The Block

Good morning, Jedi everywhere and May the Force be with you.

I do hope your week will go well.

Today's meditation is on teaching number 11:
"The Jedi practise living in universal compassion, understanding the phenomena of our environment. We cultivate a particular sensitivity to when feelings of fear, anger, hatred, and aggression germinate within us. These emotions are among our limitations as incarnated, organic beings. We bring to these feelings hope, pardon, and love in equal measure to bring us back into balance with the movement of the Force."

We live in the ordinary world.

Universal compassion can be tricky.

As Jedi, we believe in the Force, and in the inherent worth of all life within it.

Inherent comes from "not us."

It is a worth that is equal around the ordinary world.

You cannot do anything for it. It is yours to receive freely.

There is a liberty to being Jedi.

One of the liberties a Jedi can take is the ability to treat others with inherent compassion.

Not just others but everything connected.

The huge "phenomena" some days is that we are all connected in so many ways.

Our relationships and connections are how we are attached to the ordinary world. 

Now, as Jedi, we think we got it covered but the truth is we need all the practice we can get as well.

How?

How are we connected?

There is a reaction to things we begin with. We learn it in the beginning of our lives, and it moves with us till we realize its presence.

Do you know when you get upset, angry, aggressive or afraid?

These are moments to consider.

Furthermore, there are even more ways to react than just "automatically."

"These emotions are among our limitations as incarnated, organic beings."

We all have these feelings of fear, hatred, aggression and anger.

We bring .......

as the Creed states ...

Hope

Pardon

Love

We are reminded as Jedi to be bringers of these things. To be seekers and keepers of these. 

Use them to combat anger.

Use them to combat fear.

Use them to combat aggression.

Use them to combat hate.

One of the solutions to these common states of mind is to be aware they happen.

As Jedi, our perspectives are different by the things we understand.

If we can understand that we all develop the same way, then we can begin to understand how we are all connected. 

Now, what happens when you are a "bringer" of such things? 

What happens if you are a keeper of such things? 

This teaching reminds us " in equal measure."

There is an idea out there that everything looks like the head of a nail to those who hold the hammer.

That which we focus on can determine our reality.

There is a universal idea in which; if we stare all day at the proverbial "bad," it will beget itself.

In the ordinary world, things beget themselves.

In essence, " your vibe attracts your tribe" is a good way of thinking that what you focus on, makes up your reality.

In equal measure can mean that there is equal potential in some other direction or perspective.

Where there is hatred, bring love.

Equally, there is love as there is hate.

Equally, there are list of things happening that are what we consider good and bad and not even sided.

Today can be the greatest day of my life or the worst or, just a normal day. This is the potential of life. At any given moment we can reach any potential.

When finding out these things, common development happens.

Compassion fatigue is real, and you can burn out on caring for others and even serving them.
Salt can turn useless or preserve anything depending on how it is used.
How our perspective lies some days, flavor our world.
The sun will come up today. How will you react today?
Understand your environment.
Take the time to understand your own environment.
Connect with it

Realize, we as humans, have these things in us.

We hate and get angry and upset and set off by things as well. Do you think Jedi have some grand calmness that just AUTOMATICALLY shows up? You must work for results most time. (edited)

This is cultivation.
So, it is my hope that as you have this week - start it off with something to think about. 


"The Jedi practise living in universal compassion, understanding the phenomena of our environment. We cultivate a particular sensitivity to when feelings of fear, anger, hatred, and aggression germinate within us. These emotions are among our limitations as incarnated, organic beings. We bring to these feelings hope, pardon, and love in equal measure to bring us back into balance with the movement of the Force."

Bring it!

Bring it Jedi.

Bring love, pardon and hope to the party next time fear, anger, hatred and aggression show up.

Pull the "big guns" out.

Do something different.

Add the Force and change the results, every time.


May the Force be with you,
Pastor Carlos

Let us begin

I do hope you and those who tune in are well.

What ever the time is you get to join in , May the Force be with you

Today is Teaching 12

https://www.templeofthejediorder.org/index.php/doctrine

You can find all of them here.

Now, teaching 12 hails from our Creed.

Our Jedi Creed states this ...

This is the beginning part of it: I am a Jedi, an instrument of peace.

Where there is hatred I shall bring love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.

I am a Jedi.

In our Creed are these ideas

We are Jedi.

Unconditional love and compassion are our banner.

and not just a blind wholesale version either.

Our Teaching here, invite us to give just enough to sway the change. (edited)

This is a very odd and different things to teach.

Can you give or create or bring enough to "sway or tip the scales?"

Our environment can adjust.

it can change

it can even flow to its own tune.

Times are tough right now.

There is no denying the truth that in 2024- people are uneasy and off center.

I myself get thrown off often by life itself.

As Jedi, we are reminded of the difference that can be had.


"Where imbalance arises, we bring only so much love, pardon, faith, hope, clarity, and joy as is necessary to restore the dynamic equilibrium in our phenomenal environment."

" We bring only so much ..."

There is a measure that is needed sometimes to be reminded.

In life, the need to be reminded often happens.

There is a old Josph Campbell saying in which " The hero often forgets."

This is true.

We forget often we can be the love and not just the love that is needed but the right amount of it too.

So, here are my Monday Morning Mediation questions for today if you like...

How much Love is necessary?

How much "Pardon" do you have on you or in you?

How much faith and what quality of it do you bring or have?

Where does you hope lie?

Where do you get clarity from? Where do you keep it?

Where are your "Joys?"

Reflect on such things and you may find out much more about yourself and about your own life.

Being a Jedi is not just a cinema thing.

It is much more.

This is the ordinary world. We live in it. As such, we are prone to all the good bads and what ever flows our way.

Some will tell and teach you just give until you understand or just give a measure blindly...

I recommend you understand what you're giving and keeping.

Mind your thought, feeling, and will, as we are all beings of these three. (Jedi teaching 5) (edited)

Is our thought, feelings and will a part of the Force or do we force it?

So this Monday we are reminded that we as Jedi can have a central focus. We all do. We all care. It all glows in us pretty much the same.

It can become fatigued by what we see around us or by what happens.

Our "light" or what we glow or shine can become dim. (edited)

I do

I no longer live in the "hood," yet my family is still there.

I no longer live in a state of constant terror and fear...

But someone does.

It is ok to care. We all care. Jedi care.

Please please please please please undertand this - we all care.

In our care, in our share of care, we will find a few pitfalls.

We can care to much.

Today's reminder is to give enough to sway the outcome. Give enough of a reminder that things go the way they would.

We do not always have to " do it all" that's not the point.

As a Jedi - I often think it's all up to me. The whole thing, all the world's problems are on my shoulders and that could not be furthest from the truth. 



"Bring only so much."



Want to be different and make a difference- just bring enough. Just a measure. Keep just enough and you will have enough to share. 

There are some who just give out like a river or a cloud of rain, just pour it out! What I am recommending is you just give it out in smaller amounts and more concentrated.

Give a bit more by giving less.

So, today, start the week off with the idea of just enough to sway the outcome. Keep just enough to give away. Try that.


May the Force be with you this week, wherever you may be. Any questions? (edited)

Comments concerns invitations to parties' bar mitzvah's skating rink invitations anything like that please feel free to send them!

Good habits can be made just like bad ones.

Masks can be shed.

No truer is the mask of compassion. It matters HOW we care as well and how much.

Jedi matter.

It does matter.

Our actions matter.

May the Force be with you all, Pastor Carlos
 

Good morning, Jedi, wherever you may be.

May the Force be with you were ever you may hail from today.

Today's Monday morning meditations is a good one. 

"The Jedi cultivate empathy with others. Maintaining a keen sensitivity to when the feelings of fear, anger, hatred, and aggression move within us, we empathically and compassionately comprehend how these feelings also arise in others. Those whom we perceive as adversaries also share these limitations. With this understanding, we respond to imbalance so as to return harmony to the flow of interactions."

Empathy

The ability to understand and share with each other.

We as Jedi cultivate empathy. 

There are a few ways to do this, so this morning, I would like to share a few.

Life has a way of dwelling in the attachments or the connections we have.

Are you a listener? 

Do you understand everything everyone is going through? 

The reality is no one ever understands everyone and everything.

Understanding this is to understand that there is always something we can be missing as far as our connections or how we connect to one another. We do not and can not see everything.

Being present can help. With empathy, it is wise to stay in the present moment.

Repeating what is stated or said helps to be present.

Keep the facts or the story straight.

Marcia Reynolds Psy.D. recommends that we remember to "Manage your filters. We naturally hear what fits our assumptions and beliefs. We tune out what contradicts our views. Let yourself be surprised by how they define a situation. Look for new details and angles in their story you didn’t expect to hear."

There is a magic and a path often not taken when we "Manage our filters." Give other people the liberty they need.

Give others the opportunity to have the light as well so to speak.

Give the space needed. Give the time needed.

Do not commiserate or take sides too quickly. 

Listen more rather than fill the air with a " yes man" ideas.

Remember, as Jedi, we are not out with the intention to change the world all the time.

The idea to develop a good sense of empathy can be had.

We can practice our version of it.

So, what does your listening look like? How do you listen? 

When do you listen? 

Do you take into account that we are not the only ones alive and going through what we are? 

What do you do to develop your empathy? 

I recommend to all Jedi, read your Jedi teaching as often as you can.

Listen more today than talk or give. There are some days we could listen more than act.

Knowing which, can be up to us.

We, all as Jedi and as people, have this road of development we are on.

We meet on the road of reflection often. 

Listen to the story of others.

Take a listening class, oh yea, they have them.

I took a listening class. I took one on how to interview my family for "Family interviews."

Everyone has a story.


This is a small, yet huge understanding that gets me sometimes. I forget as well. 

At any given time, we as people and Jedi, are in some stage of development.

But we are beings of thought, feeling and will.

So is everyone else.

So too are our circles of connection and influence.

Take some time to reflect on how much you care or what level you care at.

It matters.

If it matters to you, it may matter to someone else.

So today, as we meditate on Doctrine, remember this ...

"The Jedi cultivate empathy with others. Maintaining a keen sensitivity to when the feelings of fear, anger, hatred, and aggression move within us, we empathically and compassionately comprehend how these feelings also arise in others. Those whom we perceive as adversaries also share these limitations. With this understanding, we respond to imbalance so as to return harmony to the flow of interactions.  "

Any questions?

May the Force be with you all this week, 
Pastor Carlos

Good morning and welcome to another week.

Today is Monday and that means we can start this week off together.

This Monday is Jedi teaching number 14.

PAIN

Good morning, Jedi everywhere.

There is a feeling we get that we all share.

We all experience it in some way shape or form.

No one is excluded from this.

In our studies and in our development, we begin to notice patters that happen.

If you think hard enough or notice, life is full of patterns.

Cycles

seasons

It is in these seasons we find the Force.

So this teaching is a reminder of when One of the patterns we can notice is in US. How much do we give away? How far do we go to AID one another?

We are reminded that life is tumultuous.

 Tumultuous

This is a idea that can mean a noticeable or even alert able.

We can notice.

but what are we noticing, truly?

We seek balance.

