Preparing for a Lecture

Phortis asked:

As a Jedi Knight, you will be an Ambassador of the Temple of the Jedi Order. I would like you to give me your ideas on how a Knight would handle themselves in the following settings, and what would you say to the public/ family in regards to these settings.... Each setting should be at least 500 words.

At a Seminar - Write a speech expressing the doctrine of our Order in relations to a religious seminar. Basically, what would you say as a Jedi, using the Doctrine as your guide, to an auditorium of adults looking for a path?

Seminar Speech

The question on all of your lips is probably some variation on “What on Earth in Jediism?” You may have heard the term before and thought we must simply be a bunch of movie fanboys and fangirls trying to develop super-natural powers like the fictional Jedi of George Lucas’ space opera. You may have never heard the term before. If you will grant me a little of your time and attention – let me explain.

Jediism is a religion. Our church has no physical locality but is hosted on a website called The Temple of The Jedi Order. We hold services, have a full liturgy and it is towards a spiritual principle that we direct our worship, a principle we choose to call ‘The Force’. Our true temple is this wonderful world in which we live, and it is in the service of the world and it’s people that we direct our efforts.

The Force is not a fictional figment. It is merely another name for that power which cannot be adequately named in words. In China it has been known as the Tao for thousands of years; in India: the maya of Brahman; in Christianity: The Holy Spirit; in Buddhism as the Void. Whilst each of these religious movements emphasised different aspects of this spiritual principle, reflecting the different cultural imperatives of the peoples in which they evolved, they all attempted to describe the same power.

George Lucas, through his work with mythologist Joseph Campbell, recognised this ‘perrenial philosophy’ as the central theme of the Hero’s Journey and as the likes of Aldous Huxley, Evelyn Underhill and Alan Watts extensively expounded through the 20th Century, it forms the backbone of every major religion in the world.

As a result, Jediism has grown from humble beginnings, as, superficially speaking, an offshoot from a movie series - into a fully-fledged religion. Not only does our community congregate on the internet but it is through the ubiquitous dissemination of information and wisdom that the internet affords that we have been able to incorporate the wisdom of millennia, into our movement. We live in remarkable times – at no prior time in history has this kind of syncretic religion been possible to develop.

Without the burdens of tradition, history and spiritual pride we are able to provide people with a religion that is both pragmatic and mystical, both ancient and modern, both simple and complex. Whilst The Force is ineffable there are words we can use to describe various aspects of it: omnipotent, omnipresent (therefore immanent), limitless, eternal, transcendent, creative and cyclic.

Our practice of worship and meditation discipline are designed to shift a person’s consciousness away from the so-called ‘Ego’. As individual emphasis on the personal ego diminishes, space (or bandwidth) emerges for us to allow “that still small voice of calm” with which The Force speaks, to guide and animate us. Jediism provides a distinct framework for this individual connection to the divine to be recognised. Jediism is not an ‘anything goes’ theology – the distinct framework involving study, worship and contemplation is what allows the individual spirituality to flourish.

Whilst each individual person will develop their own unique appreciation of their connection with The Force (everyone has different needs, strengths, weaknesses and hang-ups) the actual connection is the same for everyone.
We can use different metaphors to describe this connection: we are all children of The Force, The Force sustains us all, it gives us the strength to take the sometimes difficult but morally right decisions, it is the source of true empathy and it is the comradeship each individual shares that is the source of selflessness and inspiration for mortification and sacrifice. It is the Ground of All Being, the Source of Beauty, and it is the player of all the parts. To paraphrase Ibn al’Arabi, the Sufi poet, “The Force sleeps in the rock, dreams in the plant, stirs in the animal . . . and awakens in Man”.

There is scope for followers to simply view Jediism as a philosophy, or way of life. Many people (especially the younger generations) are aghast at the atrocities and violence committed in the name of religion. Some Jedi prefer to avoid the word ‘religion’ to describe their theological beliefs, ethical framework and way of life. We do not insist that members use the word ‘religion’ – even if that is what Jediism actually is. The benefits that accrue to followers of Jediism are not compromised by which word they use to classify it.

