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The latest Jedi news . . . . . .

The cyclist Jedi

January 27th, 2012

Star Wars: Uncut

January 24th, 2012

This has to be one of the funniest and impressive displays of fan created Star Wars content I have ever laid eyes on. Star Wars: Uncut is the culmination of a really interesting idea. Offer everyone the opportunity to remake A New Hope in any way that they see fit, however they only get a 15 second portion of the movie. So you see something that looks like Hardware Wars, followed by a pizza shooting at a salt shaker, followed by claymation, followed by chalk animation, followed by . . . . . . . .

As you can see this goes on for quite some time. I haven’t watched the entire project yet but I thoroughly enjoyed what I did watch. This will fill up an afternoon of mine some time in the near future and I bet you will enjoy watching it also.

Mindfulness in action

January 23rd, 2012

Meditation doesn’t have to be boring. Just check out what these people are doing as it requires an intense mindfulness to the moment. This moving meditation is the next step after becoming proficient in sitting meditation. For the less adventurous you can simply practice mindfulness while training in your lightsaber technique or other martial arts and physical activities. You don’t have to put yourself on the edge of death to be mindful but you do have to be mindful to put yourself on the edge. That is where the Jedi lives.

The Maker has retired

January 20th, 2012

The next maker is over there beyond that dune.

This was news a few days ago, I think I have finally recovered enough from my shock to finally comprehend what is going on. After 47 years in the movie business, with involvement in 29 feature films and 9 short films, George Lucas is stepping away from the Panavision PSR movie camera. He will remain involved with the Star Wars galaxy, however, and will continue to be involved in The Clone Wars and the upcoming live action television show, rumored to be labeled Star Wars: Underworld.

So what does this mean for the Jedi? Looks like the quote George made on The Daily Show was correct, Red Tails is as close to Episode VII as we are going to get. However The Clone Wars is still running at full steam and the fiction continues to come off the presses in numerous books so that should give us plenty of additional training information for the foreseeable future.

This Jedi would like to offer his thanks for providing the opportunity to take my first step into a larger world and the inspiration to develop myself so I could contribute meaningfully to society. May the Force be with all of us!

Thought for the day

January 17th, 2012

Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness, and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again. -Og Mandino

Episode VII coming to theaters on Friday

January 16th, 2012

Courtesy of Lucasfilm

Did I get your attention? I bet I did. And the truth of the matter is that the title is only slightly misleading.

Coming to theaters on Friday, January 20th, is the movie Red Tails. This is the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, World War II African American fighter pilots who exceeded all expectations and beat the odds while fighting against a system designed to make them fail. The story is brought to you courtesy of George Lucas, the creator of the Star Wars galaxy.

As you may or may not know I am a pilot myself and Star Wars was the inspiration that has guided me ever since I saw A New Hope in 1977. I have also had the pleasure to meet some of the Tuskegee Airmen in person as they were involved with the local Civil Air Patrol when I was giving flight instruction in the early days of my aviation career. There may be some who are not familiar with the Tuskegee Airmen but I have known of them and their heroics for over thirty years.

If you want to watch an interview with George Lucas and see video of the upcoming movie you can watch his interview with Jon Stewart of The Daily Show or you can watch an interview given to USA Today. Both of these interviews talk about the similarities of Red Tails to Star Wars and how they both were designed to inspire.

Be sure to check out the movie this weekend. By doing so you will pay respects to the Jedi who carried on the tradition of selfless service to others 30 years before the name had even been thought of.

A mother’s intuition

January 13th, 2012

Padme with her children

We are all familiar with the concept of a mother’s intuition. When your mom asked you what you did, even when she didn’t know that you had broken the Death Star cookie jar while trying to get out some cookies without permission, that is just one example of a mother using her sense of intuition.

How does a mother develop this sense of intuition? Is it the same connection shared between siblings from multiple births? Is there a chance for those of us who don’t give birth due to biology or choice to gain this amazing capability? Let us find out!

