The Block

I think its about Balance , how do you balance Compassion and what Compassion are we talking about here ?

It was my understanding there are a few sorts of Empathy ,

Emotional Empathy ( which i think is meant with compassion? )
Emotional Empathy is good when we can readily understand and feel other people's emotions. We need some of that when we are in caring professions And with friends and loved ones. The big downside of this sort of empathy is that we get too involved and overwhelmed by other people's emotions and can not offer the help they need. We then are too compassionate. We get over-emotional. As a result we are unhelpful in helping others overcome their emotions. We drag each other down so to say. We can only help other people cope , when we can cope

Cognitive empathy is often considered as under-emotional. It involves to little feeling and too much logic. It can be perceived as un-caring and is only effective in very threatening circumstances that involve great reliance on numbers and statistics. In the book World War Z there are some good examples of how leaders had to calculate who would live and who would not. To many this is not even emphatic.

Finding the Balance
The third one is Compassionate empathy, we can find the right balance between logic and emotion.We can feel another beings pain and express the right amount of sympathy. But we can also manage our own emotions and apply the right amount of reason and logic to the situation so we can be of service. We make better decisions and support the being in a way that benefits him. So it's not so much about excellent self control as just about being a good Jedi , putting the other person first without endangering oneself ( that is to prefer but sometimes not possible) It's about finding the balance between one's own emotions and what will help the being being able to help himself About being caring but not over caring , about logic but not seem uncaring.

Great definitions. Which do you use ?! Which do you practice?
In many religions and ideas as well as paths there are many different ways to practice compassion and the selfless .
We can as a human over care which results in deluting the “care tank” if you will. Draining it . How we care and when and to whom is strictly to us ! Good to hear from a good student ! Hope all is well ... serenity ! May the force be with you , still!

Overal i practise the third one , Compassionate Empathy , for me i try to keep a little distance as i tend to go in head first , but this way i balance reason and empathy. There hardly is a descision that cannot wait for you to gather your thoughts and provide the right help and advice.

The diffrence
The diffrence between every one else and us is as simple as ... us. The diffrence in every other life in this world is that yours belongs to you . In case you need to read or hear it then I would gladly say - no life is in better hands than the one it’s in today- yours . I don’t know you personally - I don’t walk the dog with you - I don’t go to the store with you - and I don’t hold your hand ( some days I wish I could )
So this week as you work and play and live remember - I believe in you and there is no one more qualified to live the beautiful song of life than you !
I’m old - so old , I remember the Rocky movies. Watched em all. Even the new one. So - there’s a time when Rocky is getting beat down. (As always ) and he’s remembering - he’s getting beat. As he remembers he tries to get up ( as always) and he can’t - then that grouchy ol pesky ol trainer Mickeys voice comes to - get up - cuz Mickey loves ya ! He finds the strength in a simple memory of some one in his life pushing him and caring. We all got those . Some one who didn’t stop on us. Remember them and find the strength to keep going. A loved ones voice can charge any wall or tackle and day. If you need it - I’ll say it for you ! Come one Jedi - you can do it - don’t quit ! Don’t stop and if ya fall - well, dust it off and get back up!
All my heart my Temple !
Get up - cuz staying down does nothing ! I still believe in this place and in its people - that’s you !

Jim Carrey said one time - “ there’s a lot of things wrong with the world , but if you watch the news, that’s not the world; that’s a condensed version of everything negative that’s happening. If you look around the television set , things are pretty peaceful, and people treat each other well.”
I’m not anti anything with this statement. I personally keep us with the drama as much as possible and is as I see responsible enough but I also add a one for one.
For every sad thing I add a good thing. For every good thing I add a sad thing. My own personal balance is like that. I’m not saying at all to try it but what I am saying is this - how many sad things or stressful things or hatful things did you see today ? This week? You choose to put em there right ? So , can we as modern day Jeddist who can make time for news and internet - also make time for meditation and other things of our choosing? Like - an extra 5 to sit and chat with a loved one and remind them - we are still on their side ?
IDE love to see that headline —
This just in “Jedi all over the world simply stopped and looked at their loved ones and reminded them they loved them - in other news ...” yea prolly won’t make the headlines but guess what it will do? That’s right - start a ripple of something different ! Not in the entire world either but right next to you. Share the force close ! See what happens ! Something to think about this week as we read and view and hear about all the crazy things happening around the globe. Force find us all! As we seek and serve and share it !

Gunna log this one on the time stamp .

