While working on my Anakin/Faust paper (almost finished, by the way...editiing time), I started noticing things. Well, the first was that I needed to focus my writing and avoid the distracting side trips I was taking into "Anakin becomes Mephistophilis for his own son" type of diversions.

But something else hit me. Palpatine was right: The Jedi and the Sith really are very similar. So how do you tell them apart other than the obvious cinematic technique of lightsaber coloration? I really believe it boils down to a philosophical difference: connection v. domination.

Obi-Wan tells Luke that the Force is an energy field created by all living things that "penetrates us, surrounds us, and binds the galaxy together." Yoda tells him later that a Jedi must feel the Force between himself and everything else around him. That is the philosophy of the Jedi: The Force connects everything.

It's similar to the Buddhist metaphor of Indra's Net, which talks about how all living things are interrelated and interdependent. The Jedi, seeing (as Obi-Wan stated in TPM about the Gungans and the Naboo) this, realize that all living things form a symbiont circle; what happens to one affects all others, and therefore the path of Right Action (as the Buddha said) must be followed in order to be of benefit to all. In short, the powers they weild through the Force are a means to an end; that end is guarding/restoring peace and justice.

The Sith, on the other hand, view the Force not as a means to connect to others, but as a means of dominating them. They seek power as a means of gaining more power, and they have no trouble harming others to obtain greater power (as Sidious did to Plageius....or as Sidious did to the Republic...or as Anakin/Vader did to the Jedi younglings etc.) This separation is similar to what the Buddha called the "mindset of discrimination", where the interconnectivity of all things is not seen - or ignored - and the "us/them" mentality occurs. The powers of the Force for the Sith are simply tools to gain even more power for themselves.

But what I thought was interesting is how in the OT, the remaining Jedi use Dark Side tools (deception, most notably) and the Sith use Light Side tools (revealing connection) to accomplish their goals.

I'm not going to get into the discussion of the Jedi in terms of a mystery tradition or an initiatory order, and so they withhold knowledge until the student is ready to hear it, but that is also a valid way to look at it, and it's usually how I approach this. However....

Obi-Wan deceives Luke through his "certain point of view" omissions. He starts Luke off on his quest to bring peace to the galaxy by telling him Vader killed his dad (so Luke would fight Vader), and he conveniently forgets that Leia is Luke's sister, using his crush on this strange, beautiful princess to his advantage.

When Luke goes off to fight Vader, Vader drops the bomb on him. "I am your father." He also tries to make a connection with his son: "Join me....with our combined strength we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy." Vader's attempt at connection fails, in my view, because he was still enthralled by the Dark Side, and so it was tainted by the use of power to obtain more power (Luke kills Palpy, Vader takes over). However, I do believe there was a spark of true Jedi compassion-filled connection there. Recall that when the Emperor brought up Luke as Anakin's son and that he must be destroyed, Vader said, "He's just a boy..." Accepting that he did have a son, Anakin stirred within Vader and tried to protect Luke, but being so far in the Dark Side, he eventually gave in to "Vader" and promised, "He will join us or die."

This presents a problem for Luke: He could easily kill Vader if Vader killed his father, but now that he finds out that Vader is his father, matters are complicated. When he accepts the truth, he feels some level of compassion and connection to Anakin. What and why we are never told, only that he can't kill his own father. Obi-Wan then tries to guilt him into doing so by saying, "Then the Emperor has already won." The dualistic mindset of the Jedi - Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny - presented two options: Luke would either kill Vader and Palpatine or he would join them. This is the same teaching, I argue, that kept Anakin from turning back on Mustafar (that and he didn't really hear when Palpy admitted he didn't actually have the power to save Padme); he had been taught that once you fall, that's it. So, he realized he had fallen and believed he had no hope of redemption.

Luke had other plans. Leia was horrified to find out that Vader was Luke's (and her) father, and she did not like his plan of turning himself in to try and save dad. Luke was taught that the Dark Path was forever by Yoda, but somehow, the aged Jedi Master could not make Luke believe it. Luke also must have gotten some of Padme's stubborn determination, because he argued with Vader on the bridge. His arguments weren't like the lectures of Obi-Wan but more like Padme's pleadings. "Come with me." "I feel the conflict within you. Let go of your hate." He implored his father to come away and turn from the darkness just as his mother had done for Anakin thirty years earlier. But Anakin had given up hope; this is most apparent later in the Death Star when he tells Luke, "It is pointless to resist, my son."

The saber duel is really a physical extension of Vader's internal dialogue. Luke continually tries to make the connection with his father, by saying, "I will not fight you, father." He even senses the conflict in Anakin, but Anakin denies this, trying to convince himself that he is not torn between loyalty to his master or his growing love for his son. (Did anyone else notice the hint of pride on the bridge when he said, "Indeed you are powerful." while examining Luke's saber?). Anyway, Vader cannot make the connection while still deep in the Dark Side. He can, however, incite anger in Luke to get him started down his father's path, which he does by making the connection that Luke's sister is alive and perhaps can be turned in Luke's stead.

Ironically, the Emperor also helps father and son connect, when he demanded that Luke fulfill his destiny and "take your father's place at my side." Luke looks down to see his mechanical hand and the mechanical stump of his father's wrist. He sees the connection, not only between father and son but also between anger and destruction. He then throws his lightsaber down and makes one final attempt at connection. "I am a Jedi like my father before me."

This moves Anakin for several reasons:
1. This boy, who has no cause to love me, has shown me compassion by not killing me.
2. This is my son, and he obviously wants to have a connection and a relationship with me even after all I've done to him and the galaxy.
3. He started down the dark path as I have, but he stopped. He turned back....Hey, maybe there is hope for me!

This bit of hope afforded by Luke's compassion is enough to turn back the Dark Side so Anakin can do the right thing and save his son. Here he is using his power to help others, which is the doctrine he verbalized to Palpatine back in the opera house during ROTS. He knew the words, but now the meaning behind them finally sinks in. Anakin makes the connection not only with his son but also with how everything he is and everything he was taught relate to everything else. This time, his connection works, and he is rewarded by becoming one with the Force after selflessly sacrificing himself to save his son.

So that's what I see as the real difference between Jedi and Sith: a philosophical difference in why they use the Force. The Jedi use it to promote unity and bring people together, liberating them from their troubles. They see how all things are interdependent and interrelated, and so they act in such ways as to respect and preserve life. They see poewr as a means to this noble end. The Sith sever themselves from this connection, seeking to dominate all living things. They use the Force to obtain power, and they see power as the end itself.

So Palpatine was right: The Jedi and Sith are not that different ideologically; however, that one ideological difference, when manifested physically, produces drastically different results. The Jedi's "connection" produces compassion that directs them to respect and protect all living things. The Sith's "domination" sets themselves up as being superior to others and produces the belief that they should rule everything - through power and terror if need be.

That's my take.

May the Force be with you.