77711800 Peace Knights of the Soul Wisdom in Star Wars 1 2012

PEACE KNIGHTS

SOUL

WISDOM IN ‘STAR WARS’

JON SNODGRASS, PH.D.

of the

ISBN: 0-9755214-7-0ISBN: 0-9755214-7-0ISBN: 0-9755214-7-0ISBN: 0-9755214-7-0ISBN: 0-9755214-7-0

Peace Knights of the Soul:Wisdom in ‘Star Wars’

COPYRIGHT©Jon Snodgrass, Ph.D. On Becoming a Jedi Knight: Spiritual Wis-dom in ‘Star Wars,’ Library of Congress, TXu 726678, May 19,1999. Revised, Peace Knights of the Soul: Wisdom and Myth inScience Fiction Film, TXu 1-068-222, September 26, 2001. Re-vised, Peace Knights of the Soul; Wisdom in ‘Star Wars,” TX 6-351-252, March 17, 2006. Edition: 1-2012.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproducedin any form or by electronic or mechanical means, includinginformation storage and retrieval systems, without permissionin writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who mayquote brief passages in a review.

Cover Design: Jon SnodgrassCover Created: Chad LillyBook Design: Jon SnodgrassText Type Style: Goudy (11 pt)Headings: Lucida San Unicode (13 pt)Quotes: Monotype Corsiva (13 pt)

Revised and Redesigned 2012: Pages are tinted yellow to sug-gest parchment and lightly adorned in royal colors—blue, goldand purple. Font type is Goudy Old Style hinting at medievalscript and quotes are Monotype Cursiva, penmanship of ascribe. The book opens from the dark colors of the cover tothe lighter colors of the inner pages, symbolizing the processof becoming a Peace Knight.

DDDDDEDICATEDEDICATEDEDICATEDEDICATEDEDICATED TOTOTOTOTO

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Dedication .................................................... 3 Foreword by Jonathan Young ....................... 9 Preface ........................................................ 13 Acknowledgments ....................................... 14

PPPPPARTARTARTARTART I: O I: O I: O I: O I: ORIENTATIONRIENTATIONRIENTATIONRIENTATIONRIENTATION OOOOOVERVIEWVERVIEWVERVIEWVERVIEWVERVIEW ANDANDANDANDAND P P P P PROCESSROCESSROCESSROCESSROCESS

Principles ................................................... 15 Purpose ...................................................... 20 Consciousness ............................................ 23

S S S S STORYTORYTORYTORYTORY ANDANDANDANDAND H H H H HISTORYISTORYISTORYISTORYISTORY History ...................................................... 27 Story .......................................................... 32 Allegory ..................................................... 34 Critique ..................................................... 37

PPPPPARTARTARTARTART II: B II: B II: B II: B II: BASICASICASICASICASIC T T T T TRAININGRAININGRAININGRAININGRAINING NNNNNOVICEOVICEOVICEOVICEOVICE ANDANDANDANDAND M M M M MENTORENTORENTORENTORENTOR

Mentor Seeking .......................................... 43 Lesson One: Willingness ............................ 48 Beyond Willingness .................................... 51

AAAAAPPRENTICEPPRENTICEPPRENTICEPPRENTICEPPRENTICE ANDANDANDANDAND M M M M MENTORENTORENTORENTORENTOR Mentor Fighting ......................................... 55 Lesson Two: Patience ................................. 59 Mentor Being ............................................. 63

DDDDDISCIPLEISCIPLEISCIPLEISCIPLEISCIPLE ANDANDANDANDAND M M M M MASTERASTERASTERASTERASTER

Lesson Three: Phantom Enemy ................ 67 Retreat from Peace .................................... 74 Lesson Four: Mind Power .......................... 76

FFFFFAITHAITHAITHAITHAITH ANDANDANDANDAND P P P P PEACEEACEEACEEACEEACE

Trapped and Defeated ............................... 83 Resumption of Training. ............................. 86 “Evil” Empire Ends ................................... 91

DDDDDRILLRILLRILLRILLRILL ANDANDANDANDAND R R R R REVIEWEVIEWEVIEWEVIEWEVIEW

Theme Replayed ........................................ 99 Novice: Willingness ................................. 100 Apprentice: Patience ................................ 103 Disciple: Phantom Enemy ........................ 105 Master: Mind Power ................................ 109

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EEEEEXPERIENCEXPERIENCEXPERIENCEXPERIENCEXPERIENCE ANDANDANDANDAND M M M M MODELINGODELINGODELINGODELINGODELING

