Namaste and welcome my fellow friends, family, and knowledge seekers. I come to you today with a few tidbits of good advice from a funny source. I would love to ILLUMINATE you, so join me if you dare to get some of the wisdom of the lovable YODA.
I grew up in the 80's and still to this day the Star Wars movies (I like the original trilogy best) are some of my favorite movies of all time. It is different, however, now being an adult and the paradigm and frame of mind has shifted so much and the message from that saga is clearer to understand and not so mystical. Yoda, as well as the other Jedi Knights were like inter-galactic Buddhist monks, seeking inner peace, universal justice, and harmony and balance among all living creatures. When I was but a child these ideas seemed fantastical and meaningless, for with youth comes a care free veil of the world that begins to disappear with age... well at least for some of us, like YOU... sitting there informed, awake, and aware of the world around you.
Say what you will about Buddhism for it is a philosophy rather than a dogmatic religion based on fear mongering and power. The wisdom shared by creator George Lucas through his deep and imaginative characters the Jedi Knights is profound.
For example, the title quote of this blog: "Do or do not... there is no try." Listen, I know for those who don't really know me, I can come off a little dry and pushy, but I assure you that I would rather give good honest advice for the sake of EMPOWERING a person, than to lie to them and make him/her feel better like a short term band-aid. I spoke recently about people saying "I can't..." and Yoda's quote goes right along with that. It is about persons giving up on themselves before they even put out an ounce of effort... and just any old effort doesn't cut it either, no, my friends it takes a LOT of POSITIVE EFFORT... and DAILY, to boot! There is no TRY... if you don't know how, then learn. If you don't know the answer, then research to find out or ask a reliable source, but for heaven's sake, DON'T just ask another stupid person who quite clearly DOESN'T KNOW either and is going to lie to you!
Moving on... "Fear is a path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." Whether you are religious or not it is hard for most people to wrap their minds around daily life, let alone the sum of the universe and all its contents. I personally DO choose to believe in a universal FORCE that binds everything and the Jedi vs. Sith (good vs. evil; light vs. dark) is just a part of who we are as humans. We must live with the duality WITHIN ourselves and seek to find harmony and inner peace. The "dark side" is also present in all of us and it is our fears, our jealousy, our pride, our insecurities, and our greed. It all starts with fear, though. On the flip side of that coin, we all have inside us a powerful Jedi Knight that possesses the powers of compassion, humility, love, and most important of all... HOPE. Hope is what keeps us moving forward and progressing towards a brighter future.
"Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the FORCE. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not. Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed that is."
"Size matters not. Look at me... Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm... And well you should not. For my ally is the FORCE, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings we are, not this crude matter. You must feel the FORCE around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship."
"You must unlearn what you have learned."
"When you look at the dark side, careful you must be... for the dark side looks back."
You don't have to be a Jedi Knight, a Buddhist Shaolin monk, or a samurai warrior following the bushido code of conduct to relate to a simple philosophical way of life that is in harmony with the natural state of the universe or even your own back yard or community. I look outside and I think to myself... "How can there NOT be something greater than myself?" I look up into the sky at night and feel so small, yet like a PART of something greater than myself... Have YOU felt it too? You don't have to be religious or even very spiritual to understand what I mean either, just curious and open-minded. If you take your shoes off and run your toes through the grass, when you feel a cool, gentle breeze, when you actually take the time to LISTEN, just quietly LISTEN to the sounds of nature, away from the pollution of noise, fear, anger, and violence... then you will find the truth. I feel more alive and aware and a part of something bigger than myself when I am outside working in the yard or even just watering the lawn. I realize that not everyone has a yard, but there are public parks, beaches, rivers, lakes, camp grounds, etc... so go and get OUT, but when you come back in, make it a family night and watch something fun like Star Wars. Take the time to turn on the subtitles and bask in the wisdom of Yoda, Mace Windu, Obi-wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker, and the other Jedi Knights. As usual I'll see you at the movies, lol. Be good to one another, choose to follow the light side, take the red pill, train your minds my young Jedi Padawans... May the FORCE be with you!
