The Nikāya Suttas frequently mention the concept of fear (bhaya) and related synonyms. This concept does not receive much scholarly attention by subsequent Buddhist philosophers. Recent scholars identify a ‘paradox of fear’ in several traditions of classical Indian Buddhism (Brekke 1999; Finnigan 2019; Giustarini 2012). Each scholar points out, in their respective textual contexts, that fear is evaluated in two ways; one positive and the other negative. Brekke calls this the “double role” of fear (1999, p. 443). Each also identify fear as purposely elicited to motivate acts aimed at achieving fearlessness, where freedom from fear is characteristic of nibbāna. They all find this puzzling. Finnigan asks: “Why would one purposefully incite fear if one’s goal is its elimination?” (2019, p. 221). Giustarini says that fear has a “contradictory nature” (2012, p. 513); Brekke calls it “the paradox of fear” (1999, p. 442). This article introduces the ‘paradox of fear’ as it appears in the Bodhicaryāvatāra of Śāntideva and the Nikāya suttas. It then critically examines Brekke and Giustarini’s proposed solutions. It argues that they get some things right in ways that are both supported by the Nikāyas and relevant to Śāntideva but that they leave some important questions unanswered. The article concludes by arguing that these questions are best answered if fear is analysed as appropriate when its objects are related to karma and rebirth.

Nikāya Suttas 经常提到恐惧 ( bhaya ) 和相关同义词的概念。这个概念并没有受到后来的佛教哲学家的学术关注。最近的学者在古典印度佛教的几个传统中发现了“恐惧悖论”（Brekke 1999；Finnigan 2019；Giustarini 2012）。每位学者都指出，在各自的文本上下文中，可以通过两种方式评估恐惧：一个是积极的，另一个是消极的。Brekke 将此称为恐惧的“双重角色”（1999，第 443 页）。每个人也将恐惧确定为有意引出以激发旨在实现无畏的行为，其中免于恐惧是涅盘的特征。他们都觉得这令人费解。Finnigan 问道：“如果一个人的目标是消除恐惧，为什么要故意煽动恐惧？” （2019 年，第 221 页）。朱斯塔里尼说，恐惧具有“矛盾性”（2012 年，第 513 页）；Brekke 称其为“恐惧悖论”（1999，第 442 页）。本文介绍了出现在Śāntideva的Bodhicaryāvatāra和 Nikāya suttas 中的“恐惧悖论” 。然后，它批判性地检查了 Brekke 和 Giustarini 提出的解决方案。它争辩说，他们以既得到 Nikāyas 支持又与 Śāntideva 相关的方式做对了一些事情，但他们留下了一些重要的问题没有答案。文章最后指出，如果在恐惧的对象与业力和重生相关时适当地分析恐惧，那么这些问题的最佳答案。