Ego, Yet Humility Senan Concept
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
It is a line in the Creed of this Temple, and a very powerful one.
It is a line that can have many meanings, each as different as the Jedi who assign these meanings.
Today, I’d like to examine this line of the Creed as it applies to this month’s theme, Ego, yet Humility.
To understand how this line of the Creed informs our own ego and our humility, we need to first understand a few things about the Force.
The Force is eternal. It is everlasting. The Force does not “exist” within time and space. It just IS.
As an expression of the Force, the same can be said for this current collection of mass and energy that is “Senan”.
What I am made from is eternal. What we are is eternal.
Our egos, however, are not.
My ego exists so that I may feel like a separate and individual entity during this life.
My ego serves a very useful purpose in that motivates me to make decisions necessary for my own survival.
However, upon the death of this collection of mass and energy I call “Senan” (or more accurately, the death of the ego that calls this collection of mass and energy “Senan”), all that is “me” will return to the Force from which it came.
And so it is that with the death of my ego will come eternal life in the Force.
This is no different than it will be for all other expressions of the Force throughout the universe. Like it or not, we all die.
This is not a realization that is easy to come to.
In the exuberance of our youth, we feel indestructible. Our ego would have us believe that we are impervious to the violence and chaos of the universe.
We fool ourselves into believing that we will be the exception, the one to beat the odds and defy nature.
We act as if we will live forever, but not in the sense that we are eternal as an expression of the Force.
Instead, we tend to believe that our ego will live forever.
And then, as it always does with such misunderstandings, the Force shines light on this misconception.
Whether it be through the death of one we love that comes to soon, a serious injury or illness we suffer ourselves, or simple wisdom that comes with age, we eventually realize that this “ego life” of ours is insignificant next to the eternal nature of the Force.
This ego of mine is but a tiny wrinkle in the great fabric of the universe, and it will be ironed flat, only to reappear as a different wrinkle.
To recognize this is to understand the importance of humility in the face of grander things.
While I may achieve great things and receive the accolades my ego seeks, these achievements are meaningless if they are not understood in the greater context of the Force.
It is incumbent upon us, those who walk the path of a Jedi, to always observe the connection we have with all things. We are instruments of peace and we serve others, not because we are rewarded with strokes to our egos, but because it makes the universe a more harmonious place.
To be a Jedi is to understand and accept this role with humility.
We are born of the Force and we will someday return to it, and we remain humble knowing that despite the death of our ego, life springs eternal from the Force.
It is with this knowledge that we can approach both life and death without fear.
Ego, yet Humility. And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Thank you for sharing this time with me, and may the Force be with each of you, always.