We strive for it.

and we want to help each other as well.

but here is the thing...

Why help?

As humans who are growing and developing, we want others to join in on this road we are on. It is common.

That want to aid or that drive to defend everyone and everything.

but that's the thing, that's the point. That ZEAL or drive can be easily exhausted.

What is love can turn in just a blink of an eye.

As Jedi, as human, we tend to want to help everyone all the time.

There is a level we can reach called compassion fatigue.

It is a stress response to what is exhaustion or an empty emotional tank.

If left undealt with, it can build up like a leaning tower poorly crafted and set and fall.

So how do we help one another without helping one another? Is that the case ... "I want to help but I don't want to get TOO involved."

There is a active balance that we can have.

There is an active balance in anything we can have.

but this one, the ability to AID one another is one of those that we can over do

You can care too much or even try too hard.

"The clarity of understanding we cultivate permits us to know how and when to offer help to those in need and gives us the courage to do so.  "

Some days our presence can say more than our words.

So, this morning, know your limits in a way that you can know how much you can give.

I know people who give so much of themselves it can become troublesome. 

Knowing how and when to act is the aim some days of development.

Develop your skills with one another.

Balance is not easy in life and nor is being able to help others find their own.

We have limitations.

Jedi have limitations.

We even have limitations on how much we can aid till it becomes overbearing.

There is a point where the protagonist can become the antagonist.

Within our limits

I hope this week, this Monday, you can take this away with you, Within our limits.

Return balance within our limits.

Life is full.

It can be full of many things.

Jedi Teaching 14 " The Jedi seek to return balance to that which has become tumultuous. Pain is one of the few real things we have access to, and as such, we are dedicated to alleviating it insomuch as is within our limitations. The clarity of understanding we cultivate permits us to know how and when to offer help to those in need and gives us the courage to do so. "

It is up to you how and who you AID.


So, here are three different questions to help this week.

Can you notice when things are in need?  Is your "give-a-dam" busted or does it run out?
 
Do you give everything to anyone who asks?

How do you recharge your compassion for one another when it's out?

I will be here all day on Discord for those who have need.

Any questions?

Apprentice WrenPhoenix — Today at 6:24 AM
How do we recognize when we have given too much?

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:24 AM
That is a good question.

Apprentice WrenPhoenix — Today at 6:24 AM
Especially if we are conditioned to give it our all.

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:24 AM
What is too much?

Where did you learn to give your all?

These are questions you can ask yourself and find out.

There is an idea out there that goes like this, too much is too much.

As a Jedi, think. We are beings of thought, feeling and will.

We will find the answers there, in our thoughts, in our feelings and in our will.

Any condition we have we can unconditional.

We can unlearn that which we have learned.

Some days, the reminder is to unlearn a few things.

Where does it come from... to give blindly and to want to just give till you cannot anymore? Is that wise?

It is wise to know and act on your limitations.

@Apprentice WrenPhoenix Do you ever find yourself EMPTY from caring so much? When you give till too much?

This doesn't mean you do not care or want to care.

never

It means you have limits.

It means you can only make so many meals for others before you get hungry yourself.

It can mean that you as well, need that time and effort for your own path.

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:33 AM
Each of us has "tells. "

Each of us has signs.

Some of us understand these signs.

I begin to get grouchy when I am running out of grace.

My kindness runs out.

Thats how I know it's too much, it begins to convert to taxes... it begins to TAKE more than give.

There is a balance you can understand if you try.

It would seem that the world can be called a mess.

The state of the world can be said is in bad shape.

But at the same time, it can be said that there is hope.

Where does this hope come from?

It is our hope we understand more

Exhaustion is one of the tells everyone faces

The feeling like you are being "controlled " is a key observation too.

It changes color or tone or feeling.

You can also give too much when you reached that "numb" feeling as well.

Too much is when we get the withdraws or the " I no longer want to hang" outs happen.

Too much is when it can become mechanical.

Too much is when "their" needs come first.

Too much is when you don't want to be alone or fear being alone.

Too much is when you don't feel like yourself anymore.

Too much is you always want to please.

Too much is full of negative vibes.

too much is being ignored.

Too much is dreading saying NO.

Too much is when your self-esteem is affected.

Too much is when your life is overfilled with drama

Too much is when you don't have time for yourself.

Being Jedi is not for the meek

There are ways to notice what is going on inside.

Reflection is key.

This Monday - Reflect

I am available all day on this platform.

May the Force be with you all, wherever you may be.

Pastor Carlos 

"Following All the Teachings offered here, and as witnessed by the thousands of generations who have come before us, the Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most sincere soul. These teachings are difficult to practise, but their benefits are great. With continuous training, centring and balancing meditation, humble understanding, and receptivity, we may participate in the experience of being alive more fully, more harmoniously, and more creatively. Then we may return into the Force from which we have come by the same integrity with which we have lived. In this way, our Spirit will go forth, bringing balance through love, pardon, faith, hope, light, and some joy to generations yet to come."


Good morning Jedi everywhere

May the Force be with you wherever you may be today at this hour.

Let's get this party started

It is Monday and I would like to thank those who have made time for this live time.

Today we will be chatting about the last Teaching of our Doctrine

Where to begin. There is a hope, a hidden hope we as Jedi can often have. It is often this, when I am gone I hope people will remember my efforts.

This is a hope we all share as human beings

What will we leave behind for future generations?

What will others remeber about us? (edited)

What story will be shared about you?

Will there be LOVE PARDON FAITH HOPE LIGHT or JOY left behind?

How is this possible as a Jedi ?

What we do matters

No doubt

our efforts matter

Where we get our myth matters (edited)

Where we get our love pardon faith hope light and joy matter

It is those things that get left behind

now, the opposite of that spectrum exist as well

We can be remembered for NOT having love pardon faith hope light or joy

We can be remembered for a number of things when we pass.

What we remind everyone as Jedi is that what we do is not easy

It is no walk in the park to meditate

[that's a small meditation joke]

It is not easy to be mindful of others

It is not natural to not be selfish and selfless in some cases

A unattended mind can be as a garden growing wild and not cultivated.

I get to garden on a larger scale this year. There are times I must clear the present moment for the future .

The same can be said for our own thought, feeling and will.

all three can be cultivated or left to grow wild

It is up to us which direction we want to take our paths

to sum things up as far as the teaching go

we want to remind others and Jedi that we can feel the Force

to balance ourself in understanding  and awarness

We are connected by all the cycles of life the Force has present

We are attached to the world, work on it.

We are thought feeling and will.

We practice humility


We foster an acceptance for our limitations

We practice patience, integrity, and know the limitations we have.

We stick to our learning and study.

Love Pardon Faith Hope and Clarity and joy are key

Our example of unconditional love is that of the Force and how it is a part of everything

We cultivate empathy for others

We are reminded of the return we can have if we get out of balance.

The clarity of understanding we can have, is that we are a part of the whole and as a part, we can become aware or get stuck.

We remind one another what we strive for

all these things are what we call our teachings

We want people to know these things are available and free to anyone who would like

They come with a warning as well, they are not for the simple and the easily swayed

What will our circles of family and friends remember about us as Jedi?

How?

It is my hope that as we share and learn together, we also share what we understand

I understand that all of this is not easy.

It is not easy to wake up and think or to rearrange time for study and learning.

It would seem that there is never enough time in the day to accomplish things we would like. I give this to you today, I share this
understanding with you today. I spent time with people on site. I spent some time with a Jedi who has passed many years ago. Their name was Senan. Do you know what was left behind after he passed?
All the time we spent talking about Tequila and beer and the bar scene and how it made a difference to have someone who understood that it was IN life that things happen.

There are those who do leave behind Love Pardon Faith Hope Light and Joy

2
More time that not, it is in the thick of life...
it is in the flow of the Force we find it

It is in the thoughts of Senan telling me to "charge my phone man" that he was telling me to be prepared and ready.

So today, Jedi and friends, I tell you - look at yourself. Take time for you. Study. Reflect.

It is not easy

Do not think it is

and do not think everything we do will be remembered either by everyone

Nope

Most likely, others will remember what was needed to them only.

But that is where life is

In the thick of things

in the life of the flow

in the ebb of life

dwell there Jedi and find all those who have gone before you

In those who are present

Be present

As Jedi, to tell someone to be present is easy but to act on it is not.

In the present moment, we do have much.

"In this way, our Spirit will go forth, bringing balance through love, pardon, faith, hope, light, and some joy to generations yet to come. "

I do hope that these 16 teaching can help create a new part of life you can understand.

A much more different type of understanding

This week, think on these things if you like.

Any questions?

any comments or anything anyone would like to share feel free

"Following All the Teachings offered here, and as witnessed by the thousands of generations who have come before us, the Jedi must
have the deepest commitment, the most sincere soul. These teachings are difficult to practise, but their benefits are great. With continuous training, centring and balancing meditation, humble understanding, and receptivity, we may participate in the experience of being alive more fully, more harmoniously, and more creatively. Then we may return into the Force from which we have come by the same integrity with which we have lived. In this way, our Spirit will go forth, bringing balance through love, pardon, faith, hope, light, and some joy to generations yet to come."

Today is a open type of live chat so if you have questions, concerns

or if you just want to chat

@here here it is
[6:00 AM]
Its wee early on the farm 

Good morning Jedi everywhere
[6:00 AM]
May the Force be with you

where ever you may be

any one have anything they want to chat about ? 

What a mess the world is in recently. I do not do news like I used to

I miss a few days and it seems chaos rules the day

Apprentice Antares 💯 — Today at 6:03 AM
Violence and war is hard for me to understand

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:03 AM
It is hard for everyone to understand

Realizing that the world does not revolve around me is the most "Key" thing I think I can share with Jedi

Apprentice Antares 💯 — Today at 6:04 AM
My mind keeps asking, "How? As a species, why do we do it?" And we keep doing it.

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:04 AM
Finding and keeping peace during times like these can be the difference.

" Realizing what is and is not under our control (and accepting it) may help with uncertainty and chaos.
Stress reduction techniques such as yoga, meditation, taking deep breaths, and sound healing may help.
Individuals who grew up in chaotic families may experience more stress in times of uncertainty and chaos."

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/less-stress-more-peace/202307/finding-peace-during-times-of-chaos#:~:text=Key%20points%201%20Realizing%20what%20is%20and%20is,more%20stress%20in%20times%20of%20uncertainty%20and%20chaos.
Psychology Today

Finding Peace During Times of Chaos


How to deal with chaos and uncertainty in the modern world.
one of the most revealing things in life is how we deal with chaos

How do we be at peace when the world is in chaos ? 

Have a place or a idea to return to when you get lost.

I recommend our Code and our Doctrine

Remind yourself what you are doing as a Jedi and why

Jedi comprehend that we are beings of thought, feeling, and will, who flourish within the Force through self-aware action and lifelong learning.

Be aware of the real things that exist.

Rent or payment is due for something every month for some. For some, days call for responsibility and sacrifice

In the mix of Kids/work Life and what we believe, we can keep a few things handy (edited)

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:12 AM
Love Pardon Faith Hope Light Joy

As Jedi, try to understand more, love more, receive more and pardon more.

