..."the rest of my life? Oh, probably just sitting here like this until I rot. Why?" But I already new. "Where are we going?"
"Far from here."
"Not Bolivia, I take it," and my eyes drifted to the moon, the stars.
"No, not even this silar system. I must bring you in closer to where I am bound by duty. This encounter would appear as the greatest of chance to most. I was assigned to apprehend Muon Dab"--a dip of the eyes indicated the already much smaller lumps behind him--"as a last minute affair. Many small occurrences aligned to bring me here. I see now that it was the will of the Living Force."
"Uh-huh...Is that what the Jesus robes are about?"
"Jedi robes, actually. Is this Jesus Order native to your planet?"
"That hasn't really ever been confirmed."
With a simple gesture of his hand, the straps on my straight jacket fell away and I climbed off my old cot for the last time. "It will take an adjustment," I admitted, "seeing other moons and other stars from other windows..."
"Your focus determines your reality; in truth there is only the adjustment in your own perception."
"That's what I meant. Believe me, I've had a lot of time to sit quietly with my mind."
"Then you are ahead of most at this point, my young Padawan. Now we must go; there will be enough paperwork in the morning for someone with two 'escapes' without my presence causing more."
~Thus did my secret apprenticeship under Master Qui-gon Jinn begin, for so it had to remain because of certain rulings by the Jedi Council. It seemed that my new master was a bit of a renegade in the eyes of this council. He was, however, always true to the Living Force, which I came to understand could at times be quite divergent from the Conceptual Force. And no matter how he might have been judged at any given moment--for he did allow the Force to lead him into possibly questionable avenues of study and training beyond the stricter structure of Jedi instruction--his footing never stumbled from its solid grounding in the Light Side.
~It was only many years later, at my master's funeral pyre, that the truth came out. When, to the surprise of the Jedi present and the Council--all save for Grandmaster Yoda, I felt--I revealed myself and related the tale of my life hidden from their awareness and restrictions, of training along a broader spectrum of the Force. Young Obi-wan seemed to suffer a momentary sense of betrayal but, a credit to himself and the teachings of *our* master, he then warmly clasped my hands in both of him and welcomed me to the somber gathering with his eyes. Afterwards, I truthfully informed the masters present that I, like my late master, was not so hesitant and guarded in my choices of studying the ways of the Force as they might wish. Yet, I humbly assured them, I had most definitely chosen the Path of Light, as I knew well and had lived more than I cared to in darkness. Following some preliminary testing, Grandmaster Yoda offered to present me as a candidate for the Jedi Knight trials. Again, most grateful and humbly, I confessed that the time did not feel right to me, that although I was now masterless I wasn't ready to commit myself to the Jedi Order and thanked him for his generous offer. At this, there was quite a stir from the rest of the Counci. As Grandmaster Yoda pointed out though, I was not a Jedi--Light or Dark--to come under their jurisdiction or control, nor was I a Sith to be dealt with. I was a highly trained Force sensitive from beyond Republic space, something utterly unique in their annals. Many were extremely displeased with Master Jinn for his defiance, yet again, of the Orders rules, but there was certainly nothing to be done about it at this point. At that point, Grandmaster Yoda made an even more generous offer: He would allow me to refine my training at the Jedi Temple, with complete freedom to train with others, seek out the guidance of any masters and, bliss for me, make full use of the Jedi Library and Archives. I began to sense that Grandmaster Yoda saw the shadow looming on the horizon and I was somehow to be a beacon of Light cast out to a distant point.
~This sense only grew stronger when, after four years at the temple--four years into the child Anakin's apprenticeship under Jedi Knight Obi-wan Kenobi--I announced that I was going to travel the Outer Rim planets for a number of years as I felt drawn by the Force to seek out experiences there. Following that, I planned to retire to a place I had discovered on my old home world on a return visit a few years ago and that I would remain in periodic contact with the Council on Coruscant by messenger droid.
~I did just that, one year folding into the next. For almost fifteen years I lived with a species beyond the Outer Rim who moved through time and space more slowly than physical reality should have allowed them. I never came to understand this ability, but while with them I, too, aged hardly at all. When I returned to relatively known space, a messenger droid sought me out and delivered a devastating tale of the rise of a Dark Lord of the Sith; of the Republic replaced by a Galactic Empire; of the slaughter of all Jedi; of the seeming horrific 'fall' of their Chosen One. My first impulse was to rush back to Coruscant to see if I could help in any way, but the message went on to encourage me to stay away, to keep traveling and taking note of where I met Force sensitives. And so, for nearly two more decades I wandered, until word reached me of the end of the Sith Empire and the return of the Republic.
