About leadership

The authoritarian nature is not devoiding to want to be active, to have courage and faith. But these features of meaning for them is something else than the meaning for a person no longing after submission. In the authoritarian nature the desire of activities is based on a profound sense of powerlessness, as that is what it strives to overcome. Activities in this sense means to act in the name of something that is higher than their own self. It can be done in God´s name, in the past´s name, the nature´s or the duty´s name, but never in the name of the future of the unborn, right of them whot have a non power, or of life itself.

For the authoritarian character a lack of power always is a sign of guilt or inferiority, and the authority on which the person believes is showing signs of weakness, has released the love and the charity for resentment. This character lacks the aggressive spirit that can attack recognized powers without first having to enter into service in the second and stronger powers.

The courage of the authoritarian character is essentially courage to suffer the fate or something the personal representative or "leader" has decided. To suffer without complaint is the highest virtue - not the courage to try to end the suffering, or at least reduce it. They don´t like to change fate, but submit to it, it is the heroism of the authoritative character.

Read more: Erich Fromm: Escape from freedom

Pain

If you, in the middle of your pain look up to the pure presence, if you only do this for a brief moment it is possible that your relationship with the pain changes in that particular moment. It is impossible that it would not be altered, because by keeping it in mind, even if you only manage to do it one or two seconds, the pain is revealed immediately in larger dimensions. When your relationship to the experience changes you can think outside the box and act more freely in any given situation, what ever it may be ... even if you do not know what to do...

The pain itself is not the main thing, it is how you relate to it.