Creed 101.-Beginning Exercise

It is difficult to put in words what the Jedi Code means to me. I think that for me, the Jedi Code represents the very essence of the Jedi Path. It describes my way to see the world, and life, and also explains how should live each moment of my life, how should I behave if I want to be a Jedi Realist, and what should I aspire to become. So, in the end, I think it describes what a Jedi is.

I've always thought that the Jedi Code mustn’t be taken literally, especially this version. That's why I prefer the shorter version (Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force), because I think this one can be misunderstood.

There is no emotion, there is peace

It is impossible to take this literally. Obviously, there is emotion, and we wouldn't be humans without our emotions. Emotions are a fundamental part of us. If we try to suppress them, the only thing we will do is to harm ourselves. But, if we want to act fairly and to make good decisions, we mustn’t let our feelings get in the way. The peace we need to do this is achieved by balance. This is what the first sentence in the Jedi Code means for me.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge

For me, most of evil actions are based in and supported by ignorance, and knowledge is the solution to them. Ignorance is the path to the dark side, so a Jedi must be wise, as a result of a live of study. Sometimes, because of ignorance, we misunderstood actions, or people, or opinions or are afraid about everything we don't know (xenophobia, for example). So, for me, this line sets a goal every Jedi should aspire to: knowledge, in every way we can find it.

There is no passion, there is serenity

I think this line is similar to the first one, but I think there are some differences between them. Passionate feelings like love, hatred, desire or anger are really powerful, and can cloud our judgment if we aren't careful and make us do things, make decisions or say things we will regret later. I think this line wants to tell us that we must let acknowledge passionate feeling, but we mustn’t let them destroy the best part of ourselves. We must feel like if we were in the eye of an hurricane, feeling the storm around us, but without letting it affect us, being in serenity.

There is no death, there is the Force

The universe is energy. Everything, from the planets and stars to life forms. In the end, we are just a bunch of atoms and other particles stuck together, a personification of a soul. As Master Yoda said, "Luminous beings we are, not just these crude matter." And energy can't be destroyed; it can just be transformed in another type of energy. And the Force is formed by all living beings.

So, in the end, we really never die. When our body stops working, it slowly becomes part of other living beings, that will die one day, and that will become part of different living beings as well.