#force theory

Previously, I compared the Force with Moksha (Nirvana, Sunyata - whatever you wanna call it at this point). It is the End and the Beginning, the energy from which all things spring and to which all shall return - that connects all things, living and not. It is at this point where I want to mention another piece of Eastern Philosophy: the Atman. Within the sacred text of the Bhagavad Gita, the atman is defined as the universal immortal spark of divinity - in other words, the bit of God (or Krishna, or Vashti, etc.) that lives within us. It is the atman that eventually moves on to enlightenment or is thrust back into a mortal shell upon reincarnation. Everyone contains a portion of divinity and will never lose that nor will it otherwise change; basically, God dwells in us, and we are already immortal since upon our death we will either have achieved enlightenment or be reincarnated to try again. In context, the atman is the Force flowing through all things. 

With this in mind, we also understand the Force to be energy. However, how can this be? If Moksha is indeed static, is peace, then energy it cannot be because energy logically cannot be static (don’t you dare talk to me about static electricity; that has everything to do with the exchange of charges and not an unmoving state). Well, maybe not. Based on everything we have extrapolated of the Force so far, the Force itself is not alive and changes only based on how Force-sensitives act upon it (I’m pretty sure that’s cannon Force theory somewhere…); that is why there is both Light and Darkness to the Force as I discussed in Pt 1. We’ve already gone over what it means to be Sith - what being ‘Dark’ might stem from. My question, then, is why the Jedi are ‘Light’? What makes them ‘good’? Well, I’m glad I asked. 

I made a point to state that the Siths’ beliefs really diverge from the Jedis’ when it comes to how they view the Force itself - i.e. that the Sith regard it only as a tool to be used. I did not state whether this was right or wrong, and, again, that’s not why I’m here. But if the Sith regard the Force as a tool, then what is the Force to a Jedi?

Your immediate answer will most likely be: Why, Ion, the Force is an ally!

But is it? Is it really? Let’s take a look at the Code and break it down to see. 

“There is no emotion, there is peace.” Okay, so far nothing about the Force, but we know enough about the original canon of the Jedi to infer that the Jedi rely on the Force to find this peace. We know that the Jedi release their emotions into the Force to center themselves. Meditation is a common concept in Eastern Philosophy and so is self-mastery. In fact, I have a quote from a translation of the Bhagavad Gita that says, “[The Saint] attains Peace, into whom desires flow as rivers into the ocean which though brimming with water remains ever the same; not he whom desire carries away." (I won’t give a page number unless someone asks because my translation was a bit difficult to find). In other words, and in context, Jedi pour their emotions into the Force to obtain peace because the Force is steady and does not change. In essence, it’s an exchange between the Jedi and the Force: the Jedi give their emotions, and the Force gives them peace.

“There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.” This line is actually really fascinating because the Jedi Code is the only officially-acknowledged Code to mention knowledge in any direct capacity. Interestingly enough, there’s a line that comes immediately before in the quote I gave in the last paragraph: "The saint is awake when the world sleeps, and he ignores that for which the world lives.” This is a metaphor for enlightenment - that the Jedi seek knowledge (enlightenment) and shrug off worldly cares and concerns to do so. This is directly in line with the concept of prakriti, which is materiality or attachments. Yet another quote that emphasizes the idea of prakriti comes a chapter later in the Bhagavad Gita, "Therefore do thy duty perfectly, without care for the results, for he who does his duty disinterestedly attains the Supreme." This sort of mixes the idea of prakriti with the idea of dharma - one’s duty, destiny, or ethical path/calling. In this quote, Krishna is speaking to Arjuna, the warrior-prince protagonist of the text. Arjuna is being counseled to not question authority or the way things are because that is how one achieves peace. This is very much the opposite of what Jesus teaches throughout the Bible: that we should question because that’s how we can grow. However, in line with Eastern philosophy, we don’t want to grow. Even to desire Moksha is to have desire, to be slave to prakriti, so enlightenment is something that must be sought passively. It’s essentially self-fulfilling: once you can both seek enlightenment and be passive, unmoving, then you have obtained the state of Moksha itself. The Jedi embody this, and we see it in their teachings: they are not supposed to question the Force, only follow where it guides them. They seek to draw closer to the Force by emulating it. But what about this line about knowledge? Well, if knowledge is truly just a metaphor for enlightenment, then the Jedi learn to reach enlightenment by learning from the Force itself. 

