
The Dharma of Power
It feels good to do good. And many of us may find ourselves wanting to do good in a big way. To that end, we may seek to build power so that we can manifest our good intentions on a large scale. Power, however, is tricky, and there are many ways to get tangled up and turned around. The Buddhist teachings are not against using one’s power for good, but they also invite us to see a greater freedom that is not attached to any form of power. Join us: Riverside Meditation Community meets Sundays at 9:00 AM at Brookmont Church, 4000 Virginia Place, Bethesda. Each gathering includes a sit, a short talk, and time to connect. All are welcome. You can find more information here: riversidemeditation.net Upcoming Retreat: I’ll be co-teaching How to Know Your Mind, a three-day silent insight meditation retreat, with Dechen Ellen McSweeney at Seven Oaks Retreat Center, in the beautiful foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, March 11-14. You can find more information, including how to register, here: https://imcw.org/event/?eventId=1779 Texts & references DN 31, Sigālaka Sutta (advice to a young householder): includes setting aside part of one’s wealth for hard times DN 16, Mahāparinibbāna Sutta (the Buddha’s final days): the teaching and the discipline named as teacher after him MN 22, Alagaddūpama Sutta (the snake simile): the teaching as a raft, for crossing over, not for holding on to SN 22.96, Gomayapiṇḍa Sutta (a lump of cow dung): a king’s 84,000 cities, all passed away Thich Nhat Hanh and Daniel Berrigan, The Raft Is Not the Shore: Conversations Toward a Buddhist-Christian Awareness (Beacon Press, 1975) Rebecca Solnit, Hope in the Dark: on why “save” is the wrong word for what activists do Correction: In the talk I said Aung San Suu Kyi is still in prison. In April 2026, Myanmar’s state media reported that she had been moved to house arrest. She remains in detention. Photo by Melih Özmen on Unsplash


















