The Chosen One Prophesy Reinterpreted

Hi,

I think I see the Force as being very much like the Tao and I understand the Tao as the 'natural path of things'. If the Force were bound up with the natural way of things, the proper rhythms of life and death, then I can see a way of understanding how the Force was 'balanced' by Anakin which I personally find very satisfying.

In the Tao te Ching (a Taoist religious/philosophical text) it says that if you push people to be beautiful then ugliness arises or if you encourage honesty then people start to lie. In other words, if you go to far in one direction then the opposite will arise. This is the meaning of the Tai Chi (Yin/Yang symbol). So, thinking like that, I was wondering what would happen if you encouraged force-users to be perfectly and completely self-less - perhaps the Sith arise?

What if the essence of the Sith - selfishness, lust for power, a need for immediate gratification of ones desires - are a simply a reflection of that natural part of a being which was trained out of the Jedi - the bit that wanted a family and love and life and some degree of control for themselves as well as others? The Jedi Order at the fall of the Republic was an extremely self-denying organisation, requiring its members to reject huge parts of their own natural being. It required so much selfless devotion to be a Jedi that they had to remove force-sensitive beings from their parents and train them from a very young age to be successful. Even then some fell away. I think this is the primary imbalance in the force and the rise of the Sith are a reflection of that imbalance. It reminds me a bit of what I've heard can happen if a person is given too many antibiotics. All the good bacteria in the person's system are destroyed or degraded and then the real bad guys can get a foothold.

Anakin's actions, eventually, destroyed the Sith and, more immediately, broke the Jedi Order and caused it to be remade under the guidance of his son. I sometimes wonder what would have happened in the story had the Jedi Order had seen fit to at least ensure the basic safety of Anakin's mother, or been more sympathetic about Jedi Padawans falling in love and wanting a family? Their rigid and somewhat blind responses to both of these issues may have sown the seeds of their own destruction.

Luke was a very different kind of Jedi, a more natural person and, to my mind, more whole and balanced for it. He seemed to take both the dark and the light side and hold them together inside himself - like a form of internal alchemy which gave rise to gold. When I first saw ESB I thought Luke was very bad to disobey Yoda and go off to save his friends when he was training on Dagobah. More and more now I see that he was right and was finding, in his own natural inclinations and sense of balance, a better way to be a Jedi.

For me, getting rid of the dark side of the force would not create balance. The way I see it the Jedi Order had tried that and the result was some very evil Sith and an order so weak that it required extremely early and continuous training of it's initiates to fill its ranks. Balance, for me is when Luke is able to find peace with both his natural and sometimes selfish desires for what he wants, those he loves and needs and with his Jedi ideals and responsibilities.

All the best,

Muddy Fox

 

Great post Muddyfox. That is a great analogy to Tao te Ching, I have not read that work, but it is still on my Amazon wishlist.

I believe that your interpretation is very similar to mine and our conclusions of the Prophecy's fulfillment are quite alike. Would you agree?

I also agree that our interpretations are quite beautiful and add a nice element to the Saga, that balance came from neither Jedi nor Sith, but from the annihilation of both into a sustainable, natural if you will, balance between the two.

Great posts to all of you on this thread, I really believe that this topic is the key to the whole Saga, from EU to Games to the films...

Thanks

 

You can't get rid of the dark side of the Force.

 

Absolutely - it was your excellent original post which drew me into this thread!


Thanks,

Muddy

 

Yes, I agree. Sorry for not being very clear. I think the point I was trying to make was that even if you could that wouldn't bring balance to the force. In fact, to my mind, it would make no sense to get rid of one 'side' of the force since they are two sides of one thing. I don't think they can be seperated. For me it's like 'up' and 'down' or 'tall' and 'short'. One doesn't make sense without the existance of the other.

Thanks,
Muddy

 

Yes, that was my point in my first post, that destroying the Sith wouldn't bring balance, it would disrupt it further.

 

The Jedi don't unbalance the Force. They contribute a net positive effect.

 

If removing the Sith balances the force by removing the factor that was strengthening the dark-side then, surely, if the Jedi contribute a net positive effect they are unbalancing the force in the other direction?

(Sorry if this is a rather dim statement betraying my ignorance - I'm just trying to understand how you folks think this all works.)

All the best,

Muddy

 

I meant positive as in "toward balance".

 

Agreed... the Jedi seek to have a positive effect towards bringing the Force into balance ("harmony", IMO) by trying to eliminate the Sith (who throw the Force out of harmony by using it in negative ways that make the dark side grow stronger/larger than its naturally small part of the whole). But of course, no Jedi can actually achieve that goal other than the Chosen One, who actually "returns" to being a Jedi again once he fulfills his destiny and the prophecy by making his decision to take action against Palpatine.

