SPECULATION Beyond Jedi and Sith

You should defiantly pick up more comics. But you will by that start a lifelong addiction and will see great loss in your bank account.....
Would be pleased to help you start out. I`ve picked up quite a few comics and novels through the years, but I know that there are far more experienced readers out there who could help you too,
I just noticed that my entire post was in quote... "Slaps himself in dissappointment"

 

Interesting food for thought. The underlying struggle I see here is presenting an Order or Code that is immune to dangers and corruption from within or without. Even love, however defined, can lead to feelings of ownership, passion, jealousy, anger and anyone who seen a protective mother knows love certainly isn't pacifist.

I didn't see Anakin motivated by selfishness as much as expressing his love through:

• service,
  
• his gifts,
  
• his desire to right his wrongs,
  
• his desire to bring about order,
  
• for justice through legal due process,
  
• and from his perceived responsibility to protect.

I see his and his son's goals as similar but Anakin's tactics misplaced and twisted - a real tragedy.

The points you raise are completely relevant to the Star Wars Universe and exactly what a Force practitioner like Luke would be considering. How much evil is perpetrated by those with benevolent intentions? Many of my family are religious as are some of the most beautiful humanitarians I've had the privilege of meeting - though I would not attribute their positive personality aspects to their religious beliefs. (They likely would.)

The following wisdom might help safeguard any individual - Force Sensitive or not - who wants to use their powers for good.
IMO it would make a great Neo-Jedi Creed:

Do not believe on the strength of traditions even if they have been held in honor for many generations and in many places.
Do not believe anything because many people speak of it.
Do not believe on the strength of sages of old times.
Do not believe that which you yourselves imagined thinking that a god has inspired you.
Believe nothing which depends only on the authority of your masters or of priests.
After investigation, believe that which you yourselves tested and found reasonable and which is for your good and that of others.​

- Secret Oral Teachings in Tibetan Buddhist Sects ​

 

Interesting thoughts indeed - especially about "focusing on the negative". There once was a time I would have wholeheartedly agreed with you on all your points!

Great point, misused word there by me. I agree that this would make an apt goal for any dogmatic force adherents - Sith, Jedi or any who want longevity in their "Order".

Maybe. One could certainly prosecute a reasonable argument for this claim. (see pics below)

I appreciate your interpretation here but let us not forget the same "wise man" also suggested “let your women [wives] keep silent...for it is not permitted for them to speak. And if they would learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home” in the very same letter. In another he goes on to say "let the women [wives] learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." [perhaps taken out of context literally and historically]

I would take any opinions on courtship and relationships with women from such "wise men" with a grain of salt and I think Luke and Rey should too. This is why I would include the phrase "believe nothing which depends ONLY on the authority of your master or of priests" in my neo-Jedi Code. Cultivation of oneself should include balancing ancient wisdom with personal experience and critical analysis.

I hear you. I've been/am a jealous partner. But in times when I am calm and at peace, I struggle to understand why (outside of social conventions) the pursuit of pleasure from a loved one outside of myself should lead to such feelings of hurt and betrayal. I question why I should derive pain indirectly from a loved one's pleasure? I feel the justification of such jealousy has more to do with ownership, obligation, culture and upbringing than being "rightly grounded".

I love this and wholeheartedly agree. I like Confucius' take on the dangers of anger: “when [the superior person] is angry he thinks of the difficulties his anger may involve him in” - Analects. This, along with what constitutes "righteous anger" is also well worthy of a neo-Jedi's meditation time, and I bet Luke has some important wisdom of his own to share...





(Sorry for the recycled pics here but I think they're relevant.) As to your take on possibly useful neo-Jedi wisdom, I do like what you did with the following bits..

 

I'm probably completely incorrect when I say this, but my preferred view of the force is that it's a self-aware source of energy that is not concerned about the concept of good vs evil, it's concerned with trying to continually evolve and develop its power for the benefit of all life. For that to happen, it needs both a light and dark side, otherwise it will become stagnant and not grow. If one side overwhelms the other, then the weaker side must grow stronger to obtain a balance. This never-ending struggle for power over one another leads to constant progression within the force and new ways of how to use and understand it.

Something that puzzles me is that If the force created Anakin to bring balance by destroying the Sith, why was he seduced so much by the dark side? He had the chance to bring balance in his moment with Windu, but the force flowing through him convinced him otherwise. Isn't the force supposed to communicate its intentions through a person's midi-chlorians? Why was he not guided towards the sole purpose for which the force created him for?

Personally, I believe the force was aware he wasn't strong enough in that moment to defeat Sidious - even Yoda couldn't defeat Sidious, so how was Anakin going to. I believe Anakin first had to become strong with the dark side before he could challenge Sidious, something the force was aware of, but the Jedi weren't. It's why I believe he was given those nightmares about his dying wife and mother - because the force was trying to guide him towards the dark side and new teachings so he could become powerful enough to achieve his destiny.

The Jedi had became stagnant in their ways of understanding the force, whilst the Sith had secretly became more powerful through their unnatural manipulations. An evolution within the light side was needed to match the growing strength of the dark side. For that to happen, Anakin would be the one to usher in the new age for the Jedi and light by removing their old order.

From the last two lines of the Journal of the Whills,
"By the resolving of gray
Through refined Jedi sight."

