Story about fear: A young monk learns a lesson on how to deal with fear

One evening, as he sat in deep meditation, a young Tibetan monk noticed a small spider crawling towards him from the corner of the ceiling. A sudden wave of fear washed over him. He tried to shake it off, to continue his meditation, but the fear lingered, and he had to end his session early. Afterward, he searched for the spider, but it was nowhere to be found. He realized that fear, no matter how it appeared, had to be confronted. The next night, as he settled into meditation, the same thing happened again. This time, however, the spider seemed larger. The moment he stopped meditating to look for it, the spider once again vanished without a trace. This pattern repeated night after night. With each visit, the spider grew larger and more terrifying, and so did the monk’s fear. Eventually, unable to bear it any longer, he sought the guidance of his teacher. The young monk explained the mysterious appearance of the spider and how his fear had grown stronger each night. He then revealed his plan that the next time the spider came, he would keep a knife in his lap and strike it down.

His teacher listened carefully and then responded thoughtfully. The young monk had already made up his mind, so there was little reason to interfere. However, before taking such drastic action, the teacher suggested an alternative: instead of a knife, the monk should take a piece of chalk. When the spider appeared, he should simply mark an ‘X’ over the spot where he intended to strike. This would test his focus and precision for the following night. The young monk hesitated. The thought of drawing an ‘X’ over the belly of the giant spider filled him with unease, but he had committed to following his teacher’s guidance. He reassured himself that tomorrow he would destroy the creature all the same. That night, as he meditated, the spider appeared once more. The monk fought through his fear and trembling hand, carefully drawing an ‘X’ over the spider’s stomach. A sense of relief settled over him as he completed the task. The next morning, eager to inform his teacher, he recounted the event and reminded him of his promise. The teacher listened, then gently lifted the young monk’s robe. There, across the monk’s own stomach, was the very ‘X’ he had drawn the night before.

With a calm and knowing voice, the teacher explained that the lesson was not about killing a spider, but about understanding fear. The spider had never been a real threat, it was a reflection of the monk’s own inner struggles. Now that he had discovered its true source, he could begin the journey to overcoming it. Through this experience, the young monk learned that fear often comes from within, growing stronger the more we avoid it. But once we face it with awareness, we gain the power to confront it and move beyond it.