“There is no passion, there is serenity.” For this, we should probably define the words ‘passion’ and ‘serenity’, because the Code is not just repeating its first tenet. ‘Passion’ in this context is being used as “an intense desire or enthusiasm for something”. In other words, an acute or profound drive. ‘Serenity’ is not peace but instead a state of being calm or untroubled. In contrast to “There is no emotion, there is peace”, this third tenet of the Jedi Code rolls in on the tails of the previous tenet; Jedi are not to want, to be subject to prakriti - even to desire enlightenment, or to be one with the Force, at all. Instead they are to be passive, to defend instead of attack, to fulfill their dharma to serve the beings of the galaxy without forming attachments, while keeping themselves separate. They are, ironically as Christian doctrine teaches, to be in the world but not of the world. The Jedi, it can be assumed, attain this by putting into practice the previous two tenets - by giving their drive to the Force so that it may give them peace and by learning from the Force how to obtain that passive stability. 

“There is no chaos, there is harmony.” This is very much like its fellows; it gives us a deeper peek into the Jedis’ idea of the Force, though. Chaos to them is to have discord one with another, to have conflict - anarchy, essentially. To be in harmony is to have your goals aligned with the Will of the Force and with each other. This… is sort of where our previous interpretation of the nature of the Force comes into question. Until now we have assumed the Force to be non-sentient, neutral, and unchanging, simply another term for or form of enlightenment. While ‘neutral’ and ‘unchanging’ are not challenged here, the idea of the Force being non-sentient is. We can actually turn once more to the Bhagavad Gita for an answer. In chapter four Krishna says, "... I Myself do no action, and am changeless" echoing the previous establishment of the concept of Moksha/Nirvana. Krishna is perfect, is enlightened, and he is the realization of what we must strive to become. Krishna himself is changeless, just as the Force, but he has his own will, his own ability to act as long as it is in accordance with his nature. All of this leads to the conclusion that the Jedi, in fact, view the Force not as simply a passive energy but indeed an entity - a deity. In the Force, there is no chaos because the Jedi are to give any emotion that might cause chaos to the Force. They are to find peace, to learn from their deity, in order to obtain harmony both within themselves and with those around them. Their dharma is to help others find this harmony, and the Jedi in turn impart their knowledge to those willing. This echoes yet another concept within the Bhagavad Gita: that the prophets that preach of Krishna are Krishna himself, avatars of the deity himself. In this manner, the Jedi are supposed to be extensions of the Force to teach all those it connects.

“There is no death, there is the Force.” This I have already spoken almost exhaustively on (see Pt 1), but it seems there is yet more to say. In the Bhagavad Gita, there are several quotes which touch on this subject - specifically that of the atman bringing us full-circle from the first tenet of the Code (a fact I will address in a minute). The first which should be addressed is simply to put us all on the same page: "For death is as sure for that which is born”. This is very similar to the idea that “We are all born to die” - everything with a beginning must have an ending; all that comes from the Force must return to it. The second passage relates more directly to the atman. 

"The [Atman], which pervades all that we see, is imperishable. Nothing can destroy the [Atman]…. It was born; It will never die, nor once having been, can It cease to be. Unborn, Eternal, Ever-enduring, yet Most Ancient, the [Atman] dies not when the body is dead."

