Skryym's Jedi Meditation Journal 101

Started the book last night - starting this journal bright and early this morning. To be honest it's my first SW novel. Let's see how it goes.

6 Oct 20


Chapters 1 -2

I'm not used to seeing the force this way. It almost seems like a companion - an old (but frustrating) friend tht gives Luke messages and signals, but forces him to do the work of putting the clues together. Writing a book in the aftermath of A New Hope is a novel idea (pun intended), and I'm excited glimpse the nervous Luke who just lost his only chance to learn more about the force. Right away, we see him practicing basic exercises taught to him by Obi-wan.

* He doesn't immediately get rid of thoughts and emotions - he lets them rise and path without resistance
* Once each emotion is acknowledged, he drops it - lets it pass.
* He is left with an emptiness which isn't really empty - the force fills it.

Alan Watts once said "Nature abhors a vacuum". He doesn't need to be speaking about the force to be true. Wherever we create emptiness in our lives, something will fill it. Lao Tzu recognizes the value of empty humans and empty cups - but the act of filling that emptiness may not always be good.

Meditation update

It is clear that I try to hard. When I meditate in a traditional style, sitting seiza on a folded blanket, I expend a great deal of effort trying not to think - in which case I always fail before I start. I keep trying anyway. Finding out how to try less hard will be the kicker. Perhaps that is way sometimes life can force us into meditative states with no effort at all. I have spent so many months practicing archery that, at this point (and on good days), I can string it, draw it, and fire it without much thought at all. Until I start missing. Then the ego creeps back in. Anger, frustration, shame at still being a bad archer after 6+ months of practice. And instead of acknowledging the emotions and letting them fall like leaves, I suppress them. Shooting gets even harder. So does meditation.

Wowser. I have a lot to work on.

19 Oct 2020


Chapters 4-8

We get to the force to push an object for the very first time. It is, quite literally, an energy field generated by living things. Luke doesn't immediately recognize this, and fails to use the force at all until he recognizes the individual beauty of the insect that lands on his hand. To do so, he needed a clear and focused mind. Perhaps meditation isn't about creating an empty mind - it's about creating an emptiness so the Force can fill it.

As before, Luke follows his intuitions in order to reach the temple. Sometimes these intuitions are negative, such as the bad feeling he gets when agreeing to let Sarco guide him to the temple. Luke is not a Jedi yet, so he does not fully trust the little hints he gets from the Force, and he chooses Sarco over his own intuitions. Chapter 8 culminates in Luke finally able to push the lever in the temple, which releases the training droids. Even a non-force user is capable of wielding a lightsaber, but Kenobi's wisdom makes it clear that a Jedi must let the force guide the sabre. In the movies, we see Jedi blocking laser bolts as a matter of extreme skill, but it is really just instant reactions honed by a trusting and disciplined relationship with the force. It reminds me of FLOW states and how athletes who trust their instincts can accomplish far more than those who rely on skill alone. in my own life this correlates to juggling, archery, or getting chased by a bull. If I had to stop and think about what I was doing, I would never know exactly what muscles to use in order to catch and throw stones in a timed manner. Neither would I know exactly how to tense each muscle individually in order to get a bull's eye, and neither world I know where to place my hands and feet in order to quickly climb a fence out of the bull's way - but my instinct (the force) can do all these for me. Of course, it still takes a great deal of skill and training, but it is not my mind that succeeds.

Meditation update

In continuing the last entry's theme, I have decided to try less hard. I have spent less time controlling my thoughts and just let them be. They rise quicker and pass easier this way. The less mental resistance I have, the easier meditation is - so it is easiest at the end of a hard day or after a run. On the farm, I had a thousand different ways to meditate. Here I sit seiza on a blanket in my room, go for a walk, or sit in my yard. The latter works the best, as we have many bird feeders and I love the sounds of birds and chipmunks flitting around the grass.

The forecast shows a very rainy week ahead of me. There's something about the rain that grounds my senses. It soaks the ground and releases or heightens smells of the earth. The patter on leaves, shingles and concrete is a constant reminder of the interplay between the sky and the earth. I love the rain - and look forward to meditating in it.

24 Oct 2020

Chapters 9 - Finish

***obvious ending spoilers**** Given the cover art of the book, I expected Luke would have a run-in with an Imperial Inquisitor, but it looks like he met with an ordinary patrol and the scavenger Sarco, who managed to get his hands on an electrostaff. It is a good thing Luke learned to use the force to guide his saber, because without his practice fending off 3 training droids, he would have been killed by the stormtroopers' blaster fire. His fight with sarco goes similarly - even when he is blinded by Sarco's grenade, he can still fight with just the force.

So the theme of the entire story? A jedi's weapon is their connection to the force - not a lightsaber.. It was all-in-all a fun read. I was hoping for a bit more lore and mysticism associated with the force, but I understand that this is an action book designed for younger audiences.

Meditation update

It's hard to notice myself having a clearer mind during meditation sessions, but perhaps my life is a little more calm and deliberate outside of those sessions. I am trying to cut multitasking out of my life and to perform more actions more mindfully. As far as chores go, it is working. My meditation sessions are still limited by bad posture - when I sit seiza, my ankles loose circulation after about six minutes, and I can only sit lotus for 2-3 minutes before my back starts to hurt. It's crazy to think that there are people that can do this for hours. I'll have to work on refining my posture so these sessions can last for longer. For now, I am stuck around 6 minutes per session.