The Block

Doctrine

Here is a Temple wide challenge. For the month of July, find yourself a copy of our Doctrine. Read it every day of July. Have a copy of it handy. Do it in the morning or at night. The challenge is this, to learn and study our Doctrine even more this July, this summer. Take some time to understand what your passions are. By doing this, you can take the time to improve that which we understand.  You can improve your time management with this as well. When we study, it does increase our confidence in things we practice. What better idea than to increase understanding in our own Doctrine. One of the things we do as Jedi is learn. So, this July, I challenge every Jedi here to get a copy of the Doctrine and read it all of July. Everyday. So, this is a 30-day challenge. Read the Doctrine for the month of July together. Via the Discord Temple site, I can send you a copy of everything together. You can print out in anyway shape of form our Doctrine. I would like to thank one of our Knights for setting up a simple layout to print and to have for us. If you have any questions, feel free to hit me up on site or via PM or DM. 

Are you up for the challenge? I think you are. Good luck and May the Force be with you all during Julys challenge. The challenge is this, find a copy and read the Doctrine every day of July.  Plant new seeds to get new fruit. 

I'm down for it!! I may call on you to discuss it now and again! 

I accept this challenge!

This  month we will be reading the Doctrine together.

It starts tomorrow.

Find yourself a copy of our Temple Doctrine

The challenge is to read it every day for the month of July.

Place it on the inside and see what comes out.

Change the seeds to get different fruit.

Find a place you can read it.

Find your favorite copy of the Doctrine. Make a hand written copy.

One of the things I used to do was during my Seminary time, while waiting tables was print out the Doctrine and read it during my breaks.

The most important thing you will do is Journal what you find.

The first few days may feel mundane or new but I swear to you, if you just read it once a day for a month- it will change your perspective of things and it even may change what you think the over all purpose is.

Journal what you find, every day

We can do 31 days of over in the 100 day of room as well

If you want to extend after that, please feel free to do so.


Do you see patterns emerge from the teachings and Maxims?

Is there something that nags you about our Doctrine?

The idea is to get closer and to become more frequent
to what we say we believe.

Part of this is a little bit of memorization and frequency.

If we change a few things we frequent, this causes new flow and new adventures.

This challenge is an opportunity to go over that which we have as far as doctrine.

For 31 days we will be reading or listening to the Temple site Doctrine.

If anyone - during the reading- finds or comes up with any Doctrine question, please do not hesitate to discuss it with the rest of us.

One of the ideas we share here is that the Doctrine can help and aid in personal growth.

I cannot express how many times I have had a Teaching on my heart and I just "see differently" than before with the Doctrine present in my hand and in my heart.

Take the time you need to hide them in your thoughts, feeling and will.

We have made a section/room for discussion and findings. 

Good day Jedi and May the Force be with you all wherever you are at today

Tara (Sanskrit: तारा, tārā; Standard Tibetan: སྒྲོལ་མ, dölma), Ārya Tārā (Noble Tara), also known as Jetsün Dölma (Tibetan: rje btsun sgrol ma, meaning: "Venerable Mother of Liberation"), is an important female Buddha in Buddhism, especially revered in Vajrayana Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism.

She may appear as a female bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism.[1] In Vajrayana Buddhism, Green Tara is a female Buddha who is a consort of Amoghasiddhi Buddha. Tārā is also known as a saviouress who hears the cries of beings in saṃsāra and saves them from worldly and spiritual danger.

In Vajrayana, she is considered to be a Buddha, and the Tārā Tantra describes her as "a mother who gives birth to the buddhas of the three times" who is also "beyond saṃsāra and nirvāṇa."

Tara (Buddhism) - Wikipedia

The symbolism of this version is profound. In many spiritual traditions, the heart is seen as the seat of compassion, love, and empathy. Tārā’s birth from Avalokiteśvara’s heart emphasizes that she is not a distant figure, but the active manifestation of his innermost essence. She is compassion materialized, no longer just a feeling or an aspiration, but a force that moves through the world. This version of her origin also emphasizes the inseparability of compassion from action. It is not enough to feel empathy; it must be brought to life, embodied, and expressed in ways that can touch the world. In this sense, Tārā is the action to Avalokiteśvara’s feeling, the movement to his stillness.

Both versions of Tārā’s origin — one born from a tear, the other from the heart — offer a nuanced understanding of compassion in the Buddhist context. Compassion is not static; it is dynamic, evolving, and responsive. It arises in moments of deep connection to suffering, but it does not remain in the realm of feeling alone. It transforms, takes shape, and becomes a force for change. Tārā, in her various forms, is the embodiment of this principle.

