The Block

Serge Kahili King, a Hawaiian Shaman says, "Ennui is the spiritual counterpart of denial. The state of ennui, however, is characterized by a denial of importance rather than its existence." (Instant Healing; Serge Kahili King 2000)

Ennui- a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement.

Ennui, a term borrowed from the French language, describes a state of weariness, dissatisfaction, and lack of interest.

In psychology, Ennui (pronounced on-wee) is chronic boredom that involves weariness, apathy, dissatisfaction, and lack of fulfillment. 
There is a disconnection present.

There is a stress, in excess.

There is a cost or a tax to going all, in every time, blindly.

Things can become episodic.

How does one combat this?

Jedi feel it. We all do.

What do we do when we realize, this is where we are?


I notice something when I focus too much on meditation or contemplation.  The same things happens when I focus too much on one singular thing. Other things get re-prioritized. Some even diminish, depending on how much excitement and zeal I have currently and where it goes.

Jedi Teaching 12 states: 
Unconditional love and compassion are central in the life of the Jedi. Where imbalance arises, we bring only so much love, pardon, faith, hope, clarity, and joy as is necessary to restore the dynamic equilibrium in our phenomenal environment.

So, I ask you friends, where unbalances arise, do you know how much love, pardon, faith, hope, clarity, and joy is necessary to restore dynamic equilibrium in our phenomenal environment? Is it every effort possible till there's nothing left, all the time? Are we changing what we do or are we stuck in the episode like Sisyphus, doomed to do the same thing for all eternity?

Change and only give so much next time... how much?

Enough to restore balance.

It is not easy, and it does takes practice.

Meditate on that if you like, this may help with the feeling of ennui and combat compassion fatigue as well.


6 Ways To Avoid Boredom - Arthur Schopenhauer (Philosophical Pessimism)

These things are very real, and I hope our time together, helps.

I am available to chat here or in a DM (PM) if you like.

May the Force be with you all this week.
Pastor Carlos

Apathy
What is Apathy? How To Break Past It.

Teaching 7"The Jedi foster an acceptance of limitations. To change the world is to change our perceptions of and perspectives towards it. Indeed, we are capable of amazing acts, especially when we rely on the flow of the Force. Yet, as incarnated, organic beings we must understand that the power is that of the Force, without which we are mere matter."   

   Apathy 
n. lack of motivation or goal-directed behavior and indifference to one’s surroundings. Apathy, also referred to as indifference, is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something.

 Apathy can come from a habit of increasingly distancing oneself from surroundings values, emotions, and activities to the point where a person is less and less stirred or motivated by the things that affect and interest others.  

It is my hope that we first understand that apathy exists. It happens. It is not inhuman. It has happened to me. We are human. We suffer from the same condition, humanity. Do we understand which areas of our life are important or even in need of our attention or our need for less attention? There is a feeling we can get when we are just not connected anymore. It happens to Jedi as well. I hope you do not add blame or justification but simply identify it where it is. When Apathy has struck me, I notice, it did not happen quickly. Apathy grows slowly and it takes many times of staying away- or distancing oneself to reach a point where there was a strong disconnect.  The things I speak of are more of our family circles and friends and connections to life. Sometimes we just feel like we run out of caring. We do. We are limited by our ability to experience compassion fatigue, the over distribution of compassion, or the lack of it. 

If I may share some encouragement to practice from our own Doctrine, here it is;
                 
