On the Characteristics of Power

Can those who believe to have eyes really see? Can those who consider themselves rational see the truth? What is the true worth of those who appear to care for the good of their neighbor but continue to turn their eyes away from the truth? How much longer can those who loudly take on positions of honorable leadership, age after age, insistently profess the usual concern intended to determine the seemingly right course for the well-being of their subjects while continuing collectively and with enthusiasm to move in circle on an apparently endless road of suffering?

So can those who rush to loudly demonstrate their alleged special power of sight really see? It has now become vital for everyone to realize that none of the systems of state organization that have already emerged in the course of many centuries can in principle be in harmonious accord with the True Law of spiritual development!

Only on the basis of this Law alone can human essence itself develop harmoniously, and so too the stable development towards the well-being of every human society depends, above all, on the correct comprehension of such a Law.

The Law of spiritual development of human essence is one for all people as are one the laws at the basis of every phenomenon of the World of Matter.
It would be great foolishness to strive to approach the understanding of the laws of the World of Matter only in a traditional way, in the way it has been approached by the ancestors of one or another separate people!

And just such great foolishness would be an analogous approach to the understanding of the Law on which completely depends the true development of human spiritual nature and the harmonious formation of the human mind.
The fact that, with regard to spiritual values, different peoples have traditionally formed different ideas is only а well pronounced result of the incorrect understanding of the Law that is one for all people.
Since spiritual values are meant to and do occupy a special place in human consciousness, then only in a certain particular period in the development of the individual, as well as of human society can a favorable condition arise for coming yet closer to an accurate understanding of the spiritual Law, when man can free himself from the dogmatically established fear of the expression of nontraditional views on spiritual values.

An intelligent person is well aware that the tools designed for use towards peaceful and creative goals can quite successfully be used as destructive weapons, even if they are not officially considered to be weapons.

And yet unconventional thinking, as a rule, people hurry to unequivocally affirm as harmful, even though all progressive achievements in the development of human society owe their origin to unconventional thinking.

Apprehension about and, as a rule, often senseless categorical disapproval of nontraditional views on spiritual values can have very dangerous consequences, because it fatally impedes the necessary activity of spiritual development of human essence, on which directly depends not only the well-being of humanity, but its very survival in the Natural World in whose Bosom it was born.
The main indicator of insufficient maturity and lack of good reason is the inclination to aggressively perceive anything new, to the objective understanding of which enough effort is not applied.

And most dangerous in this case is the urge for one to analogously reject that which is supposedly more perfect than what one has.

This kind of ignorance has been irresistibly taking place and still successfully takes place among the majority of representatives of human society, which, respectively, characterizes the primitive level of development of that society.
While such an attitude towards the unknown is actively and widely exhibited by those in key positions of control in the state system, the development of societies under such control is doomed to be extremely complicated.

And in the fateful period of development of human society such a situation will always lead to the greatest tragedies.

In itself, the notion of “power” implies above all the ability to force anyone to make certain efforts against his own wishes and aspirations. At the same time it is also the ability to punish those unwilling to comply with the imposition.
The characteristics that lie at the heart of the notion of “power” directly contradict the Truth of spiritual development!

Power and government in the minds of people are perceived as one and the same thing.
But the true value of normal government should not imply notions such as “coercion”, or even worse, “punishment”.

During the historical period of initial formation of human society, as a perfectly natural consequence of the extremely primitive human perception of the surrounding reality, power and government inevitably started to become closely intertwined.

The former had to organize the many for at least some movement in a single direction, and the latter – to force those unwilling to move in that direction and also to punish those who resisted and prevented the others from moving in the ordained direction.

The aggressive environment, which the representatives of different social formations began to build actively and with various persistence, further strengthened such an intertwining in which the creative need intertwined with the corrupt, since the ability to govern can realize the human potential for creativity, while power – that for corruption.
Only those of considerable creative experience and relevant competency would show willingness to engage in government without the implications of power.

Among the great multitude of people of one or another society, those ready to take on increased responsibility without the characteristic elements of power are usually very few.

The rest of the multitude, realizing well enough the insignificance of their experience and skill, quite sensibly will not show active interest in becoming leaders and organizers.

And that which is seen as power, people are ready to pursue from the earliest age, as soon as they can correctly form ideas of the distinctive allure implied by the concept of “power”.

The fruits of power can be of interest only to those yet spiritually immature, and therefore have not developed mentally in a harmonious way.

