A Right Relationship to Power
Una relación correcta con el poder
A question about how to relate honestly to the desire for power, and why true power is never one's own.
A Right Relationship to Power
A question about how to relate honestly to the desire for power, and why true power is never one's own.
I've been thinking about the desire for power. How do we relate to it properly?
First, all humans are susceptible to the temptation of power. A right relationship to it begins with knowing that any sense that this doesn't involve you, that it's not about you, is going to be a poor relationship with power. It won't be direct, transparent, or authentic.
You mean like not believing, "Oh, that's not a problem for me"?
Exactly. Thinking it's other people's problem, that it's not a thing for you. That kind of avoidance is the first obstacle.
Power that is not one's own
The next thing, if there is a direction toward a good relationship, is this: any true, loving use of power is never one's own. It is never "my" power. If it's my power, it's not the right use of it. It will be a power that is not mine and not coming from me.
But then it wouldn't be me using it?
In a sense, you would be used by it. Any true artist, for example, is drawing on a deep form of power. But the more they identify that power as their own, the more it will create problems.
The risk of misuse
The risk, of course, is that one can do anything evil in the name of "I'm in service of a power that's not mine, and it's telling me to do this."
Right, but that's not what you're talking about. It's not about being told literally what to do.
No. And now we're going into ethics, so there are many layers here. The next thing would be: any direction that you can put in a book as "the right way to use power" is the wrong way. It is deeply contextual, and it is very, very likely to be misused if you think you're doing it right.
Yeah, I know. It's really on my mind quite a bit. I think for now it's more just about being aware: if there's a desire for power, a feeling of wanting it, or a feeling of not having enough of it, all of that is very suspicious.
Becoming conscious of the drive
Yes, but also, don't reject that. The drive for power is becoming conscious. You are becoming conscious of it, and that is a positive thing. It's far better than pretending you don't care about it, pretending you're not interested, while it acts on you subconsciously.
Yeah, okay.