How does a Jedi find forgiveness?

They give it away.

To find that which we seek, most time we must keep it handy and give it away.

Life is full of a catch and release way of life. The moment you find it, give it away. Whatever it is. Love- give it- Pardon.

Forgive things to get forgiveness, it's a basic concept.

Give to get.

It's like saying to eat you must give it all away but here is the thing, you will never "starve" when you do this.

We will never starve for love or pardon or faith or hope or light or joy. In the mix of understanding these ideas and in keeping them, we can keep them in reserve or for a time we need to return.

Keep them and understand them so you can get rid of them and give them away.

There is so much you can learn and keep. I have yet to meet a person who has a full brain of information that there is no room. You have room for much much more.

There is always more room for more understanding of these things.




it is odd we have "secret" places these things have room for

In our thought

in our feelings

in our will

these are the places we have space.

We know we do because we hide things there as well.

Hide or place what you need where you need to for the times you need them.

Apprentice Antares 💯 — Today at 6:31 AM
Violence is rare within a population, the United States in particular. And violent crime keeps decreasing. Our population by nature is pretty docile. Yet war happens.

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:31 AM
It's like hiding eggs during the holidays but for the mind heart and will.

@Apprentice Antares 💯
Violence is rare within a population, the United States in particular. And violent crime keeps decreasing. Our population by nature is pretty docile. Yet war happens.

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:31 AM
depends on location and availability but chaos runs in every part of the world.

I am not a fan of violence anymore - I used to be.

Apprentice Antares 💯 — Today at 6:33 AM
Violence does exist more often in different geographic and demographic locations but the numbers for our country are low.

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:33 AM
Things change when you change the inside thought pattern you have. Things change when you begin to "keep" better things inside

Guest Timotheus — Today at 6:34 AM
If we're in harmony with the force, with ourselves, with nature and with each other we have no reason to fear the chaos of the outside world.

Apprentice Antares 💯 — Today at 6:34 AM
Do most people fear?

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:35 AM
fear is natural

Apprentice Antares 💯 — Today at 6:35 AM
Is fear the driving factor?

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:35 AM
where you get conflict is when some things "run" or are the main focus

Guest Timotheus — Today at 6:36 AM
Indeed

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:36 AM
to understand it is our cycles of life that life exist

there are so many cycles - large and small.

fear can be a cycle you can easily get stuck on

Most people get stuck at the "fear door" before they even go INTO understanding of fear.

the old saying "Fear leads to the dark side " comes to mind but if we keep it handy, it will be there (edited)

fear and understanding can quench each other be careful.

Be wary Jedi

Apprentice Antares 💯 — Today at 6:39 AM
Leaders definitely use fear on the masses. So, war can be caused by unscrupulous and ignorant leadership?

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:41 AM
War is cause by or is thought to be caused by ...
Contemporary theories of the causes of war divide roughly into two major schools. One attributes war to certain innate biological and psychological factors or drives, the other attributes it to certain social relations and institutions. Both schools include optimists and pessimists concerning the preventability of war.

War - Conflict, Causes, Consequences | Britannica

@Apprentice Antares 💯
Leaders definitely use fear on the masses. So, war can be caused by unscrupulous and ignorant leadership?

Apprentice Davi-Kar — Today at 6:41 AM
What about the unscrupulous and ignorant masses? 

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:41 AM
but war is always on this planet one way or another.

@Apprentice Davi-Kar
What about the unscrupulous and ignorant masses? 

Apprentice Antares 💯 — Today at 6:42 AM
Especially living in the information era where everyone wants to take a side in every conflict. Even cheering it on.

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:42 AM
The idea of prejudice come to mind. When we "group" people in an open idea together without knowing their names

If we could quench the prejudice that dwells in us, we could make a dent in the world.

we all do it

it comes in every form.

We group people in silly masses or in what we "think" they are.

Its human

Here is a Monday morning meditation practice for every Jedi.

When dealing with others, say their name and rid what little prejudice you have when you want to group people in groups.

People are not "they."

We link and cross cycles with strangers, till we know them.

Heck, your married or linked or live with a stranger till you know them after time. MY kids are strangers till I learn to stop judging them.

Work on your own prejudice.

we all have it and we all do it

I even stopped saying "Ya'll."

Guest Timotheus — Today at 6:48 AM
Lol

A Southern harbor I picked up when I lived in Kentucky.
Habit*

Apprentice Antares 💯 — Today at 6:50 AM
Oh, it comes out of me when my family makes a mess out of the house. Everyone in my mind is responsible for all messes when I am tired of cleaning up after everyone.

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:50 AM
I will tell you a secret, I do not have as many issues with gender or race or even prejudice when I call people by their names.

Guest Timotheus — Today at 6:51 AM
I will definitely meditate on this

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:52 AM
I have even called a perfect stranger "grandma- can I help you? " Now, there is some tack to be used but for the most part, we can rid ourselves of the automatic prejudice that exist. 

I do know I had quite a bit and I still catch myself doing it so it will be a lifelong thing for me.

Prejudice - a negative attitude toward another person or group formed in advance of any experience with that person or group.

Prejudices can include an affective component (e.g., nervousness, anger, contempt, pity, hatred) and a cognitive component (assumptions and beliefs about groups, including stereotypes).

Apprentice Antares 💯 — Today at 6:56 AM
I think living in an extremely diverse environment drains people of a lot of that kind of prejudice. People are so diverse here that I can't even make a guess of what to label them based on appearance. Although sometimes someone will behave a certain way and I will want to pigeonhole them. You're right about always being vigilant about preconceptions.


Prejudice: preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience:


Be well and work on you and your own.. You will not be the same if you do. May the Force be with you Jedi, every where you go.
Pastor Carlos

Eternity is a dimension of here and now. The divine lives within you. The society is the enemy when it imposes its structures on the individual. On the dragon there are many scales. Every one of them says " Thou Shalt." Kill the dragon of "Thou Shalt." When one has killed that dragon, one has become the Child.   Joseph Campbell 

Here we go Jedi

Good day and good time zone Jedi everywhere!

May the Force be with you

Today is a pretty heavy one.

Kill the dragon of " Thou Shalt."

We are given so much at birth. We are given information and ideas.

Depending on where (geographically) and availability, we get what we get.

We, most time, have no control over those two things when we begin.

Thats ok too

All our "info" has been given to us by others till we begin to find it on our own.

In this flow, you find me and you.

We learn.

I want to encourage every Jedi to take some time to understand how YOU learn.

What information and where do you take it from?

It matters.

There is this general idea that when you look at it, it can fall under this simple umbrella. Life is not so simple but to explain this idea I will use this- What we learn comes from others in the beginning.

The idea I want to share today on a Monday, Jedi is this- it is no longer the beginning. Do question things. Do seek things out. Do reflect and find out. The old adage " Seek and you will find" can become a motto some need.

The idea I want to share is this, some of our own information and ways come from others. Someone has told us things are so.


It is one way to learn but here is the " kicker" - what if... just what if you could find out more?

What if you could validate every question, you ever had in your own path? Would you want to know?

As humans, we have an authority flow.

Part of the "gig" or the idea is we learn from each other.

You will NEVER stop people from talking and connecting. It will always find a way, this is part of life. We always find ways to synchronize even if it seems random. It's not.

So, some of us have been given or as some say" spoon fed" information.

There is a set of ideas that form as well from our societies and that's don't make waves.

I am not telling you to not make waves.

I am telling you to make waves.

Rock the boat.

Check out what you think you know and validate it.

I dare you.

Is there a difference in questioning everything and killing the dragon of thou shalt?

There is a flow that says " thou shalt."

You " should"

the "should "

We often use this word - I know I do. 

There is an idea that we should do this or do that.

It even happens to Jedi.

Especially Jedi

Good day Timotheus.

Guest Timotheus — Today at 6:14 AM
I think the "dragon of 'thou shalt'" is just the beginning. A guideline for beginners if you will. But I think as we progress to the spiritual we should begin to see beyond it. Good day pastor Carlos.


There is a book we used to all read together and talk about back in my day, I do hope it returns. The title is called "Freedom from the Know" by Jiddu Krishnamurti

In the beginning, there are elementary ideas we can break or even re shape.

One of those is where we get our information from.

Another is how we learn.

One of the things I began to understand is that there are those who want to tell everyone what to do all the time. I used to be one. I even get into a habit of wanting everything scheduled properly and in a neat row.

Just because I am learning at any rate does not ever mean anyone ever is at that same rate.

This includes Jedi and family as well


Just because I am learning at any rate does not ever mean anyone ever is at that same rate.

Apprentice Resilience — Today at 6:17 AM
Not all rivers flow at the same speed or cover the same length after all.



a good idea to remember.

but in the grand idea, we all develop the same way.

Our times and variations of seasons may be slightly off but we as humans develop the same way.

The ZEAL of what we have learned or have found can over bear everything we do.

It can blind.

Guest Timotheus — Today at 6:19 AM
The is an old saying we can only live by the light we're given. And not everyone is at the same place on the path. Or in some cases even on the same path.

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:19 AM
It can even keep us in the dark

What light do we live by? What light do we share in reality? What does that even mean?

Guest Timotheus — Today at 6:20 AM
The light of conscious awakening?

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:20 AM
is it?

Guest Timotheus — Today at 6:20 AM
I think so

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:20 AM
undertstanding

Guest Timotheus — Today at 6:21 AM
Definitely important

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:21 AM
there is a mode of understanding and of not undertsanding

we share understanding

How we understand things

this is why it is so important to understand things better than to know them.

I can know things all day, but do I understand them?

Do we as Jedi understand it's that influence or its the understanding we have found, that's what we share.

We share in the cycles of life.

The cycle of life is where you find the Force.

in its cycles we find each other

When you say we share understanding- the "light" changes

There are a few many things that say " thou shalt."

Religion says it - Government says it - education says it.

Validate

Change the way you see things.

It may be that we see things by someone else's merit or zeal.

not our own

When things become a part of us as a whole, things change. When we become whole things change

There are those who would tell you to try everything and question everything. I would recomend a different approach to things and remind Jedi that we are not like everyone else. I can not tell you what the Force is or where to seek it. I can only tell you if you seek it, you will find it, but it may not have been what you were looking for or even in the spot you looked for it.


Get past the elementary phase of things.

Go deeper.

Kill the idea of " thou shalt" in your path.

Rid yourself of the authority that came with the gig of life. Validate it

Is that really what you believe or want to put yourself under?

Take some time to think about it before we go into the world swinging our proverbial Knight swords and shields like Don Quixote on missions of great consequence.

Rid the world of "thou shalt."

Rid your world of it.

Want to fight, fight over that.

Duel with the dragon of the past if you like.

Know your limits as a Jedi.

I cannot encourage you enough to take the time for this.

Where do the " thou shalts" in our path come from? Who taught us this? Where did it come from? WHY???? 

I do hope our time together aids in your own development as a human and as Jedi 

Any questions?

Thank you for the time you have taken.

Kill the dragon of "Thou shalt" 

Pastor Carlos 
 

There is an idea or even an argument out there that we are all looking for truth. Well, I will tell you Jedi, you may find the truth in a Maxim.

