Cave of the Force's topics - tribe.net

Know thyself...

2008-07-20T09:26:25Z

~For the first time, I've changed the Tribe photo. To master any ability, you must first master yourself; to master yourself, you must come to know your true self. For a practice, how does the new photo strike you at initial glance. 'Seeing eye to eye' or 'A stand-off' or 'A silly staring game...' ? In your belly, your first feeling. Something to take note of, and then let it go~

Aiki Jorin-ne'
ever practicing Padawan of the Living Force

posted in Cave of the Force - 5 replies

Help me all you wonderous jedi, your my only hope!

2007-07-24T21:57:57Z

On July 17th, join other jedi, lightworkers and spiritual warriors, in a unified 1 hour meditation to help charge the planetary grid with positive intent to assist in manifesting a positive change/transition for this amazing planet and all life living in its wonderous environment. Channel the force in a manner that will be helpful to the entire world!

www.firethegrid.com/eng/home-fr-eng.htm

posted in Cave of the Force - 3 replies

Clone Wars

2007-06-09T21:21:04Z

http://www.starwars.com/video/view/000478.html

posted in Cave of the Force - 4 replies

the Living Force

2007-04-18T20:12:59Z

~~There is a place without names, without titles, without intricate codes of conduct or dogmatic adherance to a limited vision. A place where one experiences all life in the moment, clearly and directly and with integrity of self, following inner stirrings as to action or inaction. Examine all things but in the end find your own Way, as that will be the perfect Way for you. To name a thing without getting some directly experienced sense of it, is to limit the thing and yourself; to adhere too stringently to 'I am this' limits your overall growth as you might do well to encoumpass certain aspects of the unspoken "I am not *that*'. This is a teaching of the Living Force~~

May your horizons expand,
Aiki Jorin-ne'
Padawan of the Living Force

posted in Cave of the Force - 16 replies

on second thought

2007-04-07T15:52:09Z

~While I was spending time at the Jedi Temple, prior to my deep space travels, I was in one of the training halls attempting to Force Leap onto a ledge much higher than I'd ever accomplished. After crashing back down to the floor a number of times, I heard a soft chuckle behind and turned to find that Grandmaster Yoda had been watching.

"I'm trying to get to that high ledge," I pointed out like a ninny, as if he couldn't tell what I was doing.
"Do or do not--there is no try," he told me curtly.

So I dug deeper inside myself, focused my mind like a laser on getting to the ledge and shot upwards! Only to hit just below it and crash back onto the floor. I stood up, rubbing my elbow.

"Master, that doesn't seem to be the answer," I observed, perhaps muttering a little.
"Always succeed, you will not, Padawan. Your intention, it is, not the goal."

After a moment of 'huh?', a huge grin split my face and I was on the ledge...for that was my true intention, not 'trying to get there'.

Aiki

posted in Cave of the Force - 1 reply

Force powers

2007-03-29T16:11:22Z

~If you aquired or improved upon one Force power/ability that you belive would improve your life overall, what would it be? Think a while on this one--every choice is a two edged sword ;)~

Aiki Jorin-ne'
Padawan of the Living Force

posted in Cave of the Force - 7 replies

emptyhand or lightsaber?

2007-03-29T16:01:29Z

~Because I came into my training much later in life than traditional Padawan, Master Jinn was less inclined to introduce me to the lightsaber for many years. He explained it later that--being older--I'd have more natural fear of such a thing and many more associations attached to it then a young child and would therefore benefit from a solid grounding in the pure energy training/control of the Force before taking up the weapon. I therefore became very proficient with using my mind and open hands to channel and project the Force, with allowing my physical body to give itself over to those swirling patterns of the Living Force that moved it appropriately in any given situation. Since I did not 'grow up' wielding a lightsaber as an extension of myself, I was more awkward at the beginning; I understand now that Master Jinn had prepared me just fine for the moment, that the 'awkwardness' was my subconscious rebellion toward him at having been denied the weapon in the first place, having it foisted on me now that I preferred moving without one, at the seeming step backward in my training to now incorrporate this 'other thing'. Once I got past my inner stubborness, I knew that my master had laid all the foundation I needed and had only to open myself with the lightsaber in hand to all those same patterns. To know that it was not 'I' moving the lightsaber anymore than it had been 'I' moving without it. I am always set to laughing by my ability, after so many years in my practice, to get in my own way~

Padawan of the Living Force,
Aiki Jorin-ne'

posted in Cave of the Force - 2 replies

master & apprentice

2007-02-10T06:13:50Z

~How do you know when you've met your master? Teacher's come in all sizes, shapes and at (often) unexpected times and in (nearly always) unanticipated ways. It's been years since the passing of Master Jinn, but I recently aligned with my new teacher for however far this stretch of the Path takes me :)~

