Spiritual lessons from Star Wars

Star Wars is one of my favorite movie series. I am a big fan of the light saber fights, the space travels, the space-shootings and the weird languages that some of the creatures use. There was no chance that I was to miss the new one in the series - Star Wars: The Force Awakens. But before I went to see this one, I thought of revisiting the older episodes first. But this time, watching the movies was a different experience. The movies were the same, the experience… different.

With my new-found love for meditation, and my old love for spirituality flourishing all the time, I watched all the episodes from a - for the lack of a better word- spiritual angle. I realised that even though all of this happened “in a galaxy far far away”, this series gives us all some very important spiritual lessons.

So below are the lessons that I believe George Lucas has tried to convey through this epic series. There are many others as well, but these are the ones that I think are worth mentioning here.

1. The Present Moment

You gotta love Qui-Gon. Here’s a conversation that takes place at the very start in The Phantom Menace -

Obi-Wan Kenobi: I have a bad feeling about this.

Qui-Gon Jinn: I don't sense anything.

Kenobi: It's not about the mission, Master. It's something... elsewhere. Elusive.

Qui-Gon: Don't center on your anxieties, Obi-Wan. Keep your concentration here and now, where it belongs.

Kenobi: But Master Yoda says I should be mindful of the future.

Qui-Gon: But not at the expense of the moment. Be mindful of the living Force, young Padawan.

This is a classic lesson of wisdom from Qui-Gon. Our mind always has the habit of venturing into the future, and thinking of all the possible conclusions that can come out of the present situation. Sometimes, the mind tends to explore the positive outputs, while during the other times, the mind starts thinking about the possible sad endings to the story. In this case, Obi-Wan is letting off his mind wander into the future.

It is funny that this type of “thinking” hardly leads to any fruitful outcome. Most of the scenarios that your mind architects never come true. However, the present moment is royally screwed when you have been trying to predict the future. A wandering mind, is an unhappy mind.

The bottomline - It is necessary, absolutely necessary to train your mind to live in the present moment. That is the ultimate bliss, and a true path to well being.

2. The discomfort of the unknown

Remember that scene when Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon are going travelling through a submarine(or whatever you call it) to rescue Queen Amidala?

Jar Jar Binks: Where wesa goin?

Qui-Gon Jinn: Don't worry. The Force will guide us.

Jar Jar’s mild uneasiness very aptly demonstrates the “anxious” nature of the human mind. The mind is scared of the “unknown”. The “known” is good, it is comforting. But the “unknown” is uncomfortable. The mind wants to know the answers all the time. It needs a plan. Without a plan, without the final output in mind, the mind becomes extremely impatient and distressed.

Qui-Gon’s reply here, is again so frigging full of wisdom. Even Qui-Gon doesn't know the exact path yet, but he is at peace with that. He is okay with not knowing it, because he believes that “The Force” will eventually lead them to the right place.

We live in an age, where the parents of a 6th standard kid start making plans sending the poor guy to IIT after his 12th standard. We are always expected to have a plan. Absence of a plan has become an equivalent to getting screwed. But it is a well known fact that the future can’t be controlled. Your plan can be the best in the world, but it just doesn't guarantee the success of it.

It has become imperative for all of us be ok with ‘not knowing’, being at peace with not having a plan. You don’t have to know the answer right now, it will come to you! Get comfortable with the uncomfortable, do not let the mind get better of you with its constant bickering!

3. Change is constant

Next scene -

Anakin wins the race, and is set to leave Tatooine along-with Qui-Gon, and the others. However, he realises that his mother can't accompany them. This is the conversation that takes place -

Anakin Skywalker: “You are coming with us, aren't you Mom?

Shmi Skywalker: Son, my place is here, my future is here. It is time for you to let go.

Anakin: “I don’t want things to change.”

Shmi: “But you can’t stop the change..anymore than you can stop the suns from setting.”

This brings me to the concept of “Impermanence”. Gautam Buddha has stressed on “Anicca” in his teachings which is basically a Pali word for “Impermanence”. Nothing is permanent. But our mind hates change. Change is uncomfortable; it is out of our comfort zone. The mind wants to cling to what is, and avert the change. This quality of our mind is a key cause of our suffering.

Nothing is permanent. It can be difficult to accept this truth, but when you do it is very liberating because the mind ceases getting attached to thoughts, emotions, materialism, people etc.The sooner we accept this truth the less we suffer.