Maxims are a short, pithy statement expressing a general truth or rule of conduct. A maxim is simply a moral rule or principle, which can be considered objective or subjective, or both, or neither, and dependent on one's philosophy. A maxim is often pedagogical and motivates specific actions.
Take these three ideas for consideration.
There are more but it is 6 in the morning so I figured I would drop three,

*Maxims can help you make decisions in tough situations. 

*Maxims help with focus and grounding. 

*Maxims can remind you of the idea, "nothing is instant."

Maxims can be for thought. Place them in your thought and in your mind. Most time, it does take some time and effort for a Maxim to be remembered or even brought to light. 
Maxims can also be for your feelings and emotions.

For me, Maxims are like seeds. Some seeds take longer and different requirements.
There is a window of opportunity we have at times to receive some understanding. Seeds are ready in their own time and Maxims are like this as well. 
They can help articulate your priorities and life.

Some Maxims result different things at different seasons.

Now, any questions about a Maxim? Insert your questions here or send it to me in a DM.

I can be reached anytime on Discord so, if you did not make it for the LIVE time, feel free to reach out any time.

Monday Morning Meditations is a time you can stop before work or the day and think.

Today we have our first Maxim,

here we go

TRAINING

Training - The purpose of training is to accommodate error without consequence. It is the key to learning and the Jedi Teachings are hazardous without guided practice.

Now, there are mentors.

Good day Timotheus

Guest Timotheus — Today at 6:12 AM
I realize I'm only at the beginning but how are they hazardous? Sorry if this is something you plan to address. Good day pastor Carlos.


No worries, that's a good question. 
Mentors are meant to aid us on our path. Here, we try to give others the room that is needed to understand. Some understanding takes more or less action. A mentor can remind you of a few things you often forget of keep you from getting tunnel vision. As a reminder, when left to our own devices, we tend to choose our own ideas and perspectives first. It is natural, yet a mentor or someone who is in charge of training, they will keep a remember to remove yourself or think less in some way or form. Mentors challenge the way we think most time. They can take us out of our own comfort zone. This is needed. This is important to the process.

Guest Timotheus — Today at 6:13 AM
Indeed


The process left on its own can be very one-sided.

As Jedi, we can have an idea of the forever student or the idea that we are always learning something from someone. I keep a braid often on me. You cannot and will not stop people from teaching and learning from one another. We will use code or write it on the walls or put it in a song. I always recommend if you want to learn something new, find someone who has a working balance of it and ask them. Take some time to make priority for learning. Begin new things and end old ones. Join in on the cycle of life. Training is a cycle of life as is the mentor. Mentors train as well.

Training is important. Find a good mentor. They are everywhere, just waiting for you.

Guest Timotheus — Today at 6:15 AM
I guess it reminds me of something Campbell said, "the psychological crack up is drowning in the water in which the mystic swims"



Thats the thing about mentors, they are just waiting to give you things you may need on your journey.

Without them, you may find what you need, but if you think about it, the right mentor has much to share with us.

So the idea we have is that thinking and training are needed and area part of what we do.

Without aid, we are blind.

Without proper aid, we can be led from some ideas easily.
Fear can be easily manipulated, just like pride and hope.

As the Hero or main character of things, it is often the idea that the Hero forgets.

Life is full.

Some plates get full.

Some days and nights are so full that it seems we need more hours in the day.

Proper training aids in understanding.

We want to share understanding.

Training does this.

Now, we are never militant in what we do.

We will never tell any one " Thou shalt do this..."

That is not what we do here.

We have Training Masters in the Temple.

We have Clergy and we have offices.

Each office needs a bit of understanding when it comes to goals and objectives.

Not everyone has the same way of doing things.

The same can be said for training.

Not everyone responds the same to the same training.

There are some weirdos who love to wake early.

There are those who stay up late.

Training is not necessarily strict.

We are reminded to meditate.

We are reminded that we are thought, feeling and will.

There is a balance that can exist.

Without the understanding of what is present and what can be had, how will you ever figure out things?

This is a true question.

This is where some dangers can lay.

If we saw someone headed toward danger, would you warn them?


Self reflection can be hazardous as well without aid.

Be wise

That was a solid hour with two people. Thank you both for taking time to show up LIVE !!!

Thank you Timotheus and Serenity

Guest Timotheus — Today at 6:56 AM
Thank you for your wisdom pastor Carlos



Guest Sam — Today at 6:57 AM
You okay Carlos only caught the end 



(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:57 AM
Ketchup (Small joke)
[6:57 AM]
Morning Sam

Guest Sam — Today at 6:57 AM
Love it 
Hope your well mate

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:58 AM
We have new Maxims !!!
I am today, I got coffee and that's pretty much it.

Guest Sam — Today at 6:58 AM
Coffee always helps though Carlos

Guest Timotheus — Today at 6:58 AM
That's a start

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:59 AM
I am grateful for a good start
[6:59 AM]
Morning Antares

Guest Sam — Today at 6:59 AM
It is important to start the day well

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 6:59 AM
I am here for chat or chit chat as well - no worries
[6:59 AM]
It is

Guest Sam — Today at 6:59 AM
Drinks food all that good stuff

ApprenticeAntares 💯 — Today at 7:00 AM
Question: Can someone lead without being a mentor? And can someone mentor without being a good leader?

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:00 AM
My Grandmother used to say" Do you add fruit to your Jello or no?" It was her way of saying to get the " lead out" and make something.

Yes

Guest Timotheus — Today at 7:00 AM
Two things are required for me to have a good day: coffee and meditation lol

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:01 AM
but there is a danger to it as well.

Guest Sam — Today at 7:01 AM
I think there's different ways of leadership

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:02 AM
Think about this if you like, you can be anything you like. You can read in the woods and learn offline, but do we? Do we reflect and learn or get upset? Do we know what we are looking for without a mentor? 

ApprenticeAntares 💯 — Today at 7:02 AM
Should a mentor be a leader?

Guest Sam — Today at 7:03 AM
I think it's what your idea of leadership is

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:03 AM
When Jedi feel the Force, what are you feeling? Is there a difference ?

Which are you seeking?

Guest Timotheus — Today at 7:03 AM
Can you not get lost without some form of directional indication?

@Guest Timotheus
Can you not get lost without some form of directional indication?

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:03 AM
I have

Guest Sam — Today at 7:03 AM
Like yeah a boss can tell you what's right or wrong but being a person someone can talk to counts for a lot

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:04 AM
Mentors are for us

They can be leaders

They can be regular people

The idea is you do not have to go it alone. 

ApprenticeAntares 💯 — Today at 7:05 AM
A good leader by my standards is someone that has already walked the path of learning something and can turn around and guide someone down that learning journey.

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:06 AM
What about bad leaders?

Do you not learn anything from them?

Guest Timotheus — Today at 7:06 AM
I've been on the path alone for so long it's nice having like minded individuals to coordinate with.

Guest Sam — Today at 7:06 AM
I agree Antares but there are people in life that have walked the same path by change when they have responsibility on there shoulders

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:06 AM
Do we seek " like minded people" to yolk with? Do you want people who know what you know as a mentor? 

Guest Sam — Today at 7:07 AM
And*

ApprenticeAntares 💯 — Today at 7:07 AM
Bad leaders issue orders without any understanding. Basically they haven't walked the walk.

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:07 AM
Mentors are for what's missing

Guest Timotheus — Today at 7:08 AM
By like minded I meant mystical thinker but no you want someone who can challenge your perceptions (edited)

Guest Sam — Today at 7:08 AM
Yeah I agree antares

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:08 AM
Mentors give to us what we need often. Time attention and understanding

Perspective challengers!

Training changes your perspective, hu? 

Find those who can change your perspective and give you understanding you do not have.
Train

Guest Sam — Today at 7:10 AM
I also think being authentic is a big deal in being a leader

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:10 AM
yes

Guest Sam — Today at 7:10 AM
People will know if your authentic or not straight away

@Guest Sam
People will know if your authentic or not straight away

Apprentice Resilience — Today at 7:11 AM
Sometimes, some people can't tell.

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:11 AM
There are those who are very Kayfabe or very 3rd order simulacra
Simulacra are copies that depict things that either had no original, or that no longer have an original.[1] Simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time.[2]

Guest Sam — Today at 7:11 AM
True but eventually it comes out in someway

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:12 AM
Some mentors or ideas are just that, do as I say, not as I do.

Guest Timotheus — Today at 7:12 AM
The truth will out? Hopefully it's not to late at that point

Guest Sam — Today at 7:12 AM
How you doing res?

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:13 AM
One of the things we must unlearn is what can be unlearned

@Guest Sam
People will know if your authentic or not straight away

ApprenticeAntares 💯 — Today at 7:13 AM
Taking ownership is a big part of authenticity for me. What do you consider authentic?

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:14 AM
Mentors are needed, we can do things on our own, but it is the fear of being alone that is dangerous, and it often keeps people in a state of not learning.

Guest Sam — Today at 7:14 AM
If I think your putting on a show, then I know you're not authentic if that makes sense
Iv always managed in my opinion to figure out someone and who you are straight away.

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:15 AM
What is real and what is not, this is the question and why there are mentors. Do you think you know the difference automatically? 

Guest Sam — Today at 7:16 AM
And sometimes I have been wrong in those assessments but not a lot of the time.

No not automatically it comes out in time

@Guest Sam
If I think your putting on a show then I know your not authentic if that makes sense

ApprenticeAntares 💯 — Today at 7:16 AM
Yes, and Carlos brought up simulacra which is an in-depth discussion about that.

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:16 AM
lol- It is. 

Where are the originals?

Guest Sam — Today at 7:17 AM
Yeah I missed that 2bh

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:17 AM
Who has the original myths and stories and ideas? Is the purpose to find the origins of things?

ApprenticeAntares 💯 — Today at 7:17 AM
I had no clue about the terminology until the temple.

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:18 AM
Welcome to the Temple!

There is a term called Kayfabe

Guest Sam — Today at 7:18 AM
Yeah kayfabe like the wrestlers in wrestling

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:19 AM
It is normally a wrestling term but the idea is there is a face or a mask that is on and its fake. it is a character or a idea. This mask is on and off and on and off. 

No one actually know what the ROCK is cooking because the Rock is not a real person. 

This idea that people do this can create a fear of " everyone lies."

people wear masks all the time

Mentors aid

Guest Sam — Today at 7:20 AM
100%

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:21 AM
Mentors matter

Guest Sam — Today at 7:21 AM
But if you live in truth there's no need for masks

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:21 AM
Training matters

Guest Timotheus — Today at 7:21 AM
That they do

@Guest Sam
But if you live in truth there's no need for masks

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:21 AM
be carful with this thought

ApprenticeAntares 💯 — Today at 7:23 AM
What's really strange is when someone starts imitating you. I still have a hard time figuring that one out.

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:23 AM
Happens all the time

Guest Sam — Today at 7:23 AM
Lol iv never had that luxury 
I will Carlos I just mean treat everyone nice and be myself that's all

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:24 AM
Right on

Mentors aid.

Training aids in life.

It helps us to see things that we do and cannot.
How can you tell the difference between everything ?

