When exploring any of the various arts present at the Force Academy, it is important to remember that all things abroad and abound are not readily explainable.
As such, it is not our focus to explain WHY things work, but HOW they work. Very many people I have met on this path have come into contact with these elements and have rejected them outright simply because they cannot readily explain 'why'.
Bearing this in mind I will continue to present to you various techniques for entering deeper into your lives and gaining unique perspectives that, it is my hope, will allow you entrance to the greater gateway of consciousness.
Truth's, Illusion's, Reality, perceived reality, Actuality, all of these titles have their various meanings, as well as relationships to each other.
Reality and Actuality are often mistaken for the same thing. The truth is often an illusion.
Although things in this world are as they seem, they are also beyond what we may perceive.
Walking down the street home from school may be an everyday thing one that you will never read into, but there will come a time, maybe not in your life, but in that of a friends where someone will swerve up onto the curb and cause a life to end very needlessly.
The simple truth, is there are no ordinary moments, no certainties. Nothing in this world is ever 'comfortable' by that I mean that the things we assume we know, are most often the things with the most depth, the things that are the most unfathomable.
When we accept a degree of humility facing the 'why's of this world we begin to actually learn how things work, even if we can never fully understand what the reason or true affect is. We begin to enter the gateway of true power. The ability to have an affect on our 'world'.
There may be no outer manifestations of this new control, but they will show up in your personality.
The hardest thing I have ever had to do is get rid of the things I was certain of. Nothing so mundane as do I believe in a force or not, that was a relatively easy certainty, perception, to deal with.
Its the ones we are very certain of, the ones we build others off of. For me it took the form of power, fear, elitism. It was a great gift that came at a great price. While it allowed me to learn a lot about this world and the why's it possesses, it blinded me to how I was doing things. As long as I was getting answer's, it didn't matter how I got them.
To me that is a defilement of what I have stood for, the Shadow. However the Shadow by nature, is more then Freedom, Adaptability, more then definition, but in its murky depths lies the place for deception, both of the self and of others.
Certainty is a great gift, fore it brings confidence, it is also a great burden, weighing us down with realities that often are built on illusion.
A lot of time is spent in the Shadow's learning how to connect all things, to find unity in this world. What one must not forget is that is only half of it. We learn to connect everything, this is true, but we must also come to understand how everything (At the same time) is also always alone. When you can take apart the whole and examine its tier's, you can find the illusions that world is built on.
The Shadow is of a predator/prey nature, it is at its heart a dualist philosophy. While we seek to build, we must know how to destroy.
Entering the Gateway, means leaving yourself at the threshold...
Peace, Honor, Eternity
Shinobi
Yesterday I just happened to be at a bookstore that had a short session with a local Tarot reader. One that was not professional mind you, but one none the less. As such, she provided some rather interesting insights into divination and the like.
However, as it was an open discussion we got one of the local cocky university students that are studying physics come in spouting probability theory and what not all. In a fairly polite manner. One of the most interesting part of the conversation between the two went something as thus:
How can cards tell the future?
I don't know, why I've never asked them.
I don't know. That is perhaps the most feared phrase to utter in the Enlish language right beside "I love you" "I care for you" and the like. Most people will say that they must not show that they are weak and frail. Presenting a slightly masochistic perspective to the rest of the wold. It is because of this that we do not like to admit that we are wrong, or that we don't know.
However, on the flip side of things such a statement could also be considered to be an extreme strength for is shows that one is humble and willing to admit to things that they do not know and that they do not know everything that there is in the world.
To quote Socrates "The only thing that I know is that I know nothing."
Throughout history people have asked and wondered as to why the various esoteric, magical and mystical systems work. Why one is able to divine the future out of some cards or change ones mentality and mental processes. As well as how one can manipulate others from afar via their spiritual energies. Telling them why it works is something that is next to impossible. For, in actuality, not many people really know the reasons as to why. They just know that it works. Thus one can readily answer the question 'how'.
I doubt that many people could describe accurately why a television works. Colin, yes, I know that you probably could. But that is beside the point. However that does not make any dent into the fact that it does work none the less without this knowledge.
>The Shadow is of a >predator/prey nature, it is at >its heart a dualist >philosophy. While we seek to >build, we must know how to >destroy.
You really are going to get in trouble if you keep on bringing up this point Justin. I suggest that you go to www.chaosmatrix.com and pick up some good information on Chaos magic and Chaos mages as it will present a rather interesting perspective as to what a magicians opinion of the shadow side is.
I also always thought that you considered the shadow side to be that which was beyond the concepts of duality?
>Entering the Gateway, means >leaving yourself at the >threshold...
The gateway to the abyss of ones soul is not something that many venture past.
Arithion, Mage of the Mists.
Duality
It is a great tool, but it is also a trap, as you tried to point out, Peter.
Which brings me to my real point, "The only thing I know, is that I know nothing."
Knowing is something that I believe is trully beyond our capacity, however I am coming to understand a great deal about the world we live in anyway, even if I 'know' nothing about it. To me how it works is becoming far more important then why it works.
Shinobi
Aye, duality can help however it is merely a model and a guideline with which to walk along with and learn. Similar to a handrail or training wheels to a certain extent. It is something that can aid you while you walk down the path however some people have learned to become overly dependent on it. Often mistaking the map for the actual terrain.
>Knowing is something that I >believe is truly beyond our >capacity, however I am coming >to understand a great deal >about the world we live in >anyway, even if I 'know' >nothing about it. To me how it >works is becoming far more >important then why it works.
Knowledge come from a fixed and stationary point. It is static and unchanging, though it is constantly growing as people learn. However, to know, is dynamic and always changing.
Arithion, Mage of the Mists.