Quote from Yahunatan on 08/31/2020, 2:29 am

A Community Divided

At this moment, going to go over one of the most prosperous, yet misunderstood, times in my early history—that being the founding of what would later be known as the Jedi Community (although the word doesn't quite explain it). There are many tales to tell from the early 2000's. With that said, this journal is not here to simply give stories—it is to bring to light a deeper fabric woven within the storyline.

The Father purposely placed this person to initiate discussions which brought about this direction. For years it was an uphill battle—very few people liked it at the beginning, and, by the mid-2000's, many started to complain about its focus and strictness. The situation left a bitter taste in my mouth after all the energy dedicated for other people. Because of it, the battle was left for others—a quest for solitude became the primary pursuit. It was during this solitude, though, that my faith was slowly renewed and restored.

These early years went very fast (there were many late nights). Honestly, more was accomplished in these years then the many years which followed.

Many groups still refer to concepts from these discussions without knowing where they came from or how they came to be. It's original conception, though, was slowly discarded over time. When cloaked, walked up to the stairs of particular groups to hear them speak about what they thought they knew. Upon hearing it, this person laughed inside myself. This was not done necessarily to scorn the people (although they had some share)—it was primarily towards situation at hand. So much has been twisted and distorted. What is left now is a candy-coated shell with a religious/political banter layered inside it. It brings to mind the Disney Star Wars movies in their attempt to appear as Star Wars yet, clearly, were not.

Just as was dreamed all those years before (October 2000), saw an army of Stormtroopers march with faceless helmets within the house of the Jedi. People earnestly wanted to be clones instead of people—and many fought to have no one disturb the well-insulated crib. This person would have helped those who honestly humbled themselves and asked. Yet it was not meant to be.

Part of the problem was that a vast majority forgot what the community originally was built upon. Many, for example, do not understand that it was built upon a unity movement. With that said, for those who do know this truth, many do not understand why the unity movement was advocated in the first place, let alone the academy method.

Going to attempt to explain this by going over some events and why it is important to grasp its original conception.

The concept of unity originally existed to help groups look upon on the primal ingredients of what the Jedi in Star Wars represented—that it was meant to be practical, realistic, and functional. The goal was to slowly merge away from the fictionalized character (which was prominent in the late part of the 1990's) to discover the actual, hidden roots of the role. Some have stated that the movement focused away from the robes and lightsabers (this is true), yet it also included concepts of the Force and its powers. This was something even people then really had a hard time letting go.

Religious beliefs were not given the spotlight in the early Jedi Realism discussions. Some philosophical ideas were shared yet not for themselves. The original experience was meant to be raw and spiritual. As time progressed, the spiritual side eventually gained way to the organizational side of things. This is partially what led to my tiredness. During the search, was plagued by various situations which eventually took me away from the whole thing altogether. It took seven more years to clean myself from the affair.

It all started with a dream that came about in October 2000. After the dream, wanted to leave the entire thing as this person had witnessed a negative future. The Jedi Creed members encouraged me to stay. My life would have been easier if this person left then—yet, with that said, some things are meant to happen as they happened. Please keep in mind this event happened a couple of years before the Star Wars plot of Anakin being warned in dreams.

One of the reasons why this person was so strong in the early pursuits was to avoid the events that happened in the dream. The Father made it clear in later years why it happened the way it did.

From November 2000 to April 2001, spoke with people from various websites, asking them to come together towards seeking what the Jedi was really all about. The first serious attempt in December 2000, though, was a rude awakening. Just as today, the site leaders didn't want competition and did everything they could to keep their power base. In fact, was banned from a couple of sites for talking such things as it was seen as too radical at the time.

Because of the situation, decided to go above the leaders and went to the main practitioners themselves, sending a mass E-mail blast in the Spring of 2000. To avoid glory, simply conducted the act using the name The Mediator—whereas personal conversation was given by my known name as with the others. It brought about an unusual excitement, eventually leading to what the active participants would call The Jedi United. The name, in fact, was widely agreed by everyone who participated—that of the old guard and the new.

Many are not aware of this, yet there was an older guard which is hardly known about today. They started leaving towards the rise of the religious aspect in the early to mid 2000's. In fact, the Jedi Community term was created to help avoid this exodus altogether (more on this later).

During the Summer of 2000, The Jedi United grow fast and strong. By August of that year, had established the DEGA group (inspired by a Bodega Bay outing). The principle was based on what Yahshua asked his disciples to do as witnessed in the Gospels—send six separate groups of two people each and have them visit various place in which a message would be presented. Those who rejected the messengers were left alone, whereas those who listened were welcomed as part of the family. During the DEGA commission, we made it clear that the sites were to remain as their sites. They were to be helped when needed. Because of this, small groups were brought to the forefront along with larger groups. DEGA It was very successful—so successful that decisions were made to become an organized community.

The Jedi Organization, which revealed itself in early January 2001, was a notable move yet had some flaws. This mostly resulted from incidents which were brought about later that year. With that said, the organization did bring about the concept of Jedi Realism and would help establish a unity movement.

Within a few months of the organization's release, a media incident took place on March 6th, 2001. This incident brought about the closure of The Jedi Creed website and was the early catalyst of an exodus which occurred with the original guard. This was primarily due to the religious underpinnings that were beginning to take shape, although there were other reasons. Seeing what was happening, this person began to advocate a concept of creating the Jedi Community.

You will find in records that the name Jedi Community appeared shortly after the incident. This, though, was to establish a clear separation from the religious aspect that was taking shape. Today, people use this term to umbrella both the Realism and Religion trees. The truth is it was never meant to be used as such—it was to make a clear separation of both trees.