Simulacra are copies that depict things that either had no original, or that no longer have an original.

Without training, can anyone tell the difference?

@ApprenticeAntares 💯
What's really strange is when someone starts imitating you. I still have a hard time figuring that one out.

Apprentice Resilience — Today at 7:27 AM
They like the way you do things so much they want to emulate it.

or do you mean other behavior?

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:27 AM
Without training, I cannot. Without mentors who knew, I would not now know.

We need the understanding that we are missing. Like minded people are ok but I often need people who do not think like me.

The need for more understanding can create a bias as well. There is a danger in that as well.

See what we mean about hazardous and dangerous ?

Guest Timotheus — Today at 7:30 AM
I get what your saying

@Apprentice Resilience
They like the way you do things so much they want to emulate it.

ApprenticeAntares 💯 — Today at 7:32 AM
They start repeating stories that I have told them taking them on as their own. Or start dressing like me, etc. I have wondered if it's a type of mental illness and usually when anyone does this I create distance. I don't understand it.

@ApprenticeAntares 💯
They start repeating stories that I have told them taking them on as their own. Or start dressing like me, etc. I have wondered if it's a type of mental illness and usually when anyone does this I create distance. I don't understand it.

Apprentice Resilience — Today at 7:32 AM
Oh, that aspect of it is definitely concerning, I can't remember the term but there's one for when people take your stories and claim it as their own.

Guest Timotheus — Today at 7:33 AM
It is said imitation is the sincerest form of flattery lol

ApprenticeAntares 💯 — Today at 7:33 AM
I know but it gives horror movie vibes lol

Guest Timotheus — Today at 7:33 AM
Lol right

Guest Sam — Today at 7:33 AM
I understand that Antares

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:34 AM
Taking symbols for reality is a scary thing

@Guest Timotheus
It is said imitation is the sincerest form of flattery lol

Apprentice Resilience — Today at 7:34 AM
imitation, yes, cloning, bit much.

Guest Sam — Today at 7:34 AM
Someone in my family started copying everything my partner was doing dyeing there hair the same colour same clothing even same taste in house etc

1

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:35 AM
We are never Rey or the twins, we can be like the Skywalkers or like these things. We can know the pains and the struggles, but we are not them. The same can be said for religion, we are not them but like them. 
When we think we have become the symbol, we are in danger of becoming the 3rd order simulacra version of things. Fake.

This is what training and mentors are for

To aid in understanding

ApprenticeAntares 💯 — Today at 7:40 AM
There is a type of ritual where you take on God forms in your space. The goal is to incorporate, not become. There is a danger there.

Guest Timotheus — Today at 7:41 AM
@ApprenticeAntares 💯 there is a very big danger there indeed


ApprenticeAntares 💯 — Today at 7:41 AM
That's why previous work is done first.

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:41 AM
Jean Baudrillard has a very good book to read if you would like to start a good journey of thought that will seem to never die or tire.

@ApprenticeAntares 💯
There is a type of ritual where you take on God forms in your space. The goal is to incorporate, not become. There is a danger there.

(Master) Pastor Carlos — Today at 7:41 AM
yes

Simulacra and Simulations by Jean Baudrillard

I cannot claim to understand it all.

But it does help me to understand more.

There are many more who understand much more than I. I am glad I am in a place where people share understanding than just fish stories.

May the Force be with you all today and this week.
Pastor Carlos 

“ 2. Teaching - Love what you teach and love who you teach. Teachers affect eternity - who can tell where their influence stops ? The Jedi mentor is there to challenge the learner, but never to pose an obstacle to their progress.”

One of the ideas some share is that anyone can teach. I am under the Socratic school of thought that; “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.”
 

We are all connected by the Force. We are all subject to the same availability every day. We, as humans, all develop the same way. There exists an order in life that happens due to available presence but for the most part, we all develop the same. 

Carol S. Pearson has a book called “The Hero Within”, in it, she shares this; 
"I was pleased to discover that women had developed an alternative to the hero-kills-the-villan-and-rescues-the-victim-plot, one with no real villains or victims- just heros.I began to realize that men and women go through-albeit in somewhat different forms and sometimes in slightly different order-the same basic stages of growth…”

The potential to learn is present. The potential to gain understanding is present. Always. 

Where the potential comes from, is the Force. By what means, is often less relevant. 
The point is, it comes from the same fountain, from the same flow or from the Force. 
Regardless of which label we may use, we can learn.

“Jedi practice patience, there is where all creation and renewal is found in the flow of the Force, all the wonder and terror of its processes, arise and dissolve in eternity – the present moment, the now. With the practice of acceptance and patience, Jedi have the tenacity to attend with curiosity to the phenomena in our experience which proceed one from another, ad infinitum.” 

When we realize we are thought, feeling and will, it is in these places we can gain understanding. 

It is impossible, yet it is done often to teach something you know nothing about. 

One of the keys or secrets to learning is to recall. The aid in journaling can become a lifetime practice. 
Learn. 
Experience. 

Write it down!

Anywhere.

Our influence can be like ripples in the water. 
There is a story of Indra’s net, in which Indra, while dreaming sees a vast connection, or net. The pearls and globes of water at every point in the net, reflect images of everything.  Imagine this for a moment. An old man in San Antonio, Texas told me one time, “Even if you don’t intend to, someone is learning from you, all the time.” Consider these pearls, as we find them in our paths. Our influence reaches as far as our thoughts, feelings and will can. This is a very fertile growth circle. Things flourish in parts of our being. Take the time to understand them. We teach and learn from the same fountain, the Force. 


There is potential, fresh, never stagnant. The present moment is fresh and never old. 
That’s the way it works. Dwell at this moment. Presently the potential is here. Teach the understanding that you know. Share it with others.
We are human and as such, we cannot be stopped from sharing with one another. Who would not want to better their own thoughts, feelings and will?

To teach. 

What are you sharing and what is this light we shine? 
What are we learning? 
What are we teaching? 

What do we teach? What do we share? What are we bound to? Where does it come from? 

I encourage everyone to take the time to understand; know how and why we work. How does your influence work? Why be a Jedi? What are you teaching? What are you learning? In what way are you learning these types of things?

Teaching has limits. Do you know your own? Do you know the limits teaching has?

Passion can only get you so far.

"What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches." Karl Menninger



Teachers can be the doorways or the fingers that point to the Force, never the Force. This is my hope for the Jedi, that we become the student and the teacher. 
Training.
Teaching.
We are subject to both at the same time and in the same amount.

Challenge people to think. People who think, are dangerous. Encourage them. Warn them of the dangers and hazards of becoming dangerous. This is a direction someone else has pointed me in and still continues to do so. Ask questions and seek out answers. Create a wave of growth. Remember, as well, that too much is too much, in anything we do. Find the balance. The present moment is for us to dwell in. 

Keep this idea in mind. Do not become an obstacle. 

When we wake and become an obstacle, this is where the conflict can begin. 
When we begin to harm more than help, take some time for reflection. Love what and who you teach. Take time for them. There are times when we check our connections. This can be one of those moments. This is what the Maxims are for. Meditate on them. Place them in the way of your every day so you can walk beside them. Rate of occurrences can become a habit or so much more.

The idea is to take time for teaching. Thank your training masters. Thank your elders. Thank those you have received understanding from. I swear to you, when you do, you will create something different. It does create different connections. A grateful heart is a great thing to understand and to share with someone, there is a magic in it that knows no time or value, only "give."

May the Force be with you,
Pastor Carlos

    3. Discipline - A disciplined mind will lead to peace, an undisciplined mind will lead to suffering. Indeed, for the mind without discipline, the Jedi Way will be impassable.

Most every discipline can begin with the mentor. Which direction we take things, often comes from an understanding we have yet to receive. Truthfully, if we knew, we would have no need for a mentor, but we do. Some are militant and some are passive. Our discipline and where we get it from, matters.


1.Discipline can be the ability to live in accordance with your higher goals and values moment after moment, overcoming internal and external obstacles. Discipline can mean knowing how to prioritize your time to get the results you want 3. It is broadly defined as conscious control that is oriented towards successful outcomes by overcoming obstacles or impediments. Control gained by enforcing obedience or order. An orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior

These are text book definitions of discipline.

There are many roads to peace and discipline.  One of the ideas that can flourish in ones thought, feeling and will is the self discipline we can have. I will never tell you what to do. This Temple will never be a " Thou SHALT do this " type of place. We would like for you to remember that discipline matters as much as intent some days. Find some. Share some. In a place like the Temple of the Jedi Order, you will earn the ability to write a lesson or create a module of understanding. 

I will give you a huge secret to life if you do not know already. Ready? Not everyone has the same disciplines.

“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.”
― Jim Rohn
 
I tell others to wake up with the sun. Take the time to rise with the sun no matter what time you have to get up or be up and about. Create a new connection or bring back a old one. Join in on every other person and Jedi who watch the sun or mediate as it rises. I will strive to be there every morning. 
There are some things we can choose to do. We can choose to begin to read or to read more. You can even begin to read more larger subjects. You can practice a instrument. Play a sport or get physically involved with something. In the mist of all this, do remember we are Jedi, without discipline, we think we are set and ready for anything. 

This life will ebb and flow with the Force. We do not know how it will be present today but we can strive to dwell in the present moment. There will be obstacles and moments of conflict and confrontation. This is life in the ordinary world. Doubt will swim around and try to get our attention. This is why knowing your own doctrine and philosophy is such a aid. Return to your Creeds and Codes. Know them. Know what they are and keep them handy. Return to what you know. There is a peace in the fact that you can return to a good Maxim or a good myth or bit of philosophy that can remind us of our own goals. 

Your mind is often pictured as a garden. We are thought, feeling and will. There dwells gardens of so many things. Do we have gardens in our body - soul- spirit and are they tended or left to grow at no particular pace or direction? Cultivate these thing in us. 

Discipline is important. Without discipline, we can become as un cultivated as the wildest reaches of earth and just as dangerous. 

Yolk up with people who are not like you. Hang out or take some time to find those you want  to learn discipline from. Create a time where you can WRITE THINGS DOWN in a journal. I will always remind people to do this. It is important enough. 
Be honest.

Begin there. 

With out discipline, we are uncultivated. Cultivate you. Make it a point. Do remember as well, too much is too much. You can over do it. Alan Watts has a small quirk of a sound bite I like in which he states," What happens when you seek out manners and out manner everyone, what then?"

Why choose to be disciplined? I have the very real danger of becoming the Jedi Jerk. Even we can be a jerk at times. Even I forget a few things and say or forget my own ethics at times. 

This past week, my limit was reached and I yelled at the wife. Ohh yes, we were arguing and I let her have it. I was wrong. I was wrong for raising my voice the way I did and the feelings I hurt.  One of my own goals is to remember my own focus of my choice to not scream. No matter the instigation. My old soldier comes out. I want the world to hear me and my side. Silly me. I asked for forgiveness to all parties involved. I got it. They got ice cream. So did I. Things do not normally happen in such ways often. It helps to be vigilant. It helps to have discipline. Self discipline can be learned. Will power can be learned and understood more every time you "tend" it.  
What parts of life do you lack discipline? Do you have a mentor for that? What parts of discipline do you understand best? Are you sharing it with anyone or have written it down? 
Are you writing any of this down?
I am. 

