Jeremy is an albino, so his skin is whiter than ordinary people. One night, his pregnant mother is struck by a flash of lightning, precipitating his birth. Unfortunately his mother dies soon after. His father is unable to accept his wife's death because of the birth, so he is unwilling to acknowledge his son. Therefore, Jeremy is forced to live with his grandparents. He hides in the basement, never goes to school, nor does he have any contact with outsiders.

After the death of both his grandparents, the sheriff and social workers take him to live in an educational training center. After testing his IQ it's found that Jeremy is in fact a genius. His guardians realize he is exceptionally wise, having intelligence equivalent to a whole library of books. His physics teacher discovers that Jeremy's body is like an electrical conductor, hence the reason why his body cannot grow even a single strand of hair. The teacher believes that Jeremy is a high level life-form extremely close to a state of pure energy. However, his super abilities prevent him from fitting into modern society. Even his appearance causes his peers to reject him. Only one female classmate has a heart to heart understanding of Jeremy. He talks to her about the distance created by people's inner feelings that ignore the inseparability of all beings. He explains that it is only because of our inability to know our past lives and our incorrect concepts about the interconnectedness among all things that leads us away from the truth and isolates us from the universal essence. Quite symbolically, Jeremy touches her with the tips of his fingers enabling her to feel both of their heartbeats and reveals to her the inner worlds.

Meanwhile, the sheriff's wife has been in bed unconscious for a long time. Jeremy is able to discern her innermost thoughts that highlight her deep love for her family as well as her anxiety about the troubled relationship between her husband and son. Knowing this, the father and son become reconciled and soon after the woman passes away peacefully.

One day, Jeremy and a group of students witness a policeman hunting in the forest. A deer is shot and struggles in pain. The policeman tells the students that the deer's nervous system is damaged so it will die without too much pain. Hearing this, Jeremy is very upset because he knows that people very often are not aware of their violent behavior towards animals. Impulsively, he places one of his electrically charged hands on the dying deer and grasps the policeman by the hand to transmit the deer's pain to him. The policeman's face contorts when the deer groans because he suffers, both physically and mentally, in exactly the same way as the dying deer. He experiences first-hand the death of the deer as his whole body perspires and then his heart beat slowly stops. He cries uncontrollably when he realizes that hunting is a degrading behavior for humans. From that day on, he dares not to hunt any more.

Although Jeremy had the greatest wisdom, he was unable to fit into society. Sadly, his enormous power had no way of being released. Finally his dilemma was solved when, during a thunderstorm, he was struck by lightning that transformed him into light and he disappeared into the clouds to return to the world where he originally belongs.

The movie, "Powder," makes one more sensitive to one's perceptions. It makes us raise questions like: What is it that makes us feel distant from others? Why is it hard to accept others? How does one learn to feel the gentle exhilaration in the dance of a butterfly and appreciate the tenacity of evergreen trees?

Ending Note:

After watching the scene in which the deer was shot, an initiate's four year-old son decided firmly to be a complete vegetarian and had no more desire to eat meat even occasionally as before.

All brothers and sisters in the Quan Yin family not only have the potential to tap the greatest source of energy, but importantly we also have the ability to store and release it, thanks only to our good fortune of having the guidance of a living Master.