By Jayita Bhattacharjee
The tale of love versus power has been passed down over the ages, to be told and retold, until mankind as a whole gets the message and understands it with their hearts—how easily wisdom and compassion can get totally blinded by the chasing after power, desire to dominate, and the distorted “us vs them” thinking.
But love is a power that takes this savage power struggle and transforms the fierceness to a beautiful sharing of the hearts. Two mindsets that try to conquer one another becomes a tale of lovers. Love—how it flows for the happiness and emotional wellbeing of another soul. Love to burn bright, needs a nurturing. Idealistically, love consumes every thought, every action. But to look at it from a pragmatic approach, the impulse of love is balanced with many other compelling drives. These drives may be eating, drinking, playing, pleasure seeking. Every impulse of love fulfills the same purpose…either nurturing the species survival by the altruistic approach, or by facilitating the individual’s survival. There are two forces that may be in conflict…egoistical approach caring for individually and altruistic approach…caring for the species. The drive for power is shared with the advancement of life. It is based on the desire to solidify a person or a group’s will to thrive and flourish well above the ordinary and to step into the extraordinary. “Extraordinary” is defined, not in the sense of the evolution of the soul, but in terms of societal status advancement, the furthering of material riches that defines a person’s identity. The egoistic person is driven day in and day out to reach for the earthly riches, not the riches of the soul. Power defines their identity. Riches describe them. Dominating ability stabilizes those people, who hunt to rise in this society. Yes, they do rise, but is that a rising of the soul or rising of their wealth?
It’s the later, as the wealth fills their pockets, adds to their heaviness. And power rises from that filling, from that heaviness. The impulse for power may lead to struggle with others, giving birth to conflicts. From the egoistical perspective, rises the mentality of an unopposed extreme. Any type of opposition may seem to be beyond the tolerance.
The more uncontrolled the power drive is, the more it stands out to kill the growth rather than fostering it. The strive and drive for power is a divisive force. It by its very nature is supposed to divide and break. It speaks by its very desire to hunt for the riches. It stands nothing and nobody that comes along its way. The power drive is alienating, not uniting. It does not engage people rather it estranges them. It breaks, it does not build the real riches of the soul. Seeking power implies a justification of superiority.
The power rush fills their head and pushes them to seek perfection through the relentless racing. Love, on the other hand flows to make the hearts connected to one another. That is one heart reaching out to another heart, one soul speaking to another soul, an invisible connection knowing what comes from the heart travels to another heart somewhere in this universe. That is the undeniable beauty of love. Love arises from a place of humility, knows no such thing as superiority. Such is the light that arises from the heart of love. From such a perspective, love and power are mutually exclusive drives. Where love lives, there, the will to have power, simply does not exist. Love is a power in its light, and it does not mix well with any other type of power. When a person is steered by the impulse of power, he or she does not exemplify love and compassion. The desire to dominate stands in conflict with the desire to feel another heart. The desire to stand out arises from the mind’s egoistic thinking. The desire to feel arises from the heart. The two desires arise from very different places. Power is arrogant, love is humble. Power is shallow, Love is deep. Power rambles, love is silent. Power clamors. Love whispers in the sweetest echoes. The two are defined by their contrasting needs. Love versus power is the ancient tale of two mindsets—the tale of conflicts, who wins…ego or the heart?
The power struggle is born out of the crucible of human history, and it traces back to centuries of individuals and civilizations bent on conquest, nations and religions dominating and ruling over others. It stems from the dualistic thinking which has given rise to militarism, racism, totalitarianism, colonialism, and slavery. The tale of love versus power has been passed down over the ages, to be told and retold, until mankind as a whole gets the message and understands it with their hearts—how easily wisdom and compassion can get totally blinded by the chasing after power, desire to dominate, and the distorted “us vs them” thinking. But love is a power that takes this savage power struggle and transforms the fierceness to a beautiful sharing of the hearts. Two mindsets that try to conquer one another becomes a tale of two lovers. And how abundantly life becomes accessible through the gateway of love, as it leaves the racing behind and gently allows the hearts to follow the finest feeling of life. A heart that has been filled with this light goes through the sunshine and rain of it and still comes out alive in such a richness and abundance, that power surrenders to it finally.