A mother gains her sense of intuition to her child or children while pregnant with them. The child is tethered to the mother through the umbilical cord and they share life together, much like siblings who share a multiple birth do. The close proximity, the sharing of space and fluids, creates a connection. Think of this quote of Yoda from The Empire Strikes Back:

For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. It’s energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings we are, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you and me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. -Yoda

Think of the wonder of life as a child grows in the womb. Starting from a single-celled embryo it quickly divides and replicates it’s cells. Identical twins start from that same single-cell while fraternal twins start out just like you and I do, only with a roommate. The umbilical cord is another physical connection between two different lives. Life creates the Force and makes it grow. But the Force also creates and sustains life. They work in tandem with each other, one not possible without the other. It is through this connection that mothers and their children and children of multiple births gain their connection to each other through the Force.

So can men and women who don’t give birth get “mother’s intuition”? Can this sense of intuition expand between a mother and child and be used by everyone? The answer to both of these questions is a resounding YES! How so, you may ask? Through your training as a Jedi, of course!

The first step is to increase your connection to the Force through training, including but not limited to meditation and proactive mindfulness training. From there you train the body, in the process of doing so you experience pain. Then, at some point in your training your understanding of compassion and empathy will blossom and this quote will take on real meaning for you:

Mystically speaking, there’s no difference between you and another person. This explains why you can’t hurt another person without hurting yourself, nor can you help another person without helping yourself. You share the same Source energy (Force) with everyone, and consequently, you must begin to think and act in a way that reflects your awareness of this principle. - Wayne W. Dyer

The connection that you share with the Force is shared by every other thing in the universe. And without the Force you or the Universe wouldn’t exist. We all share a connection through the Force because we, just like the universe we live in, all came from one “cell” or origin. So once you understand your connection to the Force and others you realize that holding a person’s hand over an open flame causes you pain as well.

When you understand this and make the connection you will gain your own sense of intuition, whether you are a mother or not. Surrender yourself to the Force and when you do you will also have “just taken your first step into a larger world.”

Now this is what I call podracing

January 12th, 2012

Screen capture from Star Wars Racer Rush

In conjunction with the fanfare to the upcoming release of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace to the big screen in 3D glory a new game has been released that can be played through your browser from the Star Wars site.

Called Star Wars Racer Rush, you get to pilot a customizable podracer on three different planets against many of the racers from Episode I. I have had quite a good time with this and if you are in need of some stress relief I am certain you will enjoy it also.

See if you can use your Jedi skills to come in first place.

The Uncourse

January 11th, 2012

Eckhart Tolle, an author and advisor who we have talked about extensively on this site (read this and this and this and this and this and this) has released an online course that you can take for free. The purpose of the course, called “The Uncourse”, is to help you reach a deeper level of consciousness.

I haven’t started the course myself as of yet so I can’t really report on my opinions, however I am familiar enough with Eckhart Tolle to have an expectation of how the uncourse will work. It appears that there are nine major themes, each with three sub lessons, that will work on eliminating the ego and bringing mindfulness to the forefront of your consciousness. I am a firm believer, much like Qui-Gon, that the only way to experience the Force is to be present in the here and now. The mind and its ego just gets in the way. When we remove the mind we open the link between us and the Force. From there you only have to experience and observe.

Look forward to another review when I have completed the lesson.

The Flinch by Julien Smith

January 6th, 2012

The Flinch

I came across this book and finished reading it last night. The Flinch, by Julien Smith, is a look at the flinch reflex and how it has evolved from protecting us from predators and nasty surprises to a limiting aspect of our psyche that gets involved under such non-fight or flight stressors such as public speaking or asking someone out on a date. By using past experiences or fear of future consequences of our actions the flinch now has us trapped where we don’t expand our horizons any more.

Does all this sound familiar? It should, as the flinch is a mechanism and tool used by the ego to keep the individual in check. It keeps us from being mindful and traps us from ever expanding our horizons and connection with the Force.

The best part of this book is that it is available for free. You can download the book to any type of device that can read a Kindle book. This can be your Kindle device, a PC or Mac, or your smart phone or tablet. Pick up the reader by clicking here.

Read the book, follow along with the homework assignments, and bring your own flinch under control.