Looking for the people who introduced me to jediism...

Long time no post. Been on a long life-changing mission. It was a long time ago when I was here. I'm looking for Jester, Alexandre, VTOG, and maybe some others. I went through a rough patch and these people helped me to steer back to the person I am today. Much less assholey, btw and way more capable in so many ways. I just wnated to reconnect on a new level and see how everyone is doing and maybe get back into Jediism.

Peace

Jester left a while ago as far as I know, Alexandre hasn't been active for quite some time, and I have no idea what happened to VTOG, but I haven't seen her in a while either.
Glad to have you back, long time no see

Welcome back Whyte!

Not sure how to contact Jester (Edan may know?). Alexandre and V-Tog can both be found on social media

Welcome back. Time can do some funny things. Sorry none of the requested people are present here. Today is a new day with new people and new moments and connections to make. If I can serve you any way it is not only my lot and ministry here but my privilege to do so here as well.
Force continue to be with you as you continue to seek it

Carlos.Martinez3 wrote: Today is a new day with new people and new moments and connections to make.

Thank you, Carlos. I needed to hear this. I came here to comment with something melancholic: so many people are gone now and the temple feels rather empty lately, and I empathize with you, Whyte Horse, if you feel the same way. But that's the nature of change, especially in an online community. I myself have been one of those people gone for long periods of time, and I hope that people from the past continue to be drawn back.

“... and just cuz you don’t recognize any one- doesn’t mean no ones at the party. “

There’s still love for this place in alot of places and in a lot of hearts. Happy seeking and again - I am here to serve !
May the Force keep ya

Hello, Whyte Horse,
It's true, many of us are not frequently in the forums yet still quite around.
As it were, the foundations of the Jedi path upon which it is our responsibility to erect keener understanding of others (though never daring to "have understood..."). This can occasionally create circumstances wherein the practise of the values we hold require a bit more effort to realise. The presence is maintained, the 'being-there'ness is assured. But the accounts of such adventures prove nearly un-tellable.
Still here, though very easily distracted by the local world here in the house with me from the extended world of everything else....
~ Alex

Incidentally, this has been on my mind quite a bit. The TotJO, and/or all organisations like it (churches, charities, philanthropic associations &c.) must respond to the transcendental needs of their participants. "Transcendental" here means only that 'greater-than-myself' liberation from the reflexive ego - that "I-ness" which gets objectified into "me/my/mine". Nearly all these institutions are destined to failure when the membership is too large to come to agreement (this can also produce a 'tyranny of the majority,' which is why I've not been such a keen advocate of democracy), the values are skewed from symbolic/ethical to significative and dogmatic (tradition, orthodoxy) or when we do not allow our values to adapt with changing conditions over time.

There are some very central values which hardly change very much; many of these we have noted in anthropology by their quasi-ubitquitous nature across cultures and history (and even, in many cases, prehistory) as well as exhibited among our non-human cousins.

As it were, these are the gifts we must be exacerbating, amplifying and refining in our Temple. We need to devote ourselves to devotion, not to self-empowerment; to unity rather than debating who is 'more right/wrong' about a non-issue that won't matter in a month or so. We need to be fostering true understanding especially with those we disagree with the most. We need to respect the ego and that of others (not try to dissolve it) through intersubjectivity, abandoning the notion of objectivity altogether. We need moral interrogations (contemplation/meditation) to become central to our existential landscapes. And above all else, we need to quit being so damned proud of what we think we know as facts.

Mythology is important to our allegorical comprehension the un-expressable, non-rational aspects of Life ; rationality and reason are merely how we justify (sic) or recognise patterns and motives in the environment of which we are participants. That is why we lend it value : human beings are storytelling animals, most of our understanding comes from metaphor and simile. Yet, Campbell, Watts et al. are not prophets for us, no more so than Heidegger or Merleau-Ponty. Forget George Lucas...

There is no such thing as Star Wars (nor any other pop culture "canon"), for that, one needs to look to cultural anthropology and ethics.

Until we can undertake this endeavour - which I assure you will be painful and difficult (as it has been hic et ubique), then we will probably all just fade away with other phenomena ...

May the Force be with us.