I grew up in the 80's and still to this day the Star Wars movies (I like the original trilogy best) are some of my favorite movies of all time. It is different, however, now being an adult and the paradigm and frame of mind has shifted so much and the message from that saga is clearer to understand and not so mystical. Yoda, as well as the other Jedi Knights were like inter-galactic Buddhist monks, seeking inner peace, universal justice, and harmony and balance among all living creatures. When I was but a child these ideas seemed fantastical and meaningless, for with youth comes a care free veil of the world that begins to disappear with age... well at least for some of us, like YOU... sitting there informed, awake, and aware of the world around you.
Say what you will about Buddhism for it is a philosophy rather than a dogmatic religion based on fear mongering and power. The wisdom shared by creator George Lucas through his deep and imaginative characters the Jedi Knights is profound.
For example, the title quote of this blog: "Do or do not... there is no try." Listen, I know for those who don't really know me, I can come off a little dry and pushy, but I assure you that I would rather give good honest advice for the sake of EMPOWERING a person, than to lie to them and make him/her feel better like a short term band-aid. I spoke recently about people saying "I can't..." and Yoda's quote goes right along with that. It is about persons giving up on themselves before they even put out an ounce of effort... and just any old effort doesn't cut it either, no, my friends it takes a LOT of POSITIVE EFFORT... and DAILY, to boot! There is no TRY... if you don't know how, then learn. If you don't know the answer, then research to find out or ask a reliable source, but for heaven's sake, DON'T just ask another stupid person who quite clearly DOESN'T KNOW either and is going to lie to you!
Moving on... "Fear is a path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." Whether you are religious or not it is hard for most people to wrap their minds around daily life, let alone the sum of the universe and all its contents. I personally DO choose to believe in a universal FORCE that binds everything and the Jedi vs. Sith (good vs. evil; light vs. dark) is just a part of who we are as humans. We must live with the duality WITHIN ourselves and seek to find harmony and inner peace. The "dark side" is also present in all of us and it is our fears, our jealousy, our pride, our insecurities, and our greed. It all starts with fear, though. On the flip side of that coin, we all have inside us a powerful Jedi Knight that possesses the powers of compassion, humility, love, and most important of all... HOPE. Hope is what keeps us moving forward and progressing towards a brighter future.
"Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the FORCE. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not. Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed that is."
"Size matters not. Look at me... Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm... And well you should not. For my ally is the FORCE, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings we are, not this crude matter. You must feel the FORCE around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship."
"You must unlearn what you have learned."
"When you look at the dark side, careful you must be... for the dark side looks back."
You don't have to be a Jedi Knight, a Buddhist Shaolin monk, or a samurai warrior following the bushido code of conduct to relate to a simple philosophical way of life that is in harmony with the natural state of the universe or even your own back yard or community. I look outside and I think to myself... "How can there NOT be something greater than myself?" I look up into the sky at night and feel so small, yet like a PART of something greater than myself... Have YOU felt it too? You don't have to be religious or even very spiritual to understand what I mean either, just curious and open-minded. If you take your shoes off and run your toes through the grass, when you feel a cool, gentle breeze, when you actually take the time to LISTEN, just quietly LISTEN to the sounds of nature, away from the pollution of noise, fear, anger, and violence... then you will find the truth. I feel more alive and aware and a part of something bigger than myself when I am outside working in the yard or even just watering the lawn. I realize that not everyone has a yard, but there are public parks, beaches, rivers, lakes, camp grounds, etc... so go and get OUT, but when you come back in, make it a family night and watch something fun like Star Wars. Take the time to turn on the subtitles and bask in the wisdom of Yoda, Mace Windu, Obi-wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker, and the other Jedi Knights. As usual I'll see you at the movies, lol. Be good to one another, choose to follow the light side, take the red pill, train your minds my young Jedi Padawans... May the FORCE be with you!
This has been the one and ONLY Quiet Mouse. Peace. Love. Respect. FORCE. Compassion. Hope.
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