    3. Discipline - A disciplined mind will lead to peace, an undisciplined mind will lead to suffering. Indeed, for the mind without discipline, the Jedi Way will be impassable.

The result of not tending ones garden is wild cultivation and very little yield.

We can cultivate our thoughts, feelings and will. 

Yes we can. 

Leave room for life and the ebb and flow of things.

Get some.

This is Monday's Maxim 
 

4. Dedication - Inspiration lasts a week, motivation will fade after a month, disciplined dedication lasts a lifetime. The way to do great work is to love what you do and who you work with.

Committing oneself to something is part of growth. In a way, we find and align ourselves with ideas and grow with them until we can grow past them. The idea is the growth that takes place over an amount of time. Do you know what you are yoked with? What are you attached to or bonded with? 

Dedication fuels the pursuit of excellence and continuous improvement


We are thought, feeling, and will. What does our thought, feeling, and will revolve around? Where does it center? Where does your idea of dedication come from? A book or dictionary? Does your idea of dedication come from someone you know? Dedication to something or someone or even some group is always present. It can be in the clothes we wear, the things we read and the things we have. Some people live in themed worlds. I have football fans in my circle. I get every style of jersey or cap they think is cool this year. There is a danger in just being a billboard. At the same token, some people are known for their dedication to things. After so many years, a true example in my life of faithfulness comes over a phone call from those who have weathered hard times with me as well as the good times. I am reminded that it is kinship that keeps us alive and keeps us together at times. What we are dedicated to matters. 

Where we obtain the myths and stories that we pass, matters. What we teach and leave behind matters. What we choose to attach ourselves to can be up to us. Take the time to ask questions. Find out if this is what you really want to be a part of. It is not bad manners to ask questions. Question where your attachments dwell. Be wary of them. Be wary who you hang out with. 

Take the liberty to reflect on "why". We don't blame others.  There is no condemnation here. We, as you, reflect. We ask that you bring rather than take; or be the difference in solutions. Be prepared but also do not go looking for a fight. 

One of the toughest things I have come to understand is; there can come a time when we can care more for each other rather than to judge one another. It is important to examine why we make the choices we make. Are they choices? How do we "see ourselves" among others? Who are the "us"? Who are the "them"? Is it real?  Alex reminds me often that "there are no bad people, only those who suffer". 

Our dedication to one another is evident. Be wary of it as well. Be wary of what can take your attention. Your dedication can change over time. It can shift. 

Things grow and people grow. Ideas grow, and the ability to see things on a larger scale happens every day. What also happens is we can become too sure of anything and everything we do. Our level of dedication can become a obstacle as well. 

Become a part of the present moment. 
I have found it much easier to appreciate what is in front of me these past few months. I have fallen in love with someone. It is the same person I have been with for quite some time. Yet, it is easier to live with people you like, rather than those you dread. Spend time with those you wish to be with. Reflect. There were people in my life, when I took the time to think about it, the time seemed to be more of an obstacle, less healthy things became more frequent. I stopped hanging out with them. I started to hang out with those I was not like. Finding and giving our dedication to things that are not common to us, helps us to grow. 
It is my hope that you find a place or an idea to be faithful to. I often say, "faithfulness finds favor". Be faithful to this moment. Dwell in it. Dedicate yourself to what you will but do stand for something. Examine our doctrine, examine our philosophies. Examine the choices we make. 

4. Dedication - Inspiration lasts a week, motivation will fade after a month, disciplined dedication lasts a lifetime. The way to do great work is to love what you do and who you work with.



Fall in love with what you know or are faithful to. It helps. Be faithful. Know your limits. 

May the Force be with you all. 
Pastor Carlos

Today is Monday. Our Maxim on Monday is Meditation - You have a treasure within you. The key to this treasure is meditation. It is not evasion, meditation fosters a serene confluence of the symbolic with the imaginary : reality. To the Jedi with a quiet mind, The Force will be felt and It will inform us.

Jiddu Krishnamurti says this in his book Freedom from the Known.
" We all want experiences of some kind- the mystical experience, the religious experience, the sexual experience, the experience of having a great deal of money, power, position, domination. As we grow older, we may have finished with the demands of our physical appetites but then we demand wider, deeper and more significant experiences, and we try various means to obtain them- expanding our consciousness, for instance, which is quite an art, or taking various kinds of drugs."

He does go one to remind us that, "Meditation is not following any system. It is not constant repetition  and imitation. Meditation is not concentration. Meditation is to be aware of every thought and of every feeling, never to say it is right or wrong but just to watch it and move with it. In that watching you begin to understand the whole movement of thought and feeling. And out of this awareness comes silence. Silence, put together by thought is stagnation, is dead, but the silence that comes when thought has understood it own beginning, the nature of itself, understood how all thought all thought is never free but always old-this silence is meditation in which the meditator is entirely absent, for the mind has emptied itself of the past."

Meditation is not done "for" anything, even - especially - "to connect to the Force". Any time we give a purpose to meditation, it's not meditating.

Contemplation is a term that can refer to concentration on spiritual things as a form of private devotion. It can also refer to a state of mystical awareness of a higher power. In the life of the intellect, contemplation refers to thinking profoundly about something. In the religious life, contemplation is a kind of inner vision or seeing, transcendent of the intellect, facilitated by means of practices such as prayer or meditation.

Contemplation is thinking thoroughly (taking everything into consideration) about something.

The ZEAL of mediation is dangerous, it can nullify meditation itself. Your self image can absolutely ruin mediation and turn it into something else.

Most meditations are in danger of polishing the ego by the simulation of meditation.

Meditation is just "being there" - not being "Zen" or "in touch with the Force" or any other narrative we concoct to feel like we're "improving."

We enter into this state of being. Empty and equally connected.

There is something that happens when we frequent this. There is a connection humans tend to let off when you spend time here. There is a understanding you can receive from taking the time for this.

There are things we can understand. There is no such things as a bad person, only some one suffering. Knowing this, we suffer from may things and some we do not even know yet. Take the time for understanding meditation more. We can become our own obstacles when it comes to meditation. Get out of the way as often as you can and put yourself in your place, with meditation. (Out of the way- empty and equal.) Try it often and anywhere. I will tell you this, the face of the grateful are recognizable everywhere.

It exists.

Know that when we take time for things, they often grow past what we first think they are. 
What do you think you know now? Write it down and see if in a few years you have not grown past a few of those initial ideas.

Know that what you know now, will die or grow or change or even turn into something else.

If my idea of meditation stayed the same as it did when I began, there would be no change and I would be missing so much more and I would not know how to enter.

Once the door is open, it opens anywhere and anytime.

This is true about meditation. If you can do it at home, you can do it on the go or in a building or in a crowd.

Where is the - THERE?


Present

After everything is identified and everything is calm, it is in the calm you find the connection that can put you in your place. The ego has a hard time dwelling there. It can easily be swayed, and you can lose the moment. We as humans have the hardest time getting our mind to think about the present moment.

We often think about the future or the past. Parts of meditation are learning to silence a few things that we think are important to meditation. Just let go and be in the moment. I must do the same. We all must. Equally and empty. It is this state we all seek. Meditation dwells in the present moment. 
Here in lays our obstacle most time. Getting to the present moment.

I hope that you get to read the book, Freedom From The Know by Jiddu Krishnamurti and it can help you understand a bit more. Chapter 15 is a good place to read about meditation.

Meditation - You have a treasure within you. The key to this treasure is meditation. It is not evasion, meditation fosters a serene confluence of the symbolic with the imaginary : reality. To the Jedi with a quiet mind, The Force will be felt and It will inform us.

Jedi Teaching 2 "To be in balance, the Jedi practise clarity of mind. Aware that representations of the world can cloud our understanding, the Jedi centre their awareness through the practice of meditation and contemplation.

You need them both.

Be wary

If it is for a reason, it's not meditation.

We can still benefit from contemplation, but it is not meditation.

We need them both.

" Most of us demand completely satisfying, lasting experiences which cannot be destroyed by thought. So behind this demand for experience is the desire for satisfaction, and the demand for satisfaction dictates the experience, and therefore we have not only understand the whole business of satisfaction but also the thing that is experienced."


Knowing yourself so completely that the mind is no longer seeking. Wouldn't that be nice. This is a goal in meditation.

It is said that compassion and love are by products of meditation.

A complete silence, a silence in which the meditator is entirely absent. The mind can only be silent when it understands its own movement as thought and feeling.

We are thought, feeling and will. Understand and identify these and you will find "hidden roads" on ones path not so hidden.
One of the biggest questions we can ask our own being is do we know the difference between the two?

Any questions? Comments. Concerns?

May the Force be with you,
Pastor Carlos 

The "Monkey Mind" in Meditation | Documentary Clip (youtube.com)

Understanding the Monkey Mind with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche (youtube.com)


Good morning, Temple of the Jedi Order
May the Force be with you
It is time.

I do hope you can take a few moments to watch these two videos.

They are not our videos and they do not belong to us so the link may expire at any time and all rights are subject to its owners and such.


Today's Maxim is on Clear Intentions.
If we believe there is a center connection or a ebb and flow that exist, then everything is a direct result of this.

Jedi are not individualist. We do not seek out our way.

We seek to understand and identify our thought feeling and will.

Knowing yourself so completely that the mind is no longer seeking.

Wouldn't that be nice.
This is why we meditate. To enter this state.

We defiantly do not seek our own self-image of things.

The directedness of consciousness toward an object, whether internal or external can show how consciousness can be of or about something, and how it can have content and meaning.

Intentiality can help define why a behavior is occurring, where it stems from, and which direction you would like to move with that behavior in order to help you.

If we seek the Force, then we seek its intentions, not our own.

There are only co-incidental moments. Everything happens at the same time. In the present moment.

Our perspectives often become a hindrance. Enter into meditation. Join in on a flow not your own.


How to quiet your mind.
I can not teach anything. I only hope I can aid in thinking. There is an idea called "Monkey mind. " Our minds are born with the ability to do everything it needs to.  We can develop much more than just what we were born with but when we are born it is on all the way. To think of the mind as active as a wild monkey is the idea. Always going. There is a obvious need for time and effort.
Take the time to quiet your mind.

We have the hardest time dwelling in the present moment. Our mind races to the future or to the past and often dwells in these moments in the present moment.


The Force does not have our intention or do anything. Do not GIVE the Force intention. We are in danger of nullifying things as our own efforts when this happens. 

How does one have no intention?

Quiet your mind.

Identify what is present. What is it that has our attentions. Give those things their time and understand them. Truly understand them. This takes much more time than what is being shared as meditation currently. Meditation is not some form or way; it is the understanding of everything present. There is a point of understanding when there is silence. 
Quiet your mind.

It is at that point we can understand our thought, feeling and will so much more. Take the time for it. It does not come in one sitting. To understand clear intentions is sometimes to understand our intentions as well and to know they are not the only one's present. 

What is present?

Can one live without intentions? No motives? 
Everyone has motives. Why is it there? Why do you have that desire? 
What are my intentions or my own direction?