Phantom Fiend: Mariano E. Meléndez ........ 113I SITH Lord: Lucho Calvo-Guerrero ........ 118China Doll: Mui Lam ................................. 121Four Strangers Mirror Paulo Dionisio ......... 124Far From Home: Qiao (Jo) Kang ................ 128

PPPPPARTARTARTARTART III: A III: A III: A III: A III: ANALYSISNALYSISNALYSISNALYSISNALYSIS

LLLLLOVEOVEOVEOVEOVE ANDANDANDANDAND H H H H HATEATEATEATEATE

Sexuality .................................................... 131Asexuality ................................................. 134Romantic Love ......................................... 137Forbidden Love ........................................ 141

OOOOORIGINRIGINRIGINRIGINRIGIN ANDANDANDANDAND T T T T TRANSMISSIONRANSMISSIONRANSMISSIONRANSMISSIONRANSMISSION

Bunch of Sithies ........................................ 145Chosen Child ............................................ 149Elder Tribunal ........................................... 152

CCCCCONSPIRACYONSPIRACYONSPIRACYONSPIRACYONSPIRACY ANDANDANDANDAND C C C C COVEROVEROVEROVEROVER-U-U-U-U-UPPPPP

Conspiracy ................................................ 157Official Story ............................................ 163Cover-Up .................................................. 166

PPPPPARTARTARTARTART IV: I IV: I IV: I IV: I IV: INTERPRETATIONSNTERPRETATIONSNTERPRETATIONSNTERPRETATIONSNTERPRETATIONS HHHHHISTORYISTORYISTORYISTORYISTORY ANDANDANDANDAND M M M M MYTHOLOGYYTHOLOGYYTHOLOGYYTHOLOGYYTHOLOGY

King Arthur ............................................... 171Helen of Troy ............................................ 176Holy Sophia .............................................. 178

CCCCCHRISTIANITYHRISTIANITYHRISTIANITYHRISTIANITYHRISTIANITY ANDANDANDANDAND M M M M MYSTICISMYSTICISMYSTICISMYSTICISMYSTICISMSpirit of Star Wars ..................................... 183Mysticism in Star Wars .............................. 189Spirit of Star Trek ..................................... 191

WWWWWISDOMISDOMISDOMISDOMISDOM ANDANDANDANDAND M M M M MATURITYATURITYATURITYATURITYATURITYSpiritual Development .............................. 197Intuitive Wisdom ...................................... 200

PPPPPARTARTARTARTART V: C V: C V: C V: C V: CONCLUSIONONCLUSIONONCLUSIONONCLUSIONONCLUSION

IIIIIDENTITYDENTITYDENTITYDENTITYDENTITY ANDANDANDANDAND D D D D DESTINYESTINYESTINYESTINYESTINY

Coda ......................................................... 207One Mind ................................................ 209One Force ................................................ 215

8

PPPPPARTARTARTARTART VI: I VI: I VI: I VI: I VI: ILLUSTRATIONSLLUSTRATIONSLLUSTRATIONSLLUSTRATIONSLLUSTRATIONS AAAAAPPENDICESPPENDICESPPENDICESPPENDICESPPENDICES Wisdom Test .................... 219 Wapnick Letter ............. 229 Canon of Star Wars ......... 221 Bibliography ................. 230 Mister Darth Lucas ......... 223 Filmography .................. 235 Lucas Letters .................. 227 Glossary ....................... 236

TTTTTEXTEXTEXTEXTEXT B B B B BOXESOXESOXESOXESOXES

Four Basic Principles .......... 19 Youth Meets Sage ................ 21 Taken by the Weirds ........... 26 Sentient Robots .................. 42 Unspectacular Heroes ........ 33 Fighting ‘Evil’ ..................... 35 Mythological Intention ....... 36 Resistance .......................... 45 Willingness ......................... 49 Willingness Not .................. 53 No Mas! ............................. 66 Chicanery ........................... 71 Helmet Head....................... 73 Reverse Perspective ............ 81 Disappearing Act ................ 90 Guiltless.............................. 95 Anti-Climax ....................... 97 Allah and Shaitan ............... 98 Critical Review ................. 110

IIIIIMAGESMAGESMAGESMAGESMAGES Peace Knight Wanted ........... 82 Aum of Hinduism ........... 188 Young King Arthur ............. 175 Yin and Yang of Taoism .. 188 Types of Crosses .................. 181 Lotus Flower Buddhism . 189 Peace Dove of Christianity ... 187 Peace Mind Chinese ....... 189

