What does POWER mean to you? Is it something to aim for?

Question

I met this guy once, he was into Tai Chi. He told me his master was so powerful he could burn your skin with his finger tip. I remember thinking (to myself) Is THAT what spirituality is about? I thought it was a bit pathetic really.

Is potency or effectiveness or a sense of agency the same thing as POWER?

What about Dominance, even Cruelty?

What about the flip side, weakness?

People don't like the idea of being weak. But, it could mean gentleness or receptiveness or openness or vulnerability.

If you can't be vulnerable, how could you be intimate, how could you connect. How could you even get out of bed in the morning without blocking out a great deal of reality.

Do you want to be safe?

Even suffering, enlightenment could be the end to suffering, but is that the most important thing?

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So why do you practice?
What do you want to be enlightened for?
What you going to do when you are enlightened? Teach? Why?
Will enlightenment benefit the people you teach?

For myself, I know I can have a dominant/cruel side. also a side a side that feels weak and unacceptable.
I would genuinly like to be able to be kinder. That is why I practice, mostly ; )

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Hiya Sunman,
I do try to reach out in my own way, but I have a fickle heart, and need to grow up a bit more too, before I can be really effective.
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Answer 1

Well, I like you...

I have always set the standard that I wouldn't take on more power until my character could handle it without the crushing ego-driven need to perform. How many times have we've seen someone be slave to their 'Genius'. It makes me happy to be 'run of the mill'.

Working from the inside, out. Openness to me, is the first skill of a warrior of heart. Soaking in the abstract that is life. Kindness, is also a practice. As it gentleness, (ahem, MV< I'll get there). receptiveness, and vulnerability.

It is always in our power to be exactly who we wish, simply by acting in those things. To chose that when the situations arise. For they are indeed skills. For me, to chose is to be unfettered by those who would chose for you.

To live in freedom. Then watch power fly from your fingertips. Now, when I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't ; if able, let fly a lightning bolt aimed towards the oval office, I'd say that I had emassed enough Character to truly control myself in that particular gift. Until then, I would rather build me using everything that you've stated above and serve the One, and allow my power to build accordingly.

Imagine being a free, unfettered being? Living your dreams...all of them... as you wilt, so shall it be. Imagine, you knew this every moment of your life, and accepted that those around you did the same. Collective agreements were not necessary. No one enslaved to dogma, memes, or Political agendas. Imagine, we celebrated each other and accepted that ONE was for all intents and purposes simply here to express itself, and everything here was 'opportunity' to do so.

Your choices expressed your spirit.

There are times when I am here, when I can literally taste the possibilities of all that. Or it couldn't even be written.

Tagged by the Cosmic Task force for the spreading of
(((((((((pureness of power)))))))))))

Answer 2

Q: Is potency or effectiveness or a sense of agency the same thing as POWER?

A: Maybe. Power is certainly one facet that comes with it. Maybe a byproduct. Maybe more primary.

Q: What about Dominance, even Cruelty?

A: Both are to be avoided, from my personal viewpoint.

Q: What about the flip side, weakness?

A: I don't think weakness is a factor insofar as a product. Sometimes it's the reason people get into it, however.

Q: People don't like the idea of being weak. But, it could mean gentleness or receptiveness or openness or vulnerability.

A: It might. On the other hand, a person might just choose to believe gentleness, receptiveness [to particular viewpoints] and various manifestations of 'open-mindedness' weren't appropriate, useful, nor desirable at any given time.

Q: If you can't be vulnerable, how could you be intimate, how could you connect. How could you even get out of bed in the morning without blocking out a great deal of reality.

A: Comes with the territory of being human, the limitations you describe in the question. We're all limited, all hopefully aspiring to become less limited. The limitations in each of us appear to be something we bring into this life, which hopefully we'll overcome before going out of it. The incentive for doing so lies in the prospects for what we have to do next life.

Q: Do you want to be safe?

A: Not particularly. Prudent is a word I favor.