I think that the "gray" is referring to the force, and "refined Jedi Sight" refers to the disillusioned Anakin.

Anakin's destiny was always to supersede the Jedi and the Sith and bring about a revolution in the understandings of the force. Deep down, I think Yoda knew Anakin would become too powerful to restrain within the strict ways of the old Jedi. Also, I believe the destruction of Luke's Jedi Order was the force's way of teaching Luke to not revert back to the old ways of the Jedi, and instead build upon the lessons that his father had learnt.

 

I saw an interesting theory on TFN that Snoke is one of the Lost Twenty, having turned to the dark side and left the Jedi Order in ancient times. It would be interesting if Snoke has been using the dark side since before the formation of the Sith and was the power behind the throne of the first Sith Lord.

 

If good and evil are mixed things become blurred - there is nothing between good and evil, everything is grey. In each of us we have balanced these emotions, and in the Star Wars saga the most important point is balance, balance between everything. It is dangerous to lose this. In The Phantom Menace one of the Jedi Council already knows the balance of The Force is starting to slip, and will slip further. It is obvious to this person that The Sith are going to destroy this balance. On the other hand a prediction which is referred to states someone will replace the balance in the future. At the right time a balance may again be created, but presently it is being eroded by dark forces. All of this shall be explained in Episode 2, so I can't say any more!
- CUT interview 09/07/99?

I think what is important to remember here is that the dark side and light side are simply the good and bad side of everyone. In simplistic terms it's compassion vs greed. There will always be both in the universe. And balance is when they are equal. However, the Sith (and other powerful evil Force users) have the capacity to push this out of balance. They spread their evil everywhere.

The Force is the energy created by all living things. This is Star Wars 101. We are told this by Ben and Yoda. There are of course mysterious elements to it that can't be pigeon holed, but essentially it is the collective consciousness of the galaxy. Those that use the Dark Side are inherently greedy individuals. They act out of their own selfish desires. Jedi are selfless and compassionate and act for the good of others. The dark emotions, such as greed and anger thus form the dark energy of the Force. Likewise, the love and compassion shown by beings creates the good energy of the Force. In between that, the energy of neutral lifeforms that have no moral agenda, creates "grey" energy.

Thus I can see why you could have a different Dark Side order - each cult could have a different central desire they wish to attain - unlimited power, eternal life, 'jihad' etc etc. But I see no reason to alter the Jedi. They have one mission - to maintain the balance. And underneath that umbrella are all the threats that they shall ever face.

 

Thanks for your reply , I really appreciate it and I don't claim any of what I say to be the truth, I just like to interpret it this way.

To reply to your comment, I don't think the dark and light sides must be equal for there to be balance. I think balance in the force refers to the eternal struggle between shifting light and dark side dominance. Out of this struggle, the force becomes stronger and more powerful.

The light side "keeps the peace" and finds ways to sustain the force/living things, but it doesn't lend itself towards evolution or growth - it prefers to keep the status quo. On the opposite end, the dark side is chaotic, destructive and unsustainable in nature, but I believe it has a greater purpose beyond simply being evil - it promotes innovation/change and serves as a reality check for the light.

The dark side causes changes in understanding the force, its power, how to use it etc. of which the light side tries to find sustainable ways to nurture it. This process repeats itself in a never-ending cycle and if it were to be brought to a halt, because one side of the force is suppressing the other, the force becomes out of balance.

Quoting the Journal of the Whills again , the opening parts that I omitted are:

"First comes the day
Then comes the night.
After the darkness
Shines through the light."

This is what I think refers to balance within the force - a balance that does not refer to a single moment in time, but to an ongoing, eternal cycle (similar to that of day and night), for the purpose of growing the strength of the force.

 

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Joruus_C'baoth

The dark side character in the Thrawn books wasn't a Sith.

 

Joruus C`baoth made an apperance in the Darth Plagueis novel, didn`t he? I reckon he was mentioned.
Yeah I know, he was a former Jedi. But the version of him in The Thrawn Trilogy was a clone.

 

Jorus = Jedi Master mentioned in many novels (one of which is Plagueis).
Joruus = clone of the Jedi Master who went insane because Palpatine grew him to adulthood in less than a year. His insanity caused him to pronounce his name as "Joruus".

 

By the Prequel era, the Jedi seemed to have a flawed perception of the Force. They were too afraid to feel passion, emotion. Had Anakin been taught to balance self-control with his emotions, he could have been much more stable - he would have never turned to the dark.

I don't know if anyone here has watched the Pixar film 'Inside Out' - and if you haven't, you should because it's great - but this film basically explains that even emotions like sadness and fear are crucial to a person's overall happiness.

A new Jedi Order must be built, with a more streamlined approach. To allow emotion to be in tandem with self-restraint.

This is why Luke has sought out the First Temple; to return the Jedi Order to it's roots.

 

A Jedi does feel these things. Was Yoda not crying when he found the dead padawans? But they learn how to control them. They learn never to use them. To say they should use anger, fear, greed, hatred etc is to use the Dark Side which, of course, a Jedi shouldn't do.

 

With the sequel trilogy they focus more on the force. the hold on to the Jedi/Sith is the lightsaber and Luke/Vader. They are slowly making them as legends rather than rewriting history. I personally dont want to see history repeat itself with SW, I know others would like to see that. I feel the use of the force is more of the focus here.