When is the Path Restricting?

Streen wrote: Those are deep questions, Alethea

I came to the Jedi path from nothing. I had no religion, no philosophy, no spirituality. I suppose you could say that I came to the path with an empty cup.

But then, all this talk to "paths" really just reminds me of Taoism. The ancient symbol for the Tao represents a person walking on a path. So there really isn't any other path than the one you are always on.

Same here...

I didnt know the Tao, or any of this stuff you guys called stuff...

Only that I ws on my path... You cant stop it, you cant step off of it, it continues...

Deal with it...

I feel that you do not ever evolve PAST "the path" but rather that you branch off of it.

You cant branch off of it either Resticon...

You CAN however control it...

Sorry, I didnt answer your question...

It becomes restricting, right when I am ready to move to the next level of my growth...

Then, with practice the next level gets easier...

Khaos wrote: Yeah...well, I wonder what the world would be like without passion. No music, art, philosophy. No science, martial arts, no JEDI,hell...there wouldnt be much of anything.

Passion moves the world, when you are passionate(even for peace) it is hardly a crutch. No moreso than the blood in your veins.

I agree, we need passion, and drive...

I think that version refers to the obsession of a passion, placing all other important aspects of ones life/path...

Life is one fine line to walk...lol...

Alethea Thompson wrote:

Learn_To_Know wrote: 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.

I loathe cop-out answers like that...It shows a complete lack of respect for the path a spiritual leader is on. I've stopped trying to find a church because of answers like "Just have faith in God" and "God is testing you".

But I would love to take a stab at the evidence you present. I'm one of the few people that can write up an entire argument against God, and turn around and then write the counter argument to it. It was for this very skill that I was asked to help an aspiring pastor with a high school homework assignment because his teacher and partner refused to give him the respect of debating a different topic.

I'm not a fan of those cop-out answers either. The evidence I presented to them wasn't about God but about Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism.

I'm very familiar with Dawkins and Hitchens and their takes on God. But then I've also had experiences happen to me that can't be explained (at least not now) by Science and hence why I believe in the Force. It's a balance

MTFBWY,
LTK

I do not follow any path other than the path of LOVE.

My faith, my religion is LOVE.
If it does not help me to learn to love more,
then it is not worth my time.

It is as simple as that.

And yes, the Jedi faith does help with learning to love more in that:

1. It is a faith of understanding, not condemnation.
2. It is a faith of acceptance, not judgementalness.
3. It is a faith of love, not hate.
4. It is a faith of peace, not war.
5. It is a faith of light, not darkness.
6. It is a faith of giving, not receiving.
7. It is a faith of pardon, not injury.
8. It is a faith of knowledge, not ignorance.
9. It is a faith of harmony, not chaos.
10. It is a faith of codes, not laws.

That is my opinion of the Jedi faith and why I follow it.

Ben Nobody wrote: I like your answer Lykeios. Here is a Zen quote I like:

Anything we fully do is an alone journey.
Natalie Goldberg

I like that quote as well. Not sure what makes it "Zen"... but then I don't know much about Zen. :laugh:

Here's my response to the quote though:

In being alone we are all together.

scott777ab wrote: And yes, the Jedi faith does help with learning to love more in that:

1. It is a faith of understanding, not condemnation.
2. It is a faith of acceptance, not judgementalness.
3. It is a faith of love, not hate.

7. It is a faith of pardon, not injury.

That is my opinion of the Jedi faith and why I follow it.

I agree with you on your overall premise and on most of your points, but there are a few I'd like to offer a response to. Please don't take this as me being rude or presumptuous, I'm simply offering opinion. Also, these questions and comments aren't directed only at you, Scott, but are open for anyone to discuss if they so please.

scott777ab wrote: 4. It is a faith of peace, not war.

Can there be peace without war?

scott777ab wrote: 5. It is a faith of light, not darkness.

I'd like to think that its a faith that embraces both. For without "darkness" there can be no "light" and vice versa, yes?

scott777ab wrote: 6. It is a faith of giving, not receiving.

In giving of ourselves we receive the gift of being more than what we are. No?

scott777ab wrote: 8. It is a faith of knowledge, not ignorance.

The more I know the less I understand. The more I understand the less I know.

scott777ab wrote: 9. It is a faith of harmony, not chaos.

All things come from chaos/entropy and will return to chaos/entropy. Isn't there harmony in chaos and chaos in harmony? As light comes from darkness and darkness from light; chaos comes from harmony and harmony from chaos.

scott777ab wrote: 10. It is a faith of codes, not laws.

What do the codes conceal? Aren't codes just a way of ciphering information that must then be deciphered? Or are we talking about a completely different sense of the word code when we talk about codes?

You never evolve beyond the path because it is just a continuous line. It is only when you look back do you see how far you come. The path continually teaches, even when you are a master you continue to learn. You think you understand patience and then an event happens that can make you realize that you have more to learn about patience. Sometimes the path may seem hard and you may struggle with it for some time, maybe you enter a dead zone for a time, but you keep growing because that is Nature. Nature is about Evolution and not stagnation, what stagnates, what doesn't serve Nature dies off. But sometimes we are climbing mountains and then one day we get to the top and look back and simply just go "...wow." We see everything in a different light.

I am not sure if I will hit the mark with restrictions... I'll put two parts.

Part 1: If we are talking about behavior that is something else. What is "restrictions?" Is restrictions what is taboo? There are people who choose to challenge the taboo, the "left hand path." Satanism, Sith, Order of Nine Angles, Sethism, yeah the left hand path serves another purpose. I heard one purpose describing it as trying to shock your consciousness awake from this life. Challenging taboos has it place, I mean look at revolutions or the Civil War. Yay for challenging slavery!

Part 2: If people are very disgruntled about restrictions then it is probably they do not understand why the restrictions are there for. It is like telling someone do 10 push-ups every day and add 5 or ten more each weak. Maybe the person does not understand this and feels disgruntled about adding more work to do, but it pays off with upper body strength. Or another example is practicing katas (sp?) every day in martial arts, maybe you do not get the benefit now, but through this training, it trains your body how to react unconsciously. Restrictions forms unconscious mental training?

Personally answering the question:
I have never really chosen to leave the path I was on, because the path I am on is towards enlightenment. It really has not involved labels. Was I apart of the Christian church once? Kind of, but I always kept my distance. When I look at the Christian church, I see the Truth that lies within it. Is there certain parts of religions I find myself hard to re-council with? Yes, actually, I am not very ritualistic, I do not "worship" and I certainly do not have faith in God(s). So as much as I see the Truth that is within various religions I have a very agnostic/atheist approach when it comes to Super All-Powerful beings. The closet path to every match my beliefs is that of Buddhism and of course Jediism and to a point Druidism. I've never evolved from this path because I just continue onward. I get knocked down and pick up just where I left off.