Q: Even suffering, enlightenment could be the end to suffering, but is that the most important thing?

A: No. Suffering is probably intrinsic to the journey, to one extent, or another. The ability to face suffering without fear seems to me to be a valuable component.

Q: So why do you practice?

A: Good question. I do part of it because I'm good at it, and it provides me satisfaction, doing it, learning from what I do. But there's also a compulsive element. I tend to go where I 'feel' I am drawn, and I usually don't question it.

Q: What do you want to be enlightened for?

A: Answer is in the one above.

Q: What you going to do when you are enlightened? Teach? Why?

A: Definitely not teach. Guru is a dangerous place offering challenges I have no desire to confront.

Q: Will enlightenment benefit the people you teach?

A: I don't do much teaching. I generally believe people need to find the paths right for them and follow those paths. I don't find myself drawn intimately to try influencing the paths others take.

Answer 3

Power is the ability to act, whether the actions are physical, psychic, or mental.
Potency is your potential power.
Effectiveness is your actualized power.
Domination and cruelty are not true power.
They are power misunderstood and distorted.
Weakness is not the flip side of power.
True passivity is the compliment to true aggression and it's not weak. It's where the potency resides. Gentleness, receptivity, openness...these are qualities of the divine feminine within us all. Trust me, the feminine is not weak.
I am protected, yet what is there to be safe from? I make my life...all that it implies.
For many, the end of suffering is the most important thing right now.
Will you become like Jon C and reach out to them?
I practice because practice makes perfect.
Perfect yourself.

Answer 4

Excellent question!
The purpose of power is to have control, we all want more control, thus, more power.

Any power is not good or bad, but how it is employed. Let's forget about this 'burn your skin off' business. True or no (probably no?) That is the Kung Fu version of 'my dad could beat your dad' crud.

And that is the mentality of the person who seeks power irresponsibly and pettily, for their own sake. Power means control, and responsibility.

Taking the martial arts example (which, along with music, is a discipline I practice) you seek power for the control over yourself. If you know, with no pride or self-aggrandizement, that the power to take life is in your hand, why would the good student, the responsible student, not find the shortest means to AVOID violence, knowing violence to be the weakest strategy, requiring the least and most crude kind of control, the least harmonious?

The same is true for any power. To garner military power, one must first control troops. This is best done through loyalty to character. By force of fear ultimately brings unrest.

Monetary power is the same thing. To gain more, you must responsibly and harmoniously spend/invest more.

Political power, intellectual power (you must teach it to gain it) all things obey this principle, so it is easy to spot those that lust for power, for it's own sake, rather than those who seek the discipline to gain and wield power responsibly.

If you are empowered, you seek to empower others, or you risk lose your power. Anything done in negative, selfish heart yields bitter, painful fruit that never satisfies, always, so you must learn and obey those principles or never be at harmony.

Answer 5

The power of 'creation' - causality/reality shifts - as our natural egoless state of being.

Everyone is unique regarding level (karma) and purpose, so the longing for and achieving 'full aliveness' individually has an effect en masse.

Seeking enlightenment tends to degenerate into ego 'specialness' - whereas seeking 'eternal aliveness' which is purpose keeps people on track.

Why support that? Because to live otherwise is a spiritual waste.

Answer 6

Power can be used for good or for evil. How often do we see the rich and powerful, individuals, governments and corporations, abusing the weak and taking advantage of them in order to become more powerful?

"Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely."

"All it takes for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing."

It takes strength (of mind, or character) to stand up against those who abuse power. And I agree that vulnerability is a necessary (and even desirable) human trait. How else would we trust another person, especially one whom we love.

I'm not sure what you mean by enlightenment, though. That can mean different things to different people.

All I can tell you is that since I became a Christian, I have put my trust in what I consider to be the ultimate power - the creator of this universe - and in his word, and in Jesus, who died so that we might live. This is such good news, I could never keep it to myself, so I try to share it with anyone who will listen. It is my opinion that the good news of the gospel truly liberates people from fear, and transforms lives for good.

