Jedi Lesson 1

Rough draft: Jedi Jonathan Tapp

Edited by: Jedi Knight/Jedi Teacher Jean-Luc Walker

"Life is a paradox in a mystery inside of a puzzle in the paradox of life."-Jean-Luc Walker

Many future Jedi are first mislead in the beginning of their self-training, which is what is done here at the Academy, by the seemingly simple concept of the nature of the Force…what could be the answer to this puzzling paradox? Some interpret it to be the unyielding, eternal energy of life itself, seeking in a vain, endless search to draw the energy from within when they attempt to use the Force. This it is not. Others believe it to be some sort of omnipotent consciousness, an all-knowing God. It is not this either. And yet others view it as split pair of exact, totally opposite "split halves"…a pair of metaphorical beings, one Yin and one Yang. They see two different Forces, one Dark and evil, the other Light and good. They see these Forces as engaged in a never-ending battle for dominance; this is not the nature of the Force either.

The Force, most simply put, is an ever-growing energy field created, maintained, and enlarged by all living beings. It surrounds us, binds us, penetrates us. It holds the entire universe together. It is neither good nor evil, having no actual Light and Dark Sides. If it did, life itself would be more interesting at the least, but can be put to use for both good and evil purposes. The Force is not an all-aware, all-knowing consciousness, but all the knowledge in the universe can be found within its boundaries. The past, the present, and even many different forms of what will be the future can be found through the enlightenment of the Force.

The Force is best described as a hypodermic needle. With it, the Light Jedi delivers a much-needed medicine. However, the Dark Jedi delivers their deadly, evil poison through this metaphorical needle. Both use indistinguishable means to arrive at totally opposite ends. The Light Jedi uses it while calm and collected, passive; giving them all abilities needed to handle any situation that may arise. Conversely, the Dark Jedi allows their anger to flow through themselves and thus uses the needle while agitated, yielding devastating and destructive results.

It is not uncommon to see a Jedi who can read minds claim they have what is known to be called telepathy. Nor is rare to find a Jedi with clairvoyance gained through the Force that claim they are gifted, or psychic. The Jedi who can bend a spoon with only the use of the Force claims they are telekinetic. In fact, they are none of these. However, some may do it with the Force…and not know it.

Any action in the universe resonates throughout the universe as ripples in the Force. The so-called "telepathic" Jedi can read these ripple and understand what is going on inside of the person’s mind. It is not a matter of literally "this ripple means this", but the Force conveys the thoughts and feelings of the person to the Jedi. The very good Jedi mind reader can pick out individual names, numbers, and dates from a person’s aura, which is a very hard task. This is a skill that comes with time and practice. If someone has ever given you "the creeps" for one reason or another, that was simply the Force conveying your aura to the other. Oftentimes those feelings are deftly accurate.

Now for those Jedi who claim to be "psychic". Time exists as such: Visualize yourself as Earth itself. The past merely exists as light and sound waves traveling away from the Earth, whereas the future exists as light and sound waves traveling towards the Earth. A clairvoyant Jedi can read these ripples in similar ways as the mind-reading Jedi does. This is not to say that one Jedi cannot be both clairvoyant and a mind reader, it is just putting down the difference. A Jedi can acquire as many skills as one learns.

Finally, the telekinetic "spoon-bender". It is not unheard of for people to bend spoons with the sheer power of their mind and their willpower; these people are called telekinetics. The Jedi, on the other hand, uses other means to perform such feats. The single largest misconception among new Jedi trainees is that the power to move objects comes from within, from the mind. No, this is not true. The power to move objects comes from the Force that is both inside and outside of the body and mind. The mind is merely the means by which the Force is manipulated, the outlet by which a Jedi uses the Force. A clearer mind makes for easier manipulation of the Force. Thus, the Jedi need not possess extraordinary power of mind nor will…merely that needed to use the Forc