A Taoist Perspective on Power: Authentic power is inseparable from the one who holds it to whom the power is intrinsic to one’s character, being, and consciousness. To the individual who holds authentic power the question of seeking or relinquishing a power external to himself does not arise. He is in control without being controlling. If his destiny takes him to a position of power, he will apply his power, both internal and external, to engender and maintain the integrity of the sphere of his influence. And when the proper time comes, he freely relinquishes his external power. For, to him such a power is a call of duty arising from his love for and commitment to the wellbeing of the whole and never an object of egological desire. Those who externally seek power lack such authentic interior power and therefore become easily corrupted thereby once they possess it. It is those that are internally weakened and corrupted by the lack of (the connection to and the awareness of) authentic power who tend to externally seek power. Thus, their outer corruption is the ineluctable consequence of their interior corruption. It is rare, if ever, that someone thus corrupted, both internally and externally, comes to be able to relinquish his power. The process requires the inner recovery of his authentic power, which is an event nothing short of the awakening to a categorically higher level of awareness, understanding, and wisdom.
Posted on: Sat, 07 Sep 2013 16:23:03 +0000
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