Published On: Sat, Feb 13th, 2016

Do you exercise Hard Power or Soft Power?

Life is about creating synergy.  Leadership, teamwork that produce extraordinary results comes about when a synergy across the team and organisation is created.  This can come about by rules and regulations or when a culture of cooperation and enriching each other is created.  Foundations built solely on law and rules do not last long, whereas a culture transcends many generations.  The distinction between ‘Hard Power’ and ‘Soft Power’ needs to be understood to create such cultures.

Hard Power

“Hard Power” means, the political power, where the administration, bureaucracy, the Law, Court, punishment, reward, all this exists – ‘You HAVE to do this or you will be prosecuted and put in jail!’  ‘You should not do this or you will be prosecuted and put in jail, tortured.  You may even be hanged!’  This is “Hard Power”.

Soft Power

“Soft Power” is the spiritual power.  It is a “soft power” where, if they follow, they raise themselves out of their own inspiration; voluntarily they come and learn to evolve themselves, raise themselves.

Concept of God

The concept of “God” in Vedic Tradition is so beautiful, so subtle.  Because the concept of “God” is a “soft power”, we also had always “soft power” all over the world.  Even now the world’s largest-practised religion is Yoga.  And it does not have any “hard power”.  It was never spread through political power.

Buddha ruled practically the whole of Asia, not because of “hard power”.  If he was having “hard power”, he would have been ruling just his kingdom.  But, he left that and took up the “soft power” and he ruled the whole of Asia.

We were slaves to some countries as far as “hard power” is concerned; and they were living what we were saying as far as “soft power” is concerned.  What we should do as far as the legality and political things are concerned, how much tax we should pay, all that the British were deciding.  But, what he should do as far as his body and mind were concerned, we are deciding.  Our tradition was never dependent on “hard power”.  That is why we never cared about “hard power”.

Clashes between the politicians and priests were always prevalent in the West.  In the East they were always together.  Always the Rajas and Rajagurus were together, because they knew their zones are different.  Kings never felt threatened by the priests.  Kings never felt threatened by the Gurus, because, whether the very way of thinking and acting, the Guru was settled in “soft power”, and the king was always secure as he was exercising “hard power”.

Live an inspiration-based life

A little understanding about this “hard power” and “soft power” will give you a lot of clarity about how to handle yourself.  If you always handle yourself with “hard power”, you become insensitive to life.  If you all the time think only about the law and move only with that, then your whole life will be controlled only by law.  This does not mean that one should break the law.  Let the “soft power”, the spiritual understandings decide many things in your life than the fear and greed of “hard power”.  If you allow more and more the fear and greed of “hard power” to decide your life, you are a slave.  But, “soft power” is always inspiration-based; it is not fear-based or greed-based.

 

Based on satsangs delivered by rare Living Incarnation Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda

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