In fact, that is why the term Realism was pushed back then. It was to say the media, "We are this group. We are not the Jedi census takers you are referring to". Before that time, we were simply spoken of as people who took note of the Jedi ways.

Usually, when it comes to my early history, this is where this person usually stops (this is done on purpose). Yet, given that we are now at this point in time, will go ahead and continue.

It the year 2001 just about all conversation were on discussion forums. Prior to this, it took place primarily in chat rooms. Forums, though, gave people the ability to maintain more detained discussions for longer periods of time. Many were willed with conversations about what the Jedi were actually about, what they stood for, and who they were to become. Sadly, much of what was posted has been lost in time. Although insightful, these discussion were very hard to keep up and took hours to go through. This person was so busy during this time that rest was needed. Eventually decided to go on a three month hiatus in the middle of that year. While resting, also began to plan for a project called THE JEDI prototype (this would later be known as JEDI).

During this respite, a mutiny occurred on September 12th, 2001 (a day after the 9/11 attacks). What happened was our main discussion forum was subverted by one of the group members. This person had not experienced such an event before, and, because it was unexpected, It took some months to regroup.

It was at this point this person should have been more aware to what was going on—noticed the warning signs early yet thought it could be repaired. This person was simply determined to get back to the roots of the movement prior to the incidents. Such conflicts, though, would later continue to resurface.

On January 1st, 2002, THE JEDI prototype was released in which the name was condensed to simply JEDI. JEDI was to help transition away from the organizational aspect in order to look towards the complete Jedi aspect, gathering all the established concepts together to bring about a learning area. This would be represented not just the JEDI Website, yet also the JEDI Community (represented by the forum, chat, and other communicative means), the JEDI Educational Center (method training and resources), the JEDI Database (informational articles, reviews, and sources), and the JEDI Library (which included lectures and inspirational writings). It was a call to get back to what was started back in 2000, moving forward with greater conviction.

JEDI's beginning was very successful. Within the first month, JEDI released the first-of-its-kind academic training curriculum, originally called The Omicron Academy. This was eventually shorted to the Academy@JEDI, or the JEDI Academy. Such work represented a height of creativity at that time.

With that said, there were many notable events which took place in 2002. The first was the establishment of Jediism. Prior to that year, it was simply referred to as the Jedi Religion (until a website coined the term and began to promote the 21 Maxims). The second event, which was promoted by the Jedi Realism aspect, was The Jedi Gathering, an offline movement which grew momentum in the later years. There was also a Jedi Dojo created in that year as well.

Some may say that 2000 was the height of the Jedi Community, yet its most productive was in 2002 (it was one of the most busiest times this person remembers). By the year 2003, the movement was still productive yet began to flat line. The JEDI Academy primarily grew during this time. It was also the year this person was led to a pursuit of music.

The attention towards the JEDI Academy, though, was somewhat triggered by the death of the original Jedi Academy website in 2003. The Jedi Academy was a site established in the late 1990's (was well known in its early years), yet It never took part within the unity movement and remained separated. Eventually it fell apart, later calling themselves The Forsaken Jedi. Given what happened, it became essential to create an academic program which was more true to the name, holding relevant classes and alternative training methods.

Also during that year, JEDI was planning a Jedi Community Conference—an attempt to go back to strengthening the connections between the websites which started to wane. It was promising, although, as it began to take shape later in 2004, it lost its energy.

The year 2004 was a very rough year. This was primarily due to an initial split which occurred within the JEDI Academy. Due to the Academy's success, many wanted to stir it in various directions. After spending some time as the first principal (in order to help establish the Academy) eventually called for another person to take charge. Such decisions, though, caused issues with a few of the staff members. As a result of this, a split was formed by two teachers, advocating the Academy should follow a different path than it was going. Both teachers left to create was known then as the Jedi Realist Academy. This academy, though, only lasted a short while.

Although there was a slight surge due to Revenge of the Sith movie being released in the Summer of 2005, it did not last long. By early 2006 it was clear that their was a growing resistance towards the direction JEDI was going. While this happened, the newly founded Jediism was slowly increasing to prominence. This created conflict within the JEDI group especially as more became defiant about its original goals. The community and academy portions, for instance, began to separate further and further until they were two distinct working groups. This was the beginning of the end of JEDI. Although was planing a brand new graphic-based website at the time (the prototype was called Version 7), the daily criticism brought me to the point where this person was overly drained. By July 2006, presented my last post, called "I'm Too Tired", allowing the community council to take over the JEDI site.

After my departure, the academy quickly left JEDI as they felt the community was unstable (which, honestly, it was). Within a short time, JEDI was deteriorated and was later abandoned. The academy eventually became simply known as The Jedi Academy, and, soon later, the Jedi Academy of Realist Studies. They still exist today. The concepts found in the JEDI Community eventually led to the overall format of The Jedi Community, although was later expanded towards the religious groups.

Much could be said about these events. Although this person had worked to unite, the seeds of division eventually took hold. The original ideas brought about by the unity movement were later revisited by the later guard.

While reading what has been typed, it is hard to read about such things. If only this person would have heeded the signs, much energy would have been saved for other pursuits. The spotlight given in 2001, honestly, actually made things worse instead of better. This has helped me realize the importance of keeping a low profile in later years. Another thing learned is to challenge people before giving them responsibility. Just because they say they are on your side doesn't mean they are.

One other thing learned was you don't need a vast group of people to find the truth of a matter. Have learned more about seeking the path of truth with an intimate relationship with the higher will than a relationship with many community members. Think people have seen the benefits of this and are slowly following suit. With that said, we should not ignore those who follow along.

The true community, though, is within your own household. It is good to have acquaintances—yet we should spend more time lifting up our own brothers and sisters in need. The rest will take care of itself.

Yahunatan