Chapter 48 The Nature of "Power"

We can now understand the nature of what we call "power."This is a subject that is easily misunderstood.One source of misunderstanding is that there are two kinds of power in the world—political power and spiritual power—and a great deal of religious mythology attempts to draw a clear distinction between the two.For example, before Sakyamuni was born, the prophet told his father: When Shakyamuni grows up, he will either become the most powerful king, or become a poor man with nothing. Mentor.He can only be one of the two, but not both.Jesus got such a promise from Satan: submit to Satan, he can rule the whole world and enjoy the greatest honor as a ruler.Jesus finally rejected this temptation, he chose to die, and he was hung on the cross, looking so weak and powerless.

The power of politics is to coerce others to follow their own wishes in public or covert ways.This power exists both in a position (such as being king or president) and in money, however, it does not belong to the person who has power or money.In the final analysis, the power of politics has nothing to do with virtue and wisdom. The stupidest and most evil person may become the ruler of the earth.The power of the mind, on the other hand, exists entirely in the human mind, and it has nothing to do with the power to coerce or control others.People with strong psychic power may be rich and wealthy, and they may sometimes occupy leadership positions; they may also be poor and have no political rights.Since the power of the mind is not the power to control others, what kind of power is it?In short, it is the power to make decisions based on consciousness, the power of our conscious mind.

We sometimes don't even know what we're doing when we make decisions; we don't understand our true motivations for taking certain actions; and we don't see clearly the consequences of our choices.For example, do we really know what we are doing when we are emotional and flippantly reject a client's request?For another example, we may beat our own children without asking indiscriminately; we boss around our subordinates, promote or demote them at will; Are you self-aware enough?People who are in politics know that everything in the world is difficult to achieve, and fate always likes to play tricks on us.Sometimes our well-intentioned hustle and bustle can backfire; and someone with tainted motives, carrying out what may at first appear to be a personal plan with ulterior motives, can be quite constructive.A similar situation occurs when we educate our children.That being the case, should we "do the opposite" and go around doing good things for illegitimate goals, or should we bite the bullet and do bad things for righteous goals?The world is unpredictable and God's will is hard to violate. We feel confident, but we may not know anything.We think we are extremely smart, but we may be "deaf to the authorities" and have a dizzy mind.

We seem to be drifting in the vast ocean, not knowing where to go.At this point, the nihilist might say, "It's better to let things be, even if we don't do anything." Their subtext is: We should just keep drifting and muddle along.Their reason is: the ocean of life is boundless, and the future is unpredictable. According to our limited ability, it is absolutely impossible to draw an accurate chart, and use the chart to get out of the fog and find the direction.But in fact, as long as we persevere, we can finally get rid of the state of being lost through self-reflection. This is what should be advocated.It usually takes a long time to find the direction of life, and it is difficult to achieve the goal only by relying on opportunism or flashes of inspiration in the mind.Real self-awareness is always a slow and gradual process.Whenever we take any step, we must have enough patience, careful observation and deep self-examination.We should be more humble and down-to-earth.The road to mental maturity is a never-ending process of learning and progress.

With enough patience and hard work, we advance along the road of mental maturity, and the bits and pieces of cognition and experience will slowly gather together.Gradually, the road of life will appear clearly in front of you.Along the way, we can also be inadvertent, end up in a blind alley, or be hit by disappointment from time to time, or be distracted by misinformation.However, in the process of self-correction and self-adjustment, we will eventually understand the true meaning of life, understand what we are talking about, what we are thinking, what we are doing, in a word, we will have a strong power to control life.

When our minds are empowered, we feel comfortable and happy.On the journey of life, we proceed steadily and step by step, and the joy that progress brings us is indescribable.There is nothing more blissful than being an expert in life and knowing what you do.The more mature our minds are, the more likely we are to become experts in life and feel connected to God.We see everything around us clearly and understand the motives and consequences of our actions.We feel that our minds are clear, and we are even as omniscient and omnipotent as God.Conscious ego becoming one with God's mind means we have attained the highest state and even have the same cognition as God.

