Osho,
All my life I have been intrigued by power and the recognition I can take from it. Now, that seems very confined and petty. Yet, I sense also that there is a more authentic type of power, not dependent on other people or their reactions – more within myself.
Can you please talk about my attraction towards this?

Your question needs deep scrutiny, because I can say yes to it and I can also say no to it. Yes I will not say; the greater possibility is for the no. And I will explain the reasons to you.

This is how mind goes on playing games with you all. You are saying, “All my life I have been intrigued by power and the recognition I can take from it.” This is a truthful recognition, sincere. Many of the power-oriented people are not even aware of it; their will to power remains almost unconscious. Others can see it, but they themselves cannot see it.

As I said last night, this will to power is the greatest sickness man has suffered from. And all our educational systems, all our religions, all our cultures and societies, are in absolute support of this sickness.

Everybody wants his child to be the greatest man in the world. Listen to mothers talking about their children, as if they have all given birth to Alexander the Great, Ivan the Terrible, Joseph Stalin, Ronald Reagan….

Five billion people are rushing towards power. One has to understand that this tremendous urge to power is arising from an emptiness within you. A man who is not power-oriented is a man fulfilled, contented, at ease, at home as he is. His very being is an immense gratitude to existence; nothing more is to be asked. Whatever has been given to you, you had never asked for. It is a sheer gift out of the abundance of existence.

And these are the two separate paths: one is will to power, the other is will to dissolve.

You are saying, “Now that seems very confined and petty…” Not only confined and petty, but also sick and ugly. The very idea to be powerful over other people means taking their dignity, destroying their individuality, forcing them to be slaves. Only an ugly mind can do that.

You continue the question, “I sense also that there is a more authentic type of power, not dependent on other people or their reactions – more within myself.” There is some truth in what you are saying, but it is not your experience. There is certainly a power which has nothing to do with domination over others. But the power of a flower opening its petals…have you seen that power, that glory? Have you seen the power of a starry night? – not dominating anybody. Have you seen the power of the smallest leaf dancing in the sun, in the rain? Its beauty, its grandeur, its joy? It has nothing to do with anybody else. It does not even need somebody to see it.

This is true independence. And it brings you to the source of your being, from where your life is arising every moment. But this power should not be called power, because that creates a confusion.