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Post by VixensVengeance on Feb 14, 2022 20:55:19 GMT
THE USE OF ALLEGORY IN THE SITH PATH
When one is a child, you speak to them as a child. To one that professes adept knowledge of the Sith path I can only say, “I see you in the darkness sibling”. And yes, symbols like the wolf and sheep may seem flippant or cliché to one of such prowess, but they still serve a purpose. They are allegories for life used to represent such concepts as the food chain, the Pareto principle, entropy or Zipfs law. There is a natural hierarchy that exists in nature and there is only a natural justice based on that hierarchy. This means artificial concepts like karma or “The secret” or a self-correcting God do not exist. If you want something, the universe will not bring it to you. You must go out and achieve it for yourself.
I have written extensively on Archetypes. One concept I write about is the idea of the predator and the prey within each of us. Yes, when you get below the surface of a cliché phrase the Sith adept will realize they are both predator and prey, “sheep and wolf”. Realizing this and then learning to master both sides of one’s nature then becomes the path. When mastered, the sheep within becomes just as powerful an ally as the wolf. And the Sith must realize that even they are prey to things larger than themself. When the wolf of time comes for the Sith, the sheep inside them will bow. In this they have no choice. It is the unavoidable natural hierarchy of the universe coming to take what it is due.
These are the layers of the onion of the Sith path that I unravel. And like an onion that is peeled, it is a painful experience. An onion will sting your eyes as it is opened. It is a hard thing to do and most strive to avoid it for that reason. A Sith will not. They welcome the pain because when the tears clear there is new sight to be had. Too many Sith, that were once on the path, are now gone, and that is sad. They have slipped from the dark path into the shadows. But what is a shadow? It is a place that is void of both the light and the dark. It’s a place of noncommittal emptiness where one does not have to face the pain of the onion.
There is another amazing allegory in the science fiction universe of Dune, the box of pain. It is a test to reveal that fact that there is something more to us as self-aware individuals than just a conglomerate of instinct. The idea that our unique make up gives us an ability to override that primeval control. Animals will display the ability to delay gratification in favor of a bigger reward. But this is still different than what I am talking about. What I’m talking about is enduring suffering or pain for that greater victory. Animals will not choose to endure such a thing but as humans we can have that ability.
Every living thing displays a level of consciousness, the ability to perceive their environment. More complicated forms of life developed sentience, the ability to have subjective good and bad experiences. But it is the rare form of life that then developed sapience, the ability to recognize themself as a unique individual in the universe. The box of pain tests this level of sapience in an individual. Albeit quite possibly a rare quality, it is the ability of heightened self-awareness that can be used to override instinct. But there is an even deeper lesson here and failing to learn that lesson is why OotS failed. It is the question of the victory itself. Is it a true passion?
In the test in Dune, the victory was life itself and thus it was quite a high reward; in fact a natural passion in any life. Other goals in life may not be so clear cut though. Sith can have a passion for achieving power over others or just power over themself. And they can be just a susceptible to self-deceit as anyone. If one is a manipulative rogue out for short term victories and details like trust are not important to them then they shouldn’t lie to themselves and tell themself that they are actually a Machiavellian level master destined for long lived royal sovereignty. The two approaches to passion, “rogue verses sovereign”, require two completely different skillsets and one does not translate to another.
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Post by VixensVengeance on Feb 15, 2022 19:50:50 GMT
What the allegory speaks of is the actual deeper meaning of purpose. The idea of the onion is not about physical pain and the pain is not the focus; getting past the fear of the unraveling to see what is beneath is the focus. Being an adept at knowing yourself “is” mastery of the Sith path. They are one in the same.
As for the noncommittal, one must not mistake the shadow for the void itself. I see the shadow as a place to hide from the pain. Death can’t be found there, only fear of death. It is a place where the reality in truth of one’s life can be ignored or covered up. My goal as a Sith is to step out of that, let the fear wash past me and not only face that absolute blackness of truth but then accept it for what it is no matter how much it may destroy that which was once inside me. That destruction is painful but it brings new construction in the end. And that is manifest tangibly in action.
It’s a process that does not call for the filling up of the void but rather the search for the void itself. Peeling away the layers, transforming the mind body and spirit; revealing the ultimate truth at the center, the place of nothingness where all the layers fall away. This is the true void, the place where one realizes that the self is but an illusion.
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