Again, it may be simpler to decipher this in context. Remember that, for the purpose of this argument, the atman is that bit of the Force that connects all of us but, most importantly, connects us back to the Force. Once more put into context, the previous quote simply enforces that all that comes from the Force will return to the Force. (Here I could spark the debate of what this might mean for the philosophy of the sanctity of life, a philosophy the Jedi rigorously adhere to, but it is here that we must also acknowledge the presence of morals in the decision the Jedi make to defend all life. Beyond that, their goal is to live in harmony; in order to obtain harmony, it is their duty to defend against the chaos.) This final tenet of the Jedi Code reinforces the idea of the atman; it is eternal, it cannot be destroyed, and once alive in the Force, you are alive in the Force forever (on a mild side-note, note that this is also very similar to the idea of being ‘alive in Christ’.) 

Something that the Jedi Code is that the Sith Code is not is comprehensive. Where the Sith Code builds each tenet upon the foundation of the last, every facet of the Jedi Code is needed to understand the rest. A Jedi must have peace in order to understand what the Force is trying to teach them; they must be at peace in order to bridle their passions; they must be at peace in order to promote harmony; and they must be at peace in order to accept that their end has come. But while they can act on faith and find peace in some things, they must have the knowledge that the Force will grant them peace; they must know the dangers of desire; they must know chaos from harmony - the idea of the Yoga, which can be interpreted as union or descrimination or discernment; conceptually, union makes more sense - as in, the union of the atman with the brahman, the divine spark with the ground of all being. This is the Jedis’ dharma, to understand the ways in which the Force connects us, connects with us, flows through us. Contextually, however, discriminiation or discernment make more sense, because in order to understand that union, we must be able to discriminate/discern the truth from the lies - Maya, the illusion that comes from the five senses (a.k.a. reality), from Purusa, which is nothingness/Nirvana/Moksha. The Jedi must also know when their time has come - when it’s time for them to let go of mortality to join once more with the Force. But the Jedi must be harmony in all things: they must be in harmony with the Force in order to find peace and to learn; they must be in harmony with others in order to teach them; they must have harmony within themselves in order to obtain serenity; and they must understand the harmony between life and death and the necessity of each. And the Jedi must be able to accept death at all times, to value each life without forming attachment, without fearing their own end - without valuing their own lives above others, ready to sacrifice themselves for the good of one and the good of many. No tenet of the Jedi Code can stand without the others. In chapter four of the Bhagavad Gita it says, "He who is without attachment, free, his mind centered in wisdom, his actions, being done as a sacrifice, leaves no trace behind." This is the mortal goal of the Jedi. 

Now, I said when going over the Sith Code that the real place the Sith and Jedi philosophies of the Force diverge are in their interpretations of the nature of the Force; the Sith believe the Force to be a tool, and the Jedi believe the Force to be a sort of deity. Why is this distinction so important? You might argue that this explains why the Sith are ‘bad’ and the Jedi ‘good’, that the Sith abuse the abilities available to them through the Force, and it is this abuse - of an actual deity, sentient and neutral as it perhaps may be - that is the true crime. You might argue that the Force, aware of this abuse, champions then the Jedi whose dharma it is to defend against such injustice, naturally making the cause of the Jedi right. Well, I argue that as of yet that argument cannot be made. Aside from those Sith simply seeking to cause pain or gain power out of pure enjoyment, what of those who may have originally chosen to become a Sith because they believed in the Sith Code? I mentioned the Clone Troopers, soldiers created for the Republic, slaves in all but name, who’s own beliefs may closely resemble the tenets of the Sith Code simply due to circumstance and nature. The Clones, based on the template of the Mandalorian Jango Fett and having claimed Mandalore as their home planet and their template’s culture as their own, would thus consider themselves part of a nomad-warrior culture. As warriors and nomads, it is reasonable to surmise that they would put a high degree of emphasis on the importance of winning - of wanting to win, of training to win, and of using that training to control their metaphorical battlegrounds in order to turn the outcome in their favor. As Clones specifically, it is not illogical to assume that, despite their engineered loyalty to the Jedi and the Republic, they would chafe at their metaphysical bonds. And what of the slaves? The abused? The abandoned? Would they not wish to break free of their chains? Would they not wish to win against the darkness of their torments? Would they not wish to find strength against their monsters and power over their demons? They would wish for safety. 

