THE JEDI CODE (The Articles of the Jedi Code and Supplimentary Text Provided by Mark.) I. JEDI ARE THE GUARDIANS OF PEACE IN THE GALAXY. Jedi live their entire lives as the guardians of peace in the galaxy. They take no specific orders from any one body except for the Jedi council. However, the Jedi should follow the demands of the senate unless the council agrees that the senate is wrong.  A Jedi cannot force people to be just and decent. They must allow such qualities to arise from within. If a Jedi forces these qualities on an adversary they will not be learned permanently. However, with patience the Jedi can use his power and knowledge to guide an adversary's actions and thoughts leading him to what is right and good. II. JEDI USE THEIR POWERS TO DEFEND AND PROTECT, NEVER TO ATTACK OTHERS. A Jedi must never use the Force with the intention of attacking and defeating his opponent. The Force is only to be used in defense and protection of the user or of another who is unable to defend him/herself. Also, the phrase "The ends justify the means" does not hold as an excuse for a Jedi to do whatever he wants to succeed. A Jedi should not rationalize a wrong action as good just to be able to do it. A Jedi must keep constant watch on his actions and thoughts for the dark side of the Force is quick, easy, and seductive. Anger, Fear, and Aggression define the dark side of the Force. A Jedi must never use these emotions unless he is calm and at peace and has the utmost control of the emotion. If a Jedi becomes reckless in his actions he endangers himself and others around him. Complete concentration and patience are essential to a Jedi. A Jedi should not try to sway the Force to his own purposes, but rather allow the Force to guide himself. A Jedi's one and only physical weapon should be a lightsaber. As a part of training a Master will show his apprentice how to construct a saber. A student should not construct one on his own without a Master's prior guidance. It is ok for a student to possess an already constructed saber as long as his master has consented and advised him on proper use.  A Jedi should not make the use of his saber his first option in a conflict. He should exhaust all other options with the opponent before making use of his lightsaber. This should be a weapon of defense and protection. But when forced to use it, a Jedi should act quickly and decisively III. JEDI RESPECT ALL LIFE, IN ANY FORM. All life throughout the galaxy is unique in its own way and each being deserves the same amount of respect as any other. Each being of life serves a purpose to the common good of the galaxy. The Force binds all life together. The Force creates life and thus a Jedi should seek to preserve life at any cost. A Jedi should show unconditional love to any lifeform. Jedi also respect the uniqueness of life. The cloning of life is not approved by the Jedi. A Jedi must never clone himself just to create another being like himself. It takes away frmo the precious uniqueness of life and is not ethical. IV. JEDI SERVE OTHERS RATHER THAN RULING OVER THEM, FOR THE GOOD OF THE GALAXY. The Jedi live their lives with a code of honor. Material wealth holds no meaning to a Jedi and though it is ok for a Jedi to possess money, it holds no personal value to him/her. A Jedi only leads people; a Jedi does not rule over people or command them to do anything against their will. A Jedi does not do anything for the glory of it. Winning a battle should not be followed with arrogance by a Jedi. A Jedi cannot take part in any profit-making enterprise. One cannot profit from their protection.  V. JEDI SEEK TO IMPROVE THEMSELVES THROUGH KNOWLEDGE AND TRAINING. The levels in rank for the Jedi are the following: The first step to becoming a Jedi is becoming a Jedi trainee. Children less than a year of age should be tested of their midi-chlorian level first and if over 10,000 they may be trained. Also, a Jedi Master may choose to allow a child to be trained even if the midi-chlorian level is not high enough if the Jedi council approves it.  Once a Jedi trainee, the child will be trained for up to the next twelve years. At any point during those twelve years, an approved Jedi Master may take the trainee as his Padawan learner, which is the second level to becoming a Jedi. A trainee must be chosen to be a Padawan by age 13 or he will not be allowed to be a Jedi knight. The Padawan will follow his Master and learn the rest of his training in the Force from him. A Master may only have one Padawan at a time. The Master will teach the Jedi code to his apprentice and teach him all there is to know about the light side and dark side of the Force. The Padawan phase of becoming a Jedi will only end when two conditions are met. First, the Master must announce that his Padawan is ready to take the trials held by the Jedi council, and second, the Jedi council must approve the Padawan and announce him as a Jedi Knight. Being a Jedi Knight is the fourth phase in the cycle of the Jedi. For many, this will be the final phase. The step up to the final phase, a Jedi Master, is a tough one, but not a mandatory one. Only the greatest and smartest of the Jedi become Masters. The Jedi council will decide and approve any Knight who wishes to become a Master. The key to a Jedi's never-ending cycle is patience. Without patience a Jedi only opens himself up to the dark side more readily. A Jedi is at his strongest when he is calm, at peace, passive, and patient. A Jedi's ability to do something is not all there is. One must know the thing. One must master every facet of every skill. One must understand how it fits in to everything else in the galaxy.  During the life of a Jedi, he/she will find that some talents in the Force come easier than others. Each Jedi has his/her own unique strengths and weaknesses in the Force and the greatest Jedi are ones who can balance the use of their strengths with the control of their weaknesses.  Jedi skills in the Force are rooted in three areas. Control is internal. It is the Jedi's ability to recognize the Force in himself and to use it to his benefit. Sense involves the next step, in which the Jedi recognizes the Force in the universe outside herself. Here she feels the Force and is able to draw upon it for information about the world around her. Through it she is connected to the rest of the universe. Alter is the third and most difficult to master, for it involves the student's ability to modify the force and redistribute its energies. Through these skills, the Jedi can influence the universe, making changes as needed to accomplish its goals.