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Beginning Sith Philosophy, Friday

Lana waited for everyone to get in, leaning against the desk again. When they were all there, she nodded and began.

On the board was written: Through passion, I gain strength.

"Welcome back, everybody. Today we move on to the second line of the code. Last week we discussed peace versus passion, and most of you came down on the side of balancing the two. As you'll see, each line of the Sith code builds on the previous one. If the first line was largely about repudiating the Jedi code, the rest builds its own philosophy.

"For the Sith, this line is largely practical and literal. We use the Force, the life-force of the universe, and channel it with our emotions. Powerful emotions lend themselves to channeling more power. You can feel free to ignore the literal meaning, though - what do you think of this line? Do your passions make you stronger, or not? Let's discuss it."

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Strong!

Liberty Hazlett

Graham Cracker

Anakin Skywalker

Connor Temple

Illyana Rasputin

Ghanima Atreides

Shane Gooseman

Try not to roll your eyes too hard, Anakin.

Anakin was absolutely rolling his eyes hard. And making sure Lana saw him.

Lana was studiously ignoring him. If you wanted to teach Jedi philosophy, you should have proposed it, Skywalker.

Discuss! Does passion make you stronger?

Libby carefully wrote down this week's line on a blank page of her notebook, brows frowning as she considered it. Since Lana had mentioned that the lines built off of each other, she also added what she remembered of the line from last week, but that wasn't helpful, since she still had fundamental issues with that one. So she tried to focus on this one as a stand-alone, then nodded.

"Yes," she said, speaking up before too many other opinions in the class could potentially sway her thoughts. "I think this one is true. It's through our passions that was sometimes find ourselves capable of things we would have never dreamed of before..."

"You can't find yourself capable when you aren't almost out of control?" Anakin asked.

Libby's frown deepened a little bit at that.

She was starting to get the feeling that there was a real definitions problem with this particular kind of philosophy.

"You can be passionate about something without being out of control," she pointed out. Or, since he had said almost, "Or on the brink of it. Is that..." She hesitated a little, because it would always feel unnerving to her, to talk back to an adult. It was bad last week when that adult was a teacher, and while Anakin was not the teacher in this class, he was still a male figure of authority, and that was even worse. "Is that what passion means to you?" Some of that hesitation and confusion and fear took on a little additional side of worry. "Something you can't control?"

"Last week this code put passion as the opposite of peace," he replied, holding up his hands to pretend to weigh passion against peace. "Now it's trying to convince you that because you don't have peace, you have emotions, you are more powerful." He smiled. "This entire philosophical discussion is probably more productive if you know the Jedi Code the Sith are standing in opposition to: '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.' Of course, reality is filled with shades of gray but Jedi approach the universe and its mysteries and frustrations from a place of calm. Sith do the opposite."

Libby listened quietly, thoughtfully, but the more Anakin spoke, the more frustrated she started to feel, and it was all she could do to hold back a sigh.

"I'm starting to think," she muttered, "that a lot of this class is expecting me to work on information I can't rightly know."

And she'd already had sixteen years of that in her life, thank you.

"If taken with the first part," she allowed, "then, no, the second part doesn't work, either, because I believe the first part is fundamentally wrong. Taken on its own, though, I believe this line is a perfectly fine sentiment..."

Another pause, a moment, bracing herself.

"But I think your other one is wrong, too," she admitted. "To say there is no ignorance..." A faint wince, for the sting of her own unfathomable ignorance until recently, "is ignorance itself. And peace without emotion isn't peace at all. It's numbness, because true peace comes from love, and love comes from passion."

"Well, the code is for Jedi," Anakin said, "which is a particular religious sect in my galaxy. It's not intended for everyone. And when we say 'no ignorance', it's more a reminder to ourselves that we have a duty to learn and not just shrug off things we don't understand. There's plenty of ignorance in the universe. There should not be any in the Jedi Order." He pressed his hands together. "The Force--the power that moves the universe--has a light side and a dark side. The Jedi embrace the light, and to use it we must be at peace; with our emotions under our own control. Our code reminds us that we are at our best selves when we are calm. We aren't numb to the universe, we're uniquely connected, and in that connection is a duty to be equally concerned with all life, not just those we love." He wiggled the other hand. "The Sith choose a different path."

Lana nodded. "I think that's a good interpretation. Oh, and I found those books for you." She passed Libby a holopad. "If you can manage a phone, the controls should be easy. There's a few on there. The more esoteric texts are written in Sith, but I found quite a few High Galactic - what you call English - translations."

"Oh."

Libby took the holopad cautiously, blinking at it a little, and if her disappointment was a weight, it would practically have its own gravitational pull for how heavy it was.

"They're not...actual books?"

Lana grinned. "Actual books are rare and precious in my galaxy at the moment," she explained a little apologetically. "More artifacts than for daily use, most of them. Besides, I could fit more holobooks than I could carry of actual books, even if I could smuggle them out."

"Oh, definitely!" Graham offered, enthusiastically agreeing with this one. "You gotta have passion if you wanna get them gains!"

Which only reminded him that he had been skipping the gym a lot lately. With that in mind now, he nodded resolutely to himself to fix that....tomorrow. He had DnD to focus on today!