                                            How to combat apathy. 
* Fall in love again.
Fall in love with your enemy. Give them pardon, forgive a debt. (Within your ability, let something go) Teaching 6 "The Jedi practise humility... The more we practise humility, the more open we become to insights of wisdom which come to us through our feeling of the Force.  " We often understand that the longer we hold on to things like hate and ill will, the further it can take us away from our focus. Remember who you do love. Honor them.  
* Fall in love with life again.
Teaching 12 "Unconditional love and compassion are central in the life of the Jedi. Where imbalance arises, we bring only so much love, pardon, faith, hope, clarity, and joy as is necessary to restore the dynamic equilibrium in our phenomenal environment." 
* Find something new to have faith in.
Find out about your own culture or another culture.  Teaching 11 "We bring to these feelings hope, pardon, and love in equal measure to bring us back into balance with the movement of the Force."  Start being nosey about you. Ask someone in your direct path. There are always teachers ready to teach people who ask new questions about cultures and faiths and beliefs. Find out more. Go digging.    
* Introduce you to your life. 
Dwell in the present moment. The ordinary world is NEVER ordinary. Is there a moment of anagnorisis where the protagonist understands who who is and who sides are actively present. The anagnorisis is a moment in a play or other work when a character makes a critical discovery. Take the time to understand it. Most times, I miss things in my path, and they are in plain view. Make a critical discovery.  
* Turn on the light.
Teaching 13 "The Jedi cultivate empathy with others. Maintaining a keen sensitivity to when the feelings of fear, anger, hatred, and aggression move within us, we empathically and compassionately comprehend how these feelings also arise in others. Those whom we perceive as adversaries also share these limitations. With this understanding, we respond to imbalance so as to return harmony to the flow of interactions.   
* Remember what truly brings you joy, not fickle feelings.
Sit for a bit in the memory of this. Cultivate it. Reflect. Write down and journal about them. Dwell on them for a bit. Remember.  
* Console more.
 Study up and find someone who can help you here. Find a mentor or be a mentor. Help someone else.  
* Give.
This one is very open and intentionally just left at the idea to give.  15 " The Jedi seek to return balance to that which has become tumultuous. Pain is one of the few real things we have access to, and as such, we are dedicated to alleviating it insomuch as is within our limitations. The clarity of understanding we cultivate permits us to know how and when to offer help to those in need and gives us the courage to do so."  Give, within your limitations. Do you know your own limitations?  Understand them more. 

 Apathy can happen even when we do not know it or are not aware we are doing it. It takes time. It takes just as much understanding to undo things we have done unaware. I give you this small map taken from our own Doctrine. Feel free to reference it as often as you like. May the Force be with you Pastor Carlos

Full disclaimer, the people in the Temple of the Jedi Order are not a mental healthcare specialist. We are people and teachers, not operating in a professional manner. If ever you feel like you need phycological help, please contact the professionals or a psychiatrist. Get the help you need. There is help for those who need it. 

 

The Paradox of Certainty.
Good day Jedi, wherever you may be today and at this moment.

The Paradox of certainty.

There is paradox that can exist when we begin to learn. Certainty feels good.  Here is where we can find a sort of peace. This life can be full at times and uncertainty is most certainly prevalent in this world.

Fanaticism refers to extreme beliefs or passions that may lead to unreasonable or violent behavior. It is characterized by an excessive enthusiasm or unreasoning zeal towards a particular idea, often going beyond normality. This term can also describe the pursuit or defense of something in a passionate way, particularly in contexts like religious fanaticism, where there is often blind faith and persecution of dissenters. Overall, fanaticism is a complex concept that involves a total and unconditional adherence to an idea or belief.

With our search for understanding on our own focus, knowledge and wisdom, have we become fanatics in what we believe to the point it has become blinding? Do we understand what we are doing and how?

What happens when you answer all your own questions? What happens when we think, well I know it all? I don't have to study or do lessons or the ever famous, who are you to tell me? What happens when the wonder is gone?

The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias where people with limited knowledge or competence in a domain overestimate their own abilities. It was first described by David Dunning and Justin Kruger in 1999.
This phenomenon often leads to strong opinions even when presented with evidence to the contrary.

Doubt is uncomfortable.

It forces us to face uncertainty.

Doubt is uncomfortable. It forces us to face uncertainty. It is said that wisdom isn’t about having all the answers; it’s about having the courage to question them.

Are we too sure of ourselves?

In what areas of our life? We do with a bit of wonder and astonishment.

Check yourself.

Overconfidence can be as harmful and as foolish as an emperor wearing new clothes but there was never any material to make the suit he was tricked into wearing.

Are we so certain that we know everything? 
Think before you act.

" When used correctly, the Jedi Tenets allow us to better ourselves and overcome any obstacle. They help us improve the world around us and fulfil our purpose in life as a Jedi." 

