Forbidden Fruit-cocktail : the Darker Side of the TotJO
There have been several things occur in the past few weeks that have inspired this particular sermon ; it has been added to, edited, rearranged, scrapped and re-written, put-off, picked back up and fumed over … It could have even been a bit forgotten. There are some things that we may forget, or forget to forget, from time to time – the current of Life being what it “is” – then we remember and go on from there. That is fine, as long as we get around to the remembering …
This might get a little long, so please bear with me.
Could we begin with a prayer ? This one is adapted from the Rig Veda, and I hope that it captures the spirit of what I would like to call attention to herein :
In the Force,
Let us be united ;
Let us speak in harmony ;
Let our minds apprehend alike.
Common be our prayer ;
Common be the end of our assembly ;
Common be our resolution ;
Common be our deliberations.
Alike be our feelings ;
Unified be our hearts ;
Common be our intentions ;
Perfect be our unity.
May the Force be with you …
The main body, the message of this sermon, comes nearly directly from a conversation with the apprentices some time ago during which we were discussing some of the unsavoury elements of our interactions in the Temple. And it is true that from time to time we are not so nice to one another. One may be tempted to ask : “Well then, what's the use ?” or “Is this what Jediism is all about ?”
As it were, there is no 'use' and 'yes.'
Let's explore this together now …
Often, we see some heated debates – we could even call them “brawls” for as much as we can “brawl” via forum posts – where we get anchored into our convictions, we dig in and have what looks very like a textual trench battle with one side and the other wielding the most convincing fire-power they can muster. We see sometimes that someone copies an excerpt of the Doctrine, of the 16 Teachings, the Maxims or make use of a line or two of the Creed to prove another “wrong”.
This practice is a false one : our Doctrine is for the personal guidance of each and every one of us – it is not prescriptive and thus would best not be used as leverage in a vulgar attempt to be “right”, to “justify” ourselves or to “condemn” another.
We can bring a very sincere understanding to these occasions when we can recognise even in ourselves – each one of us – why our convictions take on such a vital importance in our lives …
Several months ago, in a conversation with another Jedi Knight, we were discussing the episodic ambiance of our Temple :
Jediïsme, as a relatively recent spiritual movement, so very recently organised into an official Church (2005 is NOT ancient history – even for modern society), and as such, we are an attractive alternative for many “broken” people, people who have been disenchanted with the traditions, the religions and the traditional religions – finding them either contrary to what they truly feel, just simply limited in scope or perhaps, for those never having practised a religion, inaccessible –
– but regardless of the reason, people generally do not come into our Temple as spiritually fulfilled individuals. Quite to the contrary, the complexities of modern living have loaded nearly every one of us, not with a bit of baggage, but in most cases a whole cargo hold full of 'issues'.
And we all do our best, day in and day out, living over, around, under and through our 'issues' while maintaining the image(s) that society has shaped over us ; it is through and by way of these images that we try to abate our suffering and appear “respectable” …
Thus, we are often lonely people, whether we are married, in a couple otherwise or single. Whether we are students, employed or unemployed, financially affluent or in a state of difficulty. Many of us have known heart-break … family problems … losses of all sorts … We have known financial problems … addictions … illnesses … this list would go on and on and never be quite exhaustive – in short, we've all been touched by suffering on multiple levels.
And with all that, we all come to our Temple with a need for validation. We come here looking for others who will understand, who will think as far “outside the box” as we feel ourselves to be (although we may not perceive all the boxes within boxes). And whether that “thinking” is well or badly done (“-isms”) is really beside the point – We hope very much to end the conflict in ourselves, which is the very micro-cosmic model of the conflicts we abhor in the society. In summary we are a group of well-intentioned people who are hoping very much not to be so screwed-up by a screwed up world …
So as such, all that spleen, the “need to be right”, the sensitive subjects, the hurtful responses and fallacious arguments that we fling occasionally at one another is perfectly natural. That is why we are a Temple and also the necessity of it being a Temple – all that “screwed-up-ness” that we live in the World is not something that we can just leave at the door …
… it is part of us though we usually don’t know it or can’t accept it. We instinctively want rid of it, but we are so used to it that we really aren’t sure what we want rid of … We want rid of it, we want things to be different ; we deny the World the way it “IS” for how we feel that it “SHOULD BE” …
We’re convinced that there is someone to blame (Evil) ; we don’t know what it is that we want to get rid of but “dammit ! it’s got to be someone’s fault !”
Well – let’s be honest with ourselves : that’s not really the case, is it ?
We all know somehow what humility is … what patience and tolerance are … We understand what we can “say” about virtue …
We can even suspect that from time to time we’ll have those “issues” that make us flair-up like supernovae …
… because those “issues” body-slam us right back into some pain erstwhile lived that we may not even feel that we’re dragging around with us any more …
… but we still are.
And, to draw from Eckhart Tolle, when we are identifying with our “pain-body” (whether we recognise it or not) –
– we can be pretty damned mean to one another.
We must accept that the World is a screwed-up thing, and as we come out of it, we are it, we must also accept that violence within ourselves, in all its forms from the bitter nastiness to the more delicate, affectionate violence that we commit. We must accept it of ourselves, recognise it, observe it and let the observer and the violence go away … if only for a moment.
As well adjusted as we may want to feel we are, remember :
“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
We are well-intentioned Jedi, we do indeed seek Justice for everyone. Philosophers and politicians have gone on about Justice for millennia – yet, do we have Justice in the World ? And if it isn't in the World, it can't be in any of us or in our Temple. Can it ?
Actually – where there is compassion for all, emerges also Justice. For as well-intentioned as we are, we may have to accept screwing it up from time to time, that others will screw it up from time to time …
… until we don't as much ;
and being a bit mean to one another from time to time, or that someone may be mean to us from time to time …
… until we aren't as much ;
And freeing ourselves from conditioning, being as understanding and compassionate toward one another regardless …
… until that comes a little more often …
… a little better …
… and more naturally.
We would now close with the Creed of our Temple, ergo please greet with me :
I am a Jedi, an instrument of Peace ;
Where there is hatred, I shall bring Love ;
Where there is injury, Pardon ;
Where there is doubt, Faith ;
Where there is despair, Hope ;
Where there is darkness, Light ;
And where there is sadness, Joy.
I am a Jedi.
I shall never seek so much to be consoled as to console ;
To be understood as to understand ;
To be Loved as to Love ;
For it is in giving that we receive ;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned ;
And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
The Force is always with me, for I am a Jedi.
There is Love in our Temple, but as you all know, Love and Fear come in pair. We would not have one without the other. It would be as well for us to embrace that to which we would react out of Fear (anger, condescension, distrust &c) through the Compassion for what and/or how others “are”, rather than cling to our programmed expectations of what and/or how one “should be”.
May the Force be with you all. / Que la Force soit avec vous tous.
