I think often of the similarities of the Jedi and the Sith. I see them both seeking the truth in the Force, but missing so much in their own singlemindedness.
It is easy for me to see the destruction that the way of the Sith brings.
“Peace is a lie. There is only Passion. Through Passion, I gain Strength. Through Strength, I gain Power. Through Power, I gain Victory. Through Victory my chains are Broken. The Force shall free me.”
The heart of the Sith is power and victory. Selfish gains at the cost of others.
Little better do I find the denial of the Jedi Code.
“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.”
But there is emotion! There is ignorance! There is passion and chaos! And yes, there is death. So much death, I have seen. Why ignore that which is right in front of you? What lies within you?
In my studies at the Jedi temple, I studied many of the practices past and present. Of the well known Jedi, and those that were unsung. Many of their teachings I studied with wonder and awe, seeking common threads with which I could see the nature of the Force.
I happened across old texts by Master K’Lil Jibran. He wrote often of an oracle, whose wisdom was known throughout their system. He was setting out on his final journey away, never to return to his land nor his people. Day by day, they would come to him and ask him to speak and share the wisdom he had learned. Great in the Force, was he.
“And the priestess spoke again and said: Speak to us of Reason and Passion.
And he answered, saying:
Your heart is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against your passion and your appetite.
Would that I could be the peacemaker in your heart, that I might turn the discord and the rivalry of your elements into oneness and melody.
But how shall I, unless you yourselves be also the peacemakers, nay, the lovers of all your elements?
Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your journeying heart.
If either your sails or your rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas. For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction.
Therefore let your heart exalt your reason to the height of passion, that it may sing;
And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes.
I would have you consider your judgment and your appetite even as you would two loved guests in your house.
Surely you would not honor one guest above the other; for he who is more mindful of one loses the love and the faith of both.
Among the hills, when you sit in the cool shade of the white poplars, sharing the peace and serenity of distant fields and meadows—then let your heart say in silence, “The Force rests in reason.”
And when the storm comes, and the mighty wind shakes the forest, and thunder and lightning proclaim the majesty of the sky,—then let your heart say in awe, “The Force moves in passion.”
And since you are a breath in The Force’s galaxy, and a leaf in The Force’s forest, you too should rest in reason and move in passion.”
As the Sith focus on their passion, so do the Jedi their reason. Together, balanced within your heart, let the one influence the other, so that you may serve the Force truly and freely.
- Adapted from Kahlil Gibran’s book, The Prophet