“Know thyself.”
Easier said than done, and admittedly, I struggle with it myself. For me, between the many “I want to be...”, or, “I trained in...”, there are so many puzzle pieces vying to fit together, yet somehow never seem to do so.
So I turned to one of the most powerful tools a Jedi has: meditation. Turning inward, there is an inner chamber of stillness and quiet- a spiritual laboratory of sorts. It is here that we find the space to truly know ourselves and come face to face with these conflicts, and resolve them into something greater.
Here, we have the opportunity to make a decision: continue to put energy into trying to fit the puzzle pieces, or scour ourselves clean and start again?
I chose to let go; of all the attachments, the “I wants”, and preconceived notions of who I thought I should be.
Letting go is a scary thing, because there is a chance that hard facts will be faced, that perhaps we must concede some assumptions about ourselves, and even accept that we really didn’t know the truth about who we are as an individual.
But it doesn’t always have to be; facing this- and accepting it, frees us to start anew.
Today, I chose to scour my inner-self clean. During meditation, I stood before who I thought I was, burned it to ash, and let go of the old energies to be recycled anew.
Free to build again, we must start with a foundation, a concept to which we will build a new self.
I choose Jediism as my foundation. It is a powerful teaching and it encompasses so much- the mind, body, and spirit of all things. From this foundation, pillars can be raised to support us on this journey. These pillars are the truths we hold most high; personal well-being, community service, and faith in the Force.
Meditation is the glue that holds it all together. It is a powerful tool that can help refine who we are and release the bonds that hold us back. From fear of the unknown, or the fear of not knowing who we are, sometimes just accepting the unknown as it comes is liberating enough. In meditation, we open up to the Force and make space for exactly just that.
Fellow Jedi, today I invite you to stop, take a step back, and begin anew. In fact, I invite you to do this EVERYDAY. We have the opportunity and ability to let go of our past and reshape/ rebuild ourselves.
When you are calm, at peace- plumb the depths again:
Do you “know thyself”?