We must not forget that there are two interpretations of the Jedi Code, however, so we have yet to understand better all there is. The second interpretation is one taught to the chrechelings and Initiates before they are chosen to be Padawan learners. This interpretation is made to be an introduction to the strict and utilitarian lives of their older counterparts as well as an introduction to the Jedi Order’s view of the Force. 

“Emotion, yet peace.” For a small child, it can be difficult to control instinctive reactions, and in order to keep them all from turning into apathetic sociopaths as they grow up, it makes sense that the kids would be taught that, despite what they may be feeling, with the aid of the Force they can still find peace. The distinction between the two interpretations is negligible if one understands the purpose behind the concept itself: that as Jedi, they must find peace through the Force. To a child, the possibility of becoming confused is too great and dangerous - Jedi are supposed to be sympathetic, compassionate, and merciful, not cold, unfeeling, and uncaring - hence the softer interpretation. 

“Ignorance, yet knowledge.” It’s alright if they don’t understand everything right now; they will continue to learn as long they wish to. More philosophically, there is still the goal of knowledge - enlightenment - the Force - no matter how far away it may seem. 

“Passion, yet serenity.” Children have a tendency to do things with zest and zeal and passion. They love and hate loudly and innocently - but that doesn’t mean they can’t learn to find a balance between the drive to be at the top of their lightsaber class and being humble about their accomplishments. 

“Chaos, yet harmony.” Have you ever seen a playroom? The toys seem to be everywhere, but nine times out of ten there is in fact a system that the children understand implicitly. To an untrained eye, politics and city blocks and even educational classes can seem to have to rhyme or reason to them, but there is an order the Initiates must learn to recognize and utilize. 

“Death, yet the Force.” Death is inevitable. To a child who doesn’t understand what death is, it is simpler to say that the Force is everywhere, flows through all things - is where they come from and where they will go. Birth and Death are simply the doorways into the physical world and back into the arms of their beloved deity.

Comparing the two interpretations side by side gives a better view into Jedi beliefs; they wouldn’t be teaching their young lies, after all. Through the second interpretation, we see that the Code is more of an ideal, a guide as much as a glimpse of the destination. An important aspect of both Buddhism and the religion of the Bhagavad Gita is self-mastery, something the Jedi famously support. We see this in their Codes: that in order to find peace, to one day pace peacefully into the Force and become one with the great energy of the universe, they must be at peace with themselves. Here we see yet another difference between Jedi and Sith: the Sith, selfish and emotionally compromised as most of them become, are not at peace with themselves. Even those Sith and Dark Side users who adhere to the Sith Code as it was perhaps originally intended would not be able to find peace because peace, to them, is static and therefore bad; they don’t wish to fade quietly into the Force but instead to leave an impact in the mortal realm, whatever that may be. This could also be where the infamous and quite-common desire of many Sith to live forever may stem from (besides their own greed and fear, of course). 

(On the note of the Sith and immortality: it would seem that their beliefs are more closely related to those of Buddhism where the Jedis’ beliefs align with those found in Hinduism. In Hinduism, the focus is on the atman and the immortality of the self/soul; the Jedi focus on their connection to the Force. Buddhism, however, does not believe that there is any immortality automatically granted to us; the Sith must obtain their own sort of immortality by whatever means.)

First, the Sith:

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 set me free. 

Now, this seems pretty straight forward. Keep in mind the basic nature of the Sith: that they draw their power from the Dark Side. To more fully understand the Dark Side, it’s easiest to simply view it as the shadow cast by the Light: to access the Dark, one must be a slave to their emotions, their fears, and thus their hate leading them to willingly harm others. Why is this bad? We can’t simply assume the answer to this question to be self-evident; if the Sith were possessed of a black-and-white moral compass, they wouldn’t exist, and they wouldn’t be sentient, cognizing beings. 