These are things that occupy our mind and brain, and we can not listen or think until these questions have answers.

Listen to yourself.

Identify your own intentions. Identify your own direction.

Admit them. There is less objection and craving for things in my own mind when I know how to identify them properly. The attention of them lessens. The more we understand, the less our mind can wonder and wander. 

Clear Intention - The Force follows intentionality. With a quiet mind, we direct our clear intention through the ocean of possibilities and allow The Force to work through us.

Quiet your mind and see what is present. For me, this takes practice. As often as I can make time for it.

So can you. We are a bundle of memories. Take the time to identify what is present.

"Can one listen so completely to one another, not only hearing with the ear, but with the " inner ear" so you are giving total attention. Where there is total attention there is no motive. " Jiddu Knrishnamurto

Understanding. Take the time for it. Take time to understand yourself and others. Then, things become different, and we can become more of an instrument than a Force.

Any questions?
Pastor Carlos

Balance. If we are thought, feeling and will then which balance do we tend to think of? All of them? How THEY balance with each other or with us?  How does balance work? How does our balance work? Balance is always in motion. Do we understand what is in motion? 
 Everything is in motion.

When I began reflecting on these things, it was difficult to find the connection to thought, feeling and will. Over time, the understanding that everything is connected became clearer. Everything is connected.  So, it is safe to say, it is my balance that gets thrown off or changed.

The present moment contains potential. At any given moment, anything can happen. At any given time, that potential is present. This is balance.

Abandon can be both a verb and a noun. As a noun, it refers to a complete surrender to natural impulses without restraint or moderation. 

There is a danger to being "blind" or so full of something, you get tunnel vision, no restraint or inhibition. One can be too bright and blind. This is what we want to remind everyone. There are countless Epics to remind us of this very thing. There is a flow that connects us all and binds us. To find balance, where or what direction do we go?

We are in motion.

Jedi practise non-attachment, maintaining an awareness that the cycles of creativity and renewal in the Force give rise to phenomena as others pass away.

May the Force be with you all,
Pastor Carlos

    “8. Humility - Our perpetual trial is humility. We understand our agency is not solely from us, but through us: it is of The Force. In feeling The Force in ourselves, we see It in everyone and everything.”  

Jedi are not individualists. We strive to understand our thoughts, feelings and will. We cultivate an understanding of these things. Reflection can be the time we realize where our will and that of others conflict or align.  What we look for or try to cultivate is not ours. We believe in the Force. The Force is not our thoughts, feelings or will. This connection does not come from us.   In this, you may get lost. Expect to not understand everything the first time. What dwells within us, is not us. It is not our own feelings, nor is it our own thoughts and it is not our own will. It is the return that everything returns to.   We all want to be a part of something. We all want to experience life.  This is a part of our will. Humility is a balance we can have. It can be learned and taught but it must begin with us. We must have examples.

One of many, is the story of Daedalus, the architect, and his son, Icarus.    At a young age I met someone who taught me a great deal, but who was never actually a teacher of mine. He was the hall monitor at my school, and a self-proclaimed misfit. That is where we interacted. There is where the story of Daedalus and Icarus was planted. I would hear him tell me often, "go to class Icarus.” or “don't fly too high this weekend Icarus”. It upset me so much that I grew to dislike mythology at a young age. There was always some mystery or some secret that everyone was not telling me. As the years went on, my understanding and references to the Greek myths grew. I found others who knew much more than me. He started in me what now cannot be quenched. I learned more from these myths than just bedtime stories. In the collection of the human possibility, dwells a hubris we can take the time to understand.  Daedalus was an architect. A good one as well. He could make anything and they often asked him to do just that. Poseidon gave King Minos a gift. A white bull for sacrifice. What a gift. Instead of using it, he kept it for himself and committed another bull for the sacrifice. Poseidon was upset and cursed his wife to lust for the bull rather than her husband. In this state, she asked the architect for aid in her desires. He did. He constructed a wooden cow for her and she conceived a son. It was half man, half beast; and it wreaked havoc on all the land of Crete. King Minos, disgusted and ashamed, ordered a prison be built for this monster, a maze, from which he could not escape and Daedalus was there to create such a device. During this time, Theseus walks into the scene and falls in love with King Minos’ daughter, Ariadne. Theseus volunteers to take someone's place, as one of the sacrifices to the beast. With the instructions given to him by Ariadne from the architect, “Always go forwards, always down, and never left or right", and a ball of yarn; he entered the labyrinth. At the heart of the maze is where the fight takes place and the monster is slain. Theseus, victorious, leaves Crete with the King’s daughter.  Knowing that Theseus was only successful due to instructions from the architect, King Minos imprisoned Daedalus and his son, Icarus, in a tower. The King was afraid he knew too much. Daedalus, determined to be free, constructed wings that he strapped to his and Icarus’ arms and together, they escaped from the tower. His instructions to his son, “while in flight, do not fly too high or too low”. Forgetting the warning Icarus flies too close to the sun and melts the wax holding the wings together, to which he falls and drowns. Daedalus lands safely on an island and in grief he names the ocean after his son.   

There are times I remind myself of Icarus and of Daedalus. We have these great things in the Force. Yet, when we act, we think we wield or are in charge of everything in the moment, we can even forget the warnings.    There is a level of pride and flow in the experience that we can easily get caught up in. We have this treasure but it is not from us. We do not wield it. We cannot claim ownership.  Our pride and humility are two things we take into consideration when developing our understanding.   We think, we feel and we act.  Give your pride and humility your present attention.   Ask questions, journal your findings.    There is a hubris that dwells in us. There is a pride that comes with what we understand. It is natural but it can also be a danger.  It is when it comes in excess, it can become dangerous and even blinding. To dwell in abandon is menacing.    “Jedi practise non-attachment, maintaining an awareness that the cycles of creativity and renewal in the Force give rise to phenomena as others pass away.”    Know what you are attached to and how. Practice non-attachment.   The Force is the center flow. It is the center connection. We return to its flow. We enter here. In this idea or flow, we have no control over it. This flow is not mine, nor is it yours. It connects all living things. It connects religions, myths, and even people who will never meet.    

Let it go.  

 There is no authority in this flow I can harbor or claim. Do not claim any of the flow. We cannot. It is not our thoughts, feelings or will.  Over time or even instantly, something happens to us.    Complacency happens and pride. Complacency is not of the present moment. For me, little grows while I am complacent.    "A trait more common among Jedi, too sure of themselves, even the older, more experienced ones." Yoda  No one uses the Force. We can be instruments. It is through us, it flows. It is not us.        “8. Humility - Our perpetual trial is humility. We understand our agency is not solely from us, but through us: it is of The Force. In feeling The Force in ourselves, we see It in everyone and everything.”   I hope each Maxim comes with its own weight of thought. Keep in mind, we are to take this with us. Take this with you as you start the week or the day. Having Maxims helps. Remember, we are not in charge or we do not wield anything. It can flow through us.   

Good morning.

Today's subject is what is meditation and contemplation?

Jedi teaching 2 states that , "To be in balance, the Jedi practise clarity of mind. Aware that representations of the world can cloud our understanding, the Jedi centre their awareness through the practice of meditation and contemplation. "

What is the difference in contemplation and meditation?

Think about this, can anyone say, "When I began to meditate and give myself the time to do it, I started knowing exactly what I know now." Meditation is a time needed practice. It does take some time to practice it.

Meditation is about letting go of things

Contemplation is about lingering on thoughts.

Meditation can be used to cultivate a nonjudgmental awareness of things.

One of the goals of contemplation is to explore a topic in more feeling or depth.

We are reminded that we need both.

There are MANY examples of meditation that are not meditation but actually contemplation.

When we think out this, how often do we actually meditate?

One idea is to keep thinking and the other is to stop thinking. To think and let a few things go. The idea is to feel and understand our feelings.


" I most definitely should more often but sometimes it's hard to find the time." 

It is

Each of these two examples takes MIND TIME.
Thinking time.
Make time to think.
You will not regret it.
That is kind of the idea; to know we need that span of time.

If left alone, the natural way of things is often to not make the time for thinking. We just act.

This" Just act" does come from somewhere. For me, it was taught very subtlety.

Everything I was taught growing up was to act or fake it till you make it.

That is the available opposite of contemplation and meditation.




There were two monks sitting together in a meditation session. One monk looks over at the other in their robes and crossed legs and says... THIS is it? to which the other replies, yup, THIS is it.

Guest Timotheus
"A warrior acts, a fool only reacts"


Even then, there are levels of what we think a warrior is. There is this idea that exist, we are all warriors, but we rarely understand it. We, tend to want some grand big thing when in reality, its just the silence in the sea of tranquility we all spend time in.

We all want to experience life.

There is a need we all have that is all on its own.
Our ego wants to be the main focus point. 

The present moment is a gift. In the present moment, every living thing is connected.

True meditation dwells in the present moment and is just as fleeting.


Contemplation gets called meditation all too often.

Structured thought or moderated guides is not meditation.

If I were to tell you how, it would nullify it. Is that not weird?

But that is what we are subject to.

That's why it is so important to know what we do. We call it meditation most time, but our actions are contemplation.
We pick subjects and "flows" or forms of contemplation.
Here is the fun part as well, one can turn into the other. Meditation can turn into contemplation as contemplation can turn to meditation.
It is very possible we can begin meditation through contemplation.

It is my hope we know the difference. That is all.


Contemplation seems more enlightening after meditation.


I like to use tools that are clean and intact. I often forget tools in the rain, or I misplace them.

This causes them to need time before I use them.

Dust off the tools you have.

Dust off your meditation and your contemplation, like tools of thought, feeling and will.

Maintain them.

Know which is which and how to use them.

I often use the metaphor," Put this in your pipe and smoke it," or " add this fire to your hearth"

The idea is to let things have their time and space.

Think.

Yes

Practice meditation for letting things go.

Journal

Journal your findings. Journaling IS contemplation.

Journaling is a secret to life.

Thinking and understanding what we write is contemplation. The result of this action is Meditation.

I recommend every Jedi and every person take the time to understand which you do more often than the other.

In contemplation, we find understanding. It is exciting but it is also inside.

If it has methods, it is meant to lead to a place where we can understand we have no need of it.

Find it, so we can release it.

Authority is needed till we develop past it.

This goes for meditation and contemplation.

Think, do not think. Balance. This is where it exist.

And the goal is to develop past it

Meditation can be done anywhere and everywhere.


It does take time to get it going and it does take time to get past a few things we think we know.

The idea is to practice often and MAKE the time for it so one day, it will be welcome on its own.

It does manifest itself but so does joy and pain. Be careful what we call meditation and contemplation.

It is an aid to us but be careful what is available. Just think about it. If it involves thought and is led, it is contemplation. It is not that hard.


So contemplate contemplation? 


Ha!

Yea, it does sound like that.

But that is the idea.

Practice.

The more we practice, the more we frequent things, the more they become a part of us.

The more we let go, the easier it becomes.

