Are there two sides to people?
Something good, something bad?
Light, dark?
In the original Star Wars trilogy the force is used as a way to describe a general spirituality,
something akin to our own universe; billions of people rallying around something invisible,
something internally experienced, believed to be part of life.
The force is not just sci-fi hokum, it resonates with people, allowing them at least a playful
version of spirituality to think on, but is there anything more to the force?
And can we learn anything about life from the way the force intertwines with the characters
in the events of Star Wars?
Let’s start with what the force is.
“The force is what gives a Jedi his power.
It’s an energy field created by all living things.
It surrounds us and penetrates us.
It binds the galaxy together.”
“Life creates it, makes it grow.
Its energy surrounds us and binds us.
Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter.
You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere,
yes.”
According to George Lucas, the force was a way of awakening a certain kind of spirituality
in those who went to see the movie.
a combination of all world religions, a way of speaking about certain religious concepts
like: the existence of God and the nature of good and evil.
The force can be viewed as a stand in for the concept of God, George used the word “force”
because of what cinematographer Roman Kroitor said in the short film, 21-87
“Many people feel that in the contemplation of nature and in communication with other
living things, they become aware of some kind of force, or something, behind this apparent
mask which we see in front of us, and they call it God."
The force has a way
and a counter to that way: there’s the light side, which is the path for a Jedi, a path
of selflessness.
But also the dark side which is a path of selfishness.
The balance of the force takes place within a person when they are neither too selfish
nor too selfless.
This echoes a Hebrew proverb written by King Solomon, “So don’t be too good or too
wise!
Why destroy yourself?
On the other hand, don’t be too wicked either.
Don’t be a fool!
Why die before your time?”
But if one were to actually follow the way of the force they would find that they would
avoid the extremes of both the light side and the dark, as is echoed in the conclusion
to the proverb, “Pay attention to these instructions, for anyone who fears God will
avoid both extremes.”
The balance of the force also echos the middle way in buddhism which advocates avoiding the
extremes in life as well.
The path of the light side is exemplified by Luke and the path of the dark side by Darth
Vader, Luke’s father.
The original Star Wars trilogy deals with the relationship between father and son.
Lucas studied Joseph Campbell’s work on what is referred to as the monomyth, a look
at the common themes and motifs running through histories’ different mythologies that descend
from man’s own experiences, as a reference point to discuss the psychological dilemmas
of people throughout history and the potential solutions
to those dilemmas.
Star Wars is a museum piece for the psychology of our ancestors focusing, primarily, on our
relationship to the generations that came before us and the influence they have on our
own lives.
Lucas attended college and began his first forays into filmmaking during the counterculture
revolution of the sixties which was a rebellion against the corrupt authoritarian structures
that presided over America at the time.
This mirrors the Greek myth of the Olympians, the young generation of gods led by Zeus,
battling the older generation of gods, the Titans led by the evil tyrant Cronus, for
who would have dominion over the universe.
History repeating itself, the strength of the monomyth being played out.
In the Star Wars saga the Empire represents the evil tyranny of an older generation led
by the emperor and his apprentice Darth Vader and the rebellion represents the idealistic,
righteous fortitude of the younger generation with Luke eventually joining and becoming
one of its leading forces.
While the galaxy is fighting to see who will come out on top, the evil empire or the noble
rebellion, Luke’s own journey is unfolding, a journey to becoming a Jedi like his father
was.
In the beginning of Star Wars, Luke has no discernable beliefs and is essentially wasting
his physical and spiritual existence on frivolity and dreams.
Then Luke is introduced to the force by Obi Wan Kenobi and later taught by the Jedi master,
Yoda.
All of his training and experiences culminates into him becoming a powerful Jedi who is able
to harness the light side of the force.
Vader’s journey starts out much like Luke’s, but instead of finding spiritual enlightenment,
we find spiritual death; a descent into the dark side of the force.
He abandons the goodness of the light side of the force for the selfishness and lust
for power that makes up the dark side.
In other words he sells his soul and his humanity for what the dark side of the force has to
offer.
His body metamorphosizes into something mechanical, and the darkness completely surrounds him,
like his black suit; lost and cut off from experiencing the light in the universe both
physically and spiritually.