Indeed, Tārā’s forms are as varied as the expressions of compassion she represents. Green Tārā, perhaps the most widely venerated, is often depicted seated in a posture of readiness, with one leg extended as if she is always prepared to leap into action. Her hands form gestures of protection and generosity, and her gaze is direct, compassionate, yet powerful. She is invoked for swift aid, particularly in moments of danger or fear, and is believed to provide protection against obstacles, both external and internal. Green Tārā’s association with action emphasizes her role as the swift savior — she does not wait for suffering to subside but moves quickly to provide relief, embodying the urgency of compassion in a world fraught with peril. 

White Tārā, by contrast, represents a more serene and nurturing aspect of compassion. She is often depicted with a peaceful expression, her body adorned with delicate ornaments symbolizing purity and wisdom. Her most distinctive feature is the additional eye on her forehead, a symbol of her all-seeing wisdom and her ability to perceive the suffering of beings across all realms. White Tārā is associated with healing, longevity, and peace, offering a gentler, sustaining form of compassion. While Green Tārā rushes to extinguish immediate threats, White Tārā nurtures and heals, providing the long-term care needed for spiritual growth and physical well-being. 

The Tear that Created a Goddess – The Story of Tārā - Lebarty

Teaching 11
The Jedi practise living in universal compassion, understanding the phenomena of our environment. We cultivate a particular sensitivity to when feelings of fear, anger, hatred, and aggression germinate within us. These emotions are among our limitations as incarnated, organic beings. We bring to these feelings hope, pardon, and love in equal measure to bring us back into balance with the movement of the Force.

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. 

Compassion is an idea we as humans can take the time for. There are levels of compassion that exist. Some can kill you. Our idea is that we only give so much when we see the need to restore balance. The symbolism of compassion only giving what is needed is not a Jedi one. It is a human thing. It exists. We can find them. It is my hope, as we think and give these teachings and Doctrine time inside, it will shine outwardly, and we can see it in use and practice. 
Many things point to the Force. By pointing to the Force, we join in many more doing the same thing. There are different levels of understanding to compassion, take some time to go deeper. Go as deep as you like.

Here is just ONE example of compassion we can share.

Do we have examples of compassion we can use in your path? Where did you get them from or who? Take time this morning to mentally thank those examples. If they are real people, call them up and say thank you, they like to hear it as well.

May the Force be with you, Pastor Carlos

Good day Jedi everywhere

Good Monday to you all

When I began my give time to my own mediations and contemplations in my path, something begins to happen.

Agency - Jedi are active in the world, acting as people of thought, and thinking like people of action. Be aware that beliefs become thoughts, thoughts become words, words become actions, actions become habits, habits become values, and values determine destiny.,

We are reminded that thoughts are important.

When I first began to think, meditate and or contemplate on things, something happened to me.

In the beginning, all I could think about was all the things that have happened in the past.

When the time came, my mind began to race.

Part of why I stop meditation/ contemplation is what would pop in my mind automatically.

It was scary.

Reflection took a scary turn for me at times

I began to remember many things I called bad. It created animosity in my sessions. I did not want to do it because the things my brain was going to, or reflecting was not meditation material.


There is a level in the beginning that must be quenched. When you begin to reflect, our mind will. The things that we think matter can take front and center every time.

Our worry can be at its strongest here.

Our fears can be strong here as well.

Those two often keep me from my own path

An old man told me one day as a child, "If you put a snake in a box, and shake that same box, do not be mad when you have a pissed of snake in a box. "

As I grew older, I began to understand this a bit more. If I keep putting junk in my box or my mind, that is what will come out when it is time to meditate.

So I give this to you Jedi, Think on these things. 
Put new reflections in.

We are studying the Temple Doctrine for the month of July. We are reading and logging a 31-day session over in the ⁠July-doctrine-reading room.

Let new things be added to your mental box.

Add thing worth reflecting.

Study to put new things in when you meditate. Plant new seeds to get new fruit. Start by planting new mental seeds. Some of my own mental "weeds" are pretty tall and do get in the way.

This is the end of the July reading. I hope that this has placed more things to think about than was there before. This is the hope. That we think on these things a bit more.

It does help to understand our own thoughts, feeling and will and if we recognize what those are, then we will recognize what the Force is not. That is a big deal.

Give our minds and thoughts what they need to reflect on. Train your mind. Pay attention to your thoughts.

Put other things in your mind so that when it is time, a pissed off snake is not the only thing in the box when it is time to open it (edited)

Thought - "... thoughts become words, words become actions, actions become habits, habits become values, and values determine destiny." It all starts at the mind and or thoughts.

Give yourself something worth the time. Build something new today, on the inside.

Continue to build.

Some weeds die from lack of support. Stop supporting a few mental weeds. Start growing new things.

May the Force be with you all - wherever you may be.
Pastor Carlos