Aiki Jorin-ne'
Padawan of the Living Force

posted in Cave of the Force - 3 replies

blindness

2007-01-25T05:05:19Z

~Is the Dark Side in life so hard to see simply because we don't wish to see it? Because we don't want things to be like that? Our ego is confronted by a lack of control, by fear and doubt. We slip into a form of denial...clouding our own minds because of our attachment to how we would have matters be instead of how matters actually are. Clarity takes courage, truth can be unpleasant...The Dark Side isn't hard to see, it's our attachment to an ideal of the Light--instead of existing in each moment of the Living Force--that blinds us~

Aiki Jorin-ne'
Padawan of the Living Force

posted in Cave of the Force - 0 replies

walking the two-fold path

2006-08-16T14:00:32Z

~To evolve as a being in the Force, one must grow in their Force abilities by enhancing their connection with the Force. This is a two-fold path, inward and outward, that must be walked simultaneously and with focused self-discipline. Presently, I am walking the outward path by training with the group of martial artists I came upon at the bend in the river; through interaction with them I am deepening my sensitivity to all living things, all movement and flows of energy. To walk the inward path, I am keeping my awareness on something my late master, Qui-gon Jinn, reminded me of often.
"Do not focus on your anxieties, Aiki, they have little to do with this manifesting moment of the Living Force. And you need not make that face; you're not the first Padawan I've have to remind so." I was, unfortunately, the last. I sit daily with the meditation of 'letting go'...of the anxieties themselves and the ever arising petty events, circulating thoughts or old emotion patterns that that give rise to them.

What are you, the other Force adepts who've found their Way here, working on? How are you going about it?

May a fuller understanding of the Living Force be with you,
Aiki Jorin-ne'

posted in Cave of the Force - 13 replies

the holochron of Darth Vex

2006-07-12T16:44:52Z

*I've decided to recount this lesson on a holochron because of its many layered nature*

