Ever since Star Wars fans were first introduced to Master Yoda, they have heard his warnings about the dangers of fear, anger, and hatred, but as it turns out the former grandmaster of the Jedi Order may actually be wrong. It’s actually understandable, as the Jedi Order has been around for a long time and over the millennia they have changed, not just in appearance or in their role in the Star Wars galaxy, but also in their own understanding of themselves and the Force.
Before the existence of the Jedi Order there was the Je’daii of the planet Tyhton. These Force-sensitive men and women were gathered together from across the galaxy by huge pyramid ships and brought to Tython to study the Force. They discovered that the planet was highly reactive to any imbalance in the Force, and the Je’daii soon developed a philosophy that focused on balancing the light and the dark within a person. This was the beginning of the Jedi Code, but over the tens of thousands of years since the founding of the Je’daii and the time of the Clone Wars, that code morphed into something entirely different.
The Je'daii Were All About Balance, Not Suppressing Emotions
As shown in the 2012 comic Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi: Force Storm #1 by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema, the original philosophy of the Je’daii focused much more on balancing light and dark and not denying one’s natural impulses. Unfortunately, by the time of Grandmaster Yoda and the Jedi of the Old Republic, that seems to have gradually shifted into a rejection of anything that could be deemed a negative emotion. “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering,” said Master Yoda of the Jedi. That is a stark contrast to another quote from the Je'daii: “Hate is understandable, as is anger,” said Master Ketu. “But one must never only feel hate or only feel anger. That brings one out of balance.”
These two philosophies seem similar, but their tiny differences are very telling and give greater insight into why the Jedi eventually fell. Part of the reason why Anakin Skywalker fell to the dark side is because he was brought up in an Order that taught Jedi to deny their darker impulses and urges, rather than accept and confront them. The rigidity of denying one’s natural feelings is both potentially harmful and nearly impossible. This is true in both the Star Wars universe and our own.
The Je’daii philosophy appears similar to the philosophical ideals of classical Stoicism. While many people often misunderstand Stoics to think that they are taught to deny their feelings, the opposite is actually true. Stoicism calls someone’s initial emotional reaction “phantasia,” and teaches that it is both natural and not something to be shunned. Anger, fear, and even momentary hatred are acceptable feelings, but after those initial impressions have cooled a Stoic is expected to balance their emotions with rational thoughts and value judgments. According to the Stoic philosopher, Epictetus, “It's not things that upset us but our judgments about things.” To a Stoic, as well as a Je’daii, you cannot balance yourself by denying your natural reactions and inclinations.
Ancient Jedi Had A More Sensible Approach to Hate
Yoda was the most notable spokesperson for the dangers of fear, anger, and hatred, but he was not the only one. The small grandmaster of the Jedi Order was only repeating a doctrine that he had learned himself as a Padawan, and had been passed down through generations of Jedi masters. It is clear that over the long history of the Order the true meaning of Jedi and their code changed and shifted and stopped being about balance. It's easy to see how the teachings of Star Wars’ Je’daii turned into a ban on fear and hate by the time of Yoda, but the original philosophy is a lot more considered and sensible to human nature.