Welcome to the Academy that breaks down, analyzes, debates about, actualizes and has unlimited fun with the Force. We all have our own perceptions about what this ‘force’ is, but it can be summed up in one word: Reality. Completely unbiased and indiscriminate, the Force/Tao/God (there are countless names) is Everything. Every material object, every organism, every process, thought, emotion, feeling, perspective and experience. The Force is the infinite string of pearls that threads, binds and connects all living things with an invisible illumination of Being. The Tao Te-Ching, a poem by Lao Tzu concerning the use of the Force (or Tao), says:
“The Tao is called the Great Mother: empty yet inexhaustible, it gives birth to infinite worlds.
It is always present within you. You can use it any way you want.” -chapter six
As shadows, we realize that we are living conduits of this life force,and can harness its power anytime we choose to let it pervade and surround us. This primal Essence, by definition, is us, but it is because of our perceptions that many people don’t see that they are one with infinity.
Meditation is perhaps one of the most profound and effective ways that Shadows can strip away the layers of self-doubt, finding an eternal Light within everything, and using that Force to guide and help ourselves and others. When meditation centers us, we return to what the Zen Buddhists call our Primal Self: we assume our fundamental nature of things. In this state, there is no forcing, no ahead and no behind. There simply Is. This concept may seem foreign at first, but try it now! By simply straightening yourself out and breathing from your center (Hara in Japanese), you can assume the same natural state as a tree, frog, or deer; an unaltered communion with nature, aware of everything around you.
Once the shadow adept has grounded themselves in meditation and striping themselves of limiting perceptions, the adept then beings to realize the simplicity of the Force: everything we need is right here in front of us all the time. All thoughts of the ‘future’ and ‘past’ are mere phantoms: there is only the eternal present.
The Tao is everywhere and in everything, therefore the shadow adept unties all knots wherever they are and harmonizes all the lights no matter what the situation. Master Raven is fond of the realization and practice of “unreasonable happiness”. What this means is that no matter what ‘situation’ you think your in, you are always one with the eternal Force, and can never be separated from it. In Zen Buddhism, for instance, one may be in the midst of imperfection, but can see the backdrop of perfection everywhere.
The Tao is like a massive waterfall, and all manifestations are droplets of water falling down the falls. We, the droplets, fret and move about, feeling disconnected and ‘imperfect’, separated from the Force. But as shadows we realize the one simple Truth: we are the waterfall, just in different parts. Once your actualization of the Force begins to guide you instinctively, you can guide your ‘droplet’ into the merging eternity of the Tao.
One thing my Master, Crying Phoenix, taught me by example: teachers and masters are here to help and guide, but it is up to the individual student to seek the reality in their everyday life, and take personal responsibility for their actions. If you let it, the Force will guide you.