Is there a Connection between Sila and Fear? Is there a connection between Sila and fear? I find fear to be the main reason I practice sila. I would like to practice Sila out of loving kindness and a compassionate heart but I'm more worried about the consequences of my actions then being compassionate.And i don't know if this is selfish reason to practice sila but I'm really not keeping the precepts because I care very deeply about others or want to be Mother Theresa but  because for some reason I never seem to get away with anything.And I always seem to get the results of my actions right away that I feel like I don't have a choice but lead some kind of moral life.Basically i feel like someone on parole.My question is:


Is it selfish to practice sila because you want to save your own skin? Or should it only be practiced out of compassion for others?
Is there a connection between fear and sila? 


Thanks
Fear is considered an unwholesome state, containing as it does aversion (patigha):

paṭighacittuppādavasena hi bhāyanaṃ
Indeed, fear [arises] due to the arising of a mind accompanied by aversion.
-- Vism-T 21.3 (751)

So no, there should be no connection between morality and fear. ottapa, often translated as &quot;fear of wrongdoing&quot;, is a mind state that recoils from doing evil; it is a quality of mind that involves the disinclination to perform evil, not necessarily related to aversion or fear. It is wholesome.
As to practicing morality for selfish reasons, every part of the Buddha's teaching should be practiced to benefit oneself. Helping others can only come through one's own self-improvement. Of course, disregard for the suffering of others can be a sign of cruelty, which is unwholesome, but the two states are mutually independent; you can be focussed on helping yourself without disregarding the suffering of others, or you can be focussed on helping yourself and meanwhile disregarding the suffering of others.

One should first establish oneself in what is proper; then only should one instruct others. Thus the wise man will not be reproached.
...
Let one not neglect one's own welfare for the sake of another, however great. Clearly understanding one's own welfare, let one be intent upon the good.
-- Dhp. 158 &amp; 166 (Buddharakkhita, trans)