Fundamentals of the Teachings of the Jedi: Unlearn what you have learned

What is a Jedi?
The common answer is the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy. And that is true.
What I see Jedi training as is the attempt (and nearly sucessfully as well) is trying to create the ideal person.
Think about it, the Jedi tap into the allpowerful force of life, giving literally limitless possibilities. Now if you ask me, the "Force" exists although not quite exactly as the movie presents. But close enough for drawing parallels.
Jedi are trained from a very young age, before they have experienced any real anger or hate... which are deadly for anybody.
Among the Jedi "values" taught and practiced is peace. This is very important. Only when you quiet your mind with total peace can you tap into the force.
Possesion and attatchment are forbidden. That is becase they only get in the way of the unbiased duty of humble service to others.
Compassion is also crucial.

Do you see where I'm going with this? Please type what you feel/practice/think about this and how you can learn from the Jedi.

 

I think that's true. I also think it's a problem the Jedi have. If anything, they try to be TOO perfect. This dialogue from AotC says it all:

Padme: To be angry is to be human
Anakin: I'm a Jedi. I know I'm better than this.

Essentially, what a Jedi tries to do is to become "above" humanity, to be "superhuman", to be perfect. The Jedi do this for the good of others, by focusing their teachings on compassion; The Sith do this for their own gain, but focusing their teachings on greed. The problem the Jedi have is that they try to remove themselves so far above "normal" people (look at how high those towers in the temple are ...), they lose touch with the Living Force, with the living beings around them. That's how they don't sense the Sith - they lose focus on the things right in front of them, because they're too focused on a higher power, the Unifying Force. The Jedi do indeed try to create the perfect person - but the way I see it, one of the great messages of the saga is that this isn't really possible. The Jedi Order falls because the good Jedi are too aloof and distant, and because Jedi like Dooku and Anakin turn to the Dark Side. Balance is brought to the Force at the end of RotJ, but Luke, the one surviving Jedi, isn't a prequel-era-style Jedi at all - he's a NEW type of Jedi, one who has attachments to his friends, one who feels anger and love. But he knows where to stop, and he doesn't turn to the Dark Side. Luke has PERFECT balance - he is a more perfect person than ANY other Jedi in the saga, because he is able to be as perfect as a true human being can ever be. The Jedi try to be perfect, but in doing so lose some of the things that make them human. Anakin has those human elements to his personality, but is not able to balance things in himself. Luke is able to balance everything just right, the good and the bad, the human and the super-human. The Jedi do try to become "perfect", but in my opinion, that's their downfall. The saga, more than anything else, promotes the human spirit, with all its plusses and minuses - it shows that we can go either way, Anakin's way or Luke's way. But to try to be PERFECT is impossible.

 

Bravo.

 

I see the Jedi mirroring the religions and martial arts of the East. They are like ascetics that devote their lives to their ideals. They shun things that would hinder their path, and seek enlightenment by becoming attuned to the universe around them. Their fighting ability is almost a byproduct of this process. Their enlightenment gives them abilities that provide a service for the rest of humanity.

I disagree that the Jedi repress emotion though. They avoid strong emotion and attachment because they know it leads to the dark side. Vader and Luke both provide example of how it can happen. I hesitate to quote spiderman, but with great power comes great responsibility. Strong attachements bring both love and hate, and they can lead great individuals to become horrible villians that can disrupt the universe.

Some people paint the republic Jedi as "repressers" of emotion who become vulnerable to the emotions they avoid. I disagree (They forgot their history and the Sith, and history was allowed to repeat itself). Their training was focused in being aware of these emotions and how to deal with them. Anakin/Vader is a prime example of this and why the Jedi train the way they do. It is not the Younglings, who are taken from their parents and grow up following the Jedi training that become evil. It is Anakin, who grew up outside of the Jedi and struggled with their philosophies.

I think Luke is a perfect example of the Jedi ideal, not a "new" Jedi with balanced reason and emotion. Anakin's attachement to his mother and Padme were a big part of his turning to the dark side. Luke struggles with his emotions and toys with the dark side. When Vader tells him that his feelings for his sister have betrayed her, Luke rages, and if he had killed Vader, he would have likely replaced him as Sidious's apprentice. This an example, plain and simple, of what the Jedi taught to avoid. And Luke does. He is willing to sacrifice himself for his father not because of a loving attachement, but because he senses the good in him. And this is what Vader responds to. I think this is the unconditional love that Anakin tells Padme about in AOTC. A Jedi ideal that he forgot and his son reminds him of.

While I think the the enlightenment that the Jedi seek resemble eastern philosophies, the balance of emotions they seek would resemble the unconditional love of Jesus Christ. Just my thoughts.

 

Key word 'Love'
the Jedi has been missing out of all the fun.( if u know wad i mean)

 

Only because they are dedicated to a higher purpose.

 

Interesting topic, DB. Let me start off by saying I don't think a Jedi intends to be "ideal" or "perfect". I would imagine if someone went up to a Jedi and asked, "Are you trying to be perfect or ideal?", the Jedi would probably answer "no". I guess it depends on what you view as "perfect" or "ideal". What one person sees as those descriptions might be preposterous to another. I enjoy the fact that they are humble in everything they do. They do not ask for riches, rewards or recognition when they help civilizations or entire planets. It is what they do. Now, does humbleness mean a person is "ideal"? It can part of it, definitely.

Limitless possiblities is nice but I would imagine it depends on what possiblities a person is looking for. Those "possiblities" can be dangerous. It is good to be able to tap into a certain power but there must be discipline on how to apply it.

I do practice the "calm, at peace" quote from Yoda in ESB. It does help me quite a bit. Not only does it make sense, it works. I work with people that complain alot and they are obviously not at peace with themselves. It also helps when people try to deceive or flat-out lie, I can see the uneasiness in their eyes, the changing tone of their voice as they try to pass something off as the truth.

The possession and attachment rules remind me of the disciples of Jesus, how they had to follow these rules. Also monks that do the same. It helps to give one total focus on practicing their faith.

 

Forget my only because they are dedicated to a higher purpose post from earlier because in recent months I've started to view the NJO way of letting them be people in addition to being Jedi as the better way.

 

Like Frank Herbert wrote,"When doing good, avoid notoriety, when doing evil avoid self awareness."

I think that jedi teaching rely on knowing who you are, both your good side and bad side, and facing the flaws in your character. Luke is a good example of this because after he defeats vader and has vader at his mercy he chooses to see how close he is to going dark, and luke steps back from that.
Obi wan does the same thing while he hangs above that pit at the end of Episode 1.
Anakin, on the other had, never is aware of himself during key moments like that. He just lashes out, no thinking or self awareness included.