Maybe he could do a few squats with all the guidebooks piled up?

"Well, I suppose so." Lana was doing her best not to laugh. "A rather literal interpretation, but a valid one. Would you extrapolate it to other things?"

"Passion makes you feel strong. It actually makes you susceptible to manipulation because you're not in control of yourself," Anakin said, pursing his lips.

Lana nodded. "A valid criticism, though I'd argue it comes a few lines later in the code, really. I don't think passion necessarily means you're not in control, but if you're not careful, it does leave you vulnerable to those who would manipulate you."

She smiled ruefully. "You have to keep an eye on yourself, and again, control is unfortunately not an intrinsic part of either code, even if it should be."

"The entire point of the Jedi Code is a reminder for self-control," Anakin said. "To look beyond your own petty, individual passions."

"Is it?" Lana settled in a bit. "Can you explain that aspect?"

"'There is no emotion, there is peace,'" Anakin began. "This is not to say emotions don't exist, only that for a Jedi, they are not the priority. Calm is. Control. 'There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.' You aren't to flail around in the darkness of ignorance, you are to learn and grow. 'There is no passion, there is serenity.' You are not in the thrall of your own reactions, you have grown past that through training. 'There is no chaos, there is harmony.' Again, control. Understanding of the beat of the universe, not reacting in the moment. 'There is no death, there is the Force.' Without the fear of loss, a Jedi can see the big picture."

"I don't think I've ever heard that reading of it," Lana said. "I wonder if it's so intrinsic that the Jedi I know don't think of it, or if its meaning has changed over the years."

She thought about it. "I think Libby here would say we're reading things into it that aren't there," she gave Libby a fond smile, "but I'll have to ponder that meaning. Thank you."

"I think passion gives you a reason to make yourself stronger" Connor said after some careful thought. "I wouldn't have been chasing portals to other time periods with monsters in them if I wasn't passionate about learning and protecting people from what might come through those portals."

He thought a little more then continued. "If I wasn't passionate about the work we were doing, I would never have developed the tech that helped us deal with the portals and end the crisis. So.... so long as the passion doesn't get out of control and it is checked and balanced with wisdom and outside opinions and ideas and perspectives, then I think passion is a very important thing."

Lana nodded. "I think it's important what you're passionate about, she said. "Energy without direction is as likely to turn back on you as anything, and if you're passionate about things others aren't, it can end up very frustrating."

Not to mention that if your passion was for killing the entire galaxy to make yourself immortal, that provided other problems.

"My passion is what has put me first in line to take over the mantle of my Earth's Sorcerer Supreme," Illyana pointed out. "If I didn't care, deeply, about magic, balance, and justice, I would have just kept hitchhiking around the US forever, gaining peace by killing predatory humans."

"Because that is exactly what I was doing before Strange offered me an alternative. And for the record, I still don't feel badly about it."

"Precisely." Lana nodded. "What you have passion for is important. The former Sith Emperor had a passion for surviving by killing the rest of the galaxy," she admitted wryly. "Problematic at best, as you can probably gather. My current commander's passion is for justice and, perhaps paradoxically, peace."

"Physiologically speaking, moments of high stress -- or passion -- have been known to give humans moments of superhuman strength or dexterity," Ghanima pointed out. "Pulling children out of the way of an oncoming car, or lifting a boulder off a hiker."

"I've heard about that," Lana said. "I always assumed it was otherwise non-sensitive people tapping into the Force. Does your galaxy have an explanation for it?"

"We do. They human body is fascinating, capable of great feats, and endlessly controllable," Ghanima said cheerfully. "Why? Because your mind affects the reality around you."

"Many residents of Fandom have seen my brother or myself move faster than should be possible under the laws of physics, and I've taught a few of them the Way. Or some have noticed that the annual pollen never seems to affect me, unless I want it to. Or--" Ghanima's mouth quirked up in a slight smile. "The fact I never seem to feel pain, even if injured."

"Am I genetically engineered human? Yes. But that is not why I can do these things. In my case, this is simply training. The long process of self-discipline which developed the ability to analyze and synthesize information not only in an environment of 'peace,'" Ghani didn't actually make the air-quotes around the words, but everyone could probably hear them. "--but also under stress. In theory, all humans are capable of it. But very few have the discipline to master it, let alone call upon it on demand. A true master can control every muscle and nerve in their body, right down to the individual fibers. Easy enough to put on a burst of speed, or enhance their natural strength."

"If the passion is enough? No reason a complete novice cannot do the same. They simply reject the reality that IS, in favor of a reality they prefer, and realize their potential in one bright, shining moment. A reality where they can lift a truck to save their family."

Edited 2022-07-16 04:46 (UTC)

"I understand the mind affecting reality, of course," Lana said, "but I hadn't realised your Way made such a study of it. An art, even, it sounds like?"

Goose was quite for a while as he considered because he was definitely not used to all this talk about emotions.

“Passion can make my abilities stronger,” he finally allowed, “which is helpful out in the field, I can’t control what my powers will let me turn into but I have to be able to react and adapt quickly when it happens and having that passion helps,”

"You don't have control of your powers?" Lana frowned. "That sounds unpleasant."

She's here!

Is it bedtime yet?

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Beginning Sith Philosophy, Friday

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