My point is that those saying a Jedi’s powers come from achieving a certain state of mind (with which I agree) have to accept that Rey has achieved at least enough “zen” to become as powerful as any Jedi to come before her, all in about a week.
Probably doesn’t matter to the overall point but do we actually have something in the movie that indicates it’s been such a short period of time?
Fair question, but I wouldn’t feel any better about it if it were a month or two.
My point is that those saying a Jedi’s powers come from achieving a certain state of mind (with which I agree) have to accept that Rey has achieved at least enough “zen” to become as powerful as any Jedi to come before her, all in about a week. She may not be enlightened yet, but she’s apparently achieved enough focus and determination in a few days that her powers are only lacking in comparison to previous Jedi by mere degrees; a bit of finesse is all that truly separates her from the greats who came before.
To be clear I’m not saying that. What I’m saying is a Jedi’s powers are not what defines their mastery, or at least in in my opinion shouldn’t be. (To make a literal comparison, Anakin is implied to be possibly the most powerful Jedi in the order during ROTS, but he is not granted the rank of master.)
Whatever power in the force Rey has demonstrated is far less important to her status as a strong Jedi than factors like wisdom, knowledge, and discipline. Despite the raw strength she’s exhibited, her technique is never anything but messy. Her hard work and determination lets her be especially in tune with the force, but she doesn’t have the command of it yet that a Jedi would. She may have the spirit of a true Jedi, but she (again) is not a Jedi yet. She’s got some growing to do.
All of this is beside the fact that anyone who says TLJ makes Rey out to be the “best and most powerfulest Jedi ever” is completely ignoring the fact that the film goes out of its way to give the most impressive and impactful bit of force usage in the entire series to not Rey, but Luke… and then goes on to imply that he will live on as potentially the most legendary and inspirational Jedi ever. But Rey lifted some rocks though so they’re forcing her seem like she’s the bestest.
I think when people talk about her being the most powerful Jedi ever, they don’t mean Rey is literally Luke’s superior at this point in time, but that she’s progressed much farther much faster than anyone before her, and given the pace at which she’s improving, it wouldn’t take much longer for her to surpass previous Jedi. It’s about the calendar time she’s taking to achieve her powers, not a direct power-to-power comparison.
My interpretation of a Jedi’s powers has always been that they grow as they approach mastery, and that mastery is attained based on the effort they put into both physical training and meditation. Regardless of one’s innate Force sensitivity, practicing mindfulness over some meaningful period of time was the key not just to their emotional growth, but physical capabilities and tricks like mind-reading.
If meditation is a requirement for building one’s power, as I believe it is, then Rey’s rapid advancement doesn’t make sense given her lack of meaningful time for meditation and can only be explained through plot devices like psychic ability transference, which frankly sounds like nonsense to me. You mention her hard work and determination letting her be in tune with the Force; what and why, exactly? The things she did to survive on Jakku? No doubt she worked hard, but I don’t see how a good work ethic on its own, primarily put into practice by salvaging parts, translates into a connection to the Force that allows her to hold her own against much more experienced students of the Force.
I think it’s entirely likely Abrams wanted people swinging lightsabers at each other in TFA, and since his cliffhanger ending rested upon Luke being a no-show until the final scene, Kylo needed an opponent who could at least hold their own. Enter Rey with her microwave dinner Force powers and the touched upon, but never explained, potentially Force-sensitive Finn.