5
« on: April 14, 2013, 05:17:24 AM »
The Star Wars allegory
Weird as it may sound, Star Wars is an excellent example which can be used to describe Islam. There are many things that are pretty similar between the Truth and the fictional story of Star Wars.
Below is a list of things which make astounding similarities between the Truth and Star Wars, I will further explain each parameter later:
The struggle is between the Light side of the Force and the Dark side of the Force in Star Wars, which may represent the Holy Spirit of God and the Evil Spirit of Satan in reality. People can decide which path they will take, although sometimes they are manipulated to join the evil side.
The Force itself can be translated to the Spirit, which is used by the two factions, although in reality the Holy Spirit is more hidden than in the fiction, but both forces are extremely potent and powerful.
The use and training of the Light side of the Force leads to a high moral character, good soul and apparently eternal life. The same is true for being in the Light of God, as God?s Holy Spirit will give the same benefits as the use of the Light side of the Force in Star Wars.
The Dark side of the Force has the same effect on people as Satan?s whispers and soul possessions in reality. Those afflicted encounter a moral breakdown, which will lead into a full possession by the lure of the Dark side and they will become utterly evil. Those affected as driven by their lusts, arrogance, selfishness, pride, and all other negative features.
Clarification of difference between fiction and reality
Of course, Star Wars is not the reality and this allegory is merely to present a theory that this motion picture may be a viable source of inspiration. The ?hocus pocus? does not occur, although God can occasionally show a Force-like power on Earth such as lightning strike a group of people, Moses lifts his staff and the sea opens up, or something like this.
What was the aim of this allegory is primarily the philosophical aspect of this series of movies, such as in the mental development.
The Dark side of the Force is apparently stronger than the evil spirit of Satan, which means in reality that Satan does not possess as much power as in Star Wars. Satan does not possess the ?magic? of the Force as in Star Wars, as compared to God?s side of the Truth, and hence he can only use the manipulative aspect of the Dark side, which however is strong enough to destroy most of mankind, as we can observe in our own real world.
The philosophical aspect
I have always been fascinated by the philosophical aspect of the Light side of the Force and the goal to reach an inner peace within oneself, which is exactly the same one as in Islam.
The spiritual aim by righteousness and self-control through meditation seems to lead to more peace within the soul than the evil means of the Dark side, which seem to cause the users to be somehow depressed and broken down, unhappy, and they seem not to be able to control their own destiny.
I have been thinking about the possession of souls and that Satan can do this. When someone has ?been turned to the Dark side? in Star Wars, it is difficult to convert them back to the Light side again, thus the Dark evil spirit has possessed the victims.
I will write about the specific faction in an own part of this article.
The Light side of the Force (God?s side)
To choose the Light side means living in harmony and peace from deep within the soul, once you are able to reap the benefits, i.e. begun to feel the Holy Spirit/the Force flow within you. The Force seems to help you on your path towards this destiny as long as you continue to perform righteous acts.
One should believe that enough Faith can move a mountain, just like is being taught by Jedi Masters in Star Wars. If you can get enough certainty with the Faith, I am sure there could be a possibility to accomplish that, since sanctioned by God one can do anything as long as God allows it.
Now, it may not be God?s will that you are to move a mountain, but you should have the mind to it. My personal motto: ?Everything is possible, nothing is impossible? has taken me far on my own path. The main point in this phrase is to believe that anything can happen, even if considered impossible by human science. I believed like this for perhaps 15 years, before I came to the point I am today, 2013, and it seems to have paid off, I only faintly believed in God, although I was certain that the world must have a Creator.
Traditional Christianity, which was the only religion widely available where I lived, turned me off from becoming more active in on my religious career, although I gradually turned to the Light over the years.
Back to the topic, the faith in the Force basically means the same. You need to believe that something is possible for it to happen.
In the beginning of a religious path, the feeling of the Holy Spirit is very faint and probably not even noticeable, but someone who is further blessed by the Lord (meaning part of the Holy Spirit is inside of him) will begin to sense things not been felt before. The Truth will become clearer and one will feel lighter and that he is walking along the beach with the Lord (my parable), meaning God will offer his support in times of hardship or even with the everyday agenda. Opportunities can seem clearly sanctioned by God and one is now feeling like living with the Holy Spirit flowing through the veins.
This is why a person must be patient and steadfast, because one may not feel the benefits of the Holy Spirit/God until after quite a while. And God will put each person to various trials along the way, to see which persons are truly worth infusing with part of His Holy Spirit. Of course, God can remove His spirit from anyone as He pleases if this person misuses his position.
The above paragraphs are pretty much the same in the saga of Star Wars, so no need to write additional text for that. Just replace the Holy Spirit with the Force instead and you have Star Wars. It seems as if some people are capable of being infused by the Holy Spirit to a greater extent than others too, i.e. their souls seem to sustain more. The Holy Spirit seems to be causing some fatigue on the soul and body of the receiver, until fully adapted/trained.
Once blessed by God, one gains a better understanding to distinguish between right and wrong, and can, sanctioned by the Holy Spirit, pretty much always make the righteous choice. Once absolutely certain it is difficult to divert from the Path of Light.
The last portion of this section of the article will tell some more or less important tips regarding to search for the Truth. In order to fully open up for God is to live in a state of prayer through the whole days, meaning you should remain slightly in a meditative state even while not meditating and praying. This is, somehow, like allowing one to feel the Force within oneself before attempting anything, and thus remain conscious of God all times.
Constant meditation/praying to God will allow to more easily remain in a state of prayer, even outside of this practice.
Praying a lot or spending a lot of time meditating will not affect ordinary life as God will repay you more than you spent. Blessings and divinely sanctioned opportunities will arise. If you like Star Wars, you will also feel somewhat like a Jedi Knight (he he he).
