What most people call power Buddhists call cravings. The five cravings are for wealth, fame, sex, fancy food, and lots of sleep.
In Buddhism they speak of five true powers,five kinds of energy. The five powers are faith, diligence, mindfulness, concentration, and insight. These five powers are the foundation of real happiness,they are based on concrete practices that in Sobriety Holidays will guide you through.
The first source of energy is faith.When one has the energy of faith, you are strong. In the Gospel, Jesus said that people with faith could move mountains.But the word faith is better translated as ‘confidence’ and ‘trust’ because it is about something inside you not directed towards something external.
The Zen patriarch Lin Chi used to say to students: ‘You who do not have enough confidence in yourself,you go around seeking things outside. You need to have confidence that you have the capacity to become a Buddha,the capacity of transformation and healing.’
Faith is having a path that leads you to freedom, liberation, and the transformation of afflictions. If you see the path,if you have the path to go,you have power. Those that have no path wander around. They suffer. They don’t know where to go. You have been searching for a path,and now you have found a path, you have seen the way.
If you have some experience that this path leads in a good direction,you will have faith in your path. You are very happy you have a path,and thus you begin to have power. This power will not destroy you or other people around you. In fact,it gives you strength and energy that other people can feel. When you have faith,your eyes are bright and your step is confident; this is power.
You can generate this kind of power every moment of your daily life. It will bring you a lot of happiness. If you use a method of practice and find it effective, it brings you mindfulness, concentration and joy, then faith and confidence are born from this, not from something other people tell you. This is faith and confidence not only in ideas but in concrete results of your practice.
When you successfully practise mindfulness breathing you feel light,strong,solid, free, and confidence is born from this kind of experience. This is not superstition; it is not relying on someone outside yourself.The energy of faith can bring you a lot of happiness. If you don’t have faith, if you don’t have this energy of confidence, you suffer.
People who are recovering from addiction, depression, or burnout generally find themselves in low self-esteem or if there still in denial their ego can be to high.
At Sobriety Holidays they gently guide their clients on a path of recovery with our programme which consists of exercise, good nutrition, and meditation. Over time, they help their clients restore their faith.
Patrick Powell is the founder of Sobriety Holidays.