~I entered the cave through its all but hidden opening between folded spines of sandstone and was struck again by the sweep of its entry cavern, the walls and vaulted ceiling made up mostly of tumbled boulders but with a much more ancient broken stone structure or framework randomly exposed. I felt very balanced at the moment and ready for whatever the cave might have in store for me...or so I thought. Only moments after entering--the interior light a soft golden-cream and the smell of moist shadows calling me into the cavernous depths--the walls began to blur and fade...until I was standing on a barren plain I knew well, shielding my eyes from the remorseless sun beating down upon this furnace pan, myself and Master Jinn.
~For four days we'd traveled on foot across this hell, unendingly flat and cracked. Master Jinn had told me that it would be a needed teaching, for me to learn survival skills augmented by my connection with the Force. Now his words of years ago came back to me full force: "The life of a Jedi--or in your case Force Sensitve, is not an easy one. Never fool yourself about that." We had taken no food and only a small amount of water each. We walked until the hottest part of the day, when we each propped our robes up with thin, telescoping rods to make the crudest of shelters from the sun's direct rays. My master taught me how to walk lightly without droping my entire weight onto the burning surface; to breath with a pause that allowed my breath to cool slightly before taking it into my lungs; to control the release of sweat from my body, loosing just enough to cool the skin; to keep moving through the many phases of exhaustion, what each felt like and its effects on my body, mind and spirit. it was now the time of day when we normally rested, but today Master Jinn informed me that we'd keep moving. We did, through the worst of the soaring temperatures, the blessed sunset, twilight and limbo of the long night. One agonizing step into the next, breathing the pain away, breathing strength into exhaustion, breathing through split and bleeding lips. The sun rose on the fifth day and still we marched, Master Jinn intermittently muttering to himself. Peering at him through my puffy eyes, he seemed to be in his own daze; his eyes glazed and distant, his jaw slightly slack, his right hand twitching uncharacteristically.
"Padawan, stop your incessant complaining," he muttered loudly enough for me to hear, although I couldn't say for certain that he was actually addressing me. Especially as I hadn't been able to speak for the last two days. A few more steps and he mumbled something els and I saw him glance at me in a furtive, suspicious way. I was becoming very uncomfortable by the feelings emminating from him.
"You've always been weak..." I then heard. "You'll fall...are falling...should end this now..." and I suddenly knew what that twitching hand meant. In that instant of knowing, the green blade of my master's lightsaber sprang into his hand and I had less than a heartbeat to bring my own into my hand and block the descending blade. The force of that strike, physical and mental, sent me reeling. I tried to croak out words but nothing escaped my parched throat.
"Groveling won't save you, Dark One!" I heard above me and rolled from beneath a second strike. My master had lost his senses somewhere in this inferno, the lesson gone horribly wrong.
He fought me then, really fought. Nothing like our practice of years together. I would never strike at my master, even if that was an option; it took all of my abilities simply to counter, block, redirect and avoid his much stronger and experienced cuts. I tried calling out to him, finding my rough voice in desperation, but there was a wild look in his eyes and my words fell on ears that could not hear them. i was both terrified and grieved as I scrambled across the burning ground, thinking furiously how I could disarm him, subdue him, bind him long enough to heal him. Then a Force Push sent me tumbling head over heels, my lightsaber flying from my hand, pale dust filling my eyes and nostrils as I landed sprawled on my face. with the greatest effort, I pulled myself onto one knee, got one foot under me...and he was bearing down upon me, stalking forward with no hint of recognition or remorse.
"I *will* kill you," he said in a voice I'd never heard, absolute and merciless. I knew then that the unthinkable had occurred: Master Qui-gon Jinn had fallen into darkness through this insane, blistering landscape. I could not save him, heal him or defeat him. Nor did I care, at that instant, to attempt to save myself. My friend and mentor was gone and there was little point to anything now...I hung my head, awaiting the stroke that would free me from the pain in both body and soul.
"Fight me!" I heard him hiss. "Get up and fight me, you worthless cur!" I felt a tear track through the dirt on my cheek.
"I yield," I was able to squeak out.
"There is no yielding, no whimpering, no self-pity. Now get up and fight or so help me I'll cut you apart piece by piece!" At that, he slashed my left forearm, a shallow cut instantly cauterized but stingingly painful and galvanizing me to action. In that moment, I saw only this dark force before my swimming vision and my lightsaber had flown back into my hand. I was on my feet and we were dueling again, lightsabers and Force channeling. All that I was, all that I had left and could tap into was pouring through me. I did not fight from emotion, from any need even to destroy this thing attacking me, but from the Living Force singing inside of me that all life is precious and I must live completely until the instant my essence is returned to its source. That is the way of things. In the end, of course, I was no match for Master Jinn. Instead of a Force Push, he used the same energy to toss me into the air and then slam me down so that the wind was knocked out of me; my lightsaber streaked from my loosened grip into his waiting left hand. He clipped it to his belt.
~I struggled onto my knees, unable to stand or speak, barely able to breath. Inside thought, I had crossed some line to understanding the fullness of myself and my connection to the Force. I was not affraid to die, nor did I secretly seek it as an escape. I felt more centered and balanced than I ever had. It wasn't for me to kill or save anyone; it wasn't a horrible tragedy or travesty; it wasn't right or wrong what was happening. It was simply happening. We'd fought so long that the sun had slipped beyond the horizon, the sky now magenta clouds fading into descending indigo. I don't think I'd ever seen anything quite so beautiful.
~I felt the heat and vibration of my master's blade close to my neck and let my eyes travel to his face. I let go of him as well, coming fully into my own center. No anger, no betrayal, no sadness, no fear...just a fullness, a completeness of myself in this moment of all life. Our eyes locked and I silently communicated all of this to him, felt my aura swell and radiate outward.
"I could take your head right now," he said softly, "but I could never take your spirit. That...is what we really came here for you to learn, my Padawan." His voice was again the one I knew so well, his face free of its demented mask. Instantly the green light of his saber was gone and a few stars appeared beyond his head in the gathering dusk. "Embrace this feeling. Live it in every breath and know it without doubt in every fiber of your being. Be it as you pass throough this life; be it with or without a teacher; be it when you think that all is lost, corrupted and you wander blind. it is the Living Force fully awakened in you. I had to bring you here, wear you down to breaking because some Padawan are extremely stubborn."
~I saw the ghost of a smile cross his parched lips as he drew back his left sleeve, showing me a long scar much like mine would become. "Now," he said matter-of-factly, falling to his knees and resting his weight on his hands on his thighs, "we need to rest. I am glad it didn't take you longer because I'm exhausted." He pulled a beacon emitter from his robes and activated it. "Our transport will be here shortly...let's take a look at that arm."
~Feelings of anger, confusion, betrayal and distrust roiled then through me...but seemed to find nowhere to attach themselves. They were merely shadow forms next to this centered self I felt. I watched them churn inside me for a bit, almost like an outside observer, until they simply dissipated from lack of interest on my part. I lay back on the cooling ground, watching the gathering stars overhead as though they were stars in my own eyes, without separation.
~The cave reappeared and I stumbled from it. Still a powerful lesson after all this time...but why had I revisited it? My answer was immediate. An irritating mechanical whine filled the air and, gazing down the long dry valley falling away from the cave's hillside, I spotted the plume of dust thrown into the air behind the dirtbike racing in my direction. There was power and arrogance in that flying dust, the sharp scream of that engine that shattered the surrounding stillness. This is why, I now understood. I hoped I'd learned the lesson well....

