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Profile of a Real-Life Jedi Academy
dkleinsc writes "The NYTimes ran a profile of the New York Jedi Club, an organization dedicated to teaching the ways of the Force. Jedi Grandmaster Flynn Michael, a sound engineer and (by his own proclamation) an 'over-the-top geek,' connected the ideas of the Jedi with dance, martial arts, sword-fighting and Tibetan Buddhism to form the curriculum."
Well, because of that.
Hey don't blame me, IANAB
that, while on the one hand, many geeks find religion to be illogical, superstitious, and ill-founded
on the other hand,
many geeks are enamored of the religion of a bunch of characters in the mind of George Lucas in a galaxy far, far away?
I'm not a lawyer, but I play one on the Internet. Blog
The expected market demand for Jedi Knights is probably marginally less than the expected market demand for philosophers in general - yet this doesn't stop people from studying philosophy for misc reasons.
However, in this case it seems like the primary goal is simply to provide exercise/dance classes with a bit of a Sci-Fi/philo twist (Sci-Phi?), and there's definitively a market demand for fitness courses/instructors. If this niche inspires a few couch potatoes to exercise more than they otherwise would, why not?
Zen is an anti-religion which tells us first to train, and then to trust, our instincts. (Excellent programmers and engineers, I feel, often follow Zen practice in this. Mahayana Buddhism appeals to orthodoxy in its custom and practice. The superficial similarities cover a very, very different outlook.
Typical of Zen: the teacher who delivered a lecture on the Arhats which began "The Arhats are like a dirty lavatory (meaning that the truth had been obscured by layers of rubbish applied over the years) and the other one who delivered a lecture which consisted of, in effect "The truth is all around you, open your eyes and look at it."
So: "Jedis", which are a synthetic construct (but then so are the beliefs of the Catholic Church, the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses) possibly do borrow more in outlook from Zen. But so, actually, does particle physics. Javascript: The Good Parts is a pretty Zen book. So, while I'm in this vein, is Buehler's Backyard Boatbuilding, surely one of the best project management manuals for very small teams ever written.
As for reincarnation, you can view the Buddha's teaching as telling people that the existing religions and their insistence on reincarnation were nonsense. Realising that this is the only life we have and that following the Eightfold Path is the way to make the best of it - is part of enlightenment.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
Ha ha.... even *I* saw this story and thought..... "NERDS!!!!!!!!!!"
;-)
Er, maybe not in that voice though
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“Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.”
- Han Solo
Considering the 3 of the main religions on earth(christianity, islam, and judaism) all treat women as second class citizens, give them no real role in said religion and force them to be ashamed of themselves for even existing it is indeed amazing at all the religion even allows sex.
seriously the only difference in their treatment of women is how much "modesty" they expect women to show.
If religion doesn't allow sex, it dies off. The goal of the religion is control - the elite priesthood have a direct hotline to god and control it's practioners including their sexuality. Degrading women and controling who they procreate with while simultaneously making them feel like shit about getting any pleasure from the act or for that matter having boobs and arse and a cunt is just one of the many charming modus operandi used. It's not like men are allowed to fuck who they want with impunity either, but since the women have the babies he who controls the pussy controls the population..
The difference here is that the vast majority of those people are aware that the characters and workings of that world are fictional.
I don't really see a problem with someone being inspired by fiction, be it Naruto or Charles Dickens or Jesus for that matter, just as long as they don't try to impose it on others and seek privileged status.
Interestingly to me, Quakers (who call one another "Friend") do sometimes use the term as a kind of passive aggression as you do here.
The short answer is that I can and do deny that reincarnation is fundamental to Buddhism. Fundamental to Buddhism is that by right thinking and right practices we can be freed from our illusions about the world, and when we become free we see that there is no afterlife and no reincarnation, and can therefore be free of suffering. I think you are confusing certain versions of Buddhism with the teachings of the Buddha. The exact same with Christianity: You can be a fundamentalist as, sadly, so many Americans seem to be, and absorb the whole mythos and optionally the post-Roman accretions or the Protestant obsessions with complicated sin and justification. Or you can believe that Jesus was a great prophet and that his teachings can be the basis of an ethical belief system that helps people to live well - which fits the world picture of a lot of Episcopalians, Unitarians and Quakers.
As (as I note above) a Quaker and a Zen Buddhist, I think your thinking is in exactly the silo that led to that observation "The Arhats are like a dirty lavatory". You think that the accidental is fundamental.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
Given how often Jedi lose their lightsabers in the movies, that only reinforces his authenticity.
I explicitly release the above into the public domain.
The title should read: "Profile of a Real-Life Make-Believe Jedi Academy".
Compare this to the make-believe real-life Jedi Academy portrayed in the prequel movies. Getting the order of the adjectives right makes a big difference.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Considering the 3 of the main religions on earth(christianity, islam, and judaism)
Whoa! Dude your facts are a bit off. Judaism doesn't even make the top ten!
Christianity: 2.1 billion
Islam: 1.5 billion
Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion
Hinduism: 900 million
Chinese traditional religion: 394 million
Buddhism: 376 million
primal-indigenous: 300 million
African Traditional & Diasporic: 100 million
Sikhism: 23 million
Juche: 19 million
Spiritism: 15 million
Judaism: 14 million
from adherents.com
-- QED
Do not mock philosophy. It provides a framework for understanding how the human mind works and establishes the roots behind our social, political, and economic norms.
Simple things such as what constitutes human rights or morality are much more complex than you'd imagine (e.g. consider Michael J. Perry's view: Are human rights ineliminably religious, or is there a secular version of human rights that uphold our existence with the same amount of dignity and sanctity?). The answers to such questions play a role in a lot of things (e.g. the UN Charter of Human Rights, the Geneva Convention, creation and interpretation of laws etc).
And speaking of laws, what about justice? If it fairness, or is it deterrence, or both? Where does one draw the line? Where do ethics come in? Can you legislate ethics? Why, or why not? For instance, try reading John Rawl's Theory of Justice one of these days, and you will not look at law the same way ever again.
Most people who've studied philosophy (that I know of) are doing quite well, having gone on to work in law, anthropology, sociology, or even economics (e.g. Amartya Sen was awarded the Nobel memorial prize in economics for bringing a moral and ethical worldview to an otherwise transactional dominion). Having taken graduate classes in philosophy, I can guarantee you that philosophy requires good reading and writing comprehension, logical and analytical skills, and an ability for independent thought. In contrast, I am not exactly sure what skills being a "Jedi" knight from a fictional movie grant you.