Questions

Dee wrote:
O Describes a typical day and week for an active member

I think my day/ week is probably like everyone else. The only difference I guess is that I am present and aware more, don't drift through life all the time... Well most of the time I don't.

Describe rituals you may perform, daily tasks you must do, any paraphernalia you need to wear or carry around with you, religious celebrations, or anything else you can think of.

I don't do any rituals.

What do you do for your meditations? How long? Is it encourage or required to meditate every day? if not, how often?

It isn't required at all, I don't do set meditations but I do enjoy walking meditations or just times to breathe.

During your week, how often do you do things that pertain to your religion?

Well, I see it as a lifestyle so its something I do everyday. Then I am here at the site often to be around the other members of the community.

Are there any celebrations unique to your religion? If so, what is it and what do you do for it? How often?

There are sermons, days of remembrance, but I think every day is a celebration.. Of life.

Does one gender have a responsibility that the other does not?

No.

What do you do to become higher ranked?

Well, we bribe Jestor with cookies but mostly we do the IP and learn, then live what we are.

Do you have a right of passage?

Not as such just life, which is a crazy journey.

elizabeth wrote: Well, we bribe Jestor with cookies but mostly we do the IP and learn, then live what we are.

shhh you weren't supposed to mention that :ohmy: :lol: :woohoo: :silly: :whistle:

if only it were as simple as bribing...but then we would be more like some of the mainstream religions/philosophical lifestyles :blink:

as you can see dee, there is a good variety of perspectives here and plenty of acceptance/tolerance. we tend to be blind to things like race,gender,gender identity etc. if you'd like feel free to read through some of the initiates program to get a feel for some of what we teach here. there is no obligation to do the lessons unless you choose to...life is all about the choices we make.

I'll do my best.

Describe a typical day and week for an active member.

Typically engaging in discussions, studying new things, re-evaluating what we think we know and readdressing it if anything changes; the list could go on, but it really depends from person to person and from time to time.

Describe typical monthly and yearly religious events (holidays, traditions, rites of passage, etc.).

I typically don't hold religious events as sacred, but I respect other people's right to have them. Although, I will say that Mustache March and Talk Like A Pirate Day are things I enjoy partaking in.

...Describe rituals you may perform, daily tasks you must do, any paraphernalia you need to wear or carry around with you, religious celebrations, or anything else you can think of.

My daily ritual is nothing out of the ordinary: Wake up, ready myself for the day, work, come home, help kids with homework, clean house, and sleep. Everything else is accessory.

What do you do for your meditations? How long? Is it encourage or required to meditate every day? if not, how often?

My meditation is an active one, though I do sitting meditation here and there. My active meditation is my workouts. I kind of have to be mindful of my body and feelings throughout, or else I would fail quite hard. I pretty much listen to my body and feelings: scanning my body for imbalanced tension throughout the lift, being mindful of my breathing and heart rhythm, being right there in that moment.

During your week, how often do you do things that pertain to your religion?

Daily. I scan the forums for discussions to take part in, though it doesn't happen often enough, I suppose.

Are there any celebrations unique to your religion? If so, what is it and what do you do for it? How often?

Knightings and Apprenticeships are all that I can think of, though I'm sure I could find celebration for life, everyday.

Does one gender have a responsibility that the other does not?

No. Just like in my home, we don't do gender roles.

What do you do to become higher ranked?

Study the Initiates Programme (IP), become an Apprentice, become a Knight through Apprenticeship; that's really it, though higher rank doesn't necessarily mean anything other than what they've accomplished.

Do you have a right of passage?

Registering to become a member and then training through the IP and Apprenticeship. I think that pretty much sums it up for that. One just has to be genuine and sincere in their Jedi-ness. lol

I hope that helped. :laugh:

Dee wrote: First off, thank you for taking the time to read this!
Hi, I am a current college student who is taking a Sociology of Religion course at my university. One of the assignments is to find a religion that is currently being practiced and research it. In my group I am assigned to:

O Describes a typical day and week for an active member
O Describes typical monthly and yearly religious events (holidays, traditions, rites of passage, etc.)

There are a few other thins I have to do as well. But if any and/or all of you could answer these for me that would be so wonderful! You may also ask me questions if you'd like or add more than just these questions. Describe rituals you may perform, daily tasks you must do, any paraphernalia you need to wear or carry around with you, religious celebrations, or anything else you can think of.

What do you do for your meditations? How long? Is it encourage or required to meditate every day? if not, how often?
During your week, how often do you do things that pertain to your religion?
Are there any celebrations unique to your religion? If so, what is it and what do you do for it? How often?
Does one gender have a responsibility that the other does not?
What do you do to become higher ranked?
Do you have a right of passage?