to continue...

posted in Cave of the Force - 4 replies

Jedi/Sith...Yin/Yang

2006-06-15T21:00:39Z

~That's how these two philosophically divergent 'camps' strike me. They seemed more black and white when Master Jinn related stories from each side to me over the years although, as a Master of the Living Force, he would then go on to show how the Light was in the Dark and the Dark within the Light. The Yin/Yang matrix, from my home world, seemed to strike his fancy and he agreed that it was very close to the truth as he interpreted it. Ever shifting balance and flow; to be ever mindful in each instant of where one's internal positioning is, while accepting without negative judgement that one's alighnment will stray this way and that at any given time. That both sides create the whole being and Awareness is the guide~

Ever seeking balance,
Aiki Jorin-ne'

posted in Cave of the Force - 0 replies

Jedi Code

2006-06-15T20:39:33Z

~~This portion of the Jedi Code was a focus for meditation on the Force~~

There is no emotion; there is peace.
There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.
There is no passion; there is serenity.
There is no chaos; there is harmony.
There is no death; there is the Force.

~~This second portion is more of a practical code of conduct~~

Jedi are the guardians of peace in the galaxy.
Jedi use their powers to defend and protect, never to attack others.
Jedi respect all life, in any form.
Jedi serve others rather than ruling over them, for the good of the galaxy.
Jedi seek to improve themselves through knowledge and training.

~~While spending time at their magnificent temple, researching their history in the Great Archives and refining areas of my understanding, I came to embrace certain aspects of this Jedi Code and to question other aspects. I saw a number of instances where the words spoken were not the behaviors exhibited. On my planet we called this 'walking your talk'...or not. Ultimately, it was these divergences that lead to my decision to refrain from taking the trials offered me by Grandmaster Yoda to become a Knight in the Jedi Order (see My History-Part 2). I was humbled and grateful for his giving me free reign while not committing myself to them and it was a reminder to me of my late master's words: "Always remember, my young Padawan, that in the deepest darkness there is a measure of light and in the brightest light, shadow dwells. Seek always to perceive the balance."

Aiki Jorin-ne' (aka spinningmonkey)
Padawan of the Living Force

posted in Cave of the Force - 16 replies

Dark/Light Integrated detachement

2006-04-02T21:30:06Z

Starting out as i am guided I came to a thought. To allow the flow of all feellings, whether labeled dark or light, yet refaining from being subject to them.

I can see the traditional jedi of the republic detaching themselves and surpressing any anger or fear or hatred. hatred is the only emotion I'fe not witnessed in nature and therefore I feel can be done without to a degree. Knowlege of it's existance is valuable.

I see myself entering situations which allow multiple emotions to be brought about. It seems that the reaction to them would be where the juncture of judgement takes place. Also where one may deviate from truely experienceing the flow of the force. Therefore, anger can occur, love can occur, and as long as they are not attached to then you are fully in the force. I feel that if one can remain in a state of contentment externally and internally during the course of these emotions, then they can continuously be Jedi allied with the full power of the force in it's whole and non-dual state of existence.

What do you feel?