The Force, as Old Ben Kenobi explains, flows through all living things, connects all living things, and upon death all living things return to it. Okay. Pause here. This might be a little easier to understand if we take a look at Eastern Philosophy, namely the concepts of Moksha - more commonly known by Westerners as Nirvana. Simply put, Eastern Philosophy states that Moksha is Nothing, the ultimate enlightenment. To be enlightened is to have shed all worldly desires and cares, fulfilled your Dharma, and found Eternal Peace - a peace where nothing changes because all is at rest. As mortals we are born from this nothingness, and, hopefully, we will return to it once we die instead of being reincarnated. The end is the same as the beginning, the beginning is the end, and the only reason we have two different words is because of the time we spend in mortality between those static states. Contextually, this means that all living things are born from and return to the Force; ‘birth’ and ‘death’ then are only the names of the doors that we must pass through. Birth and death don’t mark endings and beginnings because the Beginning and the End are the same destination; Birth and death are simply the bookends of the passage of time. (Side note that this helps explain how/why Force Ghosts are a thing; please also note that this is an entirely different debate about Force Philosophy that I won’t get into here). 

Can we take a moment here? I just - I have a mini-rant about how the Force works. For the purpose of this, I’ll be referring to the scene in Episode V where Luke is training with Yoda. Luke is meditating to lift the rocks. We see that it’s a bit difficult for him especially since he is easily distracted by outside influences - namely his X-Wing sinking into the swamp. Yoda explains that Luke must focus on his connection to the Force. Based on previous extrapolations, we can assume then that the Force does not flow through inanimate things such as rocks, dirt, sand, metal, etc. Luke, then, is attempting to lift the stone - and thus his ship - by wrapping the Force around the object in question to lift it. In this way, Luke is in fact making things more difficult the bigger things become; it would require more, finer control to wrap the Force around a larger object than a small one. Yoda, however, tells him that “size matters not”. To Luke - and his approach to the situation - this, in fact, cannot be true. We must therefore assume that there is another approach. This is where my extrapolations come to be based less in fact and more in theory. 

We know that living things are ‘bright’ when viewed in the Force; this is most likely because they are ‘alive’ in the Force. Force-sensitives are even brighter. As we all know, midi-chlorians determine how Force-sensitive a sentient is. The more midi-chlorians, the more sensitive they are. But to be sensitive to the Force simply and only means that the individual in question is more able to feel and interact consciously with the Force; it has absolutely no bearings on how capable they are. For example, if someone is born with one less limb than I am, that doesn’t mean they can’t function just as well as I can. Just because Helen Keller was blind and deaf didn’t stop her from becoming an author, political activist, and lecturer. She even earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. It stands to reason, then, that someone less Force-sensitive can become just as proficient as someone more sensitive in the use and ways of the Force; it might just take longer or be a bit harder/less instinctive. But the Force flows through all living things. This means that the Force flows through Force-nulls like the Clones even if they aren’t aware of it. They still are alive in the Force. 

Does that mean inanimate objects are ‘dead’ in the Force? If that were true, then it doesn’t make sense that Jedi can dodge non-living things moving towards them. ‘But Ion’ you might say, ‘the Jedi are sensing a Disturbance in the Force’. Right. Okay. So, a disturbance in the Force would indicate when something is wrong. Obi-Wan never once said he ‘sensed a disturbance in the Force’ when blaster bolts were flying at him; he only ever used this phrase to indicate something troubling occurring elsewhere - and the other Jedi use the phrase in the same way. You might argue that the blaster bolts, at least, are made of energy, so it could be that the Jedi can sense energy as the Force is basically energy. Okay, so you want to touch on quantum physics here. Einstein tells us that all matter is energy. Using this logic, any object could be viewed as energy through the Force, which in turn means Luke didn’t just know the location of the rock because of where the Force wasn’t; he knew where it was because he could sense it, even if he didn’t know that’s what he was doing. Yoda even says that the Force ‘binds us’. This is where I think Luke begins to go wrong. He’s using the Force as sort of a net: his connection to the Force is a string which in turn connects to a net around the object he is trying to move. Assuming Yoda in fact earned his title of Jedi Master, he must be correct: it shouldn’t matter how big something is when you try to move it; theoretically anyone capable of using the Force should be able to do it. So what is Luke missing?