 

Oh I see! Thanks

(And thanks to eht13 too!)

 

Sure!

 

In order to understand the balance of the Force, one must first define the Force. The question is how does Lucas define it himself? Of course that is a matter of interpretation but he offers a lot of clues, and given his affinity toward Joseph Campbell, one can deduce its meaning clearly. Lucas speaks of symbiosis and even clearly defines those thoughts in TPM whereby different beings work together in order to make something greater. The oldest example of this is the mitochondria which, in a sense, is an organism unto its own that has entered another cell and those two cells work together to become a more complex cellular organism. Obviously this was the thought behind the midichlorians which serve a similar purpose and allow people to talk to the Force. The idea of different beings coming together in symbiosis to create a greater being is the essence of the Force. If you think of all the cells in your body, they are all separate beings who work in symbiosis and harmony in order to create something greater, i.e. you, your being, your consciousness. Each cell on its own cannot know the world, cannot think, feel, love, hate. But when then work together, a greater being is made.

Joseph Campbell has talked about the Gaia principle in which all life on Earth ultimately create a greater being, the planet as a living creature. If one sees all creatures of the Earth working together to make a greater creature, this Mother Earth, then one might imagine that this creature is currently under danger. Technology and power are threatening the planet as a whole. An imbalance and destruction of harmony is taking place in that Mother Earth may be destroyed. People no longer work in harmony with each other, nor the animals, plants, rocks, and water of the Earth. And what is the Force? There is a Living component and a Cosmic component. One might say this is similar to the separate of our own entities into "spirit" and "flesh." The two are ultimately intertwined, and yet can be thought up separately. Like Mother Earth, the Force is an entity made of by the symbiosis of lesser beings. From aliens and humans down to the rocks and the trees, the Force is conscious when all work together in harmony. Once in awhile, a cancer should appear. In our bodies it is one cell that replicates without suppression and invades and destroys. It does so to the point that the host, the greater being is destroyed. Similarly, we as people are destroying this greater being, Mother Earth, which inevitably may be the destruction of ourselves. The Sith in turn maybe destroy the Force and the universe with its greed and selfishness. Harmony is lost and thus balance.

The spirit and flesh of the Force, the Cosmic and Living Force, intertwine with each other. The flesh controls the spirit; the spirit controls the flesh. In our bodies the spirit can tell where the feet and hands to go. In turn the cells hands can sense pain that controls the mind, and the cells in our loins can sense feelings that send our spirit into lust. In the end, the cells that talk to our consciousness are those of our brain. Without them we could not see, feel, think, love, or hate. They are the privileged few that can truly talk to and relay our conscious minds. Similarly the Jedi are able to do the same. They speak to the Force and do its will. They control the Force, and yet are also controlled by the Force. Technology is threatening the universe, however. It is becoming a world of machines. People are becoming more machine than man. The Sith, with their selfisness and destruction set to unbalance everything and in turn perhaps destroy the Force itself. There is one who would destroy the Sith and therefore allow the greater being, the Force, to survive. And thus we have the chosen one.

 

The proper way in which to interpret the prophesy of the Chosen One is by understanding the Now/Not Yet dichotomy present in many of the prophesies made throughout Scripture. A classic example of this is the prophesy of the Virgin Birth. This was initially fulfilled when the prophet Isaiah's wife gave birth to his son, Mahar-shalal-hash-baz. However, It has its ultimate fulfillment in the birth of Christ.

Similarly, Anakin was a penultimate fulfillment of the prophecy, a chosen one, as it were, but not the Chosen One. One day there will exist a Jedi Who will truly be the divine Force incarnate, Who will defeat the Sith once and for all time, and Who, having been conceived by the Midi-chlorians, will Himself be the Midi-chlorian which connects all beings to the Force.

 

But Lucas stated that Anakin is the Chosen One.

 

First, yodaman_reborn, that was a fantastic post that I believe sheds much light into understanding the nature of the force.

One problem that occured to me with your analysis is that the analogy of technology as a cancer to Mother Earth is not fully adaptable to this situation in my opinion. From my understanding of your post you analogized that all living things working in their 'natural' courses form a higher living being, i.e. Mother Earth, just like mitochondria and individual cells work together to create us. Then, as your post follows, using technology in a selfish way throws the Force (Mother Earth) out of balance and threatens its sustainability.

