Why aren’t there any therapy groups for people who are addicted to power? There are groups for gambling addictions, shopping addictions, even sex addictions. But there is nothing for power addictions. Ideally, I would like to organize one of these groups. And I would like Darth Vader to be the guest speaker. I can imagine him looking distressed. He would be hunched over and unmasked, holding a lit cigarette with about an inch of ash dangling from it. His eyes would be red and swollen from the swelling of tears.
He would be remorseful, racked by guilt and sorrow as he rehashed war stories of all the galaxies he destroyed, all the planets he oppressed, all the people he tortured by using the telekinetic one hand force choke. I just would want to ask him one simple question. Where do you think you went wrong Darth? He wouldn’t be able to look me in the eyes. Instead he would look away and say, “I didn’t understand the power of the dark side.”
That is the problem with the dark side. It is very misleading. It is like a drug that you try once and then the next thing you know, you’re hooked for life. Power is the worst kind of drug. It is particularly dangerous when taken in large dosages. This results in power trips, superiority complexes, the suppression of ideas, not to mention tyranny and dictatorships. But I don’t think that I have to lecture Darth Vader on the effects of overdosing on power. He understands that power can be used to bring balance back to the force. Or it can be used to oppress it.
So the best thing to do is just take this one step at a time and understand the root of power addictions. It all starts with perception. It is our perception that frames reality. However, Darth Vader just couldn’t get it through his thick skull that we are all one in the same, conjoined by one single force. We are just conditioned to perceive that we are different, this way of thinking results in a slippery slope of ideas. Perceptions amount to separatism, separatism amounts to judgments, judgments amount to prejudice, racism, sexism etc. We just can’t understand that when the ego reigns supreme, everything around it will be subjugated to its power.
Good and bad turn into superior and inferior, and we damn sure don’t want to be in the inferior category. Inferior means that we are condemned to an eternal hell of oppression and suffering. No one wants to go through that. No one wants to deal with the social stigmas, the stereotypes, and the scapegoating. So people react, in most cases with violence. Whether it is an insurgency, a coup, or the beginnings of a civil war. This is what happens when we just can’t appreciate the uniqueness and value that nature provides. This is what happens when we don’t determine what is good or bad by whether it serves the needs of everyone. As the great master Yoda would say, “twisted by the dark side we are.”
Judgments that stem from the ego throw the force off balance. Instead of becoming aware, we just cloak them in darkness. Much like Vader’s polycarbonate like helmet, our egos have become tough, durable, and shatterproof. We foolishly hang on to our ego because we believe that we need it to maintain our existence, our livelihood, and our self-importance. But the ego is the only thing we need to separate ourselves from. By doing this, we can prevail. At first, we might feel like we are outmatched and outnumbered. But we will gain more power as we start to tap into the ancient knowledge known as the source. By doing this, we can create a perception of oneness and bring balance back to the force.