I really think it stems from what Yoda says: that Luke must unlearn what he has learned. This implied he learned the technique the wrong way because he does not fully understand what it is the theory behind what he is doing. Living things are brighter in the Force, Force-sensitive even more so; this would explain why it’s easier to connect with living things using the Force. But if all matter is energy and thus able to be sensed in the Force, then theoretically you should be able to connect to objects as well. And wouldn’t this, hypothetically, be easier? If, say, the string of Luke’s connection weren’t attached to a net around the object but instead the object itself, then his ability to lift the object would be based only on Luke's connection to a singular object instead of attempting to manipulate larger quantities of the Force. Basically, Yoda succeeds where Luke fails because Yoda is connecting to the energy of the X-Wing and viewing it simply as energy rather than a mass to be moved. This also means that yes, size doesn’t matter, and anyone can do it as long as their own connection to the Force is stable. 

Okay, I just went back and watched those specific scenes again. Yoda even says that Force flows through the rock, too. End mini-rant.

‘Kay. The Force flows through all things - i.e. all things are ‘alive in the Force’. This includes Dark Side users - Dark Jedi, the Sith, etc. - and objects touched by the Dark. By their own understanding, they believe that to act selfishly is not wrong. Their interpretation of the Force is that, through acting selfishly, they will attain their own sort of enlightenment. But they approach ‘enlightenment’ from the opposite direction of the Jedi. Let’s break it down.

“Peace is a lie, there is only passion.” To be static is bad, and in fact nothing is static; all is in motion. 

“Through passion, I gain strength.” If you’re not static, then you’re moving, changing; to change is to gain momentum, and this momentum gives you strength. 

“Through strength, I gain power.” The stronger you are, the more powerful you are because you have more momentum - you are affecting more the area around you, changing things as you will, and you are in control of that change. 

“Through power, I gain victory.” By using your power over your circumstances and surroundings, you can change the outcome in your favor. 

“Through victory, my chains are broken.” When things are in your favor, you are beholden to no man or entity, not even the Force; you are your own being - free. 

“The Force shall set me free.” This line is actually very revealing. Assuming my interpretations of the previous lines are correct, then the Sith believe that the Force isn’t enlightenment, not a goal to be reached but in fact a tool to be used. This is where Sith and Jedi philosophy really diverge. A Sith’s passion controls the strength with which they wield the Force, and the stronger their tool (or their connection to it), the more power their attacks with it are. The stronger their attacks - because defense would be considered static - the more of the battle they control. The more they control, the closer to winning they are. And when they win, then they cannot be controlled. This leads to: the stronger the Sith is, the fewer people that can control them. Their goal is to be their own ultimate masters. The technique lacks finesse, true, but it isn’t inherently wrong, and we can derive a lot from this. Viewing the Force as simply a tool to be used would explain why the Sith view all other beings as tools/pawns/etc. (the Force flows through all things, so naturally ‘I have strong control of the Force’ can be misinterpreted as ‘therefore I have strong control over those things the Force affects - like people’).

Along the way, however, the passion of the Sith comes to control them. In their quest to become strong enough to be their own masters, they come to fear losing that control over their own fate. This leads to an intense urge to control the fates of others, to be another’s master because it is another thing to control, and the more they control, the freer they are. The more afraid they are, the more they hate those they view as being in direct opposition to them - or, in other words, those trying to control them.

