The importance of believing in "destiny" when practicing Jediism?

(Yay, first post in this forum section )

The 10th Teaching of Jediismn states, "Jedi believe in destiny and trust in the will of the Force. We accept the fact that what seems to be random events are not random at all, but the design of the Force. Each living creature has a purpose, understanding that purpose comes with a deep awareness of the Force. Even things that happen which seem negative have a purpose, though that purpose is not easy to see."

- Do you personally believe in destiny?
- What does destiny mean to you? (How do you define it?)
- Can there be people who believe in both free will and destiny?
- (If you completed the Jedi Initiate's Programme/Have gotten this far...) What did you write for the back catalogue question #2 regarding free will and destiny?
- How is the belief in destiny related to the belief in Jediism?

etc....Thoughts?

destiny to me is the future. your destiny is to do this means you are going or can/must be like this, do this. i don't look at it much. the future is an illusion... you don't know what will happen until you have seen it. you can only think about what you want it to be but you don't know.and destiny, i believe could be real but only if you want it to be...you chose...
hope that helped...

I believe in the unifying Force (everything is the Force, and the Force is everything, including space-time). This means any will of the Force is in fact the manifestation of time. (Check out "will" 's etymology ). Anything the Force "wants" in fact happens in the future. If you place yourself outside space-time, your past, present and future already exist. So my guess is we have a destiny. An unknowable one, which turns out to be whatever happens to you in the future.... In some people's books this doesn't count as destiny. Just like the will of the Force isn't really will (as the existence or even possibility of will is far from known).

I don't think believing in destiny is important at all. Because no matter what, what will happen to you will happen to you. I think in fact that worrying about destiny could be counter-productive for a Jedi.

- Do you personally believe in destiny?

No. In a way, though, I do. I'll explain.

- What does destiny mean to you? (How do you define it?)

Destiny, to me, is that at ANY "Now", something MUST happen dependent on a passed Now. I do not talk in terms of "past, present, and future". I talk in terms of passed nows, now, and nows to come. In this way, I DO believe in destiny. At some point during a now to come, something could very well be forced to happen based on the energy of the Force. I believe that the Force is a "Universal Consciousness" (my own term because I'm hipster like that). And, that consciousness is the ONLY consciousness. We tend to separate ourselves from this consciousness. And, whatever this consciousness "wants" is the "right" way to do things. If we were ALL thinking on the same wavelength, as the rest of Nature does, then without ego we would all be acting in accordance with the Universal Consciousness. Because the Consciousness HAS a will (since it is the culmination of all wills of everything, sentient and non-sentient), there will be a "direction" in which actions happen. But, like a conductor and an orchestra, some people get off and ruin the whole piece of music. This is where destiny can get screwed up.

- Can there be people who believe in both free will and destiny?

I think I made it quite clear that both must exist in order for the other to exist.

- (If you completed the Jedi Initiate's Programme/Have gotten this far...) What did you write for the back catalogue question #2 regarding free will and destiny?

I don't really agree completely with what I posted anymore (in June, by golly!). But, you're welcome to check my journal out.

- How is the belief in destiny related to the belief in Jediism?

It's not. Destiny and Jediism are both unrelated labels. No need for either.

I do not believe in divine destiny or divine will of any kind. Sure some things are 'destined' to happen. Tonight the sun will set in the west. Tomorrow will be the 28th July. At some point in the future I will die and the sun will burn out...

Those things are 'destined' to happen but not because there is some grand purposely constructed design to it. They will happen because that is the process through which things are happening

The same goes for 'will'. "The will of God", "God commands it" or "His will be done"... all of those I have seen with "The Force" replacing "God" and I am just as indifferent to claims of divine intervention or interpretation with a creator by a Christian or other theist, as I am with a Jedi

I would much rather focus on what I can know and influence than what I can surmise about whatever beliefs I, or others, might have. To me it just seems like a cop out. Saying "something else" caused it or "something else" made it so...

Nature is as nature does. There is nothing guiding it.

Those are my thoughts though each are entitled to their own. But since you asked the question there you go

Akkarin wrote: Nature is as nature does. There is nothing guiding it.

Yeah! Exactly. It's not like there is a conscious up there saying: "This will happen."

To me, it's more like the addition of ALLL sentient and non-sentient conscious-s doing what they are supposed to do.

And, I believe you can be in accordance with Nature or not be in accordance with Nature. But, because you only have control of YOUR conscious, destiny is dictated by all the other infinite consciousnesses in the Universe.

SeanChing wrote: a. - Do you personally believe in destiny?
b. - What does destiny mean to you? (How do you define it?)
c. - Can there be people who believe in both free will and destiny?
d. - (If you completed the Jedi Initiate's Programme/Have gotten this far...) What did you write for the back catalogue question #2 regarding free will and destiny?
e. - How is the belief in destiny related to the belief in Jediism?

a. not in the contemporary sense no, each person has control of their own life - but I do believe that people subconsciously interact with the Force to the point that they walk a path through life with less conscious intent then they, for want of a better word... think.

b. everyone in some way interacts with the Force, its called being alive, and so in practical terms destiny serves to represent where you are taking your life.

c. yep, me

d. its in my Journal

e. integral; being more aware of the Force means we are able to better understand ourselves, our environment and the intentions (hidden and revealed) of others.