Star Wars and Philosophy (Popular Culture and Philosophy Series) - Kevin Decker [19]
Anakin thus suffers repulsion toward his own perceived weakness. Out of repulsion are generated fear, anger, hate, violence, and other such emotions. In The Empire Strikes Back, Vader prompts Luke to use his hate. And in Return of the Jedi, the Emperor goads “Use your aggressive feelings, boy. Let the hate flow through you.” Acting out of such emotions leads to the Dark Side. Luke knows this and so encourages his father to “let go of your hate,” as doing so will lead Anakin back to the good that Luke has faith must still exist in him.
Both attraction and repulsion are rooted in ignorance, which is the illusion of being an isolated individual ego. Buddhism teaches that there is no inherently substantial self. Everything is impermanent. All is in process, with everything changing, always flowing. Nothing is in isolation from the whole of this ever changing process. Existence is not made of parts, but is a relative process of interdependence. As Obi-Wan says, “The Force binds the galaxy together.” And it’s interesting to note that the one hero character who explicitly professes to not believe in the Force is named Han “Solo,” derived from the Latin for “alone.”
The ignorance of egotism produces the negative karma of suffering. When one is constricted by one’s ego, the emotions characteristic of the Dark Side are generated. In The Phantom Menace Yoda warns Anakin, “Fear is the path to the Dark Side . . . Fear leads to anger . . . anger leads to hate . . . hate leads to suffering.” Fear is the clinging of ego, of not realizing the oneness of life. Anger and hate follow. Sakyamuni Buddha said that he taught one thing and one thing only, how to be free from suffering. This freedom is the letting go of clinging to the ego. With this letting go, negative emotions dissolve into nothingness.
When Yoda teaches Luke to know by way of being calm, at peace, passive, this is the teaching of Tao. In Taoism, and in the Tao of Zen, there is the practice of letting go and emptying. Lao-tzu writes in the Tao Te Ching, the core text of Taoism, that the Tao is to unlearn and to undo. Yoda says to Luke, “You must unlearn what you have learned!” In Chinese this directive is called “Wu Wei,” which literally means “no action”; but a better translation would be effortless action or ego-less spontaneity. When Yoda says to be passive, he does not intend for Luke to become inactive, for the Force is ever in motion, like water flowing in a river—passively in action without effort.
In the Japanese martial art of Aikido, effortless action is of the essence. The name “Aikido” means the way (do) of harmonizing or unifying (ai) the ch’i (ki). In order to use the ki, one must let go of effort. In the prequel trilogy one Jedi Master is named “Ki-Adi-Mundi,” which seems to be inspired by the name “Aikido.” When Obi-Wan begins to teach Luke the Way of the Force, he says, “A Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him.” When Luke asks if “it controls your actions,” Obi-Wan answers: “Partially, but it also obeys your commands.” This is an important teaching in all of the ch’i/ki-oriented martial arts and what differentiates them from gross fighting techniques.
“Great Warrior? Wars Not Make One Great”
Buddhist monks traveling throughout China, Korea, and Japan shared their martial arts with worthy students. About a half-century after the founding of Shaolin Kung-fu, the king of Silla on the Korean peninsula invited Buddhist warrior monks to begin training an elite order of warriors to be known as Hwa Rang. This order was to serve the kingdom, uphold justice, and