Does the Force use the Jedi, or the Jedi use the Force? To use the Force, one must be at harmony with it. Only when calm, at peace, can one act with assurance of control. When one is at harmony with the universe, one acts as one must to maintain harmony. The will and the Force are one; the actor and the acted upon, the same. There is no contradiction: there is unity. That is the path of Light.
There is another - the path of Darkness.
The universe is an angry morass of power. To release that power, one must harness one's basest emotions: hate, anger, fear, agression. By releasing one's own anger, one releases the anger of eternity. Only when filled with hate, can one perform the most hateful of acts. The will and the Force are one. That is the choice of the Jedi: serenity or hatred; peace or anger; freedom or tyranny; learning or power; the Light or the Darkness. Because the use of the Force and the way the Force uses its user are one, the choice is inescapable. A Jedi who starts down the path of the Dark Side will forever be dominated by it. That is why the Jedi must follow a strict code.
~~~Nature of the Force~~
From lifelessness came life; from dead matter came spirit. With life came perception: the perception of beauty and ugliness, serenity and fear. The Force grew strong as life grew stronger. Life is the universe's way of perceiving itself; the Force is the strength of its perception.
As life grew, evolved, became more sophisticated, there came intelligence - and with it, the capacity of understanding. Intelligent beings questioned the universe, and when they were clever enough to ask the questions in the right way, the universe answered. The Force became stronger, more sophisticated, as intelligence spread and sapient's knowledge of the universe deepened.
Yet the nature of the Force is hidden and subtle. Questions about the nature of matter and energy are more easily answered. Intelligent beings developed a high technology by understanding of physical law - yet understanding of the universe's mystical nature lagged behind. Intelligent beings built advanced cultures which were cold, cruel, ignorant of the beat of reality's heart.
So stood the galaxy, until the rise of the Jedi. They studied the Force; they took first few steps on the road to universal harmony. As their mastery deepened, as their fame spread, and as their works began to bring harmony and freedom to the galaxy, they were betrayed.
For the Force is not itself good or evil; it is a reflection of nature, and nature itself can be cold and cruel. Evil ones can harness the force to their will - and, by doing so, lose something of their humanity, becoming virtual avatars of the Dark Side of the Force. For the Master of the Dark Side, as for a Master of the Light, it cannot be said whether one controls the Force, or the Force the Master; to ask which is the actor and which the acted upon is a question of no meaning.
It was inevitable that some would use the Force to slake their base lust for wealth and power. The Dark Side is easy and seductive; the first successes brought thirst for more. These evil ones brought the great Jedi low, hunting down and killing all of their ancient order.
All - or almost all.
~~A Jedi’s greatest ally~~
Jedi's use of the Force is his greatest skill and most difficult achievement. The Force is a powerful field created by all living things; it surrounds and penetrates the entire galaxy ...but it does not fall to everyone to use it as a source of insight and power.
A Jedi from the beginning must do what most men cannot; develop a sensitivity to this Force. He must actually feel it, feel his oneness with it, feel it tangible flow through him, then his conscious awareness must join the Force so that the knowledge through the Force will become his own.
At some point a Jedi learns to abandon reliance on his own mind and its effort. He learns to stretch out with his feeling , to let go of his limited idea of himself, and to move with the deeply instinctive levels of his being. By listening, by becoming peaceful, by turning his attention to the Force, he finds that place where his individuality is joined to the knowledge and power of the universe.
At some point a Jedi becomes one with the force. It consumes him, penetrates him, makes him part of all living things.
~~~The Dark Side~~
Unlike the Light Side of the Force, which embraces the whole, the entire focus of the Dark Side is the self. The appeal of the Dark Side is its very destructiveness and its isolation. Those who seek power for selfish reasons find comfort in its narcissistic gaze. The Dark Side emphasizes aggrandizement of self to the exclusion of others. In this way, rage and anger are turned into sources of strength.
Many are attracted to the Dark Side because its selfish nature allows great and showy deeds. The ease with which power is summoned belies its danger, for anger and hatred consume the individual even as one dominates one's surroundings. Ultimately, the Dark Side rejects the very celestial nature of life itself. To the Jedi, the Force is not a part of their existence; it is their existence. To a student of the Dark Side, this is incomprehensible.
It is not uncommon for Dark Side students to go into the wilderness, much as their Light Side counterparts do. The crucial difference is that the Light Jedi goes into the wilderness to commune with the wild. The Dark Side follower goes to separate himself from the community of life. There, in isolation, a Dark Side follower can perfect his or her own oneness with the Dark Side, and revel in that corruption. Yet in the Dark Side are anger and hatred and isolation and...fear. That fear drives the Jedi to isolation, jealousy and desire to be the most powerful of all.
This very predatory nature sparks battles of dominance when several Dark Jedi or Dark Side Adepts gather. Sometimes these are violent confrontations, other times they involve subtle mind games or diplomatic discussions; but make no mistake, there will be some attempt to assert control over each other. The violent nature of the Dark Side often leads to betrayal and bloodshed.
Not only does this fratricidal tendency discourage long term cooperation among Adepts, it has also hindered the passing of knowledge. Whereas the Jedi and other servants of the Light Side have established great libraries and oral traditions to advance their work and educate succeeding generations, those of the Dark Side have few such institutions. Many never record their knowledge for fear it may aid an enemy. Others are too arrogant to allow others to learn from their mistakes.
