The text presents fear and anxiety as inevitable consequences of taking oneself to be the vulnerable body–mind, a limited and separate entity. When identity is invested in this fragile construct, a sense of threat and insecurity naturally follows, culminating in the fundamental fear of death or annihilation. By contrast, the real Self is described as pure awareness—unchanging, whole, and intrinsically free of fear. Thus, the problem is not fear as such, but the misidentification that allows fear to take root. The book therefore treats fear less as a psychological problem to be solved and more as a signpost pointing back to a mistaken sense of “I.”

The primary guidance offered is the method of self-inquiry, centered on questions such as “Who am I?”, “Who is afraid?”, or “To whom does this fear arise?”. When fear or anxiety appears, attention is not directed toward analyzing the content of the fear, its causes, or its external triggers. Instead, the instruction is to turn awareness back toward the subject, the one who claims, “I am afraid.” In this way, the inquiry does not attempt to modify the emotion itself but to investigate the experiencer of the emotion. As this investigation proceeds, it becomes evident that the “I” that fears cannot be found as a solid, enduring entity.

The book emphasizes that fear is sustained by thought—especially projections into imagined futures and narratives about loss, harm, or death. Rather than following these thought-streams, the recommended approach is to ask, “To whom do these thoughts occur?” and to remain with the bare sense of “I” that is thereby revealed. This redirection of attention away from the content of fear and toward its apparent owner gradually weakens the ego-thought. As the identification with the body–mind loosens, the supposed basis of fear is seen as insubstantial, and the underlying awareness is recognized as untouched by the fluctuations of anxiety.

Over time, through sustained practice of this inquiry, the “I”-thought that claims ownership of fear subsides into its source, and what remains is a stable, present awareness that is inherently peaceful and fearless. Fear and anxiety are then recognized as transient appearances within consciousness, not attributes of one’s real nature. The more consistently attention abides as this witnessing awareness, the less compelling fear becomes, since it is understood to belong only to the passing play of egoic identification. In this way, the book presents self-inquiry not as an escape from fear, but as a direct means of seeing that the one who fears was never truly real.