Hello human

An idea to which if you just saw others as simple or in their simplest for - human - maybe we could get along better or dare I say- civil.
Hello human - not a new consent but clearly a new way to see the old ideas!
Waves at at all Jedi in the temple —- hello huamans ! Lol

A Jedi s “esprit de corps”

One of the hardest things for a modern day Jeddist - I’ve found - is a balance of “espirt de corps”
*** n.
A common spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion to a cause among the members of a group.

In a group as jeddist, we are told to seek and search for each one of us, that we have the human right to choose that which we like and wish to practice and study and share... which makes us as diffrent as a fingerprint. So - how - with such a device as Jedi ism - a very able thing to make one - individual beyond understanding - can we have a camaraderie?
Can we as Jedi - be the same different ?
That seems to be the age long question to every human being hu?
Find the connections- find the common - find the harmony - seek it - if you seek fault , your gunna find volumes and very quickly be tired of your revelation. Try somthimg new - happy seeking and may the Force be with you this week!

Today
This next 24 hrs
Right meow
What you got- today ?

My brain sometimes (most times) rushes ahead of me often.
I’m reminded of a Jedi who said “keep your concentration here and now, where it belongs."
Then my brain , like Ob1says “: "But I should be mindful of the future."
Then of course comes - “but not at the expense of the moment “
This is a choice . We don’t have to. We don’t have to think or plan or do anything nor do we have to think about now. ... but if the quality of now is to be had at a greater Volume , and it can if you choose to- I suggest ( reading The power of the now by Tolle) thinking about that choice. Once you make it , stick to it .
Then , remember what Qui-Gon-Jinn (actually George Lucas) and so many others say about the now - “be totally present” as E Tolle says - right here - right now - Brad Paisley says “welcome to the future. “ If we choose them let’s remember right now - here we are , find a song- a saying - a show - a book- anything that can help with your focus - you don’t and may not need a lot of reminders - but it helps !
May the Force be with y’all today ! Right —- meow, where you stand !

“The sculpture produces the beautiful statue by chipping away such parts of re marble block as are not needed”
Elbert Hubbard

San Saba Tx - the best big little town there is - or so they say. I met a man named Jack MacEntire - to the world he’s know as chainsaw Jack.
I saw him at a fair competition bbq thing - it’s hard to tell really what it was as most things of that sort in Texas have the same themes and they all Kinna seem the same after you have frequented them so often. Open pavilions with vendors food music - you get the picture - so there he is just smiling away. He has these huge ... huge totems and wood statues there... bears pigs - people - beautifully carved by his chainsaw. All done by hand- all done by him. My wife at the time asked him if he could make a lighthouse to which he said “for a hundred bucks I can carve the moon out of cedar if you like .” He wasn’t joking - dude takes his chainsaw and measures with the saw three lengths and motions to us - “ this tall?” She nods and he “nips” the end stands it up and stares at the trunk. It takes him about 8 minuets on dead walking around the thing to which he pulls on his chainsaw and begins . “ waaaaaaaaaaaa!” Says the chainsaw at a fairly loud roar- slips of cedar peel off like butter off a knife. There stands a hunk of wood ready to be sculpted. He looks at us and says - that’s the light house . It didn’t look like a light house yet - but it had the shape ... cone like mass of a thing- he switches saws to a smaller one and begins a higher pitched wee- that’s when the chink begins to form. There begins to take shape the top and the round ness of the lighthouse - the patterns and roughness begin to form. The third swipe was a much smaller than all the last saws and that was the finishing touches on it - tahh daaa- we had a solid cedar lighthouse for our yard.

Later I payed him and thanked him. It’s funny but what he saw and what we saw were way difrent till the end. It’s the sculpture who can see the end result - now. Einstein said roughly - some of us are time travelers when it comes to character - we act now - what we hope for later.
Character can have that type of effect . We act now what we hope for later. All the while being today what hope results for the future. It’s a prosess and often tedious. It takes practice and sometime it takes failure. Here we encourage and in our 16 teachings, it’s evident that character - can be attained as well as changed added or even learned if one applys to it.
This week - we have the opertunity here as well as in real life to be our own sculptors.

What ya making ??

Im taking a foul mouthed, recovering alcoholic, martial arts practicing, skater, flunkie/barely get by young man and carving him into someone who might help put some sense, knowledge and love in the minds that will be the voices of the future. I'm trying anyway We can judge it once it's done and six feet deep .

Kobos wrote: Im taking a foul mouthed, recovering alcoholic, martial arts practicing, skater, flunkie/barely get by young man and carving him into someone who might help put some sense, knowledge and love in the minds that will be the voices of the future. I'm trying anyway We can judge it once it's done and six feet deep .

