Chains of Fate/Consumers and Hunters
[Chains of Fate]
"The chain of fate is unbroken."
- Renji (over lunch with myself and Eric)
What to believe, Obi-Wan? Is there truly a chain of fate in all of us, that we are only able to follow a given set of paths in our lives, believing us free-willed until we reach death?
Much of the Jedi Order would believe this. Those specializing in utilizing the Unified Force teach that it is possible to see into the future and yet must conceed that the future is difficult to see, even as they judge such visions as true. Despite our drive to become one with the Force, we Jedi are hardly infalliable. Sometimes the Force indeed tells us of what may come. I still believe that is the case with Anakin Skywalker.
But sometimes we see what we want to see. Sometimes we see what we most fear.
And sometimes we see nothing.
Perhaps that is the worse thing of all.
To expect something - hope, salvation, anything - and receive nothing.
Sometimes we face a void of purpose, without the Force's Will, and it's too easy to fall into the pitfalls of trying to inject purpose and meaning to what may not have any.
To an extent I believe in a small measure of destiny. I believe that we are who we are for a reason and that reason is experience. It is life. Perhaps the Force has a larger plan, but I cannot profess to know it or hope to predict it. I know Anakin is the Chosen One, but I do not know his future nor how he will change the Jedi Order.
I do not know if there is a higher purpose for my attachments.
There is a chance there is no higher purpose regarding what I feel. Perhaps it was all due to chance and circumstance, and a collection of good and bad choices over the years, without which none of this would have been possible.
Could I have forseen this with my connection to the Force? No. I did not see you before in the Force, Obi-Wan, and yet you are an important part of my life.
Maybe it is better that way. Knowing always what will come to pass is the chains of fate. If we constantly believe that we are always pre-destined for every outcome, we cease to take responsibility for our actions and for ourselves. What I do, I do because I feel is right, both with myself and with the Force. I cannot believe I do what I do because I am preordained to do it, with my choice being entirely irrelevant.
I have argued with the Council too many times about destiny and the future.
I still feel that it is the present we should be concerning ourselves with, the here and now. There is a difference between being united with the Force and being chained to a comfortable ideal of it.
If you are forever looking forward, it is easy to miss where the path turns right under your feet.
[Those Who Consume and Those Who Hunt]
Renji mentioned "the destroyers" to me. I still do not know what they are, but they should be of some interest to the Jedi. There was also a mention of those who consume. These are the destroyers, apparently, and they are also hunted.
There is a startling parallel, Obi-Wan, especially from what little we know of the Sith. There is probably a reason why they were regarded as extinct and only now are resurfacing. I regret I hadn't researched the Sith as much as I could have back at the Temple Archives. This begs the question of when and who hunted the Sith down - and when the line between hunted and hunter blurred.
I think it vital that we learn more about the Sith, as well as those who consume and those who hunt.
[Signed and dated]
Qui-Gon Jinn
"The chain of fate is unbroken."
- Renji (over lunch with myself and Eric)
What to believe, Obi-Wan? Is there truly a chain of fate in all of us, that we are only able to follow a given set of paths in our lives, believing us free-willed until we reach death?
Much of the Jedi Order would believe this. Those specializing in utilizing the Unified Force teach that it is possible to see into the future and yet must conceed that the future is difficult to see, even as they judge such visions as true. Despite our drive to become one with the Force, we Jedi are hardly infalliable. Sometimes the Force indeed tells us of what may come. I still believe that is the case with Anakin Skywalker.
But sometimes we see what we want to see. Sometimes we see what we most fear.
And sometimes we see nothing.
Perhaps that is the worse thing of all.
To expect something - hope, salvation, anything - and receive nothing.
Sometimes we face a void of purpose, without the Force's Will, and it's too easy to fall into the pitfalls of trying to inject purpose and meaning to what may not have any.
To an extent I believe in a small measure of destiny. I believe that we are who we are for a reason and that reason is experience. It is life. Perhaps the Force has a larger plan, but I cannot profess to know it or hope to predict it. I know Anakin is the Chosen One, but I do not know his future nor how he will change the Jedi Order.
I do not know if there is a higher purpose for my attachments.
There is a chance there is no higher purpose regarding what I feel. Perhaps it was all due to chance and circumstance, and a collection of good and bad choices over the years, without which none of this would have been possible.
Could I have forseen this with my connection to the Force? No. I did not see you before in the Force, Obi-Wan, and yet you are an important part of my life.
Maybe it is better that way. Knowing always what will come to pass is the chains of fate. If we constantly believe that we are always pre-destined for every outcome, we cease to take responsibility for our actions and for ourselves. What I do, I do because I feel is right, both with myself and with the Force. I cannot believe I do what I do because I am preordained to do it, with my choice being entirely irrelevant.
I have argued with the Council too many times about destiny and the future.
I still feel that it is the present we should be concerning ourselves with, the here and now. There is a difference between being united with the Force and being chained to a comfortable ideal of it.
If you are forever looking forward, it is easy to miss where the path turns right under your feet.
[Those Who Consume and Those Who Hunt]
Renji mentioned "the destroyers" to me. I still do not know what they are, but they should be of some interest to the Jedi. There was also a mention of those who consume. These are the destroyers, apparently, and they are also hunted.
There is a startling parallel, Obi-Wan, especially from what little we know of the Sith. There is probably a reason why they were regarded as extinct and only now are resurfacing. I regret I hadn't researched the Sith as much as I could have back at the Temple Archives. This begs the question of when and who hunted the Sith down - and when the line between hunted and hunter blurred.
I think it vital that we learn more about the Sith, as well as those who consume and those who hunt.
[Signed and dated]
Qui-Gon Jinn