When is the Path Restricting?

This is in reference to any path. Because most of you came to the Jedi Path because something was missing from whatever you came from.

Why do you choose to leave the path you are on? Is it because it doesn't match your beliefs, or is it because you could not find a way to reconcile your beliefs within the restriction of the path?

At what point do you feel that you have evolved beyond the path and it can no longer teach you? Or do you feel that people who believe the path is restricting their experience in life is just an excuse?

Interested in seeing the responses.

Well I decided to leave the path I was on because it wasn't really a path. I was just letting life happen around me with a vague notion of how to get to where I wanted. I've chosen to leave that path because 'just following' everyone else's seems to have been slowly corroding me.

I believe the people around me did restrict me to this 'path' because for them life has set goals, you go from A to B to C and so on. I realized eventually that I didn't think that way, maybe I want to skip B and go to H. It's been hard to break from that path because there are so many years of social pressure wanting to restrict me.

I want to experience life not be tied down by what others tell me is "truth" or just take their word for it.
Of course, that's not true with all things, obviously..
But when it comes to a path.. I know it's time for a change when I notice no progression on my end.

I chose to leave the path of Catholicism because I did not want to feel like I had to live my life according to the beliefs of a book written centuries ago that would never change. I believed that the book that I had read was wrong about certain issues because of the time period it was written in. I still retain my faith in God but I felt that the Bible was not "The Word of God" merely a book written by men in a time period with many social issues. Catholics/Christians tend not to agree with me on that idea lol. I felt that a God who truly loved his followers would have spoken something much shorter and less restricting...maybe something like "Love, Learn and Be Kind". I feel those 3 words make for a better belief than all the other stuff that was included in that massive book.

I feel that you do not ever evolve PAST "the path" but rather that you branch off of it. You incorporate new beliefs, new knowledge and new experiences into your own path and go your own way while still keeping true to the core beliefs that make up your conscience. If you can find a religion/path that fulfills your core beliefs, grow with it.

What of the path? Part of the point of sharpening your tools is to also forge more of the path when the time comes.....for you to progress on. And not just for you, but others on it as well.

In fact it shows a certain amount of progression to stick with something, even if the gratification isn't of the self, or as instant.

Never said I would stop forging my path, only that I would follow my own path...not be restricted to following one that may not follow the direction that I want to go. Suppose there are two paths through a forest...A and B...and my life's journey is to reach an "Easter Egg" in the forest between them. Should I merely keep following path A or B because everyone else is doing it? No, I would begin to forge my own path off of whichever path got me closest to my "Easter Egg". If others choose to follow me...so be it. I would hope that if one of those people's "Easter Eggs" is actually a "Marshmallow Peep" lying somewhere else in the forest...well I would hope that they would forge their own path to reach it as well.

I decide that a path is restricting when I feel that it is no longer taking me somewhere I want to go.

That could either be because my definition of where I want to go has changed, or because it becomes apparent that the path in question is not serving any goal or purpose of mine, or is doing so poorly.


A path is restricting when it stops being a path and becomes an end in itself.

What value is following any path, be it Jedi or other, when it stops impelling us to do things, learn things or otherwise better ourselves or the world? There's no purpose to being a Jedi just to call one's self a Jedi without putting in the work, study or effort to become a better Jedi.

I guess its never anyone elses path but your own, even if choosing to track along, or alongside, other paths and sometimes they might be right there and we don't even notice. Perhaps the Jedi path is just the walking on your own path in a truthful, honest, open and constructive way?

I did not necessarily leave the path I was on before, my path has just lead me here. My beliefs and faith remain the same, and they coincide with that of this order. I personally believe your path, is singular. One straight journey, a single road that is simply fogged. Each choice you make, clears your path and enlightens you by showing you where you must then go. Knowledge is infinite, and as long as we strive to learn, we can continue to gain knowledge.

A person who feels as if their path is being restricted, I believe, have simply restricted their own path. Whether it be that they allowed doubt to cloud it, or because they have let fear darken it. One's path can always be made clear, and they are always allowed to advance. As long as they treat their mind as limitless, then so becomes their path.

Passion is a crutch, peace is the truth.
Through peace I gain serenity.
Through serenity I gain knowledge.
Through knowledge I gain understanding.
Through understanding I gain wisdom.
The Will of the Force will guide me.

I believe this version of the Jedi Code, fits this discussion best. For once you gain wisdom, your path becomes clear and it will no longer be restricted.

Why did I leave my former path? One word answer: evidence.

I can understand faith in something that can't be proven wrong, but I will never understand faith in something that has a plethora of evidence against it. And when I would show this evidence to those I believed were my spiritual leaders the most common answer I got was to believe anyway, God is testing us.

A quote by Edmund Way Teale seems appropriate here:

"It is morally as bad not to care whether a thing is true or not, so long as it makes you feel good, as it is not to care how you got your money as long as you have got it."

MTFBWY,
LTK