Power

[Z3N]

It’s interesting for those looking through the looking glass that humans obsess about this idea of power.

 

What is it about power that plagues the human mind?

 

Thoughts anyone?

[BaguaKicksAss]

We are afraid of losing our perceived notion of "control".

[Nungali]

Power is great! It feels good ... it can be a good thing ... it is alive and vital!

 

There is nothing wrong with power … it’s the gift of Mars … as long as it is balanced and in proportion with the other ‘gifts’ (especially in tandem with Venus and regulated by Mercury ).

 

This is Martial Power ;

 

“This is the day which down the void abysm

At the Earth-born's spell yawns for Heaven's despotism,

And Conquest is dragged captive through the deep;

Love, from its awful throne of patient power

In the wise heart, from the last giddy hour

Of dead endurance, from the slippery steep,

And narrow verge of crag-like agony, springs

And folds over the world its healing wings.

Gentleness, Virtue, Wisdom, and Endurance--

These are the seals of that most firm assurance

Which bars the pit over Destruction's strength;

And if, with infirm hand, Eternity,

Mother of many acts and hours, should free

The serpent that would clasp her with his length,

These are the spells by which to reassume

An empire o'er the disentangled doom.

To suffer woes which Hope thinks infinite;

To forgive wrongs darker than death or night;

To defy Power, which seems omnipotent;

To love, and bear; to hope till Hope creates

From its own wreck the thing it contemplates;

Neither to change, nor falter, nor repent;

This, like thy glory, Titan, is to be

Good, great and joyous, beautiful and free;

This is alone Life, Joy, Empire, and Victory! “

 

From; The Rite of Mars.

[BaguaKicksAss]

The funny thing I have found though is that the less I chase it, the more it comes.

 

PS LOVE working with mars/martial energies, me and my swords do anyways .

[Nungali]

Well, 'cultivating' isn't chasing is it

 

Loved doing this bit in the Rite (actually everyone loved this bit )

 

“ Behold! the fire of God upon the altar as I have sworn by Djinn and by Shin and by the space between! (returns to his throne)

 

BRO. MARS. Hail, sister of the Scorpion!

 

SOR. SCORPIO. Hail, Lord of the Eagle and the Serpent!

 

BRO. MARS. Amen. I appoint you to lead the army.

 

SOR. SCORPIO. Let us carry the holy symbols with sacred song and dance round the altar of Mars.

 

[The take up the spear, the sword and the drum - all march round five times deosil before MARS in procession headed by SCORPIO, ARIES, CAPRICORNUS.]

 

Strike, strike the louder chord!

Draw, draw the Flaming Sword!

Crowned child and conquering Lord!

Horus, avenger! ( X 5 )

..

[thelerner]

Power gets work done. Literally and figuratively.

[manitou]

It's when we think we have power 'over' someone else or something else that we get into trouble. We all have inherent power; it's just getting down to it that's the problem. If we're seeking power for the wrong reasons, that reason is to place ourselves at the front and not use it within the laws of harmony.

[Jetsun]

Real power comes from embracing powerlessness and surrendering because then there is no situation or cirumstance which can emerge which causes you fear. Or rather there is no fear of fear any more. Easier said than done though as it is almost a trans rational drive to surrender as we are programmed to struggle and fight.

[C T]

Power is fluid... that explains the obsession.

 

The more fluid a thing, the greater the grasping at it.

 

Like for example... love.

 

And there are many who fall/fail at the hands of power and love, for this very reason.

 

People tend to make futile attempts to manifest power/love thru effort, to capture that which by nature is uncapturable, without realising that all such attempts spontaneously arouse resistance, and resistance is the very thing which stymies fluidity.

 

Effort also creates blockages on different levels.

 

The perfection of power, as is the perfection of love, is when the self is forgotten, when the 'I' thought is vanquished. Without this 'I', resistance has no ground to take root. Without resistance taking root, then pliability and softness, which is one's fundamental nature, remains in its primordial pristine state, and the ability to rest long and deep in this state of pliability offers the potential to tap into the purest form of power and love.

 

Meditative absorption is the training and also the ripening of this ability. Because its a symbiotic process, there is no separation between practice and fruition. The problem arise when focus is solely on the fruit, and not the practice. Then there is bound to be grasping.

[manitou]

 

Because its a symbiotic process, there is no separation between practice and fruition.

 

Practice becomes Life.

[RiverSnake]

A useful thread on this very topic: http://thetaobums.com/topic/16419-shamanism-use-and-misuse-of-power/?hl=%2Bpower+%2Bshamanism

 

My 2 cents, Peace

Edited November 29, 2013 by OldChi

[BaguaKicksAss]

One interesting thing I have found is that some paths or workings offer power or powers at the end (or in later stages), and I'm convinced that this is something to help entice folks into practice . Since you most definitely get more out of it than the "advertised" powers.

[manitou]

One interesting thing I have found is that some paths or workings offer power or powers at the end (or in later stages), and I'm convinced that this is something to help entice folks into practice . Since you most definitely get more out of it than the "advertised" powers.

Power enticed by ego, as opposed to power uncovered through self realization.

[Nungali]

It's when we think we have power 'over' someone else or something else that we get into trouble. We all have inherent power; it's just getting down to it that's the problem. If we're seeking power for the wrong reasons, that reason is to place ourselves at the front and not use it within the laws of harmony.

 

Going 'up the Tree' we have power Mars then above that we have knowledge, further; understanding ( what the application of knowledge via power will do or result in) and further; wisdom (the correct application of the others to achieve a beneficial result.

 

" Remember that unbalanced force is evil; that unbalanced severity is but cruelty and oppression; but that also unbalanced mercy is but weakness which would allow and abet Evil." - Liber Librae.

[mike 134]

It’s interesting for those looking through the looking glass that humans obsess about this idea of power.

 

What is it about power that plagues the human mind?

 

Simple. People obsess over it because you can never have enough power.