Chapter 01: Evolution

There are basically two powers that have been distinguished in this chapter: the external
power and the authentic power. I have broken down the point of difference of each and came to
realize that the external power is something we can or may acquire (whether in good faith or
forcefully) from another while the authentic power is acquired on our very own through the years
of our existence. Both powers go through the process of evolution.

In the first few paragraphs about the external power, my interest was piqued by Zukav’s
own analogy of his perception between power and reverence. There’s just one statement about
fear that I respect but would beg to differ. Zukav wrote, “Those who wear them [badge, boots,
rank, radio, etc.] are fearful. They fear to engage the world without defenses.” In my opinion,
the value of fear here isn’t with those who have badges and ranks; it is with the citizens who
follow the rules and regulations of such high-raking officials. The citizens are most vulnerable to
oppression and a system of injustice being set by those people. “What we fear is an increase in
our vulnerability,” Zukav wrote. This fear is very evident nowadays and the high-ranking
officials are widespread politically and economically. Small-time businesses are being devoured
by large corporations in terms of profit and space; even when the latter are engaged with a lot of
illegal activities excluded in their financial statements. They still have that power to avoid
criminal and civil liability because of their external power as compared to small-time businesses
who have a hard time climbing up the market ladder. These scenarios are only two of the many
external powers discussed in Chapter 1. However, there’s one statement I wasn’t able to grasp. I
didn’t exactly get significance of why we should leave this kind of power even when this had
already existed in the beginning of humankind and is still widespread in our society today. One
would probably question their existence without being able to experience at least one instance of
having a real external power.

As I read through how the authentic power differs from the external power, there’s a huge
realization that what Zukav meant was to leave the indulgence of the people with such kind of
selfish power. Instead, everyone of us should work on their authentic powers to be able to look
through another side of life that would bring inner peace for ourselves. It emphasizes the role of
a multisensory human that goes beyond what the fivesensory human seeks to offer to
humankind. The most relevant difference that I’ve read between the two is that, for a
multisensory human, there’s a learning environment that would help us think of the next thing to
do and be able to apply decision-making. And whether that decision is good or bad, there will
always be a lesson that the decision carries. This will help us in the growth of ourselves. There
are also two significant things discussed under this power: the personality and the soul.
Personality is innate in our being and we are born with it while soul doesn’t channel from any
personality. We can affiliate personality with external power because it is only limited to its
perception to the five sense. With the soul, we can affiliate it with authentic power because it
springs forth love, compassion and wisdom that we offer to ourselves and to others. Personality
and soul should become one so that our personality would finally find a way to enter into
authentic empowerment. Personality will grow and the soul will be nurtured. Just like when we
learn to value and take care of ourselves, we begin to decide which standards we want to set for
ourselves and for the people who we want in our lives. The rest of the succeeding chapters will
be about authentic power which contains figurative language and deep understanding.