I dare to say from my experience and observation that we as a species have a very interesting mental disease. When I say as a species I mean that almost everyone has caught it and are acting their whole lives out in a way that greatly resembles a parasite taking over a host and the host starts adjusting it’s behaviour according to the parasite’s needs.
Of course in this case we don’t talk about any actual physical parasite but more of an infection of the mind. The basic infection is identity with this face, this voice, these personal traits, the identity as a separate entity who has it’s own life which then goes on gathering beliefs, notions and myths about itself to perpetuate it's existence. It gives a certain hollow feeling, a feeling of separation from the surroundings. From that basic idea and feeling it drives us into an obvious need for belonging and having a sense of purpose. That need is then fed by building the identity more likeable, more feared, more respectable.. basically whatever is needed according to the standards and influences given by the surrounding people, culture and conditioning. We gather the feedback we get from other people in order to mould our sense of self into that direction to fit in better. The problem then is that we will never actually fully satisfy our need for belonging because the root of that drive is the feeling of disconnection, of alienation. So what we do is turn to power games.
You might perceive power as something mechanistic, tangible, a force of nature but what I’m talking about is something much more subtle (so subtle that it doesn’t really even exist) but our delusion of separation and the beliefs based on that feeling of alienation make it seem very real. Power is something that only exist because there’s a common belief in it. We build hierarchies amongst each others and we climb that ladder of respectability, glory, money, recognition, acceptance and we reach to the highest steps in order to feel good and okay but the ironic thing is that while we make our way up the ladder we are basically putting ourself in a position where we are insignificant and powerless and the “others” have the power to change that. They have something that we need so we must find means to get it whatever the price. So basically what we are doing is handing over our own self worth because we don’t feel worthy of accepting whatever we are naturally without any effort and by doing that we actually create the situation where we feel that we need to climb up the ladder and gather whatever symbols that our society uses to symbolise power.
When I talk about power I’m not only talking about political power where you can order somebody to be imprisoned but I’m talking about any kind of manipulation of other peoples feelings, thought processes and perceptions in order to feel better and more fulfilled about ourselves. We all do that and it really perpetuates the feeling of separation from each other even further because everybody is trying to trick and manipulate each other in some way.. and we can feel it. We know instinctively when we are being fooled by someone but we get so confused usually because we also want something from those who are fooling us.. so we keep on doing the same to them.
It’s a very upside-down world because of this game of power. We imagine that some others posses something that we need and we keep dancing like somebody was shooting at our feet. We are also very intelligent species so we are very very well equipped to learn how to get what we want and we easily adapt to whatever things we take as the symbols of power. For example for the super rich elite money is the symbol of power. It’s the symbol of power and they do anything to hoard it to themselves to no limit. They don’t even know how to invest and use all the money that they are getting but that’s not the point to them. They could easily live a remarkably abundant and care free life with just fraction of what they have but it’s not really about the money in the end. It’s the feeling of being someone remarkable and being someone who matters, who has influence and power. The funny or sad part of it is that they are very needy and feel powerless and are not living abundantly and joyously at all. The same situation is typically with politicians but their symbol is different although they drive towards the same underlying goals. They need to feel important and respectable, they need to matter so mostly their measurement for it is public approval and getting re-elected. That’s really mostly their bottom line. That’s why when there is some really important decision to be made and the next election is pushing closer the usual protocol is to leave that decision after the election because it simply weighs more to remain as a politician because they have perfected their identity and power game as a politician and they wouldn’t know what to do with themselves otherwise. Then they run in their elections and promise all sorts of empty things that they trade in a heartbeat for a powerful position. They even hire advertising agencies to manipulate their voters by reinventing their image instead of actual political agendas. Basically they just become faces in suits who are taught how to act, walk and talk appropriately to preserve and polish their public image. Also the political system easily moulds anyone into it because the whole game is based on those power dynamics and generally those kind of power hungry people are more likely to be attracted to them.
Power essentially is a poor imitation of belonging, love, being at peace with one's self which is really what is being missed. It’s an attempt to breach the gap that is self created by false identity and the feeling of separation and it’s not really doing the job very well. If power actually worked you would see people reaching to a certain point of power and then being so contented that they would just not know what to do anymore… they simply wouldn’t want anything more. They would live happily ever after. It’s just that there is no amount of power that has ever satisfied anyone for more than a brief moment because it’s an illusion in itself and it cannot create anything real and lasting. The only way to get rid of the constant hunger is to realise it’s core and see it in it’s full falsehood. It doesn’t really exist and you were never separate and you never needed any justification to exist. You don’t need to manipulate others and twist yourself in all possible directions to live this life. There is an easier way to exist and it doesn’t know anything about power. It’s the natural way. Just a bit of inspection is needed to see where do you really stand. Are you your identity or are you indeed something that is beyond that?
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