~Another way to look at it is that we live in a realm of duality, so you could understand emotions as:

The core energetic pattern for rage/frustration/stubborness also feeds willpower/commitment/perseverance. Your perception of these words, your free choice...your Path.

"Make another fall, no one can,"--Grandmaster Yoda. Pretty much true about everything in life, no matter what you've been dealt.

Aiki

All things are the Force. From the perspective I have gained through my travels; energy has no darkness, nor light; but simply the interpretation of the human dynamic. But, also simply, what we source, what type of energy one draws upon to power their s'jians (force-powers, also known as siddhi's) creates ripples throughout the Force. Throughout karma, as understood in this continuum. When we power our actions with rage, when we power them with fear or sadness, we source the dark side. A tuskan raider hunting a bantha is hunting for food; a clear designation of appropriate action relative to circumstance. But it is not done out of rage, or vengeance towards the bantha. The same goes for animals in this continuum; they act not out of a willful designation, but by their very Nature.
Recently, I resolved an issue with a younger brother. He had been angry at me for an action; and, when the idea of conflict was brought up; he believed he would have triumphed over me because 'he hated me more'.

The dark side. Were I to engage him in my own anger, or fear, I too, would have been sourcing the dark side, and using it to power my actions. I did not, and when he tested the boundaries, I gently put him down with first technique, of the aikido tradition. There was no anger in my heart, nor fear, or even sadness (which can, too often, create places for the dark side to grab hold; though in other cases it becomes the vessel for compassion)

Another example. Once upon a time, when I still travelled with Gentle Doe; she and I were at a music concert. A troll tried to engage her, crafting himself in a glamour that made him look like someone she knew. When she realized it was not the person she knew, she pulled away, and he wanted to dance with her. True to form as her guardian/boyfriend; I stepped in, blocking the energy connection he was trying to establish. Immediately he became aggressive. I scanned his mind; cloudy; a mash of unrealized wants and unfocused emotions. He pushed my shoulder; which I, in a moment of Grace, simply flowed with, aiki style. "You wanna fight?" he asks. "Sure." I say, leading him off the dance floor, away from the innocent souls baring their bliss to the sky.

We pull a bit further away and he makes a couple of movements, pushing at my shoulder again. "Wanna fight?" rumbles out of his mouth; slurred, drunken, and unaware of self. In that moment, and this is important, I had no fear, no anger, towards him. My telepathy enabled me to see BEHIND his pushing; to see the lost and lonely soul that sat underneath the alcohol and the wrong-action. I reached out, subtly, touching his mind; "You're scaring her' I said; and it unravelled him. His anger disappeared, for I had touched the edges of his wanting; he wanted to be loved, to be connected with others; but went about it in a clumsy, flailing way. His * intentions *, ultimately, were those of a lost soul, though it appeared disrespectful and covetous. Confused (weak minds are often confused), he wandered off; and I resumed dancing.

The technique behind this bears analysis. In any given moment, each padawan has quantities of light and dark within them, touches of anger, touches of jealousy and attachment; touches of fear. The troll cast his anger out at me; his frustration; searching for a point within myself that he could latch on to. Because, in * that * moment of Grace, I had nothing for his reaching darkness to * anchor * itself to, it fell away. Had I reacted, had I had anger towards him, or fear, or anything else that these reaching shadows could have grabbed, it would have resulted in a conflict. But, because I did not, it could not touch me.

We must provide a fertile ground for the dark side to reach us. The interpretation I make with emotion is clearly an analogue to a more buddhist doctrine of thought; the mythago which inspired the Force; one metaphor in which the Force makes itself known to us in this continuum. The Force, the universe itself, could be said to have no reactive emotions, only the reflection of energy back on itself which manifests as karma. Emotions, perhaps, are the province of the mind-in-transition; the unstill heart. Our anger, our love, these are, perhaps, reflections of our process as mortal beings; part and parcel of the incarnation we are born into, worthy of note; insistent of being plunged into. Right-action comes from dealing with them in a way that unravels, or solves, energy difficulties, without creating more disharmony, within ourselves or others.

Where do we draw our power from? The dark side? Or the light? Do we gain strength through our anger? Or through our harmony with right-action? The Force can be interpreted many ways. It should be noted that the author who channeled such codes of the Force has, themselves, an upper limit to their understanding. However, the threads of true-energy, channeled from the Force itself, are clear within the piece, and can be used to farcast one's consciousness to a place where they originated.

Forgive if it seems like I digress, I touch on many aspects of the Jedi Code in this missive. It is truly worth understanding, the lesson of resonance with shadow. My Master Audrianne (the Lady Audraine, in a more faerytale mythology) would, as a child, wander through the streets of the cities, blissful and untouched by the darkness of less harmonized souls. This strength, seen through metaphor, is the 'Shield of Innocence'. Their darkness had no place to land on her, thus she drew no darkness to herself. Something to consider about the Nature of the Living Force. Though she experiences emotions; she constantly shifts them to what she considers 'the highest good'; often a blend of personal action and channeled understanding from Spirit itself, or; in the vernacular, the Will of the Force. What the Force wants, not what we, our small ego, believes it wants.

Were it not for emotions; there would be no personality; no canvas, no incarnation with it's lessons and triumphs within this lifetime. How we handle those emotions; how we allow them to pass through us; the ripples they create, reflects our allegiance to the Light, or the Dark side of the Force within ourselves. The idea that 'there is no emotion, there is peace', again, is clearly a buddhist interpretation of the Living Force. It is an IDEALIZED concept, not a functional one. There is emotion, there is an * aspiration * to peace. For my understanding of the Force, it is how we deal with such emotions that matters.

Interesting other point to that, the same night; my awareness was so sharp, so clear in the telekinetic s'jian, that when a friend tried to park their speeder on snowy land, the vehicle swinging back and forth; I extended my aura, * CLEARLY *; reaching telekinetic fingers under the physical form of the speeder; helping it to stay in position and not bang into other vehicles in the snow. It was my Grace, the way I handled the previous situation, that opened my mind up to perceive, and implement, the s'jian. Had I been burdened down with anger, or fear, or any of the other emotions that source the dark side, I would have had trouble.

This is, of course, because, primarily, in this incarnation, I source the Light side for greatest efficiency. There are those that gain the power source for their art and action through the dark side, but it is a difficult and dangerous path; and ultimately, in the Great Wheel, only creates suffering that must eventually be "paid" for, in karmic reflection. But ... even these souls are, from a perspective, only fulfilling their place in the Great Story, following the Will of the Force; though it appears they follow their own agenda. Anakin did unravel the Sith; eventually. Seen from a small sample of Time, it seemed as though he did not; but in the end, his actions served balance; separate from the interpretation of mortal minds.

May the Force be with you.

Griffin

"Cut through the small illusion to the Great Reality"

Aiki