This would help me out an incredible amount.

Thank you in advance,
Dee

first i have to explain that i am an active jedi but i am not officially an active member of this church beyond the criteria that i participate in discussion and i am commited to involvement in the jedi way of life


the specific activities of my day, in and of themselves, are a result of my personal - life - context, and therefore would not, in and of themselves, apply to everyone else

what does apply is that every day i seek to grow and be aware of myself and put myself more and more into alignment with the principles of the jedi way of life

for me this means ive had to come to definite conclusions about what it means to be jedi and what i personally need to do in order to get there and now im using every day as opportunity to follow the baic program i have

the aspects of this which DO apply to most everyone is that i work out, i study, i pursue well defined and predetermined goals which are meant to bring me more and more into position to contribute to my society (the earth and all of us on it) in a way that is positive and personally meaningfull and appropriate to me as an individual

meditation

my focus right now is mindfullness meditaion (which is a lifelong practice for all jedi) and "kime" which basically means "strengthen your ability to focus" (and is really also lifelong)

there are two ways of doing this that i understand

1) single point focus/kime

which is to focus on a single point;

1) within the body - which is (traditional to japanese martial arts) called the ONE POINT/HARA or CENTER located a little below the navel

but which i feel should also include other areas of the body, specifically the spots which are known as the as the chakra locations

or

2) in the environment, such as a candles flame or a leaf on a tree or even a spot on the wall
and in yoga is refered to as Trataka

the progress i have reached in trataka is that eventually the entire world disapears into a blackness while the eyes are wide open

i dont know what comes after this but i think its fascinating that this can happen and its a challenge to keep it when it does because being aware and focusing on it makes it go away

and then there is

2) "expanding awareness" focus/kime

which is basically to be fully immersed in all senses - to be visually aware of everything in your complete field of visual capability all at once

this starts with being aware of your peripherial vision fully from far left to far right
and then expands upwards to the cut off point made by the eyebrows
and downward to the space directly in front of the feet

AND THEN to include total attention to notice every sound that happens in the environment around you
and to feel your one point HARA
and the entire surface of you skin
and to be attentive to every smell
and to be aware of every thought and sensation of the mind
and every sense and sensation of the body

pretty intense really -this meditation can really become very excting!

theres no specific time amount

i like to do the "expanding focus"
and the ONE POINT/HARA meditations as moving meditations

and the one point/chakra and trataka as stillness meditations

these are all really just different types of mindfullness meditation, which in essence can be done anywhere under any circumstance

there are no requirements

i RECOMMEND doing these every chance you get

the goal is to become fully mindfull of every moment of life

the result of basically achieving that goal is that time

takes on a new meaning - and even in sleep one is aware of oneself

when you understand "religion" to mean "what i belive is true about life and myself and the relationship between me and the rest of existence" then you realize that every moment is a "religious" moment

to quote henry rollins "there is no DOWN time, no OFF time, no FREE time, THERES ONLY LIFE-TIME

its all of our responsibiliies to develop ourselves and to find a way to contribute and be of service to the world

this is what distinguishes a Jedi from, say, a mercenary - Jedi serve something greater than their own ambition

and they serve for the sake of being of service
service is a fair and proper giving back of what was given

weve already been paid for our service with the honor of being blessed with the opportunity to be Jedi
now we find ways to serve as expressions of our gratitude and in acknowledgement of our responsibility

we all have powers - powers are nothing more than ones ability to achieve and ones ability to have an affect

a jedi is any person who makes a sincere commitment to reach the full extent of their personal power
and to use their power in a wholesome way for the benefit and well being of others

and to interact in a way that we remain true to ourselves without imposing ourselves on others, but as far as possible, are respectful of everyones dignity

these things are the responsibility of all of us, but how any particular jedi will do this is again a matter of personal life context

you yourself could do this in your own personal way simply by decidng and determining that you want to and that you are going to

it doesnt have any special requirements beyond what ive just explained

everything in a Jedi's life comes as a result of that commitment

the temple here has a program for advancing in rank

what i would want to know when judging rank is

how much does fear prevent you from doing what you want to do?

in what way do you serve?

what can you do?

in what ways are you excellent?

who is better off as a result of your life?

the procces of using ones life as a vehicle and opportunity to answer those questions well is a good rite of passage for anybody

Hey all! Thank you so much for taking the time to respond and help me with my assignment! My group and I present on Thursday, *fingers crossed* so hopefully we do well! You all helped so much!

We got a 93%, which is great~!! Thank you everyone who helped out!

Glad to hear it Dee...

gratz