Someone Told Me I Have a Great Energy…!

May the blessings of the Triple Gem be with you all!

Today, I want to address a question that I receive constantly through messages, particularly on WhatsApp, from those of you exploring the practical spiritual life. To be honest, I have become quite tired of answering this message because it comes so frequently from a specific group of people. As I explain, you will begin to understand the pattern.

The core message is this: “I have a great power within me.” They mean a kind of innate spiritual power that they believe allows them to do extraordinary things. This belief is often tied to ideas about their past lives. You may be tired of hearing this, but many claim they were figures from the Ravana historical narratives, like Ravana himself or Queen Mandodari. Others identify with the great kings and queens from Sri Lanka’s 2,500-year history as recorded in the Mahavamsa. There are many who have taken on these grand identities.

There is also another group who haven’t attached themselves to a famous past life, but they too are troubled by this same issue. They also insist, “I have a great spiritual power.” When I ask them, “What is this power you have? What can you do with it?” they often give vague answers. They might say they see glimpses of the past where they could control water or air, abilities related to the four great elements known in Buddhism as pathavi, āpō, tējō, vāyō (earth, water, fire, and air).

My next question is always the same: “Can you do any of these things in your present life?” The answer is invariably no. They admit they have no such abilities now, but they hold a firm belief that they possessed them in the past. My response is straightforward: what you could do in the past is irrelevant to us now. If we had truly mastered a skill, it might serve as a foundation. But as it stands, you are a person with no special power in the present. You are an ordinary person, without influence or wealth, largely unnoticed by the world.

Therefore, there is no point in continually boasting about a power you cannot demonstrate. I say this directly because these individuals, who lack any tangible spiritual skill in this life, often speak endlessly and inappropriately about their supposed past-life glories. Frankly, we are tired of hearing it. This phenomenon of people boasting without substance is not new; it has always existed in society and will likely continue.

The Sources of the Illusion: Shrines, Stars, and Soothsayers

So, who is telling these people they possess this great spiritual power? This is the most important point I need to clarify for you.

First, the culture of devales (shrines to deities). A person might wander into a devale, where there is inevitably a non-human entity, an amanushya, making a living by using the name of a god. This entity looks at the person and declares, “You have a great power, a varam shakthiyak.” Now, this concept of varam is typically limited to things like becoming a medium for spirits or telling fortunes.

It is not some world-changing, profound ability. If it were, these people should be able to stop a war. But they can’t. At most, it might involve the ability to perform minor rites or curses, but often not even that. A varam is mostly about channeling a spirit to make predictions.

As spiritual practitioners, we do not give these things much weight. From a true spiritual perspective, they are of a very low level and should be seen as such. We have previously discussed in another teaching whether spiritual people need a varam, and I encourage you to explore that if you have not.

So, at these shrines, a man or woman is told they have a great spiritual power, but the word used is varam. The non-human entities in these places do not understand true spirituality; they can only recognize this lower form of power and will encourage the person to “receive the varam.” I get many calls from people saying, “Venerable Sir, I was told this at a devale.”

The next source is astrologers. People go to have their horoscope, their kēndara, read. The astrologer looks at their chart and also says, “You have a great spiritual power from your past.” This message then gets sent to me. Another source is clairvoyants who use tools like an añduna (a form of scrying or divination).

They too will look and declare, “This person has a great power.” Then there are palm readers and those who interpret physical marks, who will also make the same claim. Finally, sometimes a genuinely developed spiritual person might make a comment about someone’s potential, and this too is grasped onto.

The Endless Search: Chasing a Ghostly Power

Once these individuals hear this, perhaps from just one of these sources, they don’t stop. It sparks a curiosity: “What is this great spiritual power I have?” They don’t begin any practical work. Instead, they start a journey. They go to every occultist, every devale medium, every astrologer they can find.

If they hear of a practitioner from another religion who might provide answers, they will go there too. They wander from place to place, constantly asking the same questions: “What is my power? Who was I in my past life? What am I capable of?”

There is a large community of people in Sri Lanka, and even abroad, caught in this cycle. I have met many Sri Lankans who have gone to work in foreign countries and are still trapped in this same mindset. This is why I said at the beginning that I am tired of hearing these stories.

The reason I’m tired, which I will explain fully at the end, is that these characters, when you truly look at them, have absolutely no real power. They can’t do anything. All they do is talk about their past-life fantasies, their empty boasts. There is nothing else there.

