Redefining Power

I must have listened to the beginning of Lord of the Rings I, The Fellowship of the Ring about a dozen times. I love Cate Blanchett’s voice.”It began with the forging of the great rings. Three were given to the elves, immortal, wisest and fairest of all beings, seven to the dwarf lords, great miners and craftsmen of the mountain ores, and nine..nine rings were gifted to the race of men, who above all else desire power. For within these rings was bound the strength and will to govern each race.”

What is power? In the jungle, power is used for survival. Man on the other hand desire power in order to have dominion over other men, be it via economic, social, political or personal means, or any combination thereof. This is how we define worldly power. As such, empires were built. But empires also collapse and power is taken by the mightier in a battle. If it is not taken away by an enemy, eventually, it fades in time, like everything else. Worldly power is temporary.

There is another kind of power: mystical power, which was handed to Moses (Exodus 4). According to some texts, advanced yogis can manifest extraordinary feats. Many examples are mentioned in Autobiography of a yogi. To the uninitiated, such manifestations appear magical. One who is so in tune with the unseen and unmeasured energies in this world can make things, seemingly impossible to happen, happen. Few people in the world have not seen a Harry Potter movie. We delight in the movies about magic because some part of us believe it is possible whether we admit it or not.

There are many ways to tap into mystical power. The path of the saints and the path of the yogis are paths to God, and along the way, power is acquired. To use such powers is an ultimate test. It is said that some secret societies exist and that they teach you all the secrets of the universe. They promise you fame, fortune and practically anything you could want.

Sometimes when we embark on a spiritual journey and our minds have become quiet we stumble upon seemingly magical coincidences. Sometimes we get curious and we get sidetracked. In our everyday lives, this power is manifested when our desires are fine tuned with faith and detachment. This is the combination of events that makes things happen instantaneously, as Deepak Chopra calls it, instantaneous manifestation of desire.

Just remember the times when you have arrived at the supermarket and while the whole parking lot was full, a person happens to be just pulling out in time for you to park. Coincidence? Perhaps. But what if it happens again and again? You realize that you can, at will, influence events. You have tapped into your power, but eventually we realize that the whole power trip is a trap-a test.

I always go back to the pages in the bible when Jesus came out of the forty day and night fasting and prayer, and He became hungry. The devil presented to Him the following offers:

Turn this stone into bread, jump off the pinnacle of this temple, and finally, worship me and I will give you dominion over the world for it has been handed to me. The trap is so well presented, so simple. Just show me that you are the Son of God as you claim to be.

As I reflect on it again and again, I realized that Jesus could still be hungry because he was still in the flesh. That the devil uses quotations from the bible is most appealing to the human intellect, but the last one is more general and would appeal to a human far more than the first two. All humans are tempted by power, presented in different packages.

I am brought back to the mythical king by Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ozymandias, when all that was left of a once mighty empire is a stone that reads “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings. Look on my works ye mighty and despair.” All worldly power fades in time. It is the way things are. All we have to do is review the history of the once mighty empires.

Worldly power can be handed to us by birth as a karmic necessity, or we can acquire it by some means, and we can even enjoy it for a while, but eventually we will have to wake up from the illusion of this world. Be in this world but not of it, said Jesus.

Ultimately, only those who choose not to use power get to keep it, for with great power comes an even greater responsibility-the responsibility of choice-, as Anakin Skywalker had to face thus becoming Darth Vader, as modern day mystics have to face when people come to them asking for miracles and even as Moses had to face after leading the Jews out of Egypt. When I re-read the old testament when even Moses asked God to take his life when the people went back to their old ways after having been led out of bondage, I knew how much responsibility he had to carry.

We were born as humans only to have some time to play. It is borrowed time in a borrowed body. Our privilege is to be human, our responsibility is to always remember that we are on our way back to God. It is the objective of our journey and we must not forget, no matter how fantastic the voyage may be.

When we have reached perfect communion with God, then all our worldly concerns vanish. We become rooted in the truth that all power belongs to God and we realize that this world is a dream which we can fashion to our desires but that eventually we have to wake up from this dream.

This awakening to our true nature and the realization of the mystical power in us all takes time and much effort. In involves going back on track consciously. It involves the realization that we can not keep power unless we realize that the desire to have dominion over anything but our souls, is futile.

If we do not do it consciously then we will experience pain as a means to remind us that we are disconnected from the source of all there is.

It is to me, the meaning of “Seek ye first the kingdom of God” for we are all beloved children of God. Our ever present power is in the choices that we make, moment to moment, to remember. Everything else is illusion.

© 2007 by Melinda M. Sorensson