Your Cave of Evil

As a Jedi, A Human being, as a man watching Starwars movies one thing that sticks out in my mind is in episode 5 Empire Strikes Back on Degaba. Luke goes into the Cave of Evil to face his greatest fear. The complexity of this scene where look faces Darth Vader and defeats him on to reveal himself! Creepy!

I too have had this experience mine was fighting hell. The fear of leaving my past faith to where I was now the idea that had been forced into my psyche for most of my life. If I didnt believe I would go to hell. I had been battling for my first year of being a Jedi. Yoda once said, "You must unlearn what you have learned." Thats not simple but, through mediation and my IP and studies I have overcome my cave of evil.

Anyone wanna share?

mine happened long ago as a child....it's a bit complicated to go into....it changed me....then in my teen years i entered again and came out fractured....then in my early 20's i entered a 3rd time and overcame.....

When I was in my mid-teens I was sent to a mental hospital for a little while. I'm better now. It was for clinical depression, which thankfully I've gotten over. But sometimes the memories still bother me when I try to sleep or meditate. I'm hoping that I can get over it soon.

Thats tough thedude I hope through meditation in the force that you'll be able to overcome this it really is tough at times I'm married and have it wife that is very devout to her church I was for a period a time in my life I've talked to her about my struggles and my pastor. But they both don't seem to understand i my ideas are demonic and their eyes. But I go to church for my wife sake and don't misunderstand its not that I don't learn and that I'm not affected by the message being preached I always believe every day's a learning experience but in my situation you sometimes have to be discreet about what you believe.

During our lives we have to face a cave of evil.It has other examples I think the coolest, as the meeting of the Black Knight against himself in FF4. If you attack him, you die if you do nothing you win and become Paladin. Bottom line, do not raise arms against yourself, be against your inner nature, either against their fears, a true paladin only raises his sword when necessary. Luke does the same thing in the cave and attacks unnecessarily Darth Vader, the result is your head on the floor. Sometimes we have to accept what happened in the wrong, that experience is now part of our lives, fight it will only get stronger. That's my opinion

i don't believe in hell either

except the ones we make for ourselves and each other and those are pretty real and pretty hellish

but some place of eternal punishment and pain as a result of imperfect life management or even more ridiculous as a result of not believing that the tooth fairy really left a dollar under my pillow when i was a child is just bonkers - ABSOLUTELY BONKERS I SAY

good for you for casting that swine out of your pearls

and forgive me if i am being too direct or nosy, but i would feel i had not spoken when i should have if i did not express the idea that if your wife thinks that your beliefs are demonic then you may have a serious problem on your hands

i hope there are people in your life who care for you and who do NOT think that your beliefs are demonic

Throughout my life I've encountered various things that seemed at the time to be insurmountable obstacles. I'd get through them and look back and think "Wow, that really was IT. That's the ultimate thing that I'm going to remember overcoming." Only to find a little further down the line that there's something else that feels just as bad.

I'm hesitant therefore to say that I've been through my Cave of Evil. I've been through many, and I'm certain that will be many more to come.

I would however be reluctant to call them Caves of Evil - our moments of emotional turmoil or 'darkness' are not evil, per say. They can feel pretty hellish and they can highlight things about ourselves that we don't really like, but they're also part of the human experience, and they are highly formative. We shouldn't be ashamed to be human, because that's all we can be...

Good thread...thank you for kicking it off, Sven!

Picking-up on Mr Bruno and V-Tog's comments I was reminded of this interview. Peter Mel is talking about how to survive a wipeout in heavy surf but what he says is so applicable to any 'bad' event or cave we enter I've come back to it again and again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKoNZnwKpkY

My cave was a hospital.

10 years ago I was in a serious car accident. Initially I spent 3 months in the hospital, but due to complications I've been in and out ever since. That first 3 months, however, was my experience of the Cave. At the time I didn't fear death. In fact, I would have welcomed it if it meant I didn't have to endure the pain I experienced in the hospital. Pain is what I was afraid of, and that is what I was Forced to go through. I faced my fear, my darkness, or whatever you want to call it, and came out a much stronger and wiser person.

I believe we never truly emerge from this cave, but that we are constantly exploring new chambers of it. I am in the same chamber as I have been for a very long time, I do not know if I will reach the next one, but I will continue to try.