Static Power and Dynamic Power

There are numerous types of power at work in the world and in us. Some of them can be viewed as ‘dynamic’ powers, powers with movement, action and outward facing application of force. Others can be viewed as ‘static’ powers, powers of holding, receiving and containing, powers of withstanding the actions of force. For the most part, we tend to notice and pay attention to the dynamic powers more than those that are static in nature. We tend to favor ‘offense’ rather than ‘defense’, so to speak. Yet static powers are the foundation and basis even of the dynamic ones, and, for the spiritual seeker, may turn out to be some of the most important powers to develop and cultivate.

A common example can be found in everyday life. Someone says or does something that is aimed to hurt you or make you angry. They try to provoke a vibrational reaction and generally, that is what occurs. One returns ‘anger for anger’, ‘insult for insult’, and in many cases, there is an escalation until the parties either come to blows or each a point of no return where a relationship is shattered, or litigation ensues, or some other hostile act occurs. The response is an illustration of ‘dynamic power’, which goes out and ‘acts’.

Much more difficult is the ability to not respond in kind, to not allow the vibration that is provoking you actually get inside you and start your being vibrating equivalently; rather, to remain truly calm and unperturbed. This is an example of ‘static power’, the power to withstand the force without spending energy responding.

In the one case of ‘dynamic power’, the energy is expended and used up. In the other case, it is conserved and allowed to be applied otherwise in applications of one’s choice!

It is not an ‘either / or’ choice between static and dynamic power, but the need to manage the energy flow and use each in an appropriate manner, in the right way, at the right time and in the right circumstance. In that case, the ability to store and not ‘spill’ energy that is the result of static power provides the basis, foundation and necessary resource to apply the dynamic power when it is called for.

The Mother observes: “… there is a static power. How to explain it to you? Look, there is the same difference between static power and dynamic power as between a game of defence and a game of attack; you understand? It is the same thing. Static power is something which can withstand everything, nothing can act upon it, nothing can touch it, nothing can shake it — it is immobile, but it is invincible. Dynamic power is something in action, which at times goes forth and may at times receive blows. That is to say, if you want your dynamic power to be always victorious, it must be supported by a considerable static power, an unshakable base.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Powers Within, Chapter XII Power of Immobility, pg. 101