A Return to Foundation

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A Return to Foundation

by Robert McKinney

 

First, welcome to 2014.  While time has a different meaning for each of us, I would like to thank each of you for taking the moment to read the sermon I have written.  The choice you make reflects on your decision to learn more, and perhaps walk, the Jedi path.  Whatever your reasons, I appreciate the time you spend learning how to better be yourself.

 

With the start of a calendar year we look at the endless possibilities that come before us.  I am not speaking of creating some master plan for the year, or setting “New Year’s Resolutions”, but looking to the future as the realization that it’s simply there.  We may have dreams of what the future should be, or what we want it to be, but all of that is off in the distance.  And, as many can tell you, the road to tomorrow exists in the present.

 

When I was moving through the Initiate Program I found myself constantly referring back to the 16 Teachings.  I would post to my journal my current strengths while looking for ways to improve myself in places that were not so strong.  This ‘self-check’ is something I still do, ensuring that I keep myself founded in the roots of the teachings themselves.

 

When I speak of roots, I am also speaking of the concepts and lessons that you find most important.  Some of us treasure the words of Joseph Campbell for his unique and inspiring views on the Divine.  Others find wisdom in Alan Watts, who took an old concept and made it new.  Maybe you find truth in Lynne McTaggart’s words.  These are the lessons that are the foundation of our teachings, lessons that should not be learned or discarded easily.

 

As we all move forward in the moment, I challenge each of you to start the year by revisiting the first lessons we are taught.  I am not speaking about dwelling on the past to understand the present.  Instead, I speak of viewing the material through your current understanding, through the lens of the present.  We all have learned more about ourselves, and in doing so, have acquired new eyes to see the words in a new way.

 

May the Force be with you, always.


Archon

Comments 10

  1. Mareeka Theodore
    Thank You very much. Re-visiting IP. . Viewing material through current, present understanding lens . . . allowing expanded view.
  2. Brian John Chamberlain
    Excellent sermon. I am revisiting the early lessons out of necessity, but I find that I am getting SO MUCH more out of them this time. It is a practice I will repeat, I'm sure.
  3. Randall Bainbridge
    Very well put. Since I've started the IP I have learned quite a bit and I have even gone back to listen to various parts and been shocked by my further understanding. Thank you for the great sermon!
  4. Proteus
    What I love about the IP material is that it teaches and encourages us to think for ourselves and to trust in the reality we experience. I think this is definitely a fundamental aspect to our Jedi lessons, in all forms that we receive them. Through this material, we cannot be a "religion that insists we are right", because our teachings has no foundation for that mindset. It is to "trust in what is, and in those who are apt to guide us, without being an authority", and to be mindful of one's self when we feel a need to reject any idea or ideal, to know whether it is us reflecting a fear in the unknown, and letting ourselves work through that fear to overcome it. We don't know what may happen in 2014, and that is fine. It is in clinging to the future that one finds themselves nervous and fearing of it. Staying present, and seeing those foundational lessons in the IP as relating to the present is a fundamental approach to learning what there is to learn and unlearning what there is to unlearn.

    Thank you so much for this Archon. :)
  5. Llama Su
    A constant revisit of the first lessons is necessary and practical, a reminder, a refresh, to hear something new, see something clearer with better understanding... Experience of a renewed sense of inner vision... How will I know where I am going, if I do not know where I came from?... Where it all began... How focused I imagined myself then, compared to now, and how focused I can be... Thank you for the sermon. Appreciated it is.
  6. Archon
    Thank you all for your kind words. This is my focus in the next few months. I listen to Campbell in the car, and Watts when I am at home. I feel as if the lessons are familiar but new at the same time.
  7. Lee Ross
    Thank you Archon, I'm trying to listen to more Watts right now, sorry it took me so long to respond to your sermon :)
  8. Zenchi
    The first time around taking the ip program, I did not have the pleasure of watching the Campbell lectures. In fact
    If I remember correctly I made fun of the man for falling asleep multiple times while listening as I was forced to stream each one. This time around my technology is a little more updated, and I was able to watch them all as they were intended. Seeing the emotion and passion in his eyes makes all the difference as now I am a huge Campbell fan. Your sermon was thoughtful and out of the norm Archon, very nicely done!
  9. Adam M. Dumas
    I enjoyed that and I think im going to look back on the first lessons of the IP just to see how my perception has changed sense I started thank you.
  10. Mikhail Kuznetsov
    Thank you. I will be re-learning Watts soon, this time as part of my IP. Your words have suggested an extra angle to notice when I do - what the ideas meant to me then, what they mean to me now, and what has changed?

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