~I assumed that the Jedi were gone and was therefore surprised to receive another messenger droid from a Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight. His message was a long hologram relating the tale that I'd only garnished bits of here and there in my travels. He ended by informing me that his contact with me was directed by Grandmaster Yoda on his death bed because he had fully come to understand that Master Jinn's 'defiance' was actually a very powerful working of the will of the Living Force. That I was not so unique--as I'd also discovered in my travels--and that the Jedi Order needed the cleansing that had transpired to find a wider base of balance. By their own narrow teachings, they created the very sword that was needed to cut the decay from them. Luke Skywalker would now build a new Jedi Order, learning and growing from his experiences and the trial of his father. He urged me to keep the beacon burning (Grandmaster's Yoda's direction) and help high for any to follow; of any age, from any planet and to any degree that they were capable of. He would reflect this idea in the construction of a new Jedi Temple open to any candidate who exhibited an affinity with the Force, from Republic space or beyond.
~At that, I retired as I'd intended to, building a simple dwelling on the slopes below the hidden entrance to the cave I'd discovered. This vast cavern is so very strong in the Force--neither Light nor Dark--much stronger than the small cave Master Jinn had once taken me to on Dagobah. Like it, however, all that you find inside is what you take in with you. There are lifetimes of study and growth in that alone.
~So I now sit in the sunshine, jotting down my thoughts. This, then, is *my* training ground. No grand Jedi Temple of soaring pillars and echoing halls where many look to in wonder, awe and perhaps longing, in the heart of a bustling society. That was not my master's Way, nor is it mine. My humble abode is more than I need; a simple, quiet life with a ballance of time to reflect upon the challanging lessons that will surely come to me within The Cave and from the vastness of the universe, for no one live in isolation when connected to the Living Force.
Aiki Jorin-ne' aka spinningmonkey
Padawan of the Living Force
"Far from here."
"Not Bolivia, I take it," and my eyes drifted to the moon, the stars.
"No, not even this silar system. I must bring you in closer to where I am bound by duty. This encounter would appear as the greatest of chance to most. I was assigned to apprehend Muon Dab"--a dip of the eyes indicated the already much smaller lumps behind him--"as a last minute affair. Many small occurrences aligned to bring me here. I see now that it was the will of the Living Force."
"Uh-huh...Is that what the Jesus robes are about?"
"Jedi robes, actually. Is this Jesus Order native to your planet?"
"That hasn't really ever been confirmed."
With a simple gesture of his hand, the straps on my straight jacket fell away and I climbed off my old cot for the last time. "It will take an adjustment," I admitted, "seeing other moons and other stars from other windows..."
"Your focus determines your reality; in truth there is only the adjustment in your own perception."
"That's what I meant. Believe me, I've had a lot of time to sit quietly with my mind."
"Then you are ahead of most at this point, my young Padawan. Now we must go; there will be enough paperwork in the morning for someone with two 'escapes' without my presence causing more."
~Thus did my secret apprenticeship under Master Qui-gon Jinn begin, for so it had to remain because of certain rulings by the Jedi Council. It seemed that my new master was a bit of a renegade in the eyes of this council. He was, however, always true to the Living Force, which I came to understand could at times be quite divergent from the Conceptual Force. And no matter how he might have been judged at any given moment--for he did allow the Force to lead him into possibly questionable avenues of study and training beyond the stricter structure of Jedi instruction--his footing never stumbled from its solid grounding in the Light Side.
