We are frightened of ourselves

Milarepa had already gone through the subtleties of loneliness and his romantic notions of being in retreat, and having gone through all that, he began to relax a little bit. But in the course of his relaxation, once again his dear familiar ego came back and approached him with all kinds of temptations. All kinds of subtle temptations came up, such as the challenge of fear, which became prominent. The same thing happens to us when we practice our own individual retreats: there is the constant challenge of fear. To begin with, we are irritated with ourselves, and then fear begins to come through. We are frightened of something: we are frightened of ourselves! – Chogyam Trungpa