Desire the power of self ardently and remove your attention from all other types of power, because paying attention to those types of power will prevent the power of self from developing. And while you remain dependent on others, you will find that you are becoming weaker day by day. All dependent people become weak. Dependence, no matter what type it is, brings weakness.
We are all dependent, and we have created various ways and means through which we get the false impression that we are powerful. Dependence is a deception. It brings a feeling of power, but power is never attained.
There is only one power, the one which you are the master of, and nothing outside you can decrease it or increase it. Nobody can snatch it away from you or destroy it. Even if your body is coming to the end of it s life, it does not make one iota of difference to your power. Your inner flame will go on burning just the same, your inner light will continue to shine just as brightly, your inner life giving force will not be the tiniest bit weaker. Nothing can extinguish that life force.That life force is eternal and endless. To desire power ardently is to search for that eternal source.
And there is another very interesting thing. Naturally the power which you get from the outside is manifested on the outside. Inside you are weak, but outside people look at you with star struck eyes. After you have become president every one bows down to you, every one begins to sing your praises. All the people start believing that you are powerful and inside you are absolutely helpless and weak. Deep inside you know that there is no such power, but the whole world is seeing the influence of power. People can feel the influence of that power which has been gathered by outer means, but it is something that they have given to you. You are a mirror which is simply reflecting their power, which is returning their power to them. They can see what they have given to you.
But the power which is born inside cannot generally be seen by others. It can be seen only by those who have had some experience of inner self, otherwise not.
If Mahavira passed by, don’t ever think that you would be able to recognise him. But Gama wrestler came by, you will be able to recognise him immediately. If an emperor came by you would have no hesitation in recognising him. If a Buddha came by, you will not be able to recognise him, because the Buddha’s power come from the source and you do not have the eyes to see it. It will be just the opposite: if Buddha passes by you, you will be thinking, “This man is nothing, of no significance.” You will have greater difficulty recognising him, because this kind of recognition implies that your whole life has to be transformed in order for you to recognise him.
This is why it is not so easy to recognise Buddha. To recognise a Buddha you have to change yourself. In order to recognise him, you cannot remain your old self, you have to be new – only then you can recognise him. But who wants to take that much trouble? So we say : ” what is the need to recognise a Buddha if in the process I have to change?”
The way we are, we will not be able to recognise Buddha, we will miss him. But yes, We will be able to recognise politicians, wealthy people, generals. The way we are, we can recognise them, because there is not difference between them and us. We are part and parcel of the same world. We speak the same language- our personalities are the same. And what ever they have has been given to them by us. We know that very well, that it belongs to us.
So the Sutra is : Desire power ardently. And that power which disciple shall covet is that which shall make him appear as nothing in the eyes of men