But we also know that the Force is not good or bad; it simply is. The Force is energy, and so it stands to reason that the energy of another would affect it. (Duh. We’ve been over this). A Sith lost to their own fear and hate would reach out to the Force using these emotions - negative emotions - and it would give the Force a negative charge, so to speak. This negative charge, as in real life, can be helpful in small amounts, but is in time harmful in large quantities (see: Force Lightning, a predominantly Sith technique). 

The downfall of the Sith is ultimately not about their basic understanding of the Force but that they lose sight of what, exactly, they should be controlling in order to reach that final victory. 

(If you think about it, the Clones would believe something very similar to this being both Force-null and effectively slaves to the Republic; this does not make them bad, only how they choose to act).

There is no light without the dark. 

Through passion, I gain focus. 

Through knowledge, I gain power. 

Through serenity, I gain strength. 

Through victory, I gain harmony.  

There is only the Force. 

 This particular variation seems to strike a rather balanced dichotomy between the Sith and Jedi Codes.  

“There is no light without the dark.” This seems to be very straight forward and even obvious. Light creates shadows, and the brighter the light, the darker the shadows. In the Dhammapada, the text Buddhism is based upon, there is a concept that may give us further insight. It is first important to understand, however, that in Buddhism, their very first belief - given, in fact, in the first verse - is that all that we are is made of all that we have thought. The second verse of the first chapter, the title of which is translated aptly as (The) Pairs, boils down to: if you think “pure” thoughts, happiness will follow you like a shadow. In other words, to think only of the Light will make you of the Light, and your happiness will forever be out of reach. From this we devise that the Jedi, as focused on the Light as they are, might find fulfillment in their work but never true happiness. In the black-and-white morals the Sith and Jedi often perceive the universe to be made of, ‘happiness’ is the carnal pleasures, the love, the simple worldly joys found in everyday life - the pleasure and joys the monastic Jedi eschew; these joys are their shadows, the things they leave behind but that haunt them even without their knowing as they strive to look only forward towards the Light. The Sith, on the other hand, thrive in that shadow but by their very nature twist the simplistic and perhaps innocent joys into darker wraiths, contorting and distorting that which the Jedi leave behind. What the Sith have is not happiness but lust and greed, sloth and envy, wrath and gluttony and hubris - the shadows of the shadows, the weapons of their own destruction.  

“Through passion, I gain focus.” Instead of using your passion to propel you forward, you use your passion to help you stay on your chosen path. Your passion, logically, guides you. For example, if your chosen passion is art, then you would not be able to helpfully apply that passion to, say, a job as a data analyst. 

“Through knowledge, I gain power.” Understanding of the situation, of the circumstances, of yourself, give you power over those things. Knowledge is power, essentially, and a Grey Jedi uses this to their advantage. Instead of viewing knowledge as enlightenment, the Grey Jedi see knowledge as a vital tool in their journey whatever it may be.  

“Through serenity, I gain strength.” The danger with drawing strength from passion as the Sith do is this: passion is strong; if left unchecked, if unguided by the knowledge to utilize it as a magnifying glass focuses sunlight, passion can overpower reason. We see this with Anakin Skywalker himself in Revenge of the Sith. His passion in regard to Padme - his need to protect her, his love for her - overwhelms him when Sidious exploits the fears attached to those passions, and it results in Anakin basically going insane. He allowed his stronger emotions - not his lesser loyalty to the Order, not his platonic love for Obi-Wan as a teacher and brother - to control him, and thus is the Fall of a Jedi and the Rise of a Sith. A Grey Jedi, however, draws their strength from their serenity - the serenity that allows them to step back and review the situation, that keeps them from falling prey to their darker emotions and desires, that allows them to control themselves. The Grey Jedi accept that Darkness exists only inasmuch as their Light creates it; they counteract this by finding a way to balance themselves between the two, of welcoming emotion, of harnessing their passions, of using their knowledge, while refusing to allow their emotions to weaken their defenses, their passions to control them, and their knowledge of becoming a poisonous pride. This is demonstrated in “The Art of Happiness,” a book written by the 14th Dalai Lama, which is about ‘divorcing’ yourself from the hate and the anger - the darker emotions - so that they do not become a part of you; this is a HUGE concept in Buddhism.  