~Z

posted in Cave of the Force - 2 replies

neighbors

2006-03-26T00:07:31Z

~~I had left my hut at sunrise the other day, drawn out and on by what might appear a random wandering, but I knew for a stirring of the Living Force. For hours I walked, heading predominately eastward and practicing the lessons of the desert my master had taught me. In early afternoon I came upon a wide yet shallow river, a green serpent snaking through colors of red, ochre, mustard, orange, beige. Leafy trees clung to its banks, a long drawn out forest. For a time I followed this watercourse, letting my feet lead me on. Then, echos off of echos, I heard the clacking of wood and rounded a bend in the river by a sandstone butte that opened on to a wide, flat area just up from the river bed. A number of huge weeping willow graced this space with dappled shade in the lee of the butte. There was a rock-ringed natural spring burbling softly, a wooden building with a covered veranda and what appeared to be sliding wooden doors standing open to reveal a deeper shadow inside, the flickering of candlelight. Arrayed on the packed earth outside this structure were two dozen men and women wearing what I at first took to be robes, but they were separate garments--the flarring skirt-like pants black and the loose tops a dark blue. They were in pairs and obviously practicing sword training with wooden replicas. They would engage at the command of one, all executing the same pattern but at their own level. Wooden swords cracking, pants swirling as they moved. Each time a cut or parry was made, voices were raised, chanting words I didn't know. Respectfully, I stood quietly beneath a willow, hands in my robe, simply watching and being reminded of my days under Master Jinn and at the Jedi temple. For such was the feeling of this place.
~~There was movement from the shadow in the building and a woman slightly taller than myself with her silver-gray hair tied in a knot at the back of her head came toward me, almost gliding and gracefully assured. She had noticed me where the others had not, since I'd dampened my energy signature on purpose so as not to disturb the practice session. Now, heads turned but were directed to return focus by a new set of movements ordered. When the woman stopped an appropriate distance from me, I bowed to her as I'd been taught by my late master. The most subtle ripple of surprise crossed her features, before she returned the bow. I allowed my hands to fall naturally to my sides, palms rotated slightly to the fore, to show I was hiding nothing. The woman made a slight incline of her head in acknowledgement.
"My apologies," I said quietly, "it was not my intention to disturb anyone. I'll go now."
~~She stayed me with a movement of her hand. "Please, no one has found their way here in a very long time; all here were invited and brought here. May I offer you a drink?"
~~With a movement of my own hand I indicated the river. She smiled at that. "Of course. Have you come far?"
"Some hours to the west."
"Just walking?"
"Following, actually..."
~~At that her eyes twinkled. "I thought I felt something when I arose this morning at sunrise. It must have been you heading out. Please, have you questions?"
"What are--your students?--saying?"
"Ah, it's Japanese. 'ichi-go, ichi-e'--one encounter, one opportunity. They are emphasising the practice of being fully present in the moment based on an awareness of that moment's ephemeral nature. Due to the fleeting nature of each instant, every moment is precious and it is the only moment that genuinely exists. By focusing on the past or the future, and only encountering the present fully during times of crisis, we sleepwalk through most of life. This Way emphasizes activities that require the fully unified mind and body to live in the living moment of the present."
"...the Living Force..." I whispered.
~~At that instant, the woman struck toward my abdomen with a small knife; without thought I easily avoided it; swirled the baggy sleave of my robe around it and tossed it lightly off across the sand. I smiled at her.
"Please," she asked politely as if no knife had been thrust at me, "take tea inside with me. I would like to speak with your further if you don't mind."
"That is very kind of you." I made a slight bow. "Thank you."
~~One of her students nearby retrieved the knife as we ambled off into the cool of the building.

posted in Cave of the Force - 1 reply

what children know...

2006-03-24T16:47:14Z

~I arose at dawn and spent an hour or so with my various practices, this morning mostly pushing my personal limits--internal areas where hang-ups from my past still inhibited my full connection to the Force. A rigorous practice that made me grateful for the pot of tea, toasted bread and apple/nut salad I ate afterwards. After resting a bit, watching the rising sun streak golden threads across the landscape, I rose from my cusion on the stone patio I'd laid outside the front door and headed up to the Cave. Following the twisting walls to where they open before the dark, gaping maw of the Cave, I was stopped by...the laughter of children. This was also, I knew, a manifestation of the power of the Cave; one needed only to be in its proximity, not directly inside of it, to feel its effects.

~Gazing around me, I could almost see the small forms dashing about, laughing and yelling. Then one boy of about eight, a bit plump with tossled red hair, staired straight at me, threw out his right hand and I felt a mild Force Push sensation wash through me. I thanked the Cave and headed off toward the small town about six miles west of my location, leaving my cloak behind and donning a loose shirt the color of moss in place of the Jedi type tunic I'd grown accustomed to wearing from my years with Master Jinn. I had already taken to wearing baggy tan trousers over my leather boots, since as a follower of the Living Force there was certainly no ascribed 'uniform'.

~It didn't take long to make the trek to town; I visited the collective about once every few months for bulk supplies and knew my way around it. I knew that in the northeast corner there was a school for younglings and headed that way. There is great synchronisity about the Force and I was not surprised to find that I arrived just as the children were being released for one of their breaks from studies. A free time to run a bit wild, as we all need. Almost immediately I spotted the red haired boy, dashing with his friends to a grouping of metal exercise contraptions. Since there was a bench beneath a fan-branched tree nearby, I settled myself there behind the book I'd brought along to appear interested in studying more than other people's children. Then I observed--through all my senses--the interplay and flowing connections, the sudden focusing and releasing of energies, the web of the Living Force living out through these small bodies.

