Power of Self
Power... a one syllable word that has multiple definitions but they all imply strength or force. Every thing has power. It's within all living things. Power is life... it can give or take another life. The battle of power is everywhere from the nucleus of an atom to the black holes of the universe swallowing galaxies. We hu'mans have power and go to great lengths to hold on to that power whenever we realize what it gives us. Nations that have power shows it's strength in military might, The nation that has the greatest military strength is the most influential of nations, be it for the good or the evil. History is littered with such nations that once had the greatest strength. But power requires more power to maintain the power it has. When power begins losing its source of energy, the power begins waning. Even Nature's power cannot be consistent. Tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes and whatever else Nature throws at us, the living, is not a constant. The winds will subside, the clouds will empty the waters, the earth will find stability and no longer quake and the lava will spew what it must before it subsides.
Great nations are no different. They will eventually become memories of their own history. But a nation's demise usually is permanent, unlike the power of Nature, which has power without corruption. With nations another will take its place by the same means - the opposing side will have the will and strength to overcome the mighty, becoming the mighty themselves. Power in the hands of hu'mans can be fatal for the same hu'mans. Hu'man power will eventually reach the point of corruption... our hu'man frailty to foolishly defend our national ego at the price of destroying the nation itself. The national ego is falsely called nationalism... that state of affairs where a nation boasts of their past in order to defend their current failures... the larger their inner weaknesses the louder the boasting, the flag-waving, the patriotic songs. When a nation reaches this mind set, they become the prey of another nation that sees the weakness and willfully attacks that weak point.
Some nations declined due to lack of leadership... the father figure that defends and supports the family... doing what he can to provide, not diminish, from the family.. the national unity. When this 'national father' is corrupted by power and neglects the family, it is the family that suffers in health, physical or mental. Then again another nation family can see this weakness and monopolize upon it. It is power corruption that eventually destroys all because of an ego mind that translate power into a gift from a far greater power. - god-given to the holder of power... the foolish belief that their god has chosen them in trust to use the power of a nation for their leader's own benefit.
We homo sapiens, as we call ourselves, give too much credence to our 'thinking' which drives our excesses - lust, greed, sloth, anger, pride, envy and gluttony, confusing our basic goodness, not only as nations but as individuals. Mind is at fault when we allow it to run free and ignore any consequence to our actions. The voice within cannot be heard by our boasting ego at what we've done and what we can do. If these seven excesses are not tempered by the seven opposing virtues: humility, kindness, abstinence, chastity, patience, liberality and diligence, we find our own inner-corruption. The same with our national acts.
We homo sapiens have a responsibility of balance... to keep our sins balanced with our virtues... to not let one side control the other. The equality of both sides diminishes the power of either. We cannot falsely accuse others of those things which we recognize as being within ourselves. To attach or surrender to sin or to virtue is obsessiveness... it requires a fixed mind to fulfill either. Guilt is lessened by the acceptance of both as is our human condition... non-attachment evaporating guilt into the great ethers of being. That is our one true power - non-attachment from all that hinders knowing the Self.
cecil
12 august 2007
). i do appreciate you droppin' by and replying. glad that you enjoyed. 