“Through victory, I gain harmony.” Now, this Code does not explicitly state what they are gaining a victory over, but if we continue in the vein that the philosophies of the Grey Jedi follow more closely those found in the Dhammapada as opposed to those found in the Bhagavad Gita, then we can look to Buddhism, where control of the self is crucial. This means, then, that the Grey Jedi seek victory over themselves so that a balance might be struck within themselves. If we are the result of what we think, then harmony within ourselves will result in harmony around us. The Dhammapada likewise teaches that all things must be in moderation so that our senses may be controlled, and that balance located.  

“There is only the Force.” This echoes the first tenet somewhat but emphasizes that there is no true ‘good’ or ‘bad’ except what we make of them ourselves. Where the Bhagavad Gita preaches dharma, the Dhammapada teaches us that, as Qui-Gon Jinn - considered by many of the Jedi Order of the time to be somewhat of a Grey Jedi - our focus determines our reality. Albert Einstein expresses something remarkably similar when he says, “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” The Force and only the Force is the truth, the end, and the beginning, and where they go in the meantime. Actually, we had a conversation about this in my Philosophy of Eastern Religions class. When asked what the truth is, our professor said that “Truth is a pathless land.” In all ways this is true. If the Force is the truth, then being an impartial non-entity, it has no direction. The point of all this is that it is up to us to determine what we believe, what our truth is, and what path we take in this friendless wilderness.  

And the Grey Jedi embody this. By walking their own paths, by each one choosing their own Code to follow, they are adhering to their beliefs as the Jedi and Sith never could. The Grey Jedi do not deny the existence of the darkness within themselves - but technically neither do the Jedi. However, instead of allowing that darkness to control them like the Sith or entirely leaving the darkness behind like the Jedi, they accept that darkness as a part of themselves and all living things. In Buddhism there is something known as the Four Noble Truths - the basis of Buddhism, in fact. The First Truth is that all life is suffering. The Second Truth is that this suffering comes from selfishness. The Third Truth is that this selfishness can be overcome. And the Fourth Truth is that only through the Eightfold Path can that selfishness be overcome. The Eightfold Path can be broken down to: Right view; right intention; right speech; right action; right livelihood; right effort; right mindfulness; and right concentration. As discussed, however, “Truth is a pathless land.” We forge our own paths, so the Fourth Truth essentially says that as long as we follow the path of our own making while still attempting to just be decent people, we will be okay. 

There is so much that can be gleaned from these comparisons. The Sith view the Force as a tool and starting point and are, by their very nature, more susceptible to losing control of their own passions even as their Code reflects the natural state of humanity. The Jedi view the Force as a deity and ultimate destination while their Code is an ideal for humanity to reach for. The Grey Jedi view the Force as Truth, the name of whatever path they choose to walk on their way to self-mastery, and the one Code interpreted here strikes a pretty equilibrium between acknowledging the darkness of humanity but also the hope of something better – and attainable.  The Jedi may be a monastic order, but their ideals are, frankly, ultimately unreachable at best and incomprehensible at worst. The Sith are corrupted by themselves even if their Code seems logically attainable. Of the three factions, only the Grey Jedi manage to walk the path any mortal can, the path of compromise, of control, of peace; only the Grey Jedi walk a path where their Light does not create more Darkness and their Darkness does not swallow the Light. 

There is no true ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ here. Reality is what we make of it – what we make of ourselves. If we believe our emotions are our strengths, then we must be aware of how easily manipulated we will be. Should we follow the tenets of a faith that lauds a higher power and encourages self-sacrifice, we must be aware of the things we will be expected to leave in our wake. But as long as we choose to walk our own path, to know ourselves better than those that would control us or blind us with their faith intentionally or not, as long as our Truth resonates, then we will never have to give up enough of ourselves to compromise whatever peace we seek to obtain.