Contributors ................. 237

Diehard Fan.................... 112 Peace Poem .................... 127 Dear Jo Letter ................. 130 Bounty of Love ............... 140 Precocious Robot ........... 150 Knight and Slave ............. 151 Pushed From Grace ........ 155 Ready to Enlist ............... 156 Political Cinema ............ 159 Ranks of Knights ........... 172 Female Knights ............ .. 179 Twin Self ........................ 186 The Academy ................. 196 Rational Faith ................ 205 Maturity ........................ 206 Trilogy Themes .............. 209 Vision ............................. 211 Wisdom Level ................. 220

HERO’S JOURNEY

SSSSSome books take the reader to places beyond ordinary knowing. This exploration of the wisdom in Star Wars draws on the

world’s wisdom traditions. Jon Snodgrass unlocks the spiritualsecrets in the biggest film series ever. He shows artfully how thefilm adventure contains profound guidance for the inner journeyto spiritual faith.

The mythological underpinnings of Star Wars have been widelyrecognized as part of its enormous appeal. This dimension con-cerns the meaning of human experience and offers insight tothose wishing to have a rich inner life. The films and this bookreveal that the wisdom of the ancients can appear alluring incontemporary form.

Jon Snodgrass reads the episodes of Star Wars as mystery talesand uses his understanding to uncover its spiritual wisdom. If welook at the films through a symbolic lens, the life lessons areabundant. Whether the story takes place in a social or psycho-logical dimension, the pattern is the same.

Tragedy sets the story in motion. We can relate the films to timesin our own lives when we have felt overwhelmed by personal dif-ficulties. This is the summons, the call to the quest. The suspenseinvolves the lack of control by protagonists and the threat ofdomination by evil powers.

We identify with the heroic character who is a regular person inan initiatory adventure. The event that launches the quest mighthappen to any of us—the death of a parent, a divorce, a terribleillness, or a financial disaster. When something devastating hap-pens, we can give up on life or rise to the occasion.

Thus, the two Star Wars trilogies mirror our inner dramas. Anindividual must face his own dark side and align with universalforces, a synchronization that eliminates helplessness and facili-tates transformation. During this difficult process we find thatwe are capable of more than we ever thought.

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!

10

Enmeshed in a larger purpose, you are yourself truly for the first time. Yougo through the threshold of change to meet key foes and allies in anadventure. Beyond this jumping off point there is no possibility of return.

Myths from all cultures are formed from the same “elementary ideas”argued Adolph Bastian (1826-1905). This is the mono myth—the onegreat story each culture repeats in every era that reflects the deepestconcerns of people. Arnold van Gennep (1873-1957) outlined the mythin rites of passage.

Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) called it The Hero’s Journey—the greatinitiatory tale told all over the world. As a conduit, he did not invent thetheories of initiation, but distilled the main ideas. Campbell’s classic,The Hero with a Thousand Faces provided the template for George Lucasto shape Star Wars who referred to Campbell as, “My Yoda.”

Lucas maintained that The Hero With a Thousand Faces was the firstbook that focused what he was doing intuitively. “It was all right thereand had been there for thousands of years.” Lucas read other works byCampbell, The Flight of the Wild Gander and The Masks of God. He alsostudied tapes of Campbell’s lectures.

Campbell thought Lucas clearly presented the elements of initiation mythand metaphor. Campbell said, “I saw things from my books being ren-dered in modern terms. I admire what he’s done immensely. He openeda vista, knew how to follow it and was totally fresh. It seems to me thathe carried the thing through very well.”

NOBLE QUESTThe Jedi Knights are, first of all, seekers. They are also aristocrats—asknights, they are part of the nobility. Lucas seems to have taken thisdetail from medieval legends where the lead characters are often of noblebirth. But, their aristocratic status is a psychological symbol.

Fascination with the nobility is a staple in science fiction. This does notmean that the audience longs to live under the rule of royalty or that

Jedi Knights are genetically superior beings. The symbolism is deeperstill—a yearning for the greater meaning of all these roles.

The tradition of highborn titles included devotion to great causes anddedication to service. The psychological significance is that we long forour inner nobility. The heroic figure and purpose are missing in our end-lessly practical age.

The symbolic meaning of Star Wars connects the inner journey to a yearn-ing for the transcendent. The Force speaks to those who seek a link withthe divine. As a psychologist, I am drawn to the implications of the Forceas a form of guidance. Framed as a noble quest or personal maturation,these two perspectives share common ground.