Vader’s fall parallels the story of Faust who sells his soul to the demon Mephistopheles
for the pleasures of the world.
Faust, after attaining some pleasure, ends up getting taken to hell.
Vader’s hell is his utter loss of humanity and isolation, via the suit and what his choices
have brought him.
The main conflict in the original Star Wars trilogy is can Luke overcome the struggles
and temptations that his father went through to join the dark side and become a Jedi or
will he fall into the same traps and essentially become a mirror of his father following in
his footsteps and inheriting his curses.
A common theme in religion is wickedness leads to hell or a state of suffering, righteousness
leads to heaven or a state of bliss; buddhists would articulate this sentiment as oneness
with the universe leads to nirvana which is a state where people are free from a sense
of self that binds them to the world and the suffering therein.
Samsara, on the other hand is a state of mental suffering by which people are bound to this
world and are stuck in a cycle of reincarnation until they can reach enlightenment and, thus,
escape the world and therefore the suffering.
The light side of the force can be seen as a parallel to nirvana and samsara can be regarded
as a parallel to the dark side.
The light side is about selflessness which is derived from a lack of ego or a passiveness
and adherence to the force.
The Jedi at one with the force lets the force move through them, unimpeded, letting go of
thoughts that could interfere with the truth stemming from the force and what the force
can do through them.
A Jedi is disciplined, level headed, at peace, compassionate, merciful, loving and faithful
to what is true despite what they see.
The dark side is about selfishness which is derived from greed and wantonness.
Once one starts down the path to the dark side, or the life of want and desire, they
are always wanting more causing them to do heinous acts in order to obtain pleasure and
possessions.
This pleasure leads to a fear of others taking away what they have possessed which puts them
in a state of mind where they are lashing out at others before they can be hurt themselves
using anger, hatred and murder as methods to procure and maintain power over others.
“Yes, a Jedi’s strength flows from the Force.
But beware of the dark side.
Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they.
Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight.
If once you start down the dark, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will,
as it did Obi-Wan’s apprentice.”
“Vader”
Luke’s path to becoming a Jedi and learning the ways of the force parallels the path to
spiritual enlightenment that takes place in Buddhism away from attachment and Samsara
and into Nirvana, aka, oneness with the universe or more specifically the eightfold path as
laid down by Buddha.
The eightfold path consists of right view, right thought, right speech, right conduct,
right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration.
In looking at Luke’s journey through the lens of these paths we can examine where he
starts out in the first Star Wars and the Empire Strikes Back and see how he changes
into an enlightened Jedi by the end of Return of the Jedi.
Luke starts out in both a literally and spiritually arid place, a farm boy on a desert planet
living to hang out with his friends, work for his uncle and dream about a brighter future.
At this point Luke is faithless and ignorant on matters of the force until he happens upon
Obi Wan who introduces him to the force and entices him to learn its ways.
Right view means that one is perceiving the true nature of reality without illusion or
pretense.
Obi Wan teaches Luke to reach out with his feelings and let the force flow through him
or in other words to view life through what the force informs him is real and not with
his own senses.
Right thinking also implies right attitude, simply meaning that one must align themselves
with the truth about reality in order to think and feel correctly.
Luke in his attachment to his aunt and uncle feels hopeless about his future and fear about
leaving them.
He then loses this attachment when they die.
In the Empire Strikes Back Luke’s attachment to his friends causes him to fear their death
and abandon his training to save them and recklessly take on Vader despite warnings
that he is not efficient enough in the ways of the force and, so, due to his negative
thoughts and feelings stemming from his attachment to his friends he almost dies.
Right speech means that one is practicing clear, truthful and non harmful speech.
Luke starts out in a negative state of mind which follows with a negative way
of speaking.
Right conduct means one is living peacefully and in harmony with others.
At the beginning of Luke’s journey he is at odds with his uncle and aunt, then Han
and in Empire Yoda and Vader.
The last one may seem like a reasonable exception, Vader is evil and murderous, but right conduct
implies living in harmony with everyone regardless if they are your enemy or not.