Whilst we are open to different perspectives, self-realisation and individual paths these paths all head in broadly the same direction as signposted by our belief system. An example of this would be Quietism: there are people who label themselves as Jedi, promoting an exclusively Quietist doctrine. The Jediism of TOTJO is not compatible with an exclusively Quietist doctrine – we promote action when appropriate and judicious use of our powers of intervention (Maxim #20).

In the same way, followers may adopt Jediism alongside any other religion, as long as this does not cause doctrinal conflict. Many Christian Jedi equate The Force to the Holy Spirit and this causes no theological dissonance. A fundamentalist Christian who accepts the literal truth of the Bible would not be welcome to constantly attack Jediism for heretical beliefs. To use a well-known metaphor, the descriptions possible of Jediism are a little like the Indian story of blind men describing an elephant. Here is the Jain version:
“Six blind men were asked to determine what an elephant looked like by feeling different parts of the elephant's body. The blind man who feels a leg says the elephant is like a pillar; the one who feels the tail says the elephant is like a rope; the one who feels the trunk says the elephant is like a tree branch; the one who feels the ear says the elephant is like a hand fan; the one who feels the belly says the elephant is like a wall; and the one who feels the tusk says the elephant is like a solid pipe.
A king explains to them:
All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently is because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all the features you mentioned.”

Many interpretations of Jediism are possible and it is only in aggregate that it is possible to draw up a more complete picture. The point is that none of these range of descriptions are wrong – they are merely incomplete. Indeed – it is only through acceptance of different perspectives, coupled with knowledge, wisdom and experience, that a complete picture can be drawn.

From this we can lay out a framework for what Jediism is, when viewed as a religion:
a) As Jedi we worship and venerate The Force.
b) The Force is ineffable but it is the ubiquitous and metaphysical power that is the underlying, fundamental nature of the Universe, The Ground of All Being and Manifestation.
c) It is omnipotent, omnipresent (therefore immanent), limitless, eternal, transcendent, creative and cyclic.
d) As human beings we are all embedded and imbued with this power but in modern society we do not typically even notice it. We ignore it – much like a fish is ignorant of the water in which it lives.
e) Union with the Force is achieved through worship and contemplation (meditation): the direction of conscious attention away from the self, and towards The Force.
f) The effect of this Union is profound. Our energies cease to be limited to our meagre individual will, The Force is released to act through us. This energy does not manifest in the form of ‘supernatural’ power but in a resolute and perpetual drive to empathy and love for all sentient beings, and in a drive to bring them into that same Union that we experience.
g) The Maxims and Teachings in the TOTJO doctrine (https://www.templeofthejediorder.org/doctrine-of-the-order) are the behaviours and actions that are manifestations, and evidence of this Union. These behaviours and actions include, but are not limited to: empathy, generosity, patience, peace, compassion, loyalty, commitment, courage, humility, fearlessness, honesty, discipline, integrity and harmony.
h) The ethical and moral frameworks outlined in our application are the simplest ways to summarise the net effect of this Union with The Force.
i) The Force does not compete, dwell on its goodness, or bathe in the light that it brings - and neither do the Jedi. We let go and move on.

Union with The Force will not look identical for all individuals. Particularly in the early stages of this awakening, it will be in the form of a unique transformation for each individual. Jediism is not a cult and we not engage in theological brainwashing to manipulate people into a single, uniform, tightly constrained ideology.

Rather, as the transformation continues, the steps are akin to Jungian individuation whereby individual characteristics, understandings and experiences are synchronised into a cogent, cohesive and sincere whole. This ‘whole’ commonly manifests itself as an appreciation of things as they really are, without the fog of assumptions, incorrect conclusions and stereotyping that often cloud our direct perceptions. The engine in a car contains pistons, spark plugs, camshafts, cylinders and many different individual parts. When arranged correctly they form what can be adequately described as one, fully integrated, engine. Jediism is like this.

I hope this short talk has gone some way to explaining what Jediism is. If you would like to learn more or join our movement, please visit www.templeofthejediorder.org.

Thank you, and May The Force be with you Always.