~The red haired boy seemed quite adebt at stalling and moving others with a Force Push feeling from his eyes or hand, sometimes the way he held his body. Never maliciously though and was ready to help others and share in the play. There was a small, pale girl who had nearly mastered the art of invisibility, muting and cloaking her energy output until even I lost track of her at times. One boy, whipish with shaggy black hair, seemingly mild but with a dark core I could feel like a vortex that sucked other's energy, had developed the will to draw others to him, to get them to surrender something of their own wills to him and do his--thankfully--limited bidding. I wondered how his society would deal with him when he grew in years and the power of his will. Had they an understanding of this and how to work with it in a positive way? I feared from my own experiences here so long ago that not much had changed in society's views of the workings of the Force and the energies that were used almost constantly but with so little understanding, control, sense of balance or personal responsibility.

~It was all here, manifesting at its simplest level on this playgroung. It was rare that any of these abilities developed passed this basic level, the adults no more evolved than their children. This was the level that the smallest younglings were practicing at in the Jedi Temple when I'd been there. Moving on rapidly, of course, under the guidance of their masters to the full blossoming of Force abilities and powers. I knew that with the right tutelage these children had equal potential; most of it would lie dormant, some would spike naturally and they, too, might find themselves in an institution such as I did. Some, like the power hungry black haired boy, just might develope enough being driven by their focused, compulsive need and be a real threat to their society. I shivered slightly in the shade of the tree.

~Then I saw the dark boy, with his followers, say something to the red haired boy...who threw out his hand and not only stoped the dark advance but sent him back a step. I could feel the clash of wills, the point where positive and negative met. What is misunderstoood about this point is that they do not battle, as most perceive it, but the fury of energy is from their trying to blend as the pure energies they are while being kept from this by the intention and altered aspects created by those who manifest them. And just like that, it was over...for now. The Great Dance through all the Universe. I left them there, having much to consider on the long walk home; picked up a few supplies and returned to the desert.

Aiki

posted in Cave of the Force - 0 replies

desert dancer

2006-03-11T18:48:35Z

~As twilight came on the other night, I heard distant music coming from the tangle of dry arryos below the cave and leading out to the valley. The soft piping of a wooden flute, gentle drumming humming below it. Feeling that little tug in my navel that I get when the Living Force is talking to me, I wrapped my robe around me as the desert nights can be chilly and took a narrow track that I knew from all my explorations here would lead me to the general location of the music makers. Only a half mile off, I descended into a wide, sandy stretch between sculpted sandstone walls where I found three gaily colored tents. Sitting on carpets in a wide circle were the musicians; drums, flutes, tamborines, bells...a lovely cacophany to accompany the unfolding night. Small fires dotted the sand, casting a wavering light over the three women and one man in the center of the circle who danced in an undulating, evococtive way that beckoned me forward. As I came into the firelight, a small woman with a full smile and shining countenance approached me in welcome. I smiled back, removed my robe and spread it amonst the carpets in the circle. Someone else brought me tea. There were few words spoken, no need, for could feel their connection with the Force, their movements in tune with it, their communing.
~As the night deepened and the fires dimmed, stars flared in their multitude overhead. Two lanterns were lit as different dancers took their turn in the center, moved by the flowing connection between us all, the desert, the heavens...the Living Force. Hours passed unnotice. Then, the drummers took up the main beat, drums of all different sizes, they alone singing deeply to the night. A rhythm of the heart, the pulse, the breath and stomping feet. When this driving, intense percussion had swelled to reverberating off the stone wall, two mean leaped to their feet, brandishing flaming staves and began twirling and dancing in the center. Their movements sang to me! The beauty of the Force manifested through the drumming and whirling spirals of flame flashing the usually hidden pattern on the night for all to see. And see it they did...I could tell by the faces watching, their bodies keeping the beat. There were no spectators here. On impulse, again that twitching in my navel, I brought my light saber to my hand. Rarely did I use it, and never around the natives of this world. But tonight the Force had transported all of us present to an expanded awareness.
The blade is a shimmering teal and it sprang to life in response to my will moved by this instant. I sommersaulted over a few heads to land between the fire dancers and we joined seamlessly, all moved to a greater rhythm. Flashing, twirling, leaping and whirling, my lightsaber's deep hummm underscoring the drumbeat, the dance transcended any awareness of time. Images of other places, other people and other times swam through my mind...all one with me and I with them. At some point, as a shift in temperature hearlded pre-dawn, the dance wound down. I returned my lightsaber to my belt; not one person here seemed frightened or awed by it, just accepting me and any manifestation of me. I was glowing, as were all present. The small woman came to me then and hugged me, her heart beating against me, that stellar smile splitting her bright face again. I was given another cup of tea, much welcomed. This tea tingled on my tongue. Then we all slept...and when I awoke some hours later, the sun casting golden flame onto the stone wall facing east, the tents and all the bright tribe were gone. Even the black smudges of their small fires had been cleaned over. Laying next to me on my robe was a cup of water, a small pinkish crystal and a bell on a string.
~I drank the water, rose and wrapped my robe about me again. The climb back to my dwelling was accompanied by a deep sense of well-being and a sense of simple, warm friendship that I couldn't recall ever experiencing with other humans. I smiled into the rising sun, a lesson learned that there are many who feel the Living Force in their own unique way and can share that without words, doctrine, philosophy or so much of the clutter that obscurs the moment of direct experience.

