How do I provide password authentication for an LDAP server in Java?

Ok, so I have most of the shapes, but I can't put them together correctly. I'm basically trying to secure database data with a simple authentication process (using a GUI perhaps) to make sure the right people are viewing the data. I am currently using UnboundID to handle true authentication, although I am open to other methods like JAAS. Here is the method I wrote to do this (the workaround is for testing purposes):

public static boolean authenticate(String username, String password) {
    if (username == null || password == null) {
        return false;
    }

    if (username.equals("bypass") && password.equals("bypass")) {
        return true;
    }

    try {
        LDAPConnection conn = new LDAPConnection(AUTH_URL,AUTH_PORT);
        BindRequest request = new SimpleBindRequest(username,password);
        BindResult result = conn.bind(request);
        return result.getResultCode().equals(ResultCode.SUCCESS);
    } catch (LDAPException ex) {
        ex.printStackTrace();
        return false;
    }
}

      

        
        
        
      

    

This code is clearly dangerous due to the fact that the password is entered as clear text. I did a little bit of tinkering and found that I have to use something like SSL to actually ask for password protection. This raised another question: If I am submitting a request over SSL, shouldn't I somehow need to provide the password in cleartext form before submitting the request? Isn't it dangerous? I'm surprised that password authentication is not done with a simple API, as many applications need to be secure. I am very new to this business and would appreciate some guidance. Thank!