The Jedi Code

Brothers and Sisters of the Order,

I have been researching the Jedi Code online and have combined some of the better explanations and would like to present the following. Please note that while gathering this information I failed to note the sources but I have changed some things to suit my own taste and or views. Again I do not claim these words entirely as my own, but merely a compilation and present them as a learning and discussion tool.

I invite everyone to comment, and add their own viewpoints.


There is no emotion; there is peace.

This is the most stressed teaching within the Jedi Order. The control of emotions is essential to the calmness of mind necessary to achieve connection with the force.

When we are focusing on our emotions, we are living in the past, not in the moment. If we focus on judging events based on our beliefs of how things should be, then we are living in the past. If we live in this way we cannot respond to what the force is telling us. All we can do is react from our own ego desires and conditionings. If we are attending to and focusing on our emotions, then we are not living in the force. We are instead following our own belief ridden, conditioned responses and attempting to force our own ego conceptions of what should be onto the truth of simply ‘what is’.

The natural order of things is simply ‘what is’ happening in this moment. It has been written that everything is perfect in this moment, exactly as it is.

Existing within the living force is done by living now, in the moment, and only in the moment, moment by moment. It is being open and honest in this and every moment, not judging but just meeting whatever arises with peace and harmony. Only when calm, at peace, can one act with assurance of control.

Be peace. In every moment, with every breath, seek the tranquility of the calm mind. Then you can be the manifestation of the living force.

There is peace.

There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.

We tend to see the out right literal meaning of this second stanza as to strive for understanding of all situations particularly before acting to better avoid errors in judgment. While this may be true enough there lays a deeper meaning.

The meaning of the word ‘ignorance’ is not simply the lack of knowing “things”. It can be seen as the lack of knowing our true nature. Our true nature is nothing, the eastern concept of No-Thing. We like to describe ourselves as what we do (profession) or to associate ourselves with something like an activity. Don’t forget that ideas, concepts and beliefs are also things, products of the mind. We are not our bodies, nor our minds. As westerners we have a very hard time letting go of this concept. As long as we believe that we are the body or the mind we cannot be in/as/of the force. We are much more than our crude bodies and thoughts. There is no conflict within the force, there is simply ‘what is’.

Knowledge can be defined in this context as the knowledge of our true nature. It is the living force, open and honest with ‘what is’ in every moment. It is not knowledge of any “thing” but living in flux with the force at all times.

This is not a knowledge that can de learned through traditional methods, it can only be realized. How is it realized? The great Sages have been trying to point us in the right direction for millennia:
Admit that we know nothing. Everything that we think is simply a belief, or a set of beliefs about what happened in our past. If we stay focused in the ego all we do is react to situations. But when we are in/as/of the force, open and honest in every moment, we respond to truly ‘what is’ and not to what we think should be.

There is Knowledge.

There is no passion; there is serenity.

Passion is a driving emotion, a strong desire or devotion to an activity, the unwavering pursuit of a goal or devotion to a cause. Passion takes us into ego desires and pursues them so fully that one cannot fear the force.

One of my favorite SW quotes is Qui-Gon’s “Your focus determines your reality.” This means where your attention is, there you are. If your focus is on zealously pursuing a single desire, devoting yourself fully to that activity, then you are far away from being in the moment, and the force.

A Jedi needs to be serene, in a state of equanimity. This is not indifference or aloofness, but a calm serene kindness toward everyone flowing toward all in all situations and relationships, especially when under stress. Work at achieving a balanced calm flowing from the force.

There is serenity.

There is no chaos; there is harmony.

This stanza is not recognized widely across the communities on the web. In fact it has been either rejected or voted out from many sites. The following is one of the best explanations I found:

This statement reflects the cosmology of the Jedi Order. Whereas uninitiated beings see the universe as a chaotic and disconnected place, a Jedi realizes that all things are interconnected and, more importantly, interdependent. While an uninitiated being sees sorrow and tragedy in the workings of the universe, through the Force, a Jedi is able to interpret and understand even the most painful of life's events. Without this cosmology, surely the first tenets of the Jedi Code would be meaningless. After all, how could one possibly forsake love and compassion if he did not understand the truth of the universe: there is no chaos, there is harmony. Every event has a purpose. As the great Jedi Master Yoda told Anakin Skywalker once, \"Death is a natural part of life.\" Minor inconveniences such as failure, disappointment, and disagreement are also inevitable and should be taken in stride. Jedi do not deny the fact that tragic and terrible things happen; they merely point out that tragedy is simply another part of life.

There is Harmony.

There is no death; there is the force.

I recall a Zen Koan that asks; ‘Show me your original face before you were born”. It is a frequently chosen Koan for meditation, and never have I heard anyone express concern with the concept of where we existed before birth. What I find interesting is that people have no fear of what they were or where they existed before they were born into this world but greatly fear what happens after they die. People fear death, but what we really fear is the death of our ego-selves because we have identified ourselves as this.

The big question is “Who am I”.

Are we our bodies or our minds? No.
These are the vehicles we need to exist on this plane.
Doctors, lawyers and so on? No.
These are roles we play, and we change them as our circumstances dictate.

What are we that is eternal, unchanging?

We are really beings of infinite consciousness and awareness. Think of the force as the ocean, and we are the waves. Waves arise and fall. Some waves are large and some small. Some run for great distances, others for less. No matter the size, length, or distance, the wave is and always was water. So it is with us. We are consciousness that arises as pure awareness. We are as the wave that arises out of the water. We arise, flow in a great way, and then settle back into the force. There is no time that we are not a part of the force.

We must stop clinging at being the waves and look to the water. Instead of trying to bring about the experience of peace, knowledge,
serenity, or the force as if they were separate and distant entities we should realize that we are and always were the force in manifestation.

Seeing this takes time and training, it is not “knowledge” but a realization. It cannot be taught in the conventional way, it is not reasoned or grasped in the logical sense, it can only be “known”.

There is the Force.

MTFBWUA,

Bshp. Lenny O.C.P.
Master Knight of Jediism

This is very helpful, you have a good understanding. Thank you