According to your analogy, the Sith are like technology or cancer that threaten to destroy or imbalance the Force by not considering others. But even eliminating in technology or pollution, i.e. destroying the Sith, there is no guarantee that another Sith or tech or pollution couldn't come along and do it again. Moreover, every Jedi has the possibility of tapping into the dark side or being seduced by it. Furthermore, the dark side is a natural part of the force (as pointed out by previous uses and the Potentium heresy on wookipedia), because it is their [Sith] use of passions that makes the Sith and dark side what it is. So killing or destroying those who use passions unchecked would not ensure in any way that those who come or are yet to come cannot use those same dark/inward passions. In other words, destroying the technology, or killing the cancer will not ensure that they cannot return or be used by some future person. Something deeper is at work.

This I believe is the key to the prophecy's fulfillment itself: that what happened when the Prophecy was fulfilled was permanent, altering, and a fundamental change. Many Sith came and went in the Star Wars films and EU, yet spirits of the Sith or their teachings can remain, and so can the Jedi. Both can be sustained by the Force itself, but what is it about the events of Episode VI that altered things and effected a 'Balance' in the Force?

I believe that it is a change in the use of the force, not the removal of the existence of the dark side (which didn't happen), and the balance in use of inward (dark side: love, greed, fear, anger, envy..etc.) vs. outward (light side: compassion, empathy, self-sacrifice..etc.) Force-fueling passions is what brought a lasting change. This is Anakin and Luke and Leia. (See my earlier post in this thread for an elaboration on this) The Sith believed in a complete disregard of outward for inward passion and the Jedi believed in a complete renunciation of inward passion for outward. So allowing yourself to use technology some to better your life, but not to a greedy extent, rather than destroying it is a more 'balanced' use. Alternatively, re-enabling cells to commit the process of cell-suicide, or to self regulate cancer, will ensure that cancer will be eliminated. Therefore, it was ultimately in balancing inward vs. outward passions and drawing on them for strength and motivation in moderation in fulfilling the mission of the Jedi (guardians of peace and justice) that was the lasting 'balance' of the force. This balance is sustainable, i.e. using technology in moderation that will allow progression and continual perpetuation of Mother Earth or the Force. This was more permanent as a Jedi who allows himself to vent a little (anger), get a little enjoyment (love) and act imperatively and decisively to protect a critical group of people or system (fear) would ensure that a return of pure dark side Sith is very very unlikely, whereas, just killing Sith and not reforming the Jedi's ways does NOT ensure that Sith or pure dark side users can return, i.e. no lasting 'balance'

 

I definitely see it this way too etgreat - great post!

I don't think you can prevent murderous rage by banishing anger, but by accepting it and taming it. As I understand it, real murderous rage happens when someone's anger is split off from their personality and is therefore not subject to that personality's moral rules. That's why people say after some terrible rampage by someone 'he was not himself' and 'he was always such a nice quiet chap'. Perhaps people who accept and learn to live with their own anger (and other negative feelings, I'm just using anger as an illustration here) are much less likely to go to the 'dark side' as it were? I think Luke kind of innoculates himself against turning by feeling his anger (and also his love and attachment). Being too good is quite like holding all the water in a bath up one end - there is significant potential energy there and the water will surge forcefully over to the other end if you stop holding it. Whereas if the water is level, it is stable - balanced - it doesn't need to surge anywhere.

Regards,

Muddy

 

Exactly, I agree with your potential energy analogy, Muddyfox.

I also agree with the analysis of a person's anger getting outside their developed morality or behavioral modifiers as losing control. We call that in the legal community a 'heat of passion'...that word keeps popping up again, passion, to me that is synonymous with the Sith.

the more balanced approach, ultimately, is that Luke and Leia are able to temper and control their passions, but they can also draw strength from them and then re-temper them. The perfect example of this is Luke vs. Vader, Ep.VI. Luke brings a resolution to the duel when Vader creates anger in Luke over the threat to corrupt his sister. Luke uses pure dark side passions to overwhelm Vader, but then tempers them and avoids the Emperor's call to the dark side when he throws away his lightsaber.

 

Great example - it really fits the theory!

Muddy

 

Yes, Anakin is the chosen one within the context of the films, just as Cyrus is called the "Lord's messiah" in the context of Isaiah. However, the use of the definite article does not denote that he is the definitive Messiah, as it was Jesus who was the ultimate fulfillment of God's promises. Similarly, the denizens of a galaxy far, far away, particularly those of the Legacy era and later, must place their hope in the coming Chosen One, not in the person and work of Anakin Skywalker, whose destruction of the Sith and restoration of balance in the Force have proven temporary.