“I'm looking for a great warrior.”
“Great warrior … ? Wars not make one great.”
Tao Te Ching 31 :
Fine weapons are ill-omened tools. They are hated.
Therefore the old Tao ignores them.
At home, honour the left. In war, honour the right.
Good omens honour the left. Bad omens honour the right. The lieutenant on the left, The general on the right
As in funeral ceremonies.
Weapons are ill-omened, Not proper instruments. When their use can't be avoided, Calm restraint is best. Don't think they are beautiful. Those who think they are beautiful Rejoice in killing people.
Those who rejoice in killing people Cannot achieve their purpose in this world.
When many people are killed We feel sorrow and grief. A great victory Is a funeral ceremony.
Then why do we cling to the image of Jedi as warriors ? Perhaps the question would best be : what are we fighting for or against ?
“The Empire” here would probably be a pretty vague answer. Unless we were to entrust ourselves to the allegory of the Hero's Adventure. In the lessons on myth in the IP, we are reminded that the 'Father Quest', the personnage of the 'King' in faerie tales, for instance, the one who sets impossible tasks that the hero could not face alone or unchanged, the “Empire” – these are the archetypal representations of “the system.” And the question which is always part of the ordeal of the Hero, remains : “are you going to use the system or let it eat you up ?”
The very first of our 16 Teachings tells us that we are “in touch with the Force. We are open to spiritual awareness and keep our minds in tune with the beauty of the world. We are forever learning and open our minds to experiences and knowledge of ourselves and others.” How often do we find ourselves approving and disapproving of things, judging good against the bad and making determinations that someone isn't behaving as s/he should be ? Do we ask ourselves as often as we ought to whether we are truly being spiritually aware of the beauty of the world, or are we actually narrowing our awareness to what our un-tuned minds think is beautiful ? When the mind sees beauty, this gives rise to ugliness. And that is when we feel the need to run or to fight. Oddly enough, sometimes we do both – we run away and hide behind psychological blockades that are at the same time our ramparts from which to defend our self-images (the phenomenal ego).
Our second Teaching goes on to recommend that : “Jedi maintain a clear mind; which can be achieved through meditation and contemplation. Our minds can become unduly troubled and concerned with the happenings of the world. We must work on overcoming our individual issues through training and diligence.” Note that a “clear mind” does not mean an empty one, nor does it mean that we will never be troubled by things. We can be assured from the first Teaching that the world is beautiful in and of itself and exactly the way it is. The way it is is not predictable, controlled, comfortable and/or safe. When we try to take control of life to make it into what we think we need to be happy, then we are locked in a struggle. There are going to be things of which we are fearful, that open old battle scars and threaten repetitions of the past that we found painful. These are merely shadows in the fog of an un-clear mind, a mind that is not aware that it is in touch with the Force. And it is this mind that armours-up and prepares for a fight...
Our third Teaching even goes on to remind us that the world – and its inherent beauty – is an ever flowing, ever-changing expanse of events. Our thoughts, our feelings, our desires and our defeats all pass, rising and falling as the tides and the changing seasons.
We need not fight against our Fears, pretend we are stronger than our sentiments. We are not. We need not wage war against the Winter to bring on the Spring. We need to take off the armour. We need to let things be as they are, Recognise it, admit it (without “identifying” with it – it is only an observation, not a “fact”) and relax through it and let it pass.
Thus, the Jedi way is not Spartan. We are not training to be skilled warriors, but clear-minded, curious explorers. To feel the connexion with the Force does not mean getting one-up on the world, crafting it into something its not. We need not slay our dragons, but merely let them be dragons – mythic monsters that are tamed by not fighting them.
“Wars not make one great.” Indeed …
~ Alexandre Orion
