Eastern Philosophies As Apply to The Empire Strikes Back

•Certain Buddhist meditations necessitate clearing one's mind of all distractions from the temporal world.  Luke Skywalker reflects Star Wars creator George Lucas' interest in Eastern philosophies in some of his meditation exercises while training under Jedi Master Yoda on Dagobah.  "Clear your mind of question," Yoda tells Luke.

•"A Jedi uses the force for knowledge and defense, never for attack," Yoda instructs Luke.  The pacifist nature of Yoda's attitude towards the Jedi way of life plays a major role in The Empire Strikes.

•The Force plays a major role in all Star Wars Films, although its pseudo-scientific explanation in Episode I: The Phantom Menace removes much of the philosophical mystique that makes the original trilogy all the more gripping.  In The Empire Strikes Back, the Force correlates greatly to Eastern philosophies common to Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism.

•"The concept of the Eternal Soul deals with the soul as an immense power being by itself.  When one taps or channels the Eternal Soul through prayer or similar meditation, its power greatly resembles that of the Force."  Luke channels that type of power enough to grasp his light saber from out of the ice in the Wampa's cave.  Without honing his ability to focus and tap the omnipotent Force, Luke would not have survived.  Luke's focus falters considerably when concerns of Han and Leia's safety plague him on Dagobah, thus contributing to his temporary failure to use the Force and his hiatus from Jedi training (Doshi).

•Seeing "the soul as a piece of God" as in these Eastern philosophies, Luke must perfect his own soul in his Jedi training (Doshi).

•Yoda also makes reference to an outlook on the Force similar to the West African philosophy of Animism that one might encounter in Nigeria, Togo, Benin, or surrounding regions.  Animism's philosophy includes the notion of an all-encompassing spirit in which every object, living or inanimate, shares (Fieser).  At one point in his instruction to Luke of the ways of a Jedi Knight, Yoda states "for my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is; its energy surrounds us, binds us."  When Luke claims that his X-Wing is too big to levitate out of the swamp on Dagobah, Yoda inquires "Size matters not;  [do you] judge me by my size?"  By the same token, the Force, from Yoda's perspective, matters universally without exceptions.  Yoda firmly controls the Force and utilizes it benevolently as a Jedi, whereas Luke follows his ego and abandons his opportunity to master the Force sufficiently to channel its power against Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, and the Dark Side of the Force (Campbell).

•Ultimately, Lucas' inclusion of Eastern philosophies in The Empire Strikes Back reinforces the significance of the concept of the Force to the entire Star Wars saga.  Viewers learn more about key concepts in faiths and ideologies outside the Western realm as Luke, Yoda, and even such less philosophical characters as Han Solo and C-3PO encounter predicaments in ways reflective of their attitudes towards life.  Thus, drawing upon Joseph Campbell's incorporation of a global variety of philosophies into the hero cycle that embroils Luke in The Empire Strikes Back, George Lucas delivers a film that enlightens viewers to the characters' struggles and the plot's deeper meaning through the inclusion of Eastern philosophies.    

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