Aiki Jorin-ne'

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Master Jinn and the Living Force

2006-03-04T01:53:19Z

The Living Force

~~Precognition is the ability to sense the future. (Darth Sidious seems to be the most accurate with this ability, but Yoda is also a very capable practitioner.) Qui-Gon encourages Obi-Wan to concentrate on the moment (the Living Force) rather than contemplating the future (the Unifying Force). The Living Force focuses more on using emotions, whereas the Unifying Force (The Jedi Code) teaches uniformity and restricts emotion. Qui-Gon's focus on the Living Force differs from his Jedi counterparts as it is what some would consider to be a more "liberal" take. It promotes a constant state of awareness to the present since it is the present that shapes the future. Qui-Gon's belief in this justifies his behavior when on field missions. Sensitivity to current situations motivate him to make decisions that perhaps a more conventional Jedi would not, as exemplified by his padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi. This split in philosophy kept Jinn off of the more conservative minded Jedi Council.
~~Qui-Gon's independent spirit was inherited from his equally (if not more so) rebellious master Count Dooku. Dooku was a man who also appreciated the value of the moment as opposed to the abstract future. But unlike his master, Qui-Gon dug deeper and found support for this belief in the Journal of the Whills. The Whills were a society that pre-date the Jedi, and studied the Force in their own unique way. Through the Whills, Qui-Gon found justification for his support in the Living Force as well as curious knowledge in regards to maintaining one's identity in spirit, after death.
~~There are Force sensitives everywhere--"search your feelings" and you will find your unique truth and self.

May a deeper understanding of the Force be with you,
Aiki Jorin-ne'

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emotions...light, dark or simply there?

2006-03-03T01:16:52Z

~Emotions and how we each view them, embrace or reject them; have learned control or are controlled by them. Always of interest to me. Why and how were some uplifted while others were cast down? Why do some human beings attempt to live without them when they are intrinsic to our being human? I once read a line from a Buddhist text that said, roughtly: "You cannot transcend your ego if you've never developed one or come to understand what one is and its effects. Two people may be without ego; the first having never developed much of one and the second having transcended theirs--they are in utterly differently places spiritually".

~Take anger, driven by fear, yes, but it can still keep you alive. Come to understand its true nature and you can use the energetic pattern of anger without the fear driven, uncontrolled aspect. Take love, a blissful state...until it goes sour on you. Then it can turn into the most destructive force known. Come to understand the true nature of love and you will find its universal, limitless seed that connects to all living forms and never falters, never sours.

~There are those like the Sith, who would use their stronger passions for their own gain as they see it and those like the Jedi, who are routinely encouraged to "search your feelings" and "use the Force" (I prefer *follow* the Force) while being admonished that "fear leads to the Dark Side". Emotions all. While reviewing these holochrons left with me, I see how Ankakin Skywalker 'appeared' to fall to the Dark Side by following what many would call his baser instincts because they did not cooincide with the Jedi/Republic views. Yet, by searching his feelings and following where he felt the Force was leading him, he did indeed fullfil his destiny as the Chosen One, brought balance to the Force--as manifested through a particular ideology as the Living Force is never 'out of balance'--and ultimately destroyed the Sith. He had to become a Sith to be the only one strong enough and close enough to the Emporer to kill him. It was also the suffering of his father that added to young Luke's own strength and resolve, that turned him from an angry child into a man of compassion and love as he endured much to 'save' his father. As was it his father's lesson reflecting in the metal of both Anakin and Luke's lost right hands, a potentially similar path into pain and darkness, that saved Luke from possibly falling. Quite a tangle for wee mortals :)

~My late master, Qui-gon Jinn, once told me: "Try to live without judgement, for you don't know what the Living Force will bring your way for your highest good; you don't know enough yet to be able to recognize the form. Just be in the moment."

Aiki Jorin-ne'
Padawan of the Living Force

posted in Cave of the Force - 1 reply

your Path here...

