Funny how books can be timely. I ordered The Dharma of Star Wars and The Tao of Star Wars a few weeks ago. I was interested in reading about the Dharma perspective when applied to Star Wars. Dharma is a Buddhist doctrine or the teachings of Buddha. The author of The Dharma of Star Wars is Matthew Bortolin, who does a wonderful job providing you with the high-level understanding of Buddha and his teachings and how they can be applied to the Star Wars saga.
The Dark Side Within
I’ve only read the first chapter of Dharma, but finally read the second chapter last night when I was in the hot tub. The chapter I read is titled “The Dark Side Within.” The title page has quotes from Empire Strikes Back when Yoda and Luke are in the forest as Luke feels the dark side.
“There’s something not right here. I feel cold, death.” says Luke. “That place…is strong with the dark side of the Force. A domain of evil it is. In you must go.” says Yoda.
This is the scene where Luke goes into the evil place, sees Darth Vader, then aggressively strikes Darth Vader down with his light saber only to find that the face behind Darth Vader’s mask is his own. I never got this scene. I never knew why Luke failed (according to Yoda) until now, but first I had to learn about suffering…you know the “fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.”
Suffering 101
There are several forms of suffering. The first is ordinary suffering or pain. The second is associated with change. Because life is always changing, we constantly are gaining and losing things that bring us happiness. The loss of happiness is an example of suffering in the second form. The third form of suffering can be described as frustration. We’ve all experienced it. We are forced into a situation we don’t like or can’t do what we would like to do, so we become frustrated. Anakin is a good example because he feels smothered by Obi-Wan in Attack of the Clones. He’s frustrated that he’s not able to do what he wants to do and can’t control the events in his life.
Be Mindful…or We Act in Unskilled, Even Destructive Ways
According to Bortolin, when we are not mindful and fully aware of frustration, we often act in ways that are unskillful and destructive at times. Anakin’s the perfect example as his frustration leads to a “relentless quest to control not only events immediate to him but also the galaxy itself. Ultimately, producing Darth Vader.”
The Dark Side of the Force
The dark side represents another form of energy that he regards as another form of suffering. The dark side manifests anger, fear, aggression, and hatred. In following Yoda’s teachings, “attachment to fear, anger, and hate is suffering; and fear, anger, and hate do not arise one from the other, but from confusion within our own mind. When we are attached to the dark side we suffer, and those around us suffer as well.” What a great summary of the dark side.
Suffering 501
Anakin ultimately acts out his anger by murdering the Tusken Raiders that killed his mother. He is not freed of suffering by killing, but it only intensifies it. He failed to be mindful of his sorrow and anger, repressing it instead thus leading to his path down to the dark side. According to Bortolin, we don’t get rid of suffering by acting out in anger. “We must understand it in order to transform form suffering. It is not the enemy or something to run from. It’s an aspect of ourselves that we can come to appreciates if we have patience, courage, and compassion.”
Listen to Qui-Gon: Be Mindful
We must recognize suffering, following Qui-Gon’s advice and being mindful of our daily life, being aware of suffering as it manifests. Recognition of our state of mind mitigates our suffering and leads to the second step of transformation–acceptance. We have to accept the presence of frustration before we can transform it. By accepting frustration, we look deeply into it, helping us achieve the third step: transformation. Investigate the frustration to understand the conditions and causes that have contributed to it. Unlike Anakin, we can save ourselves from regrettable actions by looking into ourselves.
Insight is the final step toward transformation. Recognizing, accepting, and looking deeply at suffering isn’t easy. We turn on the TV, watch movies, anything diversions to help us forget, but not bringing freedom from suffering necessary for happiness. Suffering has no external cause but is the product of our own ignorance and attachments. “We think “if only” the world would conform to our ideals we could be happy.”
Luke’s Failing on Degobah
So why did Luke fail? Yoda knows that if “Luke can confront the suffering within him with compassion and understanding he will do much to overcome whatever hold the dark side has on him. But Luke makes the same mistake many of us make in our lives: he mistakenly believes his suffering originates from a source outside himself.” In this case, Luke saw Darth Vader, then struck him down with his light saber…failing to recognize that the source of his suffering is not Darth Vader, but himself.
Who knew?! That’s why I wanted to read The Dharma of Star Wars and The Tao of Star Wars. I knew there were things I couldn’t quite understand from a Buddhist or Taoist perspective. It’s a great way for me to learn more about these teachings in a familiar setting. Nothing like having a Dark Side to understand to transform.
