Omnipotence breaks down into two parts:
- The prefix omni- means all
- The root -potence means strength and power
Combined, they mean all-powerful or unlimited power. Omnipotence is an unusual word I never had much use for. It was a word from another era of superstition and mythology where weak, frightened people imagined powerful gods roaming around the sky who could do imaginary things.
I characterized the concept of omnipotence as silly and childish, belonging to the realm of simple, unintelligent people from the past, brainwashed religious fundamentalists, and fantasy stories. My perspective was so grounded in the physical world around me that I could not conceive how omnipotence was anything other than mythology.
But omnipotence is not fantasy. It has a literal and useful definition that I can directly experience and validate in my moment. It also has a counterpart: demipotence. By replacing the prefix with demi- meaning partial, I create a word meaning limited power and strength. These are the two most important words in the selfist model because they capture the full spectrum spanning who I believe I am to who I actually am. And in terms of my power, from what I believe I can do to what I can actually do.
What are omnipotence and demipotence? Power is only important insofar as it can help me achieve what I want. Therefore, power and desire are two sides of the same concept. Omnipotence would be the unlimited power to achieve everything I desire. And demipotence would be the limited power to achieve my desire. If I was omnipotent, I could achieve everything I desire, effectively ending my desire for there would be nothing left to desire after achieving it. Omnipotence, therefore, is the state of non-desire. If I were demipotent, I would have only limited power to achieve what I desire, so after exercising my power desire would remain.
Omnipotence is the power to permanently end my desire. Demipotence is the lack of power to end my desire.
If I were confused or ill, then I might want things I really do not desire. Or I might desire things that do not permanently satiate my desire. So even after achieving or acquiring those things, my desires would persist. The key to understanding omnipotence is understanding that my absolute desire is for the end of my desire altogether, not transitory satiation of it. And omnipotence is literally the power to permanently achieve the end of my desire. Anything less than the permanent satisfaction of my desire is demipotence.
What does omnipotence look like? Like everything in the selfist model, I can instantly and directly experience it in my moment. The selfist model does not relay on fantasies I can only imagine and never directly know or experience. Omnipotence is having the power to permanently end all my desire on command. Because I am demipotent, I cannot permanently experience it; however, I can catch a fleeting glimpse of it by simply closing my eyes and entering a meditative state of calm and peace. Once I arrive at my desire-free firstself, and all the demands, conflict, and desires of my personhood disappear, I have achieved omniself. I can reflect on the things I want in the second place and feel no yearning for them.
At some point when I can no longer sustain omniself, I open my eyes and return to my desire-filled personhood. This is my demipotence: my lack of power to remain where I in omniself, where I have no desire. When I achieve omnipotence, I can remain in my desire-free firstself permanently if I so choose. Demipotence is my inability to remain there and my inevitable return to the world.
Would suicide count as an exercise of omnipotence? The violent self-termination of my life is the demipotent conceptualization of my omnipotence. It is rooted in fear, pain, and uncertainty, reflecting my lack of conviction. Omnipotence has no such darkness or pain associated with it and is reached in a gentle, calm, and peaceful manner.
There are four dimensions I must realize and master to regain omnipotence:
- Omniscience – I have complete awareness, and I know everything.
- Omnipresence – I have complete presence, and I am everywhere and in every time.
- Omnisubstance – I have complete substance, and I am everything.
- Omnificence – I have complete control, and I create everything.
These four realizations work together to break up and destroy my demipotence. Upon achieving omnipotence I achieve desire-free omniself.
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