How Stepping off the Path is Really Stepping onto the Path
I’m picking up my son’s right now and as you can imagine, there are so many different ways to get to their daycare since I live in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex (or the metroMESS as some call it) Not one sole route can get me there, I have many options. In the same way there are many options in how we proceed on our Jedi path.
A quick story I want to tell you though: When I was a novice, I had more or less (and the longer I think about it, the more I lean towards the “more” part of the spectrum) stalled out on the IP. The lesson I was stuck on was called Connections, and one of the parts of that lesson was to watch a movie called “Mindwalk”. Mindwalk was a really difficult movie for me to work through. I think I had just about memorized the first 30 minutes, but I could never outlast beyond that before I would get bored and do something else. As I examined the struggle a bit closer I uncovered a deeper struggle - one that begged the question of why I was even working on the IP in the first place. For lack of better words, I had become lost and had what some would call a crisis of faith. Fortunately for me, becoming lost is the first step towards becoming found.
The IP is one of many examples, but in life, we are guaranteed to struggle with personal meaning and purpose at least once, and if not, many times over. It can be difficult when this occurs but do your best not to view this as a setback. Reframe it, view it instead as becoming increasingly aware of the present, the here and now. Up until that point, you were deluded by a future idea of yourself; but reality has given you pause long enough for you to re-examine who you are. Be curious of your thoughts and investigate your feelings and you will uncover blind spots that have remained hidden up until that point.
I felt I was forsaking my Jedi path as I moved away from studying the IP and instead studied some adjacent subjects I had neglected, western philosophy, thought experiments, and other Jedi writings. What I thought was stepping off the path was actually stepping onto the path.
You see, when you have your GPS on, it will always try to calculate the quickest route to your destination. As long as you don’t “end trip” on your GPS, no matter what turns you take, moving you away from your destination, you are still on the path. You can actually get out of your car, and pull up walking directions to your destination if you need to. So when life takes a turn, do not be alarmed. It’s all part of the path. Do not give up, remain resilient, and you will arrive to your destination. The path is where our feet and heart tread