~It was only many years later, at my master's funeral pyre, that the truth came out. When, to the surprise of the Jedi present and the Council--all save for Grandmaster Yoda, I felt--I revealed myself and related the tale of my life hidden from their awareness and restrictions, of training along a broader spectrum of the Force. Young Obi-wan seemed to suffer a momentary sense of betrayal but, a credit to himself and the teachings of *our* master, he then warmly clasped my hands in both of him and welcomed me to the somber gathering with his eyes. Afterwards, I truthfully informed the masters present that I, like my late master, was not so hesitant and guarded in my choices of studying the ways of the Force as they might wish. Yet, I humbly assured them, I had most definitely chosen the Path of Light, as I knew well and had lived more than I cared to in darkness. Following some preliminary testing, Grandmaster Yoda offered to present me as a candidate for the Jedi Knight trials. Again, most grateful and humbly, I confessed that the time did not feel right to me, that although I was now masterless I wasn't ready to commit myself to the Jedi Order and thanked him for his generous offer. At this, there was quite a stir from the rest of the Counci. As Grandmaster Yoda pointed out though, I was not a Jedi--Light or Dark--to come under their jurisdiction or control, nor was I a Sith to be dealt with. I was a highly trained Force sensitive from beyond Republic space, something utterly unique in their annals. Many were extremely displeased with Master Jinn for his defiance, yet again, of the Orders rules, but there was certainly nothing to be done about it at this point. At that point, Grandmaster Yoda made an even more generous offer: He would allow me to refine my training at the Jedi Temple, with complete freedom to train with others, seek out the guidance of any masters and, bliss for me, make full use of the Jedi Library and Archives. I began to sense that Grandmaster Yoda saw the shadow looming on the horizon and I was somehow to be a beacon of Light cast out to a distant point.
~This sense only grew stronger when, after four years at the temple--four years into the child Anakin's apprenticeship under Jedi Knight Obi-wan Kenobi--I announced that I was going to travel the Outer Rim planets for a number of years as I felt drawn by the Force to seek out experiences there. Following that, I planned to retire to a place I had discovered on my old home world on a return visit a few years ago and that I would remain in periodic contact with the Council on Coruscant by messenger droid.
~I did just that, one year folding into the next. For almost fifteen years I lived with a species beyond the Outer Rim who moved through time and space more slowly than physical reality should have allowed them. I never came to understand this ability, but while with them I, too, aged hardly at all. When I returned to relatively known space, a messenger droid sought me out and delivered a devastating tale of the rise of a Dark Lord of the Sith; of the Republic replaced by a Galactic Empire; of the slaughter of all Jedi; of the seeming horrific 'fall' of their Chosen One. My first impulse was to rush back to Coruscant to see if I could help in any way, but the message went on to encourage me to stay away, to keep traveling and taking note of where I met Force sensitives. And so, for nearly two more decades I wandered, until word reached me of the end of the Sith Empire and the return of the Republic.
~I assumed that the Jedi were gone and was therefore surprised to receive another messenger droid from a Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight. His message was a long hologram relating the tale that I'd only garnished bits of here and there in my travels. He ended by informing me that his contact with me was directed by Grandmaster Yoda on his death bed because he had fully come to understand that Master Jinn's 'defiance' was actually a very powerful working of the will of the Living Force. That I was not so unique--as I'd also discovered in my travels--and that the Jedi Order needed the cleansing that had transpired to find a wider base of balance. By their own narrow teachings, they created the very sword that was needed to cut the decay from them. Luke Skywalker would now build a new Jedi Order, learning and growing from his experiences and the trial of his father. He urged me to keep the beacon burning (Grandmaster's Yoda's direction) and help high for any to follow; of any age, from any planet and to any degree that they were capable of. He would reflect this idea in the construction of a new Jedi Temple open to any candidate who exhibited an affinity with the Force, from Republic space or beyond.
~At that, I retired as I'd intended to, building a simple dwelling on the slopes below the hidden entrance to the cave I'd discovered. This vast cavern is so very strong in the Force--neither Light nor Dark--much stronger than the small cave Master Jinn had once taken me to on Dagobah. Like it, however, all that you find inside is what you take in with you. There are lifetimes of study and growth in that alone.
~So I now sit in the sunshine, jotting down my thoughts. This, then, is *my* training ground. No grand Jedi Temple of soaring pillars and echoing halls where many look to in wonder, awe and perhaps longing, in the heart of a bustling society. That was not my master's Way, nor is it mine. My humble abode is more than I need; a simple, quiet life with a ballance of time to reflect upon the challanging lessons that will surely come to me within The Cave and from the vastness of the universe, for no one live in isolation when connected to the Living Force.
Aiki Jorin-ne' aka spinningmonkey
Padawan of the Living Force
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