Lightsabers Anonymous

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8 years 9 months ago #194426 by
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Ok, so here's the deal. I received my first ever lightsaber as a birthday present last month, and it's really cool, and yet I already have my eye on another, and another, and this is a real problem. I'm supposed to be learning to overcome my attachments, but now I feel this insidious collecting mentality starting to creep in, and it is actually causing me some emotional distress, which seems just plain silly. I mean its an overpowered flashlight with sound effects and a plastic tube, and yet... I know i have some impulese control issues, it runs in the family, but still.

Now I'll grant you that I have let go of the majority of my old video games and that, and so maybe my Ego is reeling a bit from the drastic and sudden change, and is trying to compensate it some way for the loss, but I shouldn't be dwelling on it right? Isn't the whole point to find what you're looking for inside? So why do I feel this compulsion? It's really rather bothering me.

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8 years 9 months ago #194427 by
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I have a pretty strong materialistic side too and overcoming it hasn't been easy. In truth, I don't think I have overcome it completely. When I have money I tend to spend it quickly on things I don't necessarily need. My dad is the same way, but he takes it to a slightly different level than I do (when I go for a shiny new watch, he goes for a TV!) I honestly think these things are hereditary and as difficult to overcome as any other addiction.

Since I'm still struggling with it myself, I have no great answers, but lately I've found that if I tell myself all the stress I can spare myself by saving my money for important things, it tends to fade a bit. A watch might be $70-100, but a trip to the supermarket is usually $30-50. Two extra supermarket trips is pretty nice in my book. I know it's not the best way to solve that desire for instant gratification, but knowing that I'm sparing myself from future stress? I'll take that.

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8 years 9 months ago #194451 by Tellahane
Replied by Tellahane on topic Lightsabers Anonymous
I'm going to take the middle road, with a little outside the box road. Much like what Adi had posted to some degree and what I have found in the world, there is always 3 ways too look at something...too little, too much, just right. In the Ideal universe you wouldn't need any of it so shouldn't have to have any of it. But just like a hammer makes it easier to pound in the nail, materialistic items can be helpful too. For those whose imaginations are not as practiced for example, physical objects can be used as symbols of representation, to help you remember, help you focus and so forth. As a perfect example a picture of someone who has passed, can help you better visualize and remember, or an item you got from a gift shop on an amazing vacation that you spent with someone can help you remember the fun times, an item that was given to you from an old friend who has gone away, or an item that you got as a result of something far more traumatic, they can server as important reminders as well as points of focus.

As an example with your jedi altar you had posted having the 4 lightsabers in the corners and using them as a form of ceremony almost turning each one on to have the white noise hum. It's not necessary to have them, but its a tool that can help you focus, and each lightsaber in my mind might just be a noise generator light up effect, in your mind you may have placed symbolism, where each lightsaber to you may represent a teaching or a word or philosophy of some kinda and represent more to you, there is no problem with that in my mind.

Now do I think you need to go spend thousands of dollars doing a setup like that if it somehow cost that much. I don't think you "need" to. You can choose to, but anything you do while helpful tools, you should still know how to do without them because they could go away at some point. Just like some teachers I know will make sure you know how to do math on pen and paper before your allowed to use a calculator, how a friend of mine who is a father insisted his children show him how to get to where they are going on their first trip alone using a map gazette instead of gps(so they know how to read paper maps) before they are allowed to go anywhere, you need to be able to handle the fundamentals, and in the case of material symbolism, know the knowledge well before using symbols to represent them.

I may have gone on a tangent a bit with that one, but hopefully that helps.
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8 years 9 months ago #194464 by
Replied by on topic Lightsabers Anonymous

Tellahane wrote: I may have gone on a tangent a bit with that one, but hopefully that helps.


You make some fantastic points, but I think that in the end, the whole "meditation drone" thing was my Ego trying to justify buying more sabers. It was like there's some deep seated psychological need that is not being met, and I have a tendency to map it onto "things". The things may change, but the need never goes away because I haven't yet explored the psychological root of this need.

Something for today's meditation.

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8 years 9 months ago #194490 by
Replied by on topic Lightsabers Anonymous
After some deep exploration of my thought processes, I realized the impulse was really being driven by a single lightsaber, a limited run based on that of Ahsoka Tano. While I haven't watched the whole series, there's much I have found that reminds me of myself as a child, and part of me longs for the childhood I missed out on, being transgender. So it a way she kind of symbolizes the loss of something I never had. That is what drove my anxiety, the fear of losing out. Once I examined and realized this, the anxiety left, and the hoarding mentality with it.

If I ever get another saber it will be to mark a special occasion, but will not attach such desperate associations with it. Heck, I may never get another one... but I probably will. :laugh:

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8 years 9 months ago #194498 by Tellahane
Replied by Tellahane on topic Lightsabers Anonymous
Much to my same sentiment I have a lightsaber(albiet needs repair), but its from before I started this path, it represents my beginnings so to speak. I do want to get another one that represents me better where I am now, and the path I'm on, but its so far down on my priority list, will see if it ever comes to light. Pun intended.

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8 years 9 months ago #194529 by RyuJin
Replied by RyuJin on topic Lightsabers Anonymous
here's a thought....perhaps it's your subconsciousness telling you to "live in the moment"...after all you can't take money or things with you when you die....might as well enjoy them while you can....

Warning: Spoiler!

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J.L.Lawson,Master Knight, M.div, Eastern Studies S.I.G. Advisor (Formerly Known as the Buddhist Rite)
Former Masters: GM Kana Seiko Haruki , Br.John
Current Apprentices: Baru
Former Apprentices:Adhara(knight), Zenchi (knight)

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8 years 9 months ago #194573 by
Replied by on topic Lightsabers Anonymous

RyuJin wrote: here's a thought....perhaps it's your subconsciousness telling you to "live in the moment"...after all you can't take money or things with you when you die....might as well enjoy them while you can....


Perhaps, however I feel like nothing has helped me to better appreciate the moment more than my studies and meditations, and conversation with others in this community. :)

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8 years 9 months ago #194667 by
Replied by on topic Lightsabers Anonymous
I just now found this on Expanse, a 'pop' science website, regarding light sabre colors for fictional Jedi.

http://expanse.collectivepress.com/most-people-dont-know-that-star-wars-lightsabers-were-colored-for-this-reason/?s=expanse

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8 years 9 months ago #194969 by Alsa-him
Replied by Alsa-him on topic Lightsabers Anonymous
Meditation and studies are a great distraction, but the desire will always remain till you confront it. I have had this problem since I was 16 years of age and had to begin living on my own. I would buy flashy new things I would later realize was a waste compare to buying food and house hold supplies. I have only recently overcome the problem so please be cautious. What I believe will help (in accordance with meditation and your Temple Studies) is to research the lightsabers and limit your attachment to merely looking. From there constant meditation and reminders of restraint will bring you down letting go of the attachment. You could also try a mantra or chant to remind you to let go 'Passion, yet serenity' has been help full to me in letting go. As a final note remember having attachments now does not me you are less of a worth or weaker person but means that you are simply at the start of a disciplined path of the Force

Emrys Barden
EB
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