But forget about the Star Wars titles and that kind of stuff, this is real life and not fiction!
Never feel it is silly to meditate for hours per day, but make use of the intensified state and reflect upon what you have learned, not only sit around with a zeroed mind. Involve the Lord in your meditation and allow Him to inspire you. Think about religious issues or life issues, and what the most righteous thing to do next is, plus other similar things.
Remember, meditative state can be reached in many unconventional ways, not always the traditional. Most important is to reach your true self and think clearly, and be open for inspirational communication with the Lord.
The Dark side of the Force (Satan?s side)
This side is not as fancy as in fiction, but despite this, most people seem to choose this path.
The path of the Dark side leads to the destruction of one?s soul, losing all of God?s spirit and completely obeying the dark lord, Satan, or Sith as in Star Wars. Satan promises the subconscious soul lots of things, but will only fulfill one and that is the destiny of total demise. Afflicted souls will feel powerful, driven by their egos and are not prevented by such petty things as being good to others. They can easily use cynical ways to reach personal goals and even hurt others both mentally and physically.
Most of these people are greedy and wealthy and are not willing to share, and they have often acquired their wealth through foul play.
The only protection against Satan/Sith is to call to God and begin perform righteous deeds before one has wandered too far. Another being can, helped by the Holy Spirit, sometimes turn someone from the Dark side. However, the evil grip of Satan is clouding the mind of the victim and it takes quite a lot to free this person from Satan?s possession.
I have thought that, members of religious sects that are not sanctioned by God and are actually worshiping Satan and he is clouding their minds so badly they cannot see anything but their own ?truth?. You can compare that with Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars, although in one of the space flight simulators where he says: ?Peace and order will be restored throughout the galaxy?, of course a lie, but he believes in it so strongly that he think he is righteous.
The Sith actually believe that this strict discipline and inhuman living is the truth and the correct way to prosperity. Draw that parallel with sects of the real world and they think their version of the religion will lead to peace and prosperity, sometimes by such extreme measures as killing disbelievers and other obvious actions influenced by the Dark side.
This is the same dangerous thinking as the Sith in the Star Wars saga. So these ?believers? are not worshiping God, because He will not accept the worship from people with such unrighteous thinking, and they are rather lead astray by the evil one and his followers.
They implement strict rules making God?s religion look like a military camp with inhuman routines. They are more afraid of doing ?haraam? or ?makruh? than worshiping God, to the extent of completely forgetting what God stands for and obsessively follow the alleged sunnah of the prophet (which is Satan instead), while God has never forbidden anything except things that are explicitly made clear in the Quran.
God is not forbidding anyone from having their own personality and integrity, hence one does not have to imitate a prophet who lived over a thousand years ago. His worshipers does not all have to look like Muhammad-clones with authentic beard and hairstyle.
The above is just like the Sith faction and their camps you can find if you play one of the Star Wars ? Knights of the Old Republic games.
Similar to Star Wars, a person on the Dark side of the power does not seem to have eternal life, such as those on the Light side.
When Obi-Wan is killed by Darth Vader on the Death Star, Vader looks utterly surprised that his body just disappeared, i.e. the spirit instantly left the body and reached another world, although in the real life dead people have no connection with this world once gone.
This allegory in conjunction with the Game Allegory
Playing Star Wars ? Knights of the Old Republic gives a feeling more in detail how you can perceive that light side points vs. dark side points are rewarded. Even answering something rude in a conversation gives Dark Side points, and the same goes for the reality. God gives you a negative score if you answer something bad in a conversation, God does not leave anything out from your ?report card?. The lesson with this allegory as well as my previous Game Allegory is that nothing is left uncounted; hence we must always be aware of how we come about with other human beings.
The Truth is as exact as this computer game, since God will save every act, every utterance, in a log saved until the Last Day.
I recommend playing ?SWKOR? for further insight into what I meant in the allegory presented in this article. But if you do not like games then the allegory I wrote is sufficient for you. And of course real life should be sufficient for you, in case the above article was too dull for you.
Ending
This allegory can be expanded and is far from completed. I wrote it during several hours a Sunday afternoon, but since I have family and other important matter to attend to I could not continue any further. However this article is saved as a document on my computer for further work.
It shows that Star Wars can teach us a lesson in how to live our lives and how similar it is to Islam. The article can also show a little on how Satan works when he manipulates entire civilizations into living unrighteous and petty lives and into being evil-minded. He can partially and fully possess a human being, probably what happened to Mr. Adolf Hitler in the beginning of the 20th century, when he wreaked havoc on whole Europe during this period. This Nazi-Germany portrayed a perfect image of how the Empire in Star Wars works and what kind of discipline it wants. The Nazis present another parable actually which can be connected to Star Wars.
The life God wants us to live represents quite perfectly the life of a Jedi on the Light side of the Force. You can find lots of inspiration by watching and analyzing Star Wars, and probably many other similar motion pictures, but I found none like Star Wars so far.
In fact, Terminator 2 also teaches something, when the Terminator is talking to John Connor about mankind and that it is self-destroying. Of course, Terminator does not teach us that much except from some few things.
Remember, even Buddhism can teach anything with all their meditation and focus on soul development. That is what Islam should be focused on too, meditation and soul development, rather than trying to please God by inventing very strict rules and concentrating so intensively on them that they take up more time than reflecting on God and his marvels.
?Hmm... what is ?Haram? for me now and what is ?Halal?? What does the scholars say? Would it maybe be Makruh if I do this? Does my beard look exactly like Muhammad?s now? Did I pray exactly 3 rakah last time??
Thoughts like this overwhelm a traditional Muslim to the extent not healthy instead of just living in the way of God, performing righteous deeds along the way. You must live with the flow of the Force, not let your thoughts distract your actions.
Show Posts
