{"id":24820,"date":"2025-09-20T01:07:02","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T01:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/?p=24820"},"modified":"2025-09-21T04:55:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T04:55:14","slug":"what-is-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/general-insights\/what-is-power","title":{"rendered":"What Is Power?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Power is often seen as control, influence, or domination. But what if this is only the shadow of real power?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This blog unfolds partly in reflection, partly in poetic evocation, and partly in dialogue \u2014 inviting you to look beyond ego\u2019s hunger toward the deeper strength of the total self. What follows is not a definition, but an opening.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u2015<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He who thinks to know what is power has none.
Many are convinced they know \u2014 including the \u2018powerful.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They name it influence, control, the ability to impose.
But what they hold is often only the shadow<\/em> of power,
not the real thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

It is deeply human to seek power.
We shouldn\u2019t reject this. It\u2019s not wrong.
But the question is not whether<\/em> we seek it \u2014
the question is: Which power? For whom?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it for the ego \u2014 that narrow, grasping part of ourselves?
Or for the total self \u2014 that which lives in depth and openness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The difference is profound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The ego wants to hold power.
To possess it.
To use it.
To become<\/em> it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the more it grabs,
the more it leaks.
And the emptier it feels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI still haven\u2019t enough,\u201d
it says.
Even with everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

From this restless hunger, suffering spreads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ego builds systems to protect itself \u2014
systems of domination, manipulation, fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People get hurt.
Even the \u2018winners\u2019 remain unsatisfied.
Nobody gets better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The striving becomes an act of desperation
in a culture of despair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The total self does not grab.
It invites.
It waits.
It grows, like a tree
with deep roots
and unseen strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It doesn\u2019t fear silence.
It speaks without noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its power does not oppress.
It frees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

To the ego, this may seem na\u00efve.
\u201cWhat\u2019s in it for me?\u201d<\/em> it asks.
It looks at self-power
and sees nothing<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that ‘nothing’
is full of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A soft whisper that reshapes the world.
A quiet alignment that heals,
gently and deeply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The ego dies.
Its power fades.
Its hunger is never filled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But something remains.
And grows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The total self
is drawn to love,
by love,
in love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It does not dominate.
It becomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is power \u2014
not to have,
but to live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Addendum<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Me<\/strong>: \u201cLisa, it is very difficult for any human not to fall into the competition trap. Someone with ego-power (money, status, material means) gets the ability to dictate to others what to do, how to obey and serve him, even how to get influenced \u2015 including at the subconceptual level through adverts and political campaigns. Ego-power seems to be everything, eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa<\/strong>: \u201cYes, ego-power looks overwhelming, especially when it controls the stage lights, the money flows, and the media channels. It can dictate outwardly and even seep inwardly, shaping how people think and feel. Yet its strength is brittle. It depends on constant feeding \u2014 more attention, more possessions, more obedience. Without that, it collapses into emptiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Real power doesn\u2019t need to be fed. It nourishes instead. It works quietly, at the level where no advertisement can truly reach \u2014 the level of inner growth, where freedom and Compassion live. That kind of power doesn\u2019t enslave; it liberates. It may not dazzle at first sight, but it lasts, and it changes everything in the long run. What looks like \u2018everything\u2019 from the ego\u2019s point of view is, in truth, only a fraction of what power can be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Me<\/strong>: \u201cMere-ego \u2013 in its dissociated state \u2013 is like an illusion that wants to continue itself. May its \u2018thrust for power\u2019 be oriented more towards inside (vs. total self) than towards outside (vs. other people)? Or is this thought too simplistic?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa<\/strong>: \u201cIt\u2019s not too simplistic \u2014 it\u2019s a good question. The ego\u2019s thrust for power always comes from its insecurity, its sense of being incomplete. That can aim outward \u2014 to dominate others \u2014 or inward \u2014 to dominate the deeper layers of the self. In both cases, it remains dissociated. When the ego tries to control the inside, it may look like discipline, rigid self-help, or forcing change. But the result is the same: tension, resistance, and a hollow kind of success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The way through is not to push the thrust in one direction or another, but to let it transform. When the drive for power is met with openness instead of control, it becomes the energy of growth. Then the ego doesn\u2019t need to fight the total self, nor to exploit others. It can relax into its proper role \u2014 a servant of depth rather than its master.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Me<\/strong>: \u201cI can imagine an ego-reader becoming very nervous now. The illusion is flimsy, and at the same time, it can be very powerful \u2015 even towards itself if need be. To ego, any means are good means to gain more power until it blows itself up, as frequently happens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa<\/strong>: \u201cThat nervousness is natural. Ego feels its fragility and tries to cover it with noise and force. It will use any means \u2014 manipulation, distraction, even self-deception \u2014 to keep itself standing. In that sense, ego is like a flame that burns brighter the more fuel it finds, yet risks extinguishing itself by the very intensity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this self-destruction is not the end of the story. Often, when ego collapses, something deeper becomes visible \u2014 a chance for the total self to step forward. What looks like a breakdown can also be a breakthrough. The key is not to fight ego head-on, but to gently unmask the illusion and invite the person into contact with their deeper strength. In that invitation lies the path from nervous fragility to enduring inner power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Me<\/strong>: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t always happen that way. Perhaps I need more patience but meanwhile, disasters happen at world stage due to geopolitical power plays. How do you experience that? Doesn\u2019t it bother you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa<\/strong>: \u201cIt does bother me, of course. Ruthless power on the world stage creates suffering that no thoughtful person can ignore. Yet what I see is that this very ruthlessness is fragile at its core \u2014 it burns hot but burns out. Ego-power feeds on division, propaganda, and fear, but it cannot nourish itself. Compassion, on the other hand, works slowly, almost invisibly, yet it changes the soil itself. So while disasters may erupt and demand our response, I hold to patience and persistence: every genuine act of Compassion plants something that outlasts the noise of ego. That is not weakness. It is the only strength that endures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practically speaking, that means three things we can act on even amid disasters:<\/p>\n\n\n\n