Rosalyn J Meditation Journal

The Weapon of a Jedi
Summary Thoughts
I endeavored to keep the instruction “what can be gleaned from this about Jedi Training and Meditation?” at the front of my mind. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the story and let things stick out to me as they would. I did not work to try to get anything from it.

In some aspects, the Force seems to be like what we might call in Christendom “the leading of the Holy Spirit”. One of my brothers or sisters would say something like “the Holy Spirit told me this or that,” or “this or that was dropped this or that into my spirit” or something was downloaded and that concludes my lesson on modern American Christianese for today. But as I was letting the book settle on me, the commonality between what the Force was in some instances and what the Holy Spirit is or has been, struck me. It is possible, by the way, to quench the Holy Spirit (or stop its flow by action/inaction), to step outside of it (or not be in perfect sync with it) and thus mishear or misinterpret it. Or even to be deceived into misinterpreting one’s own desires as its will.

That said, here are a few things I picked up from my reading:

One has to be attentive.
Luke’s first feeling of a feeling could have just been passed off and it was. It came to him in the midst of a firefight and he wasn’t ready to deal with it. But when it came back again, he gave it the space of his full attention because it felt like it was trying to get his attention. There are many times I have been on autopilot and missed the direction of the Force. A thing or a person might speak to me without speaking and I’ll miss it because I wasn’t attentive. What stops me from being attentive? Too many things vying for my attention and my avoidance of boredom. I’ll have to keep that in mind.

One has to realize that this takes a lifetime
When Ben Kenobi taught Luke about the basics of meditation, he warned him that opening a connection to the Force took a lifetime. It’s important in practice to let steps toward mastery occur naturally. A little connection, a little mindfulness, is still more than we have if we do nothing. Additionally, remembering that we will never arrive at the end of our connection with the Force. There will always be more to uncover, explore and connect with/to. How can I remind myself of that?

Living in harmony with nature may increase our connection to the Force
When Luke was attempting to move the lever at the top of the cliff, he could not do it with Force, he had to do it with the Force, which is to say in connection with it, feeling the life around it. I am reminded of the first teaching of the doctrine which says “1. Jedi are in touch with the Force. We are open to spiritual awareness and keep our minds in tune with the beauty of the world. We are forever learning and open our minds to experiences and knowledge of ourselves and others. How can we be in touch with the Force? Be open to spiritual awareness (or be spiritually aware, look for the “spirit”) and keep our minds in tune with the beauty of the world.
“To harness the Force you must feel it everywhere” Obi-wan Kenobi. How can I look for beauty in the world and keep myself open to spiritual awareness?

Pour Out Your Emotions
I really enjoyed the imagery of the meditation because it makes it very simple to understand. It did not judge good emotion and bad emotions, just the ones Luke was feeling at the time, the one’s uppermost in his mind and how they are affecting him. This underscores to me that I cannot judge my emotions as good or bad, just as “uppermost in my mind” and “affecting me”

Practice the Basics Until They Become Second Nature
The cultivation of mushin or “no mind” or “flowing with the Force” can only be done if the basics are drilled into memory. One is not blessed with the talent such as Luke displayed without the commiserate hard work.
Here is a quote “Ben had only had a brief period of time to teach him how to wield his father’s lightsaber—a few lessons aboard the Falcon in which Luke had learned the basic defensive postures and the first steps in opening himself to the Force. But since then he’d practiced the footwork more times than he could count, striving to recall every moment of the time he’d had with his teacher. And those movements had become second nature. He’d come so far since his first tentative practice session aboard the Falcon. He raised his saber, reminding himself to be light on his feet. “ (Pg 77)

Let the Lightsaber be Your Focus
Even though I do not have a (real) lightsaber, I do have one that I crafted. It is a necklace representing the doctrine with a pendant. It’s important during meditation to have a focal point for your mind, spirit and body to connect. It keeps one from focusing on other things that the Force can handle. Whenever Luke thought of the remotes as something that he needed to focus on to beat, he lost. When he focused on his lightsaber, the Force was able to move through him.
When we have a focal point, whether it is our breath or a lightsaber or a pendant, all the other things we may be tempted to think about float away until we lose focus, and then they return back to us, but we can easily let them go.

All in all I enjoyed the book and I especially enjoyed reviewing some of the things that I have learned. The questions that I added to certain parts of this write up are just things for me to keep in mind as I work on my meditation practice