The Great Holocron: A Community Learning Tool

Hello everyone! It has been sometime since I have been active in the Jedi Community, and I was hoping to try to get reconnected with many individuals, not only by conversing here but also by attempting to refound and collect many older pieces of Jediism teachings. I've collected knowledge by many of it's former and still current members, and I am opening up a new discussion and teaching community called The Great Holocron . According to SW lore, the Great Holocron was the largest repository of Jedi knowledge in the galaxy. It contained every teaching from ever practitioner and master of the Jedi Order.

I am seeking to create such a repository for the Jediism community. When a site is closed down, along with it goes priceless kernels of wisdom from members of our community that will never be recovered. The community's goal is to create not only a discussion community for Jedi, and all other metaphysical believers, but also to organize it around an infrastructure that remains permanent and requires no physical or monetary upkeep. In other words: It will not fade. It will always be there.

If you would like to help out with the community, please send me an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

May The Force Be With You!

This is a good idea. But I have several questions.

What counts as being worth including in the library? Do you just name a topic and people post ideas and discuss? If so that is just a forum.

Do you post a topic and then have people comment what their thoughts are with no discussion? If so then you have only a snapshot of information. Views change all the time and in the future a member might want to have what they originally posted completely different.

Is it just a library of books? That's a nice idea, but the potential gain in wisdom is limited if we cannot talk about those books.

I write this with the assumption that this is quite literally like you have posted. A repository.

I'm just wondering how much of a repository is it going to be in relation to just how much of a forum it will be.

But if this is a standard Jediism forum then while I wish you well in creating another community there doesn't seem much point as there are already communities that exist.

I wish you all the best of luck either way.

Usually, when a discussion is started (provided it keeps its initial topic) it ends up in one opinion common to all while each individual may have minor additions for people aren't always alike.
Now, one issue still open is, that the constellation of people on different communities may also vary and therefore, if similar topics are opened in multiple communities, their results may be quite different as well.
Maybe, The Great Holocron could be a community of representatives for all the other communities, who represent the position of the community in a discussion on that topic, where they would compare the opinions and find an opinion, that would satisfy all the represented Jedi. While this is would still be no ultimate truth and expandable or changable in future times and generations, this could be a valid Jedi teaching for the time being.

What do you think?

Hello, Seer. Your name seems familiar to me, and I'm wondering if I haven't seen you before at JEDI or DEGA with Relan Volkum. If you've been in the Jedi scene for a while, then you know the Great Holocron was attempted before, and it wasn't that great.

The number one problem was simple things creeping in, like Force Balls, and such exercises. Or people talking about how to lift boulders with their minds. Without a standardized curriculum, in my personal opinion, I feel the Great Holocron project is potentially doomed to failure. It's one of the reasons I decided to stay here is because of the standardized entry curriculum. Everyone goes through the same process to a point.

I can't remember how many times a Great Holocron has been attempted, but it's been a few. In any case, I feel the potential for a database of knowledge is always good, I'm just unconvinced this will end well.

Though I should probably stop with being a Negative Netty.

So this Great Holocron will be open discussion and debate on matters, and a collection of "kernels of wisdom"? How is the wisdom selected? How is it vetted? I can see where the potential is, and I hope it goes well. I would feel compelled to inject my own bits if I didn't think I needed to learn more. I still feel my training is incomplete, but then I don't think it will be a feeling I will ever get over.

I wish you luck, Seer, and if I can help in some way I will do so.

May The Force be with you, Seer, always.
-Halcyon

Greetings, and thank you all for the replies!

First, let me elaborate a little more on lore and what a holocron is and is not. According to canon, a jedi holocron is not merely a repository of knowledge, but rather it is an interactive knowledgebase that contained not only the wisdom and teachings of the master who made it, but also his collective experiences and his personality. This allowed anyone who accessed the holocron to be able to carry on an actual conversation and be taught, in a classroom or mentor setting, just like you would with a flesh and blood. So this allowed things like debates and conversations to be had, and not simply turning pages in a book (of course, why would you have a read only holocron if they have books?!).

So I think it's important to point out that The Great Holocron community is not simply read only. It's a community that's interactive and takes the community of knowledge and allows it to be shared and discussed around a framework that requires no upkeep, security or financial support to maintain. It's the perfect solution for both disinterest and inactivity that I am sure many of you understand, may come and go.

Second, I think it's important to lay to rest the concerns and beliefs that Jediism requires a specific set of curriculum, or dogmatic principles that are universally accepted or believed in. Part of the reasons I became a member of, and participated in, the Jedi Community for as long as I have, is because of it's decentralization. I have found no tales among serious students who seek knowledge or experience, understanding of the human condition, and a wider aspect of the Force, who spoke of "lifting boulders" or other nonsense.

I believe, with respect, that it is arrogant to take ownership, or at least decree what is acceptable to be taught, and what is unacceptable. This is something that is akin to the Catholic Church's teachings during the medieval time periods and something that should be approached with caution. Certainly it is laudable to reject obvious nonsensical ideas (such as, lifting boulders, force balls, etc;), however I would think it more of an academically safe approach to allow the collective common sense and experiences of the community as a whole to decide the merits of such things. This is, as opposed to the current setting I believe exists here, where a select few debate and decide what is to be taught, and what is not to be taught. This leads to not only, and again, with respect, arrogance, but also to mistakes and lost knowledge. Who is to say what is not possible and what is possible, through the force. I am reminded of a christian proverb, "With God, all things are possible." Should such things not be true also, to the force?

