The hand of a Jedi must be held lightly, quick to open in an offer of aid, slow to close into a fist, and quicker still to offer reconciliation.
Such is the nature of the Jedi, at least, in theory. What that means in practice is an entirely different matter. What is fast? Or slow? Can there be reconciliation? What even is reconciliation? What about justice? Is there such a thing within the Force? Even the words of the Jedi Code are up for debate and discussion. It's why we have so many, I suspect. Yet for as long as the Jedi have existed, we have suffered schisms and separations. At times, we let them flourish. Other times, we intervened and brought an end to the breakaway sects, especially when it came to divergent philosophy and the risk of certain teachings promoting that of the Dark Side. Were we right to do so? Were we not? Wiser minds than I will have to make that judgment. All I can say is that many have been harmed by such schisms and the consequences of mistrust and hurt lasted ever since.
But that means we must ask, what is it that Jedi are meant to do? I have spent nearly a thousand years pondering this question and have come no closer to the answer than I was in my youth. The only thing I have found is harmony with the Force, ourselves, and the beings around us. Now, what harmony means is another of the great debates that I have no answer for that can be put into words. The nature of the Force is one that cannot be easily put into words. It is a power and a will not limitable to such things as words. It is... ever-shifting, ever-moving, ever-surrounding. It is, simply put, reality itself. Perhaps that explains the broadness of interpretation, not only among the Jedi, among the Sith, but the diverse and varied interpretations. Colors, the breath, the body, telekinesis, a form of crafting. Each of these are a fragment of the Force, only a tiny sampling of the innumerable Force sects that once existed in the galaxy.
And that, my friends, brings us to today. The Jedi Order is fragmented and split along ideological and methodical lines. From the first major schism of our era, with the breaking off of the Army of Light to fight the Sith Empire, to the establishment of the Silver Jedi Order. Then we had the rise and fall of the New Jedi Order. Now, it no longer exists, having been replaced by the Jedi Covenant of the Alliance in Exile. Meanwhile, another attempt is being made at establishing a Republic, with their own Jedi enclave. There are the Jedi of the Greyson Imperium, a continuation of the Army of Light tradition. The Silver Jedi persist and other, scattered enclaves and organizations work to bring harmony to their sectors of space.
We again are facing the question of Jedi unity. Are we to be united as one? Or are we to be split into these different orders and territories? I ask instead, why do we seek unity rather than harmony? Unity implies that all are, well, unified. There is a sense of conformity to the word, like there is a single ideal form of what it means to be a Jedi. Instead, I suggest we seek harmony. Wind and water exist in harmony, but are still different. Same with predators and prey in the natural world, and without that harmony, the ecosystems would collapse. The Force operates on a multitude of levels, ranging from cellular to the galactic, with different agents and methods. Yet together, it is all the Force. I suggest we consider ourselves in that same regard. Perhaps we erred in centralizing on Coruscant, so long ago, and oft-repeated up to the present day. According to our histories, that was a decision made to prevent our mistakes and lack of centralized accountability from causing disaster. But instead, it planted the seeds of our near-destruction and some of the greatest victories of the Sith. I fear that by centralizing ourselves, we isolated ourselves from the rest of the galaxy and we lost our ability to be in harmony with the worlds, systems, and beings whose realities were far removed from that of our temples and our refuges. We did not know them. And how could we foster harmony with those we did not know? It was an attempt to mix caff and tea in the same cup, to tragic results.
But are we better off? Are we unified? In the truest, and most important way, I would say we are. We all strive to follow the Light, to do good, and to make the galaxy better. In this, our goals and values are aligned. We stand in unity. But this is not what we often speak of when we hear of Jedi unity. Rather, we think of a single, coordinated Jedi order operating across the galaxy. Certainly, it would be more convenient, perhaps even more efficient. But efficiency is not the pursuit of a Jedi. Harmony is. And harmony is not found, it is built, slowly, and with many misunderstandings and mistakes as we learn from experience how to best fit the pieces together. Which plants work best in a tea blend, for example, is found only through slow experimentation and gradual, focused experience. And there is not one single perfect kind of tea. Rather, different blends for different situations. So too are there different Jedi for different circumstances. Who could imagine taking the Corellian Jedi and having them function on Coruscant? The two worlds and cultures do not exist in harmony. They are in conflict so Green Jedi will be of little help in restoring harmony to Coruscant. And of what use are the Baran Do sages outside of their homeworld? Traditions grow and evolve to meet the demands of their circumstance. Why should Jedi not do the same?
Now, while we may be seeking harmony as we are, it would not hurt us at all to learn to better coordinate. Harmony is not an ideal so much as a learned state of collective being, after all. Can't happen if we can't even manage to meet for tea on a regular basis to know each other.