This sentiment by Buddha is echoed by a similar sentiment from Jesus, “Love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat
you.”
But instead of embracing this precept, Luke faces Vader in combat.
Right livelihood has to do with the non exploitation of others.
In the first Star Wars Luke convinces Han that he should rescue Leah for a reward, exploiting
his need for money in order to save her.
Right effort is when one gains control over their thoughts by trading mindsets based in
Samsara with mindsets based out of Nirvana.
In Luke’s case Yoda teaches him that he should give up what he had learned in life
before learning the ways of the force and let the force flow through him so he can utilize
its power.
“You must unlearn what you have learned” Luke considers the feat of pulling his ship
out of the swamp on Dagobah to be “impossible”, but Yoda reminds him that the force has no
bounds and size does not matter.
Luke in his perception of what is impossible renders himself and the power of the force
as useless.
Right mindfulness has to do with developing an awareness of ourselves, our thoughts and
feelings, other people, things and reality itself and right concentration is when one
is utterly focused and immersed in the right ways of the paths, practicing and meditating
on the statutes that stem from nirvana.
Where Luke was focusing on negative emotions and thoughts from the beginning of the series
and resisting the ways of the force he has grown considerably at the start of Return
of the Jedi.
To start Luke selflessly rescues Han at his own peril letting the force flow through him
and utilizing it with skill and ease.
He is only able to do this by having his view on reality be in line with the force.After
he visits Yoda who tells him that he must confront Vader in order to become a Jedi he
joins up with a rebel team that includes Han and Leia to take down a shield generator for
the new death star on Endor.
When Luke senses that he might be endangering the mission by
coming along he is apprehensive, he does not wish to exploit others in order to get close
to Vader.
On Endor Luke turns himself over to vader in order to convince his father to give into
the good that is still in him.
From here on Luke is tested to see if he can withstand the temptations of turning to the
dark side and following in his father’s footsteps.
Up until this point Luke has demonstrated that he is at harmony and at peace with his
friends and the force, but as he is tested cracks in his demeanor start to appear.
The Emperor and his father tempt him to the dark side through using the attachments that
he still has to the world to spur on fear, anger, hatred and promises of power and possession.
First he lashes out in hatred and anger at the Emperor for his plan to end the rebellion.
Second he begins to battle Vader out of anger until he stops himself.
Then after he refuses to fight for a moment, Vader uses Luke’s attachment to Leia, Luke’s
sister, threatening that if he doesn’t join the dark side then maybe she will.
Following this threat Luke strikes out at Vader in a fit of rage and chops off his hand.
This leads the audience to the climax of Luke’s entire arc as a character, he sees his mechanical
hand that was given to him after it was lopped off by his father and realizes that he is
heading down the same path as him.
He throws away his lightsaber and states that he will never join the dark side.
Here we see the culmination and fruition of the right paths that Luke was tested on.
He gives up the cause of his anger, which was rooted in his attachment to his sister,
and even permits his own death by throwing away his method of defense; he is free to
die and free from attachment to this world and is, therefore, truly enlightened or, in
the case of the movies, at one with the light side of the force.
Two paths in Star Wars.
Dark or Light, bad or good, empire or rebellion.
The big, bad empire spans across the galaxy in Star Wars just like the corrupt governments
and soulless corporations that spread their influence across our world, tyrannically ruling
and imposing their special interests on everyone regardless of the way it negatively affects
people.
We live in a world ruled over by the equivalent of a dark force that manifests when people
desire power over their own lives and the lives of others which makes them turn into
soulless machinations of who they were, like Vader.
We can spend our lives on the farm under the dominion of the empire, living a dull, monotonous
life as nothing more than a drone to work and dream about what could be better
“All his life as he looked away… to the future, to the horizon.
Never his mind on where he was.
Hmm?
What he was doing.
Hmph.
Adventure.
Heh.
Excitement.
Heh.
A Jedi craves not these things.
You are reckless.”
or we can start our own spiritual journey towards enlightenment, overcoming the negative
influences of our family lineage and becoming a person at peace and one with the universe
who is an ambassador for good, an upholder of faith for what is true and a promoter of
compassion, love and mercy.