We have to practice letting go.
Think and let meditation take its course. Give it the space.
The idea is to be genuine. Be genuine in what you do.
Understand what and why we do these things. In that, we find each other.
I hope this is a small encouragement to take the time to know what we actually do. Do we meditate and let the connection of all living things connect us or do we WANT this feeling and fake it?
There is a huge wave of Kayfabe meditation out there.
Check your own plate or your own connections.

Do we know the difference when you do it?

Do we know the difference? Do we take the time for it?


May the Force be with you this Monday. I am here all day via DM.



" Meditation is to be aware of every thought and every feeling, never to say it is right or wrong but just to watch it and move with it. In that watching you begin to understand the whole movement of thought and feeling and out of this awareness comes silence. Silence put together by thought is stagnation, is dead, but the silence that comes when thought has understood its own beginnings, the nature of itself, understood how all thought is never free but always old. This silence is meditation in which the meditator is entirely absent for the mind has emptied itself of the past. In the understanding of meditation there is love, love is not the product of the systems of habits of following a method. Love cannot be cultivated by thought." Freedom from the Known, Jiddu Krishnamurti


"Meditation demands a astonishingly alert mind: meditation is the understanding of the totality of life in which every form of fragmentation has ceased. Meditation is not control of thought, for when thought is controlled, it breeds conflict in the mind, but when you understand the structure and origin of thought, then thought will not interfere. That very structure of thinking is its own discipline which is meditation." Jiddu Krishnamurti

Message #💆│pastors-room
 

    Agency - Jedi are active in the world, acting as people of thought, and thinking like people of action. Be aware that beliefs become thoughts, thoughts become words, words become actions, actions become habits, habits become values, and values determine destiny.

As a noun, the state of being active, usually in the service of a goal, or of having the power and capability to produce an effect or exert influence is an agency. 

With this Maxim comes the reminder of our Tenants. We have three. Here is where they can become a guide.
 
Focus is the art of pruning the irrelevant and pouring the best of your mind into what you are doing.

Knowledge can be acquired by focusing on the task at hand.


Wisdom is the sound application of accrued knowledge and experience through patient, good judgment.


Our development of this flow, creates our agency.

In this flow, you can find our beliefs become thoughts. 
Our thoughts become words.
Words become actions. 
Actions become habits. 
Habit's become values.
Values determine our destiny. 

There is a progression to this. 


I recommend we take the time to understand this flow of progression. If nothing else, give it a place to flow in our thought, feeling and will.

To see this is to have a small glimpse into the progression of this type of flow. 

My encouragement and my reminder is this Maxim we have. Make the effort to give it some space. It is still fairly new. We are thought, feeling and will and in these parts of us, place our agency here.
 
Reflection time.

Where do we get our believes from? Did we learn them or were they given to us? Are our beliefs, our own? 
Our thoughts, words, actions, habits, values are all connected to our destiny and in a the way that each of them influence one another.


Give these connections the time they need. 
Journal your findings. Find those you trust to talk with about these things. Use your mentors. Taking this time for development creates a new flow. Give the flow its space. 


May the Force be with you this week.
Pastor Carlos

Good day and time zone Jedi

May the Force be with you, wherever you may be

Let us begin todays Monday morning session.

Our Maxims take a bit to study so as you do, as we study them, I want to give a bit of encouragement today.

Let us visit a nautical term.

The term is "wake".

In boating, there is a term that is worthy of sharing.

Wake.

What is the wake I speak of? 

The wake in boating refers to the series of waves that trail behind a boat as it moves through the water.

"The surface disruption created by the vessel's forward movement.
The disturbance of water left behind by a boat as it moves through the water.
The wake can be visibly seen as a V-shaped pattern that extends outward from the rear of the boat."

Depending on the experience and the quality, each person who navigates life's paths, can have a wake coming off the boat. Our wake here is the waves that come after we have showed up or are present.

The effects of our actions can be seen.

In life, we can see the actions of our experiences in our wake. We can see where we influence and affect others in or movements of life.

Most time, I say "reflect," but this time I am reminding everyone that your actions have effect.

There is no doubt that any action we take has an equal and opposite reaction.

The evidence of our actions is in our wake.

Take some time to look around and see. Meditate and contemplate on things. Who and where does the influence of YOU dwell? Who do you come across or where does your wake go?

What type of influence are you having?

We are all connected, every living thing.

Our "wake" crosses many people and places.

This Monday, start the week with me metaphorically in the water.

Look back at what your actions are creating.

Check your wake.

There are some places in the world and in the water that ask you watch your wake or even the dreaded NO WAKE ZONE. It happens like that in life as well.

When we are present, we also leave evidence of our presence. Our wake matters some days.

The reason for this type of encouragement today is simple, we do many things in life. Everything is in motion.

We are in motion, even if we do not acknowledge it.

Where does your wake go? What is displaced or the evidence of you being present?

Be wise not to just go full throttle and as they say" Open it up." Take some time to focus and understand we influence much. Like waves, our actions reach others.

Some of us make waves and some of us are in the wake of others.

I am LIVE today

So, feel free to bring your questions, comments concerns and cares. (edited)

Check your wake, Jedi.

Check how you are influencing others.

Look back a bit.

I know I get caught up with things and with life. I need reminders to stop some days. Take this reminder to check behind you in your wake and see what is actually going on.

Check on your path, people and projects.

Realize how we are connected. Are others drowning or skiing? Is it fun or fear?

You are the coxswain of the crew. The crew meaning your life here.

You are the one who has the hands on the helm.

Check your wake.

May the Force be with you today and this week

"Ideas have been far more important to us than actions, ideas so cleverly expressed in books by the intellectual field. The more cunning, the more subtle those ideas are, the more we worship them and the books that contain them."  Jiddu Krishnamurti Freedom from the Known,

"Thought is crooked because it can invent anything and see things that are not there. It can perform the most extraordinary tricks, and therefore it cannot be depended on. But if you understand the whole structure of how you think, why you think, the words you use, the way you behave in your daily life, the way you talk to people, the way you treat people, the way you walk, the way you eat- if you are aware of these things then your mind will not deceive you , then there is nothing to be deceived." Jiddu Krishnamurti Same chapter (13) of Freedom from the Known 

https://www.templeofthejediorder.org/library

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B-8thoRKsrBh4uYhsqnk-fRydzDksvmN/view
Google Docs
Freedom_from_the_Known.pdf


Good day and morning Jedi - wherever you may be today
We are LIVE today so if you have any questions or comments, feel free to do so.
This bit is taken from Freedom from the Known by Jiddu Knrishnamurti
It is located in our library.

Today's topic is THOUGHT

PLEASE take the time to think about how you think.

Where does our thought take us? Where does it come from? Where does it begin? 

" It is really interesting to watch the observation of ones own thinking, just to observe how one thinks, where the reaction we call thinking, springs from." Jiddu Krishnamurti



It is good to think about thinking.

It develops thinking.

The thing I want to share today is this, THINK. Contemplate.

Think about how we think,

How do we think? Did we learn that from someone or somewhere?

I have a small section of "How the human brain works" in our library.

It is important.

To understand the basics...

...is all we ask some days. To be aware of what is present. 

"A new fact cannot be seen by thought. It can be understood LATER by thought, verbally, but the understanding of a new fact is not really a thought."  Jiddu

There are times we will not understand things. That's ok.

It does take time and space for some ideas to grow.

I know I forget this often.

The Hero often forgets. Joseph Campbell.

Joseph Campbell also reminds us that "Not all who hesitate are lost."

This Monday- how do you think? Why? We can learn how these things happen and why. Take the time for them. Who/What influences your thoughts? 

It matters how and what you think. Do you know where your thoughts begin? Do you know how to plant new thoughts and maintain old ones? How do we get new thoughts? 

Agency - Jedi are active in the world, acting as people of thought, and thinking like people of action. Be aware that beliefs become thoughts, thoughts become words, words become actions, actions become habits, habits become values, and values determine destiny.


How do we get new thoughts? By examining our beliefs.

Examine your beliefs.

So, this Monday- Take the time to examine your thought proses. It is important.

Check

Any questions?
May the Force be with you.
Pastor Carlos

Capability - The Force does not ask of our ability, only our availability. In opening to The Force, Its capabilities flow through us. Indeed, clear intention is not enough, Jedi do.

This is for the Monday thoughts but what do Jedi do? See you here.

Master Rev. Carlos (Pastor) — Today at 5:28 AM
Good day Jedi everywhere

Monday Morning Maxim today. "Capability - The Force does not ask of our ability, only our availability. In opening to The Force, Its capabilities flow through us. Indeed, clear intention is not enough, Jedi do." (edited)

Good day Jedi everywhere

It is time

We are LIVE and ready for this week with a new Maxim.

Jedi do.

This line got my thought, feelings and will going.

What do the Jedi....do?

Now, we are not cinematic Jedi.

Just so you hear or read it... here we go

https://www.templeofthejediorder.org/doctrine

In this section, there is a list of teaching we have.
We do not float or shoot lightning from our fingers.
We live in the ordinary world.

The ordinary world is not so ordinary when you take the time to understand you and the world around you.

So what do the Jedi , do?

I am glad you asked.

In the Teachings is what we strive to do.

Here is what I mean.


The first and foremost service a Jedi performs is devotion to our learning.
Jedi maintain a clarity of awareness .
We feel the Force.
Jedi practise clarity of mind.
We practise non-attachment.
Jedi comprehend that we are beings of thought, feeling, and will.
We practise humility.
Jedi foster an acceptance of limitations.
We practise patience.
Jedi maintain integrity.
We practise living in universal compassion
Jedi bring only so much love, pardon, faith, hope, clarity, and joy as is necessary to restore the dynamic equilibrium in our phenomenal environment.
We cultivate empathy.
Jedi seek to return balance to that which has become tumultuous.
Jedi realise that all phenomena, including that of life itself, arise from and dissolve back into the cycles of creation and renewal of the Force.
Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most sincere soul.

These are taken from our 16 teachings.

If you think about it and give what Jedi do some time, you may realize that we are never still or have plenty to do.

How do we do all these things and still find a balance?
I will tell you truthfully, if you think you can take all these things on one full swoop, like me, you are sadly mistaken.
There is no way we can take all of this on, is there?
As with any journey, it can begin with one step at a time.
Read all the teachings together. Keep them somewhere you can reference them. Some people write them down, some do a weekly thing.
The idea is to plant these "seeds" where you can.
These 16 teaching can be like seeds of thought.

Each of them has their own merit and their own flow. Each path is tied into one another in a way that can seem freeing or controlling.

In the vast idea that there is plenty to do, take the time to connect to one another. Take the time to check on your own path and learning.

Know your limits. This includes learning as well and our own understand of things. Some days,  I do not understand things in its whole or in the present moment. That is ok.

We do not have to know everything all the time.

Some days we must do nothing.

What do Jedi do? Well now, that is up to you.

Isn't it?

So today, I want to remind every Jedi, what do you do? Why? We can know.

Be present

Present is best. 

The Force works through us. Through us.

Capability - The Force does not ask of our ability, only our availability. In opening to The Force, Its capabilities flow through us. Indeed, clear intention is not enough, Jedi do.

Any questions, concerns or comments? Feel free to do so here.
May the Force be with you 
Pastor Carlos