Something worth contemplating in this time of manipulation and coercion . . .
One, who has power over me, has to establish an inner contact with my soul and spiritually act upon me, evoking from my depths a spiritual and free admitting of his power as not foreign to me.
That which remains foreign to me, can with violence coerce me, but it does not have power over me.
A power of governance, having lost contact with the souls, the spiritual community, is no longer a power of governance, it is already powerless.
Whosoever rules only the bodies and shifts around the atoms of matter, does not possess a true power of rule, his power of rule is illusory. Coercive violence is illusory a method.
Power by its essence is deeply contrary to coercive force. Coercive force is always powerless or in any case an indicator of insufficiency of power. Coercive force is a sign, that a given energy does not act sufficiently deep enough, skips a beat, does not penetrate at depth, does not inwardly act, does not set afire or take hold. An oppressive mechanical shoving in human life is of powerlessness, an incapacity.
An authentic power and might sets free, grants freedom to all and everyone, it is a transition into the world of Divine energy, its taking root into the very core of things. Powerlessness always enslaves, is violence prone, and bestows beatings. Authentic power evokes a respect for itself, meets with acknowledgement, and in its supreme manifestations -- is a delight.
Whosoever possesses true power is one who rules over human souls or the soul of the entire people, and is never sensed as an oppressor.
An oppressor however rules nothing.
In every state there is coercion and force, but no state can rest entirely upon coercion and force.
A state tends to fall apart and collapse when the power of rule in it is violent force, and not true power.
- Nikolai Berdyaev - from the essay, Power and Coercive Violence
One, who has power over me, has to establish an inner contact with my soul and spiritually act upon me, evoking from my depths a spiritual and free admitting of his power as not foreign to me.
That which remains foreign to me, can with violence coerce me, but it does not have power over me.
A power of governance, having lost contact with the souls, the spiritual community, is no longer a power of governance, it is already powerless.
Whosoever rules only the bodies and shifts around the atoms of matter, does not possess a true power of rule, his power of rule is illusory. Coercive violence is illusory a method.
Power by its essence is deeply contrary to coercive force. Coercive force is always powerless or in any case an indicator of insufficiency of power. Coercive force is a sign, that a given energy does not act sufficiently deep enough, skips a beat, does not penetrate at depth, does not inwardly act, does not set afire or take hold. An oppressive mechanical shoving in human life is of powerlessness, an incapacity.
An authentic power and might sets free, grants freedom to all and everyone, it is a transition into the world of Divine energy, its taking root into the very core of things. Powerlessness always enslaves, is violence prone, and bestows beatings. Authentic power evokes a respect for itself, meets with acknowledgement, and in its supreme manifestations -- is a delight.
Whosoever possesses true power is one who rules over human souls or the soul of the entire people, and is never sensed as an oppressor.
An oppressor however rules nothing.
In every state there is coercion and force, but no state can rest entirely upon coercion and force.
A state tends to fall apart and collapse when the power of rule in it is violent force, and not true power.
- Nikolai Berdyaev - from the essay, Power and Coercive Violence
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