why are jedi denied love?

why? i never truly understood this. is it because of attachment, and fear for the safety of their love? i hear kit fisto and aayla secura were in love, so why can't anakin love padme? i guess the council never figured out that the offspring of jedi would be strong in the force until luke came along.

 

In the view of the Old Jedi Order, love lead to attatchment, which lead to fear of losing that attatchment, to anger of anything that might happen to that attachment, to hate of whoever might harm that attachment, to suffering, to the Darkside.

 

It can also cloud one's judgment.


And like that...he's gone.

 

I can understand they don't want attachement, but what confuses me is:How do they get more Jedi? Since medichlorians seem to be inherited for the most part. (Not always, but it seems like that.)

 

Jedi can have physical relationships with the opposite sex.
They can't get married to that person.

I suggest you watch the part of the AOTC where Anakin and Obi-Wan argue on the gunship. That is the perfect reason why they can't love. Their love of that person can prevent them from doing the mission that they must complete.

In the New Jedi Order, Jedi are allowed to love and marry.

-Seldon

 

"Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is central to a Jedi's life, so you might say we're encouraged to love." -Anakin Skywalker

His compassion for you will be his
undoing" - the Emperor Palpatine speaking to Darth Vader, nee Anakin Skywalker

Jedi are not denied love, but rather attachment.
Sith are denied love, but are encouraged to become attached, even addicted: to power, hate, contempt, etc.

 

Mideclorians are in all living things. Jedi don't need to reproduce for more Jedi to come about.

 

Jedi are allowed to reproduce. GL said so in a post AOTC interview.

They can't marry

They can reproduce.

-Seldon

 

You can go out and procreate but you cant marry the person!


I think Lucas should reconsider that one.

 

Not everything they do is meant to be the RIGHT thing to do. The Jedi are in for a major fall after all. They couldn't have been doing everything right.

sg

 

The Jedi are better off without it. They must keep a very clear mind and nothing can distract them from their duties. Strong feelings will cloud their judgment make them far less stable to do what they are sworn to do.

 

so why didn't Obi-Wan and Yoda tell Luke this? Why did they instead let Luke know about his sister before facing Vader and the Emperor? (answer: to give him something that keeps him tied to the light side) Why did Vader then stop the Emperor from toruturing Luke and destroy him? (because Vader still loves and has an attachment to Padme and his children).

In the end, Love saved the day. I do think that's a message we are supposed to be getting from the entire saga, and I think Obi and Yoda learn this is where the Jedi have gone wrong in Episode III, or between III and IV.

sg

 

Really not appropiate.

 

Experiencing one extreme emotion can so easily lead to the opposite extreme. How many people here have felt extreme love for a person only to have it turn to bitterness and hate? I know I have and let me tell you, if the force was flowing through me then there would have been some pretty nasty dark side lightning.

 

Avoiding attachment is a Buddhist theme, because as is stated above fear of losing that attachment can lead to anger, than hate, etc. However, as Anakin points out, attachment may be forbidden, but sometimes a healthy love for someone can be without a strict sense of attachment if one realizes when to let go (if Anakin had just let his mother go, it would've been okay.)

For an example in Greek Mythology, check out the myth of Orpheus, whose bride was sent to Hades. He goes to rescue her, and Hades makes a deal with him that if he climbs the stairs and she follows, and he doesn't look back, she'll be able to re-enter the living. If he looks back, the deal is off.

Orpheus loses himself to worrying about losing her again and turns back, thus causing his own loss. The moral is clear, that TOO strong of an attachment can be a bad thing. The allusion to Orpheus is clearly in Episode I when Shmi tells Anakin "Don't look back", the exact words spoken to Orpheus.

Any other thoughts?

 

I wrote a chapter on my book Shimmering Sword about the influence of religious orders on the Jedi. We may not like the result, but there is a long tradition of sacrificing romantic and sexual relations for a greater service.

It doesn't mean you can't love, or that you won't love, but that you've made a commitment to an institution that also requires obedience and chastity. Sound like a cult? After talking to priests for years, it's not a cult, but a true religious commitment. I also know that there are hundreds of Catholic priests who leave church service because they do fall in love.

