The Transcendental: The Church Project

Power - Struggle

February 20, 2024

'Heal the root so the tree is stable.'

In spirituality, when you stop struggling, it's not a sign of weakness. In this space, you would hear more something like: When you stop struggling, you float. or something from the Tao Te Ching: Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? or another one from the master: Close your mouth, block off your senses, blunt your sharpness, untie your knots, soften your glare, settle your dust. This is your primal identity.

And I think this is testament to the spiritual community seeing flexibility and adaptability as strength whereas others see weakness and because they think it is with rigidity, always going against the tide, that strength is manifested or expressed. But I also think this concept owes to the prejudice or preconception that when somebody isn't struggling, it is because he is weak, and because he won't even try going against the tide, without taking the time to wonder how flexibility and adaptability is achieved or gained, and what that looks like.

Actually, I find that the process is lose and gain. A lot of spiritual gains come from losses - not to be confused with defeat, but 'losing something'. And the student who is to appear to not struggle whilst surrounded by people who are struggling in fact did lose something, it's just that people who struggle don't know what was lost, and because they don't know what was lost, they don't know what was gained. It's just logic, really. What the student lost is the struggle, and what he gained is power - core strength that comes in the form of flexibility and adaptability like a plant or a tree that lives by the river.

Now, where the strength or the power of this plant or tree lies is in its roots. It's not that it's a weed and blah, it's in the roots.

How do you get healthy roots? First, you know what a healthy root is. Because if you don't know that, you're gonna get different kind of roots, and because you think that's the healthy root when it's not. Why people who struggle are the very ones to get exhausted and say it's like the struggle never stops is because the roots actually need healing and the healing isn't happening, and that's why they always feel like life is a constant struggle and they barely get much of the stability they actually desire. What these people have been missing out on is the turn or the shift that presents itself in a time of instability or struggle - and that is the opportunity to lose the struggle to gain power that is actually what they desire, because that power is where the stability flows.

One common problem to be found in the roots is shame. Why shame? Because shame is what obstructs or keeps people from making the turn by making them think that when they stop struggling that means defeat instead of loss or losing the struggle. Shame is a thing of the ego that distorts people's perception of things, and in this case, the distortion is that loss is made to look like defeat. People who have shame in their roots also struggle with pride. Pride gone bad. Pride distorted. In children, when this happens, well, that's because the ego is not as mature as that of an adult's. I have to do a review on Jung's notes about the maturation of the ego, but a child's ego is just not gonna be as mature and that's why they are more prone to outbursts or what they call 'temper tantrums' when they experience loss. It doesn't help when the adult has a ripe ego and he has yet to lose the struggle himself despite because children mimic adults, children take it from adults. When the adult promotes the struggle and the hard way, the child grows up to think and see things from that lens or perspective. The good thing is that adults have people like Jung and Hall to talk to them about ego maturation because that's being offered the opportunity to gain power.

People get caught in power struggles because of the shared perception that power is limited, that there's a shortage of power. Monopoly and upsets in the balance of power distribution results from the power struggle. But again, the power struggle is a result of a shared perception that is actually false. There's no shortage of power. Power is not limited. It's just a) untapped and b) people are getting drained of power. The power struggle in a nutshell. Just feel free to apply it to a form of power struggle you know.

It's false. It's a lie. There's no shortage. What there is is monopoly and upsets in the balance of power distribution. How do you get your power back? You have to lose the struggle. You start healing your roots, that's how you gain power.

I'm not gonna say: Don't participate in the power struggle. Why? Because I know that when I tell that to people, they'd think it's impossible. And when people think it's a daunting task, they won't even try, they would give up before trying. But I find that people only think it's impossible because they don't know what to do, they have no idea, in this case, how to lose the struggle. And so I'm saying: Heal your roots. How would you know it's working? You heal a problem with the root and you would feel it. You lose the struggle, you gain power. You would feel that. That's how you would know it's working.

People who are flexible and adaptable, know that before that, they were also caught in the power struggle. They also thought that's how you gain strength and stability - until they found the loophole or the way out of the loop or the cycle, which is the gateway to what they desire that had been in obscurity. That is where they lose rigidity and where they gain flexibility. And then they just look and see that it's done - they're no longer participating in the power struggle. Why? Because they already got their power, they're no longer sharing the false and the lie with the people caught in the power struggle.

Caught in the power struggle, you're gonna be feeding the monopoly and the upset in the balance, because you are a participant. You would share the false perception that power is limited and because it is limited, you gotta struggle and compete to get your share or you don't get any. It's like seeing that a supply like toilet paper is limited, but metaphorically so. The reason why there is monopoly is because people hoard because they would feel powerless if they don't hoard. There is problem in the roots not getting addressed and healed, and that's what that problem could look like - hoarding.

Now, I am inviting you to focus on your own roots and find the problem, so you could start healing, because you're really the only one who could do that - you're the only one who could lose the struggle and gain your power back. You're the only one who could end that cycle for yourself. I know because I had to do that for myself. That's how I lost the struggle and gained power and saw that there's no shortage. It's just that people have problems with their roots and that's keeping them from seeing the truth. And this is how you get others to see it. You invite them to lose the struggle and get their power back. That or you just leave them to their delusion. That's also fine - 'cause also, it's been said if the truth gets rid of an illusion, then let it. That's destiny. But I find my work is simple: I invite, then my work is done. I just send invites, then I go.

'Cause that's how it all started with me too. I just got an invite, and then I was on my way.

Who invited me? The master did. Long before I had the soften your glare thing as an invite, we had this piece of paper attached to the mirror at home and it said: Don't strive to be anything but thyself. I was a child. That was from the master. But I didn't go until I was ready. But the master just kept sending invites and going. And then I went.