4. Attachment

The next point I want to touch on is “Attachment”, for which I will be taking 2 instances in the film where Anakin is suffering due to his attachment with people close to him.

The first instance is from The Phantom Menace, where Anakin admits in front of the Jedi council that he is missing his mother. Yoda’s wisdom goes to a new level here *drumroll please*

Yoda to Anakin, “Afraid to lose her(Shmi Skywalker), I think?”

Anakin, ”What has that got to do with anything?”

Yoda, “Everything. Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”

I am not going to insert any take-away. This was pretty self-explanatory.

The second instance is from the ‘Revenge of the Sith’, where Anakin decides to have a word with Master Yoda regarding his visions about Padme’s death.

Master Yoda - “Careful you must be when sensing the future, Anakin. The fear of loss is a path to the dark side.”

Anakin Skywalker - “I won’t let these visions come true Master Yoda.”

Yoda - “Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not. Attachment leads to jealously. The shadow of greed, that is.”

Anakin - “What must I do master?”

Yoda - “Train yourself to let go..of everything you fear to lose.”

There is no denying that most of the violence that takes place globally is a direct result of the attachment that our mind has towards people, religion, race, etc. Attachment is something which comes very naturally to our mind. It can lead to fear, jealousy. It can make us do crazy things. Ultimately, it was this attachment which brought down Anakin Skywalker’s downfall.

What do we do? Like Yoda says, it is essential to train our mind to be mindful of our attachment and train it to let it go of attachment. Not only is this liberating for your own self, but also ultimately contributes in making this world a better place!

5. Compassion

So if attachment is a no-no, what is the answer? The answer is compassion.

Taking you to a scene from “Attack of the Clones.”

Padmé:  "Must be difficult having sworn your life to the Jedi.  Not being able to visit the places you like, or do the things you like..."

Anakin: "Or be with the people that I love?"

Padmé: "Are you allowed to love?  I thought that was forbidden for a Jedi."

Anakin: "Attachment is... forbidden.  Possession is forbidden.  Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is central to a Jedi's life... so, you might say, we are encouraged to love."

So yes, although Anakin is being extremely cocky here, the key takeaway from this exchange is that the Jedi are encouraged to practise compassion and so should we. It is high time that the world stops thriving on the hatred, and compassion becomes central to our lives.

6. Un-learning

When Luke sees that his X-Wing is about to sink -

Luke Skywalker: Oh, no! We'll never get it out now!

Yoda: So certain, are you? Always with you, what cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say?

Luke: Master, moving stones around is one thing, but this is... totally different!

Yoda: No! No different! Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned.

In many philosophies they say that the real job of a Master is to ensure that the disciple loses the things that he/she is NOT!

We have been conditioned right from the moment we were born. Our families, friends, and the society in general have shaped us to become who we are right now. Yes, we value knowledge, but the knowledge we have also limits us. It restricts us from seeing beyond an already set horizon. It hampers our growth. In order to expand our boundaries, we need to forget what we have been taught. We need to un-learn what we have learnt in order to grow as a person.

7. Meditation

The last point that I wanted to touch on was meditation. It is pretty evident from the movies that the Jedi are meditators. In the “Attack of the Clones”, when Master Yoda is puzzled by a situation, this is what he says -

“Meditate on this, I will.” - Master Yoda

Now, I am not going to rant on the importance and benefits of meditation; Google has more than enough articles on that already. The key point that needs to be noted here is that even though it is perfectly natural to feel lost, confused and puzzled, one can come out of this confusion through meditation.

Meditation helps us to clear the mind from the unnecessary garbage thoughts, it allows us to be more attuned to yourself and thus eventually allows us to see things clearly. Meditation gives us the answers.

8. The Force

Lastly, before wrapping it up, I want to talk about The Force.

The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It is a power which is tapped through midi-chlorians,  which are intelligent microscopic life forms that lived symbiotically inside the cells of all living things.

While there can be many interpretations of “The Force”, for me, being aware of The Force, is equivalent to being attuned to yourself. The truth of The Force is the same truth that spiritual leaders, and mystics have tried to tell us. It is the truth which states that we have a false sense of identity, a false ego that we keep carrying and end up living a delusional life. Being attuned with the Force, is being attuned to nature, being one with the whole.

May the Force be With you, they say? I think, the force is already with you. In fact, you are the Force. You just have to quieten your mind to be one with it :)