You can get the book for free as a pdf file by requesting it at nbk@shimmeringsword.com.

 

why are jedi denied love?


[image=http://upx.primenova.com/sw2b/29-Yoda-Coruscant.jpg]

fear leads to anger , anger leads to hate .. and hate ...... leads to suffering

 

Well, they were wrong-we all know they were wrong.

That being said, it's MY belief that the Jedi sort of have the whole "friends with benefits" thing going on with fellow Jedi. I doubt they're totally chaste.

 

Having a deep affection for another individual can cause Jedi Knights to become possessive of those they cherish.

It could possible drive them over the ledge of the dark side if they were to lose them.

It is sort of ironic considering how attached Jedi become to one another anyways--either as Master and Padawan, or as companions/friends.

Jedi are sworn into a life of servitude and poverty, so there are no objects or other individuals to alter their perception or influence their decision-making.

This is done for a reason.

<[-]> Saber

 

I have to agree with spiritgurl on this one. The Jedi are headed towards a major fall at this time, this being one of the many reasons. By the OT, Obi-Wan and Yoda have come to see that attachments can also persuade people to do good things.


-sj loves kevin spacey

 

So, Yoda felt nothing for his multitude of students? Obi-wan could have given a crap if Qui-gon got skewered? Mace didn't care about all the Jedi he led to their deaths? Dexter really isn't Obi-wan's friend and, if he were in trouble, Obi-wan would leave him to his fate?

Please. It's called a mistake on the writer's part. Just like fear always leading to anger, hatred and suffering. Fear's one of the things that keeps species alive. Love helps to form and bind together family groups. And nothing was said about love being bad in the OT because it hadn't occurred to anyone that it was.

It's retconning to say Y+O decided the Old Jedi Order was crap and they wanted Luke to go do something different. They never said anything of the kind.

But hey, maybe Obi didn't love Qui since he never mentions him in the OT. Come to think of it, never teaching Luke how to fight a Sith (which Obi obviously has some practice doing) could mean he feels nothing for Luke, either.

 

LOVE, per se, isn't what's forbidden, but attachment.

True love is unselfish.

I think outside attachments are probably what are really discouraged-you ARE supposed to have friends and such, and I would even go so far as to say two Jedi having a discreet romance-the council might just ignore it, if it doesn't interfere with duty.

But marriage-marriage means that your spouse and any children you may have takes precedence over everything else in your life. The Jedi have to be able to concentrate on their duties, and can't do that with outside attachments.

Of course, in many ways you are right-the Jedi can't totally avoid attachments and have become hypocritical and decadent. That's the whole point-we're witnessing the twilight of the Jedi Order. It needs to be shaken up, or it will be destroyed.

WE know which one will happen, because we've seen the OT.

 

I THINK YOUR ASSESMENT OF YODA IS WRONG ON THIS PPOINT:IN ROTJ HE SAID THAT IT WAS SAD THAT LUKE LEARN TO TRUTH THAT IT WOULD BE HIS UNDOING BECAUSE OF HIS EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT TO HIS FATHER

 

Are we sure that all Jedi are forbidden from marraige?
I thought Obi-wan told Anakin that Padawan's can't get married - or did I misinterpret?

It does make sense a Padawan shouldn't get married [you can't serve two masters ], but a full Jedi Knight would be able to have a relationship.

 

It makes sense since family could be considered a weakness not just to have a clear mind to become a jedi its 1 less distraction from them going off the deep end. I mean what would happen if a Sith Lord got ahold of thier families and killed them the Jedi would act irrationaly and seek revenge for all the wrong reasons. Why do you think World leaders keep thier families whereabouts under raps so tightly a teroist or anyone could take a family member hostage or do something much worse. I know it sounds like a movie plot or something but it makes sense when you look at it from this vantage point. Imagine how Anakin might react in Eppisodes 2 and 3 when he loses the woman he loves his mom and Padme