And every human society, as the result of certain laws, consists in overwhelming majority of just such spiritually immature people.

And for that reason a great multitude of people massively exhibit a thirst and a need to acquire any power whatsoever, even the most insignificant, but power nonetheless. And once acquired, the immature of spirit exercise that power in a state of intoxication.
The system of state organization, according to its specific characteristics which are far removed from the Law of human spiritual development, naturally creates favorable conditions for the successful flourishing of the union of power and government, and is mostly referred to by a single term – “power”.

Modern, so called civilized society, at its core is clearly divided into religious and secular parts.
It does not take great wit to see just as clearly how the active representatives of either part, using its respective characteristics, equally strive to acquire ever greater power.

To acquire the very thing that seems to grant them the right to force their opinion on an ever greater number of people and to submit ever less to anyone else’s opinion the higher they seem to advance.

Where the members of either part try to justify themselves by claiming that power provides them with greater opportunity to save the unwise.
Such a justification is appropriate to some extent only for members of the secular part of human society, for secular power can indeed significantly limit savagely-vicious behavior to which a great many can still easily regress. Bt only limit, and not completely eliminate such behaviour!

The prosperity of state power fully depends on the activeness of the material component of human nature because such power is also interested in preserving above all the best physiological health of people.

But in order to completely eliminate human propensity for savagely-vicious actions, it is necessary to correctly activate those values in society which have absolutely no relation to what constitutes the essence of state power.
And hence the natural failure for the entire history of activity of such power to fully cope with the viciously-savage actions of many of the members of its society.

Spiritual Truths are not directly aimed at maintaining the best human physiological health although they are closely interrelated with it.
But it is only on the basis of these values alone that man’s viciously-savage actions can be fully neutralized.

And hence the ancient words that spiritual Truth is Light for all who dwell in darkness.
Spiritual Truth is not meant to refine the abnormal aspects of human life but to completely eliminate them.

Therefore it has been designated to be humanity’s Salvation!

And a term like “state religion” is nothing but complete absurdity!

For it is similar to the term “dark light” since a state system inevitably implies coercion and violence!

If any religious organization governs its congregation using methods typical of power, one can definitely speak of a significant discrepancy between the direction aspired to by the adepts of such an organization and the direction that defines the true spiritual development of human nature!

Until the human race continues to set as its principal life priorities that which stands apart from the true spiritual values, which is something it still does, the narrow coupling of power and government may to some degree be justified.

But such a justification would be appropriate only when the consequences of such a coupling would bring only minimal harm, similar to what takes place in the life of the members of the animal world.

If the governance of a society takes place in conjunction with the characteristics of power, such a society would inevitably resemble a herd and could not be seen as a rationally organized team at all.

For that reason, the representatives of power have aptly defined such a mass of people as a crowd.
The crowd needs the presence of power!

Power cannot exist without a crowd!

It is a vicious circle in which one cannot exist without the other.

At the same time, such an integral system has absolutely no prospects for achieving harmonious prosperity.

Moreover, in accordance with the Law of Harmony of the World of Being, it is doomed to inevitable self-destruction.

The way out of the already extremely dangerous statе of life of human society under such an organization is only possible in the direction of developing a normal system of life.

And that, as it has already become clear, is associated with the affirmation of values on the basis of which a system of life based on the principle of “crowd and power” cannot exist.
Spiritual values must become society’s primary focus!

Where, as a matter of course, at first it might give the impression of being a national idea, but if the idea most accurately embodied the definitions of Truth, then it would soon grow into a global idea.

It is of utmost necessity that the question of the spiritual values of society is open for serious public consideration without any primitively categorical and traditional religious prohibitions.

The truth of normal spiritual development of a person is based solely on the freedom of choice of his ideological priorities.

Man cannot be saved unless he has made his own free choice to actively apply efforts towards salvation.

But there is a reasonable need to provide the opportunity to become familiar with the objective information on the various spiritual values manifested in society.

This is the same as the following: when in a difficult situation – which in fact turns out to be the natural outcome of the path chosen long ago – the truly wise would take a careful look at all the newly visible branches of the existing path, and not try to go back to what has been tried and is well known.

The imposition of an ideology is perfectly natural for the conditions of a state system.

But if it occurs in the activities of a religious organization, it is a clear sign of an ignorant approach to the laws of Truth!

What is good for darkness goes against Truth!

To God what is God’s, to Caesar what is Caesar’s!

Vissarion
October 2010