When our minds mature to a certain stage, we become more humble and happier.We know that our intelligence comes from the subconscious mind.We know where the "root" is, and all our cognition, like flowing water, comes from the "root" of the subconscious.All our endeavors for knowledge are aimed at breaking down the boundary between consciousness and God.We also know that the "roots" of the subconscious mind are not our own.In other words, it is not our own subconscious, but the subconscious that belongs to the whole human being, all creatures and even God.If someone asks: Where do our knowledge and strength come from?Anyone who has both of these priceless treasures must answer: "This is not my power, it comes from another power that is infinitely more powerful. What I show is only a small part of it. I only use it as a means." Existence, the real power is not mine." This feeling comes from the heart and fills us with joy.Communicate with God (subconscious mind) and self-awareness shrinks dramatically.We just want to say to God, "Everything I do is to accomplish your will. I want to be a vehicle for your thoughts. My sense of self doesn't matter, and I feel great joy in letting go of myself." "At the same time, we are in a state of bliss and peace, which is quite similar to being in love.If we realize the close relationship with God, our emptiness and loneliness will be swept away. Maybe this is the so-called "spiritual friendship"?

The mind draws enough power to be pleasant, but it can also be frightening.The more a person knows, the harder it is to act.If we take a certain action, the course of life can change direction.Our decisions to praise or punish our children can have unintended consequences.It is obviously easier for us to make a decision or take action if the data we rely on is limited and we are basically left to our fate; if we have to absorb and summarize more and more data, the process of our decision-making, It will also become more difficult.Plus, the more we know, the more likely it is to anticipate the consequences, and the more difficult it is to take action given that we may be responsible for them.On the other hand, however, the absence of any action may be considered an action in itself.In some cases, no action may be the best option, while in other cases, inaction could have disastrous consequences.The so-called power of the mind is not only to be aware of various possible situations, but also to have the ability to make decisive decisions as the scope of cognition expands.Of course, in more cases, little or no knowledge is not likely to make the decision-making process easier, but more complicated.In this sense, the closer we come to our own God, the more sympathetic we are to him.On the one hand, we experience the cognition given by God, and on the other hand, we also experience the pain that God has endured.

The continuous accumulation of spiritual strength will bring another problem, that is, loneliness.In a sense, having spiritual power is akin to having political power.A person whose mental maturity is close to the peak is like a king who responds to every call and has power over the world.It is impossible for them to shirk responsibility and fault, and no one tells them what to do.They don't have someone who matches their situation and feelings to allow them to release their stress and vent their pain.Maybe others can make suggestions, but the power to decide is still in the hands of the political establishment, and all consequences are their own responsibility.From another point of view, the loneliness brought about by spiritual power is more prominent than political power.For those in power in politics, they at least have people with similar minds to communicate with them. The president or the king is always surrounded by a large group of politicians or ministers, even if they are followers of power and sycophants.However, it is difficult for people who are mature enough to know everything to know everything, but it is difficult to find people of the same level.A noteworthy theme in the Bible's Gospels is that Jesus was often frustrated that no one understood him.No matter how hard he tried, how he taught his disciples to learn self-discipline, they could not make their minds mature enough to reach the same level as him.The most intelligent disciples can only follow his guidance step by step, but they will never be able to compare with him.Even the infinite love and compassion of Jesus could not free him from his intense loneliness.It is a kind of desolation that is extremely cold at a high place, and it is a loneliness that walks ahead alone and is always unaccompanied.This loneliness is felt by all those who are farthest along the path of spiritual maturity.Loneliness itself is like a heavy burden. If we don't leave others far behind, and we get closer and closer to God, so close that we can feel His breath and appreciate His smile, then we must be unbearable go down.It is precisely because of the continuous growth of consciousness that we can communicate with God, and we have not stopped moving forward.It is the "spiritual friendship" that brings us great happiness and supports us to muster up the courage to endure loneliness and walk alone.