Why does Power have such a bad ring to it?

[AnthroHeart]

One of my highest realizations is that it is empowering to bow to the divine in another.
To see Creator in them.

But empowering sounds negative for some reason.

Maybe I should use fulfilling.

Why does power have such a bad ring to it?

And can power be a good thing?

Nau7ik, maybe you can answer this. Is the Qabalah about gaining power?

[tamaryn]

Maybe you have a bad ring to power?

[Cainite]

One of my highest realizations is that it is empowering to bow to the divine in another.
To see Creator in them.

But empowering sounds negative for some reason.

Maybe I should use fulfilling.

Why does power have such a bad ring to it?

And can power be a good thing?

Nau7ik, maybe you can answer this. Is the Qabalah about gaining power?

There may be two kinds of power.
Perhaps we're used to seeing negative power or negative usage of power more often.

Recently I was thinking about how much a person should serve the self..
If he's positive and loving enough then it's probably ok.. since to be truly loving requires some kind of power or lack of weakness in the first place.

[Nau7ik]

People do kind of think of power in a negative sense. There’s nothing wrong with personal power. It’s how we choose to use that power that matters.

[ttwagneriii]

I agree with Nau7Kik. Power isn't the issue. It is whether or not the entity gains it by controlling, dominating, or transgressing the free will of another. Same with how they wield it.

Ditto for STS. If you derive your service to self by controlling, dominating, or transgressing the free will of another, you are skipping down the negative path whistling Darth Vader's theme music. Some STS, is more like self care: exercise, nutrition, meditation, time in nature, etc. Those are "serving" the self but in a way that honors the self and the Infinite Creator.

Ditto for money.

Heck...ditto for everything.

The reason power has such a negative connotation is that subjugation, deception and stomping free will are often the costs of doing business when trying to attain power and, human ambition being what it is, a lot of people - the vast majority I'd guess - are only too willing to pay. It's the old "made a deal with the devil" idea that what you have to give up to get what you want involves your soul, humanity, your Mom or your kid. Your spirit has to be in a very negative place to make that trade and what you are getting in return - power. money whatever, are perceived as equally corrupt due the intent behind the transaction.

[David_1]

Yes to Nau7ik and ttwagneriii!
Power and money can be beautiful blessings IF they are used in service to others.
One of the finest examples is the power parents have with respect a newborn child.  They can use their power (and money) to feed, clothe, protect and nurture the infant.  Is that not expressing love?

[flofrog]

I think that when you are  very young and start to experiment personal power over someone else, like you very young, it's very intoxicating and it fills you with the illusion of power, so it builds your ego and it is one of the things you are going to have to contend with as you age, because it obviously has consequences, most often negative, since it's power over someone.

I can say that because I felt that when I was like 6 or 7, lol and I was very shy so it was like something like, whoa, a totally different planet. Luckily I had this very loving mum who kept telling us you cannot bring pain to someone else.

And of course there is good power used for other selves' care !!

[Sacred Fool]

 
Hey, wait a minute.  Is this another trick?  Are we really talking about the famous Ring of Power?!

Obviously, the bad association has to do with its habit of driving insane the men and male hobbits who wear and/or covet it.  If you ask moi, it's highly significant that, in the Tolkien tales, no woman ever wore the ring.  Had that been the case, I would argue, the course of made-up-history might have been changed.  

I see the ring as being a feminine thing (consider the act of passing your finger through it many times in rapid succession) that is easily prostituted by masculine bearers, and this can lead to death by ego inflation.  So, of course it has a bad ring to it.  But that's only owing to misuse....as was noted (less colorfully) above.


PS: IGW, I wonder if you are more of an unintentional trickster than you get credit for?

   

[AnthroHeart]

I don't know peregrine if I am an unintentional trickster.

If so, I accept myself as I am.

I find myself chasing bliss rather than chasing power.

I know we shouldn't chase anything, but it's a phase I have to get through.

[Sacred Fool]

I don't know peregrine if I am an unintentional trickster.

If so, I accept myself as I am.

I find myself chasing bliss rather than chasing power.

I know we shouldn't chase anything, but it's a phase I have to get through.

I think you're so good at the blue ray stuff that you intuitively stumble in to these correspondences.  I'm just teasing you because its fun watching someone be unintentionally talented.

    

[Glow]

https://www.llresearch.org/transcripts/i..._1113.aspx

I don't like the word power either IGW. I didn't comment because I wasn't sure if that was just my own distortion. I like Q'uo's take.

Now let us look for a moment at the nature of spiritual service. One’s first choice is in adopting a way of living, a “rule of life,” as this instrument would call it. Shall you dedicate yourself to serving others or shall you dedicate yourself to serving yourself, looking after your own interests, amassing money and power and influence?

If your interest in amassing power is limited to the power you have over yourself, that is, if your interest is in self-discipline, then you are firmly set on the service-to-others path.

If you have interest in manipulating others to make things better or more comfortable for yourself, then unless you wish to be upon the service-to-self path, it is time to evaluate anew how you wish to spend your energy, for you have so few moments in an incarnation. They are precious, my friends.