Focus

Knowledge

Wisdom

Focus is the art of pruning the irrelevant and pouring the best of your mind into what you are doing.

Knowledge can be acquired by focusing on the task at hand.

Wisdom is the sound application of accrued knowledge and experience through patient, good judgment.

Use what we have instead of the paradox of certainty.

May the Force be with you all,
Pastor Carlos
 

Here we go!
What can a Jedi do?
This climate we are in, there is war and rumors of war.

Teaching 11 reminds us of this.
" The first and foremost service a Jedi performs is devotion to our learning. Only by curating our individuated, authentic, whole being-ness, can we serve in more collaborative ways, participating in the creative, renewing flow of the Force. With our devotion to the discipline of universal compassion in the Force, we embody the source of love and harmony we bring into the world.   "

Jiddu Krishnamurti reminds us about the "Should be" in his book Freedom from the known.

https://www.templeofthejediorder.org/library

" We are always comparing what we are with what we should be. The should be  is a projection of what we think we ought to be. Contradiction exists when there is comparison, not only with something or somebody, but with what you were yesterday, and hence there is conflict with what has been and what is.

This comparison has been taught from childhood. Through comparison, we hope to evolve, grow, to become more intelligent, more beautiful. But will you? The fact is what you are, and by comparing, your fragmenting the fact which is a waist of energy. To see what you actually are without any comparison give you tremendous energy to look."


What can we do as Jedi?
Stop comparing.
Quench the thirst for the need for attention. This will change the world. 
This will change your circle of influence.
Become whole.
Work on your "whole being-ness."
Some of us do not know what that looks like.
Begin there.

What does it mean to be whole?
What does it mean to be whole in our thoughts, feeling and our will?

Something to think about this week.
May the Force be with you.
Pastor Carlos

This is taken from the APA dictionary of Psychology 

APA Dictionary of Psychology

Overconfidence 
n. a cognitive bias characterized by an overestimation of one’s actual ability to perform a task successfully, by a belief that one’s performance is better than that of others, or by excessive certainty in the accuracy of one’s beliefs. Overconfidence refers to the belief that you are more capable, knowledgeable, or skilled than you are. It’s an inflated sense of self-assurance that often leads people to take excessive risks, underestimate challenges, or disregard important details. 

"Too sure of themselves they are, even the more experienced ones." This cinematic reminder leads us to the idea that anyone can be affected by this. Jedi in particular. In our study, we can lose the wonder or the want to learn more. Overconfidence stifles the forever student. 

As I reflect, I can tell you there were many times in my life when I was overconfident, I did no learning, reading or even study. It took me to a place where I thought I was justified beyond the need to learn. There is the danger I want to warn every Jedi about. The point one reaches where we justify everything. 

I get selfish in what I do often times. I often call it my Sgt. Martinez. I still think the need for the "knife hand" often comes out. As a Jedi, we do not suffer from cinematic conditions but that of the human condition.

Jedi comprehend that we are beings of thought, feeling, and will, who flourish within the Force through self-aware action and lifelong learning.

Our learning can be life learning. Do you notice when these ebbs flow? When in life do we stop learning things or justify not studying? Do we suffer from overconfidence? The point of these meditations and contemplations is never to harm each other but to aid in thought. It is my hope to help you think. That's all. 

Overconfidence is real, very real and if you are not aware of it, how will you know what it is? I suffer from this just like you do. We all do. 

3. Jedi maintain a clarity of awareness that all events are interconnected. The balance of the Force is a flowing continuum; it flows around us and through us, allowing us to adapt to change arising in its eternal cycles of creation and renewal.

6. The Jedi practice humility. Jedi know that we are processes in The Force and exist within its cycles of creativity and renewal. The more we practice humility, the more open we become to insights of wisdom which come to us through our feeling of the Force.

4. Jedi practice non-attachment, maintaining an awareness that the cycles of creativity and renewal in the Force give rise to phenomena as others pass away.

Use these three like a braid to remind us and keep us centered. There are more but for today, have these three to focus on and reflect. 

May the Force be with you. 

Pastor Carlos