Power

Some time back, a friend relayed to me a conversation he had recently had with a Tibetan lama, who was a teacher of his. In the conversation, my friend had been speaking of various challenges he was having in his daily life, including financial ones. At some point, Rinpoche turned to him and said, “If you can’t even figure out how to pay your own mortgage, how do you expect to save all living beings?”

This conversation has stayed with me. It serves as a gentle reminder - in moments when I’m tempted to downplay the importance of my material existence – of the importance to my spiritual practice of the more “mundane” aspects of life. It reminds me also that the Immortals possess not only Wisdom and Compassion, but also Enlightened Power – the skillful means, the capacity, to transform their aspirations into actual change in the world.

What exactly is the relationship between spiritual and worldly power, is a question I don’t have an answer to … and I welcome any insights you might like to share! I’ve noticed, at times, a certain allergic reaction to “power” among spiritual practitioners – myself included. The source of this discomfort, I believe, has much to do with various abuses of power that we’ve all witnessed, or experienced first-hand ... read the entire essay