Teachings,+Sith+assignment+II

Sith Assignment II
(By Miles)

A Sith, like the Jedi, is one who seeks to master the self. The Sith chooses a dark path to better understand themselves. In the darkness our most relied upon sense is removed. In the absence of sight we must turn to our other senses in order to better perceive the world around us. The Sith do not turn to the easy observations, which are not ignored but are merely one form of input and understanding, but turn their attention to the path less traveled and expose themselves to the darkness, relying on the other perceptions to guide them.

Though this is intended to be allegorical, the metaphor works well I think. In the Jedi world it is easy to rationalize every detail. In our lives we are taught to use our minds. As children, assuming our education was not wasted as I suspect is happening with the youth of today, we are taught to observe, to gather information, to think, to reason, to draw rational and solid conclusions from the information provided. This is developed among the educated throughout youth and into adulthood so thoroughly that it becomes automatic. This becomes our way of mentally interacting with the world of ideas the way that our eyes interact with the world of light. Yet this is not the only way.

Entering into the darkness, where we take away the vision, were we reduce the ability to reason, we enter into a world of emotions, of feelings, of fears and apprehension. In the absence of something to see with our eyes, our mind presents us with visions. So it is with the mind. In the absence of the rules of rationality and logic, our minds attempt to grasp and structure what we can perceive. We feel. It is our nature. We can deny it in the same way we can deny our skin, our heart, or our lungs. And yet we strive so hard in our rational mind to remove these from the equation. This is not the way of the Sith. The

The Sith step boldly into the realm of the irrational to seek new lessons of reason. The Sith engage in battle with passion so to understand in their heart of hearts the true nature of emotion. Different tools develop. Rather than a rationality based upon reason, we develop a rationality based in the truth of our passions. At first it is a new world, one of wonder and terror, but gradually, as we build upon our lessons, we begin to form new senses. Much like hearing, touch, taste and smell become heightened in the darkness, so do new ways of perception and reasoning develop when rationality fails us.

The Sith do not deny, they engage. They explore. Some are consumed by the darkness, doomed to failure and a life of petty rage and anger. Others run screaming from the darkness back into the light and the safety of what they know. But a few, a special few do find that they can walk in the darkness, and find their way, slowly at first, through the shadow lands. Eventually, with enough time and development they find a new form of light, one that guides them and reveals to them magnificent secrets and these happy few are able to experience the wonder and fascination of a child seeing bubbles float through the air for the first time. And like these children, the Sith reach out to the bubbles only to have them pop … and laugh.

This is the path of the Sith, the path of darkness. In the darkness we initially deny ourselves the power of sight, but given enough time, the darkness becomes a light of its own, and in this light our sight is all the more keen.