2006-03-03T01:15:56Z

~What is your history of awakening to the Force? Your personal journey and experience in walking your Path to this cave~

All Paths join,
Aiki Jorin-ne'

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My History-Part 2

2006-03-01T06:14:25Z

..."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

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My history-Part 1

2006-02-28T05:09:49Z

~I was a Padawan learner of Master Qui-gon Jinn in the years before he officially took the child Obi-wan Kenobi and, with less frequent visits, all through the time he trained (now Master) Kenobi, until Master Jinn's death at the hands of Darth Maul. On the distant fringes of what the Republic terms the Outer Rim, there is a quiet solar system of eleven planets orbiting a yellow star; one of the systems planets is distant enough from its ninth to be barely in the system and one is a rogue planet on a three thousand stellar year orbit. I was living on the third planet from the sun and knew nothing of the far reaches of the galaxy or of the Force...or so I believed.
~Hardly a child at our first meeting, I was twenty years of age and consigned to an institute where my society placed--for safekeeping and avoidance--those persons deemed 'extremely odd' by their fellows. I could make peculiar little things happen and knew things I either shouldn't (from those who liked their secrets) or couldn't (from those bound by a limited logic). On a particularly balmy summer's night, I was sitting cross-legged on my cot, with my back propped against the wall, staring out at the half moon and few visible stars with my usual sense of unknown longing...when the steel mesh in the open window flew silently off its frame and the dark shape of a man leapt through it. He did not frighten me; nothing much did as I assumed that most entities were figments of my imagination/illness as I'd so often been told. He seemed to be scanning the room. Without thought, reason or hesitation, I told him in a firm whisper:

"It's her..." indicating with my chin the sleeping woman in the cot across from mine.
~Also without hesitation, the 'woman' was suddenly off her cot and not a woman at all, but something huge and bulbous in the moonlit room. Tendrils shot out toward the man, who seemed immediately to be reaching for something amongst his billowing clothing. Just as the tendrils were coiling around the man's chest and arms, pinning him, I sent the large water pitcher crashing into the creature's--well, self, as there appeared to be no head really. That momentary stun allowed the man to free himself and a beam of glowing, humming green light sprang from his hand. In the blink of an eye and with soft hissing sounds, my late roommate, the now squidish thing, lay in many lumps on the floor.
"You should know", I matter-of-factly informed the man, "that Housekeeping is going to be very cross with you." Perhaps it was also the drugs that gave me such a sage like demeanor.
~Softly the man walked to the side of my cot and bent for a closer look, a tiny light appearing in his palm. What he saw was a smallish young woman with dark, cropped hair that was mostly cowlicks, strongly green hazel eyes and a subtle, wry hi-I'm-crazy smile that usually lifted just the corners of my mouth. What I saw was a tall man who 'felt' to me unbothered by anything with a long, slightly bent nose as if it had been broken, mild blue eyes and a look of observant contemplation that I was to learn was his nearly perpetual visage. A trim beard and mustache graced his pale face and long hair was half loose and half bound at the back of his head, all a graying dirty blond. For a moment, we held each other's eyes. Then he said lightly:
"I like your calm."
To which I replied, "*I* like your green light."
~Glancing briefly over his shoulder, he went on: "Don't worry, it'll melt away in moments...but there may be some awkward question for you in the morning."
~I almost laughed. "What do I know--I'm crazy!"
~Now he flicked off the little light and squatted, a more friendly, trusting posture. "By the way, my friend, how did you know?"
~I intuited, instantly, exactly what he was referring to but gave my standars answer. "I don't know..." Yet still he waited, as though I hadn't spoken, as though he really wanted my answer...my truth. "Fine then; when I saw you jump into the room--and we're on the fourth floor I might point out--I 'saw' a feeling in my body that connected the two of you. I felt that...thing, trying to erase the line between you two, with its mind or something. And 'she' always did feel creepy to me, always asking for my pudding..."
~Then he fingered the straps to my straight jacket. "And the water jug?" he asked even more quietly and I could sense the great extent of his openness right now, a full sensory expansiveness that seemed to be radiating outward; and then something...an echo returning...or an answer.
~I shrugged in my tight jacket, "I thought you needed help and then it just happened."
"Can you free yourself from this odd shirt?"
"I used to be able to, until they gave me drugs to muddle my mind."
~A deeply contemplative silence fell on the room. One of my other roommates grunted and rolled over.
"You should go," I warned him, "before one of the others wakes up."
"Don't worry," he confided, "I placed the rest of you in a sleep state before entering the room. *You* were not supposed to see what happened..."
"But I did."
"Exactly." Another pause, a powerful sense of lines converging on this instant in Time and Space. Then: "What are you doing for the remainder of your life?"

to be continued...

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