The Only Real Solution: Stop Searching and Start Practicing

So, here is the universal answer I give to everyone who comes to me with this story, the reply I send to all their messages. I say: “Very well. In the present moment, you have no spiritual power. Therefore, there is something you must do in the present: start practicing meditation.”

If you truly have some latent energy or a meditative practice you developed in a past life, it will surface through present effort. We provide this guidance: live a life of good conduct, at least observing the Pañcasīla, the five basic precepts of ethical behavior. Establish a routine of domestic rituals, such as paying homage to the Buddha (Buddha Vandanā). Practice Mettā Bhāvanā, or loving-kindness meditation. Engage in Samatha Bhāvanā, the practice of developing calm and concentration. Cultivate mindfulness. We advise them to engage in these practices diligently.

We tell them, “If you apply yourself practically, at the right time, the necessary spiritual power will arise in the amount that is needed.” This is the guidance we offer.

Awakening Your Latent Abilities Through Practical Effort

Some people actually accept this advice and begin to practice. To them, I say, “You will never find this power by going from shrine to shrine or chasing after occultists. You will gain nothing by constantly asking, ‘Who am I? What is my power?’” You will only ever hear the same empty words.

No one can give you a power you haven’t earned. If you become a practical person, your past spiritual strength, that is, the merit and habit of meditation cultivated in the cycle of existence, or Saṃsāra, will emerge when you engage in the same practices in this life. That is the plain truth.

You don’t need to go to shrines or spend money on fortune-tellers to hear this. To do so after having it explained so clearly is simply foolishness, because you will never receive any practical spiritual power that way. We must engage in the practice ourselves. Only then will we gain the necessary insight and wisdom, or paññā. So, if you know someone who makes these empty boasts, who says, “Someone told me I have a great power,”

you can respond simply. You can point out their lack of present ability. “Whatever power you think you have,” you can say, “you can’t do anything with it in this life. You can’t even change this country, or split a rock, or affect nature in any way.” When you show them what they cannot do, their illusion is cut away. We do this not to be cruel, but out of compassion, to help them see the truth. If we don’t, they will never understand and will continue to chase these fantasies.

From Past-Life Kings to Present-Day Practitioners: The Path to Realization

Now I will tell you the final point I mentioned earlier, which will answer all the preceding questions. Never fall for these claims. Various people may tell you that you have great spiritual power. I, too, will tell you that: you have spiritual potential. But you must meditate.

Without meditation, whatever power you had, no matter how much you practiced in previous lives, no matter how great a leader you were in the past, in this life, you are just an ordinary person. As long as you do not meditate, as long as you do not lead a practical spiritual life, all those latent powers will remain suppressed. They will be overcome and ultimately destroyed by the sensual distractions of the modern world (the kāma lōka). This is something you must understand. If you do not practice and cultivate a skill, whatever spiritual gift you possess will wither and disappear.

So, the simple message I want to repeat is this: no matter who tells you that you have spiritual power, do not let it inflate your ego. Do not develop an arrogance, thinking, “Ah, I have a special power. I was a great person in the past, I was Parakramabahu, I was Ravana, I was Mandodari or Sita.” Do not become intoxicated by these past identities. Put all of that aside. Instead, think with wisdom: “Whatever I may have been, in this life, I am just this ordinary person. The only thing that matters is practical meditation. Whatever abilities I may have, I can only realize them through practice.”

Start thinking with this kind of wisdom. Once you do, begin your practical journey. If you are new, you can follow our teachings from the beginning, learn the methods of meditation and the associated rituals, and strive to reawaken and develop the spiritual power you have cultivated across Saṃsāra.

That is how these things are truly obtained. Please do not send me photos asking me to tell you if you have power. Those who do so do not understand our work. We do not engage in that kind of cheap fortune-telling, and you should not expect it from us. If you have been living with this mentality, I urge you to follow this advice and change your approach from today onwards.

A Final Blessing for a Wise Path

There is no need to prolong this teaching further. By the power of the Triple Gem, the Buddha, the Dhamma (His teachings), and the Sangha (the community of noble ones), may you all understand these points clearly, correct your path, and proceed with wisdom and practical effort.


We invite you to walk this path with us. Read our teachings, and most importantly, apply them practically in your own life. as you practice, questions will naturally arise. Please feel free to share your experiences and questions in the comments below, via email or contact form. I will do my best to offer guidance in future talks based on your progress. For now, begin this practice with an open heart and a mind free from expectation. Cultivate it correctly, and may you find the clarity and peace you seek.

Thank you for joining us. We hope this blog will be of great benefit to your spiritual journey.

May you all be well and happy.
May the blessings of the Triple Gem be with you all!.