I’ve seen that guy - and let me tell you - I like him.
We all create somthing new and the goal for a lot of us is that. I am glad your still around so I can explain to my son “that pine tree is still standing !” Right next to the cedar!
All my heart brother !

If I may, and I mean no disrespect, we cannot change anything outside of ourselves. We provide the tools, and set the example, but only they can make the change. It has to be their choice, or no change made will be permanent..


Just a thought..

zeroequalsone wrote: If I may, and I mean no disrespect, we cannot change anything outside of ourselves. We provide the tools, and set the example, but only they can make the change. It has to be their choice, or no change made will be permanent..


Just a thought..

Great thought brother bear !
Change in a Jedi setting comes from us inside - it is said “we are the piece and the artist “ I often say we are the ship the wind and the sails as well as the water.

Something I picked up from Dr. Stavish...

We are the scientist, the laboratory, and the experiment...

Dr. Bear,

You are quite correct. There is no need to be so formal! I love when others share their perspectives and well I am an high school educator dis-respect has a whole different meaning to me . I will however, ask; How we may decide what is in or outside us? I know others are not inside me, I may influence or set an example, when working with students I use stories of me from my past to help some hopefully avoid the problems I had, however, whether they choose to listen or better yet understand is on them. Sometimes that even haunts me, that I am not doing enough for some of them, but I am only a human. On, the non people note though I will use my garden as an example. My garden was simply a flat, naked level area of clay in a backyard. I disliked it being empty and dead. After a year of telling myself I would do it later, I finally built some small retaining beds from bricks (ghetto looking at best lol, 4x4's are coming when I get to cutting them). Anyways lol, the new soil I put in them allowed new plants (carrots, sun flowers and broccoli) to begin growing. Because of that work to manipulate the area (the land) outside of me, I have made my garden part of me, and in this I maintain it as I would my body and my mind. This perspective can be applied to many things. In fact I use this same rational when it comes to cleaning my sparring armor and bokken, (yes I literally clean a wooden practice sword before putting it in it's scabbard on my stand with my sharp blade). When I have these inanimate objects on they become part of me and in that way they should be maintained. Those parts I can control and hopefully as you said some others will follow suit at the Dojo, it would make sparring smell much nicer

Much Love,
Kobos

Ps. Carlos I never have the words to say how much, I respect your kindness and what it means to me my friend, I hope the son is well, he will grow to be an awesome little man, I could tell quite quickly when he was bowling. It is good to talk again my brother.

In one sense, there is no inside or outside of anything since we are all individual threads in the fabric of the force.
However, in the sense of limited human conscience, what is inside is what we can directly affect, what is outside is what we can affect tangentially.
Every manifestation has its own consciousness and its own place and purpose according to the force. So it would violate other's free will to 'force' (lol) our will on any manifestation outside of ourselves. The only option that is in line with the principles of the force is to provide the tools, set the example, and encourage, but if you don't want other's will imposed on you, then you must afford the same courtesy.
The force shows us what is going on inside of us by reflecting back to us what we put out.

Absolutely agree with everything there. There is fine line between "force" and influence that's for sure a key. I can't force the garden to grow but I can ensure it has the right conditions and protections for it to grow.

I use to say, you can't push a river, (sorry River).

And everything develops and grows exactly as it should according to the flow of the force.

Even our attempts to 'help'' are more of an exercise in our own development. We learn patience, compassion, love...

So you see, the more we help those around us, successful or not, we are actually teaching ourselves.

So, how we help, determines how we learn and grow. Try to 'force'' (someone stop me, I can't help it) the change and we cause resistance, and we hinder our own development. Teach, or guide with impatience, or without compassion, same result.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the force builds the question and answer into the same matrix.

It's beautiful..

Today is my
Birthday !!!
39 years is far not enough time to spend on this earth with such wonderful people and especially to spend a total of over 4 years with the people in this temple. I’ve learned so much just sitting next to y’all- I’d do it again!
It’s my tradition to pass on some birthday wisdoms and since it's mine - well- here ya go.
What - how and when are - what I found - the three most important words we as a Jedi could ask before our action. What we do- how we do it - and when we do it - can create and destroy ...
so - my Temple - keep this in mind this week - the what - how- and when can be a maker or a breaker for a modern day Jeddist. Have those answers ready. Take some time to have them chosen and ready.

From this old Jedi love y’all! All y’all!

Happy Birthday Brother!