In the end, this community exists for it's members, and the major difference is that three years from now, the site will still remain accessible to the public. This is because it requires no up keep and it does not rely upon security infrastructure or monthly/yearly commitments from anyone. When a Jediism community is closed, along with it goes the accumulation of knowledge, wisdom and experiences of all it's members. That is a tragedy and should never be the case again. That is the mission behind the Holocron project.

Seer, if that's how you feel then I support your efforts one hundred percent.

Upon further reading of my own post, it was a bit callous, and I'm sorry about that. I would love to be a part of your efforts in whatever way I can.

May The Force be with you, Seer, always.
-Halcyon

I haven't been here for a long time, though I do not believe, that, for instance, on this community here, you have anything different. There are teachings that come with other philosophies and religions and that is not a matter of decision, but of fact, whether they are part of Jediism (it remains a matter of decision though, whether they are combinable or contradictory to Jedi beliefs). But everyone here, for what I got, has the opportunity to learn the knowledge that is considered specifically Jediist, in some cases even knowledge that is beyond Jediism and related ideas, and of course, besides the learning through this community, there is also the world out there all the members here can gain their knowledge and wisdom from.
I do not see, that there is information of philosophical or ethical value (not including concrete examples or real life stories), that would be restricted or changed to the way our leaders (if that's the way one would call them) would like us to get it. I think, that this community here is tolerant and transparent enough, thus we neither are hiding anything from the one who wants to learn nor we are teaching anyone anything he or she would not want to learn. We do not teach maths here, for that is not why we are here and there are other platforms doing that job. But what is Jedi information can be gained here by anyone who wants while it is not being forced to the ones who don't (they do neither need to start any programme nor even to join, after all).
While I appreciate the enthusiasm behind the idea of another Jedi community, the only point I would see why one more could be founded, is, to eventually unite all the different (serious) Jedi societies already present.

Seer wrote: This is, as opposed to the current setting I believe exists here, where a select few debate and decide what is to be taught, and what is not to be taught. This leads to not only, and again, with respect, arrogance, but also to mistakes and lost knowledge. Who is to say what is not possible and what is possible, through the force.

I understand your concern, but we have never positioned ourselves to be the alpha and omega of Jediism. We have our own teachings on what we think Jediism is about but we haven't, and never will, proclaim to be the only valid Jediism site.

There are lots of Jedi communities, I don't ever really interact with any of them but I know others here do. I like what is taught here but that doesn't mean I would hate and ignore what other groups of Jedi teach.

But thank you for clarifying what you mean. It sounds more like a database to me, which is a nice idea though you would probably have to start fresh as just trying to back up this website would take quite a lot! I doubt many members here have read posts and threads that I remember commenting on nearly 4 and a half years ago! lol

I would be interested to see how your project develops. I had one suggestion though. I don't know if you have ever read The Great Jedi Holocron, it's very interesting and about 1800 pages long (I have yet to read it all) but if you get the chance that could be the sort of thing you might want.

The way it works is basically just hundreds of people each write a small component so that you end up having a massive tome on pretty much every subject. Might be worth looking into.

(The Great Jedi Holocron)
http://www.fileboar.com/download/5579412/22327641/The%20Great%20Jedi%20Holocron.pdf

How does a site exist without money?

How about site upgrades, better software, spam filters, hosting fees, to name some issues?

We are pretty bare bones here as very few donate, and our founder bares the brunt of the cost....

He doesn't complain, he does it with love...

He doesn't visit other sites asking people to come to us, they find us on their own....

What select few pick topics? Honestly, few topics are refused, even this one, where you are looking for members to begin your own thing, is tolerated...

And, I'm happy our members have responded as they have...

With politeness for your idea, yet love, happiness, and contentment with our theology, and ideology here at TOTJO...

As far as the different Jedi Communities...

I speak for myself, yet I think/I believe, we all wish them well....

It is this diversity, and difference between us that allows us to grow....

Different Jedi races exist in the fiction, and although we are all human (I'm pretty sure! ), that kind of idea is seen with the difference in what we do/say/stand for/use in our training....

Good luck...

And I hope your journey is exactly what you need, and looking for....

I can see you felt offended by my post, Jestor. I apologize and I hope you understand that despite making himself ready, a man in a desert cannot be visited by many. What I mean by this, is that regardless of how or when you started, you had to have created at least some visibility. Certainly now you do not feel the need to advertise your community, because it is a wonderfully large and well organized thing. I commend you and your community members on this and I too hope to share in your wisdom, and experiences. But wisdom would suggest that it's important to remember where we come from, regardless of how long ago that was.

My site has no need for financing,nor software nor spam filters or hosting fees. This is the crux of the issue that makes The Great Holocron project unique; no one person, or group of people, bares the burden of anything. Invisionfree as a company makes it a commitment to maintain their own servers and software and they routinely update it. I have been using it for many years and I have not discovered a better software available to people at no cost. To make a community avilable to share knowledge, one does not need to know php,html, apache systems or SQL Databases. You only need a desire to learn, work together and share with kindness, humility and love, the collective experiences of our lives. That is what makes the community, more so than any type of forum software or security feature.

As for my comment regarding topics chosen, I apologize if you saw offense by this. I was merely responding to the concern about how we choose what is to be included in the Great Holocron project. I meant no disrespect and I only made a cursory examination of your teachings, and insofar as what I read, I deduced that you have staff which approves certain things to be taught, and others are not. Is this incorrect?

I sense a little hostility towards my project and for that I am truly sorry. In my time among the Jedi community, I have learned that we as Jedi, regardless of our country of origins, our sexual, religious, or political orientation and indeed, the community we come from, must work together. Collaboration breeds greater knowledge and a wider scope of experience, wisdom and fellowship. This benefits not only each other, but ourselves as well.

Halcyon, I will be in touch with you privately, and I am glad to hear your willingness to pitch in.