While Star Wars was entirely George Lucas' invention, was it entirely something that he came up with off the top of his head? I think not. In actuality, "the Force" is something that spans many of the world�s major religions. In Christianity, it is referenced as "the Holy Spirit". In Zen and other religions of the old world, it is seen more as a life giving energy that individuals draw upon; that is mainly how Lucas presents it. There was also an elite class of samurai whose name was (I believe...) J�Dai--pronounced similarly, if not identical to Lucas' 'Jedi'.

The main reason for the success of Star Wars is that it is something almost everyone can relate to. It is the classic tale of good vs. evil; death and salvation; cowboys and indians. The Jedi are a group of people who have gained the respect of fans, which now span generations, why? Because in a world filled with violence and hatred, they combat that. Not as terrorists or cults combat it, but in passive resistance, fighting only to defend and maintain the sanctity of life. Inside many of us in the world today, lies at least a tiny seed of the desire to do that same thing. It�s a calling to make a difference in the world as best as one is able to do. The way of the Jedi emphasizes self-control, and mastery over one's abilities and emotions, not to be confused with ignoring emotions--the Jedi hold emotions as valuable things, but an aspect of the self that can lead to clouded judgement. Is this not something that all of us today could use?

Think of all the times in which you were angry, sad, depressed, disillusioned, and that change of emotional state carried over into your interactions with others, or interfered in performance at work or school. There have no doubt been times when this happened, and you wished that you could have put everything aside to address the problem at hand, rather than dealing with the emotional turmoil inside you as well. Does it seem to much to consider, then, that there could very well be a group of individuals who saw something appealing in this creation of Mr. Lucas', and decided to adopt it as their own practice? What I suggest here is not that there is a group of insane Star Wars fans running about, fighting crime with their lightsabres, levitating sunken vehicles, or heaving large pieces of furniture at each other. Rather, that there is a group of individuals who have come together from all different walks of life, all different religions, backgrounds, and geographical locations, for the purpose of growing together, both mentally and spiritually, and to an extent, physically (through the techniques of martial artistry).

So what I present here, is a question: can Jedi exist outside of Star Wars? If your answer is "no," ask yourself why. My answer is yes. Of course. Why not? I am, after all, a Jedi myself. Doubt me? Why? "You must unlearn what you have learned." I am a member of a group of people who have separated ourselves from the creation of George Lucas�save for using the films and novels and such as examples when we need to make a point. We know it is not possible to create a lightsabre at this point in human evolution. But perhaps someday when humanity uses more than 10% of their minds, we will be able to. Perhaps someday we will also be able to manipulate matter and energy as has been documented in a few cases, and to the extreme that Lucas portrays. So to those of you who do not believe Jedi are an actuality, why is that? :-)

*shudder*

Of course, I'm unfairly basing this judgement on the actions of a few individuals I know. Still, they're all very creepy.

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Outside of a dog, a book is a mans best friend. Inside of a dog, it's to dark to read. Groucho Marx

The notion that humans only use 10% of their brains is one of the most unsupported ideas that has come to be accepted as true by the general public. Humans use alll their brain. You can argue that there is redundancy built in, due to the fact that brain damaged people can compensate slightly, possibly by different areas of the brain taking over certain taks. But the idea that we only use 10% basically means that you could remove 90% of the brain with no ill-effect. Popycock.

And the main problem with a lightsabre is creating the energy, it's getting it to terminate a meter away form it's creation point.

Am i 'creepy' to you?

Liam--while i cannot reference off the top of my head where i have heard that we use roughly 10% of our brains, i'm curious where you've heard that we use ALL of our brains. its possible we are just thinking in different terms here. i suspect what is meant by using only a small portion of our brains is not that the other amount simply goes to waste...but rather that we are only able to access that much of it at a time. think about it--how frustrated do you get when you try to do too many things at one time? and yet, you could do many more things individually, correct?

anyways, i was just curious to see what you guys had to say about this.

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HMS White Star (your local friendly agent of Chaos:-) )

At any rate, I don't really see that much to admire about the Jedi, I guess. Sure, Luke seemed like a nice enough guy and all, but the rest of them? They come off as rather self-absorbed in The Phantom Menace. I suppose there's a slight chance Lucas was aiming for that, but still.

sheesh. i mean, come on. we don't have lightsabres, 99.999% of us can't do telekinesis at all, or anything else like mind alter or telepathy. as for midi-chlorians, something jeff pointed out to me when we saw TPM was that lucas was essentially describing mitochondria, which DO make up all living things. or animals, at least, i haven't studied non-human biology that much.

seriously, though. everything that you guys know about jedi, you know from star wars. what i was trying to accomplish here was to get you to think in terms OUTSIDE of star wars. now i apologize to you all if that's not something thats possible.

Let me lay it out for you.

-I am a Jedi.
-I believe in the Force, as an entity that binds everything together and gives me strength. (For me, one way of looking at it is the Holy Spirit.)
-I pull life lessons from philosophies such as Zen and Buddhism and apply them to my own life.
-I do my best to serve others before worrying about my own wants, learning patience along the way by trusting that things will go in an acceptable manner if i wait for things to evolve in a time frame other than my own.
-My highest priority is the defense of life. Any life. Human life, or insects. Life is a continual circle which I influence and am influenced by. Whether or not i hurt someone or something, or stand idly by while pain is experienced, I am responsible. It is within my power to do something, therefore i have have that responsibility.

I do not have any Star Wars-ish Jedi powers developed as of yet, I am working on that. I was going to begin taking karate as many of my friends do, both for the physical benefits and the mental discipline, but due to a recent injury, i doubt that will be a possibility now. I will find the discipline that I need in other areas, because learning control is part of what this is all about. I try to meditate everyday, although it's gotten harder with school. I use healing techniques when i have a headache or stomach ache or something, and have had mild success, actually. some of this does no doubt have to do with the power of positive thinking....but with enough positive thinking, the power becomes stronger, and the healing more efficient.

Real Jedi are more than sabre slinging good guys out defending the world. We are philosophers, poets, authors; martial artists, handicapped, school age, and adult; anthropologist, journalist, student, teacher. None of us are "Masters"...all of us are Learners. because to truly be a master means having learned mastery over one's self, and that is not something that we consider easy to come by. some of us have tried to place the title on others whom we think deserve it, but those particular ones are always the quickest to refute claims that they are that knowledgable.

I hope maybe you guys understand what I was getting at now. If not, then perhaps my attempt has failed. better luck next time.

It's been awhile since I studied Buddhism, but as I recall one of the central points was that no one could show anyone else the path to enlightenment. You have to get there on your own.