However, I suspect you didn't ask this question in order to get a sermon, so I'll stop here! Interesting question.

Answer 7

I will answer your very first question.

to me, power has facets. When reading your Q, and the As that followed, my thoughts were centering on the facet of power that is expressed as

The ability to perform a task required by me of God.

Translation: to detect, face, and reveal the secrets, of a person who is manifesting darkness. And there was one person in particular, that was the culmination of my abilities to do such.

It required the ability to be vulnerable, the ability to "see" despite the use of Life Energies that blind, cripple, misdirect, deceive, cause physical pain, confusion. There was one incident where she and I sat in the same room. She worked hard at projecting seriously harmful (to perception and spiritual awakeness) energies for half an hour.

I , to stand up to these energies had to do this. Identify, with my spiritual perception the thought behind each surge of attack. For instance, I would feel physically weak, mentally groggy. And the exact thought that she would "have" to elicit that effect would be... I don't actually remember what it was, but it would be like, "you can't see what I'm doing".

For quite some time, early in my learning how to confront darkness I thought it required seeing and controlling the Life Energy particles that resulted from the thought. It would work somewhat, but was difficult.

"Seeing" the hidden thought works completely and, once the needed ability to direct my "perception", even during attack, was learned, the "effort" needed was just to stay spiritually awake. Actually not that hard, once you know how.

Doing this revealed the lies she would "have" to project energies, and that make them effective. And their sequence, another important aspect. And the trick of coupling lies to truths, hiding lies within truths,.... those are the main ones. And doing that revealed "lie patterns" that are used in mundane life by others. Lie patterns that affect all of us at one time or another.

This peron's presence here was dimming, considerably, the consciousness of a very large portion of the planet. That was true because her being effective, and undetected, reinforced others who "emulated" her, used her lie patterns.

To sum it up: for me, that facet of power is "the ability to stay spiritually awake during attack."

The other power, the one I prefer is this. When I would experience an important revelation about one of the facets of Love. When I would soon after be in public, I would be " glowing" apparently. Many people who saw me would... their eyes would pop wide open, they would spontaneouly address me, and with enthusiasm, and other stuff.

And it would be kind of funny to me. Because to me, I still just felt like the same me that the same people would not do any of those things around otherwise. The only difference I would percieve in myself would be, " I feel really happy!"

Another facet of power.

Thanks for asking your question. I gave me the opportunity to share some stuff I have never been able to share before.

Answer 8

there's a Sanskrit manthra to describe OM. that's better than adequate to get a carry close. Om developed by utilising itself. The manthra runs like this: "Om thath Brahma. Om thath Vayurh. Om thath Athma. Om thath Sathyam. Om thath Sarvam. Om thath puror Namaha. Anthas charathi bootheshu, guhayam viswa murthishu. Thwam yagnyas thwam vashatkaras thwam Indras thwam Rudrah thwam Vishnus thwam Brahma thwam Prajapathihi. Thwam thadhapa aapoh jyothee raso amruthem Brahma Bhur, Bhuvah, Suvar, Om." that's ominipotent. Omniscient. Omnipresent. that's Beejakshara. that's the muse reason for each thing. that's the muse and commencing place of each and every thing. It has limitless, unrestricted and out of control powers, actual, psychological and religious.

Answer 9

Power to me means knowing myself. After years in an abusive relationship I now have the power to feel good about myself.
Dominance or cruelty are selfish acts.
Weakness is sometimes assumed when in reality there is hidden strength.
It all depends on someones perception. The truth may be hidden.

Answer 10

Power is not good. Many men and Goverments try to use control as power. Anyone who lets any of these people do that is weak. As we are in the spirituality section sorry if I spelled that wrong. I am tired. I like to think we are all in charge of our own life and our own destiny and as we grow we try to do what is best for us. Its life.