MANA: All Power Comes From Within

MANA: All Power Comes From Within

What if I told you that every time you blame the traffic, your boss, your parents, or the damn government for your problems, you’re willingly handing over the keys to your own life? What if I told you that the feeling of powerlessness you’re marinating in is a complete and utter illusion? An illusion you actively choose to believe.

Bullshit, right? It feels real. The pressure is real. The limitations are real. But are they? Or are they just a comfortable story you tell yourself to avoid the terrifying responsibility of being the sole creator of your own reality? We’re going to dismantle that story, piece by piece, and replace it with something far more powerful, grounded in both ancient wisdom and the fundamental laws of the universe.

The Problem: The Grand Illusion of External Power

Most of us are raised on a steady diet of external authority. From day one, you’re taught to look outside yourself for validation, for permission, for power. Your parents, your teachers, your boss, the experts on TV—they hold the power, and you’re just a passenger. Your life is a series of reactions to things that happen to you.

This creates a deeply ingrained victim mentality. It’s a comfortable prison. When things go wrong, you have a long list of culprits to blame. The economy tanked, so you lost your job. Your partner is emotionally unavailable, so you’re unhappy. Your genetics predispose you to being overweight, so you can’t get healthy. It’s always someone or something else’s fault. This is the mindset of the Backward-Looking Person (BLP), an individual perpetually stuck reacting to a past that, as we know from the laws of physics, doesn’t even exist anymore.

The BLP is a passenger. They are tossed around by the waves of circumstance, forever complaining about the storm. They’ve bought into the grand illusion that power is a finite resource held by a select few, and they’re on the outside looking in. It’s a damn convenient lie, because it absolves you of all responsibility. But it also strips you of all your power.

The Application: So What? How to Live with MANA

This is all fascinating, but what does it mean for you when you’re stuck in traffic and late for a meeting? It means everything.

Reflecting on my own experiences, I realize how often I resisted change and clung to outdated beliefs, making choices that only served to protect my ego rather than foster growth. These moments of stubbornness and confusion were challenging, but they also set the stage for transformation. It was in this state of inner turmoil that I began to see the necessity of letting go, preparing myself for the deeper insights that would come from Dr. Bob’s lectures and the concept of MANA.

Then, I remembered Dr. Bob’s lectures. I remembered MANA. I was a far-from-equilibrium system. This chaos, this dissolution of the old structure, wasn’t the end. It was a necessary part of the process. The old order had to break down to make way for a new, more complex, more evolved one. It was a painful, gut-wrenching process, but I forced myself to stop looking backward and start looking forward. I asked myself, "What can I create from this?" That shift in perspective changed everything. I took the energy that I was wasting on blame and resentment and channeled it into building something new, something that was entirely my own. The power wasn’t in what happened to me; the power was in what I chose to do with the energy of that moment.

This is the fundamental difference between a Forward-Looking Person (FLP) and a Backward-Looking Person (BLP). Faced with losing a job, the BLP updates their resume and complains about the injustice of it all. The FLP sees a sudden influx of free energy—time, attention, a break from the old routine—and asks, "What new structure can I build? What have I always wanted to do but never had the chance?"

This is the reality of MANA. External authority is an illusion you consent to. Your boss only has power over you because you agree to the terms of the employment contract. The government only has power because you and your fellow citizens agree to abide by its laws. You are the author of your experience. You are the source of the authority in your life.

The Takeaway: Your 30-Day Experiment in Radical Responsibility

Don’t just take my word for it. Run the experiment yourself. For the next 30 days, I challenge you to live as if MANA is the absolute, unshakeable truth of your existence.

1. Own Your Past, Completely. Look at your life—your health, your finances, your relationships, your career. All of it. Now, say this out loud: "This is all my creation. Everything I have experienced, I have attracted and created through my own will. There is no one else to blame." Don’t wallow in guilt. Guilt is just another way of being a victim. This isn’t about blame; it’s about acknowledging your creative power.

2. Author Your Present. The word "authority" comes from the Latin auctor, meaning "author" or "one who causes to grow." You are the author of your life. From this moment forward, recognize that every single decision you make is an act of creation. Tea or coffee? Gym or couch? Speak up or stay silent? Each choice sends a ripple of causation into your future. Before you make your next decision, ask yourself, "What reality am I authoring with this choice?"

3. Keep a Creation Log. At the end of each day for the next 30 days, get a notebook and write down at the top of the page: "Things I Created Today." Then, list everything that happened. The good, the bad, the mundane. The argument with your spouse? You created that. The productive meeting at work? You created that. The feeling of exhaustion? You created that. This simple act reframes your entire perception. You are no longer a passive recipient of circumstance. You are the prime mover. You are the cause.

The Power Is, and Always Was, You

Stop looking for a savior. Stop waiting for permission. Stop blaming the world for your problems. The power you are searching for is the very energy that is animating your body and reading these words right now. It is the flow of the universe moving through you. You are not a victim of circumstance. You are the circumstance.

---

References

1. Melamede, R. (2005). Harm reduction-the cannabis paradox. Harm Reduction Journal, 2(1), 17.
2. King, S. K. (2014). Huna: Ancient Hawaiian Secrets for Modern Living. Harmony.