomes organised as compensation. We pursue power, money, prestige, possessions and roles in order to produce an illusion of permanence, and none of these compensations works: the fear remains intact once they have been obtained. Since society is made of individuals who compensate in the same way, its institutions reproduce that fear on a collective scale.

First, to understand

To see precisely, in one's own life and in the lives of others, how fear controls everything and how it is compensated. The need to get out is born of that understanding, not of an act of willpower. Here the two basic tools are acquired: contact with the inner guide, which is the wisest and kindest part of oneself, and the ability to move within one's own internal space.

Second, to sustain the effort

Understanding is not enough: a personal intention is weak and easily replaced by another. What is needed is the deep intention, which comes from a deeper region of oneself and is evoked through a concrete, repeatable procedure, until its physical register in the body is recognised and can be summoned at will. It is trained first on everyday matters and afterwards on the central one.