Bill Moyers in 1999 referred in Time Magazine to my work: “The psy-chologist Jonathan Young says that whether we say, ‘I’m trusting my in-ner voice,’ or use more traditional language—I’m trusting the Holy Spirit,’as we do in the Christian tradition—somehow we’re acknowledging thatwe’re not alone in the universe.”

Moyers then asked Lucas, “Is this what Ben Kenobi urges upon LukeSkywalker when he says, ‘Trust your feelings’ ”? Lucas replied, “Ultimatelythe Force is the larger mystery of the universe. And to trust your feelingsis your way into that.”

Beyond any other factor, the idea of “the Force” makes the Star Warsfilms more than just well done science fiction. The Jedi Knights describethe Force as an energy field that sustains all living things. This mysteri-ous element is the key to the transcendent magic of the stories.

Opening to the Force is the potential of every member in the Star Warsaudience. Attuning to insights beyond our immediate concern, may takeus in surprising directions. Quiet pursuits like poetry and meditation canlead to daring action once you find a calling. Teaching comes alive whenyou see the face of a student excited about understanding the marvelousmysteries of life.

11

WISDOM REVIVALMy own associations with George Lucas have all been very positive. Isense that his quiet style conceals the depth and intensity of a seeker. Hehas always been gracious to me—and encouraging of the efforts to con-tinue Campbell’s important work.

The Star Wars series spans generations. Many who first saw the film asteenagers, now bring their children to see the prequels. The devotion ofStar Wars fans is amazing. They camp out before the release of each newfilm. In an Australian poll, more than 70,000 people declared themselvesto be believers of the Jedi faith.

The impact of Star Wars on popular culture around the globe is immense.Its success mirrors the fascination with all things mythic. There has beenwhat some call a mythic revival in the last thirty years, traced mainly tothe work of Campbell and his influence continues to rise.

When the intellectual history of this era is written, the impact of Camp-bell’s legacy will be a major event in our collective evolution. For many,their first glimpse of ancient wisdom is the lore depicted in Star Wars.Lucas contributed to the treasures to be found on the initiatory journey.

Peace Knights of the Soul displays an impressive understanding of the spiri-tual depth of the Star Wars epics. Jon Snodgrass relies on mystical tradi-tions to illustrate the wisdom in the most successful film series of all time.By revealing primary sources, this book also contributes to the scholar-ship on myth. For those fascinated with seeking the meaning of life, thiswork is illuminating.

Jonathan Young, Ph.D. Santa Barbara, California

12

P P P P PRE

FACE

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FACE

STAR WARS MEETS ACIM

FFFFFor centuries power has existed in the forces of nature and human beings have sought its control. Individual identity has

been centered in anatomy and people have been classified into ra-cial types and groups. The brain and the mind have been consideredone, overlooking a spiritual essence. The meaning of life has beenreduced to neuro-chemical processes.

Bloody war has dominated world history. In the 20th Century, inter-national violence expanded to new levels and set the age apart fromall the past. A record seventy million people were killed in WorldWars I and II. Fifty million more perished in the purges of Stalin inRussia in the 1930s and Mao in China in the 1960s. In the 21st Cen-tury, strife between stateless nations and nation states, threatenednuclear devastation.

Aggression has been driven historically by a profound fear to keep thepeace through possessing faith in the love of God. Anger and feararise within the mind believeing the myth of science that humanbeings are merely physical creatures fated to die. Since scientists in-vented microscopes and telescopes to see beyond appearances, greatervision is possible.

‘Peace Knights of the Soul’ illustrates some of the metaphysical prin-ciples of ‘A Course in Miracles’ (ACIM using science fiction film. ACIMdirects attention to the kingdom of hell, or heaven, in one’s thinking.Neo and Trinity in The Matrix, Prot in K-PAX, and Luke and Leia inStar Wars, are prototypes of peace consciousness. Global harmony origi-nating in the mind, is an ancient idea rendering social, political andmilitary action obsolete.

Writing this book has been like solving a giant puzzle. For seven years,1999-2004, the pieces were cut in the shape of words and fitted toform paragraphs. From 2005-2010, the pieces were placed into sec-tions and fell together into chapters. One question always remained—when is it finished? The dedication is to a granddaughter.

!

SSSSSPECIAPECIAPECIAPECIAPECIALLLLL TTTTTHANKSHANKSHANKSHANKSHANKS

Chad LillyTom SatorhelyiRosalie OrtegaHelen Arana

Kenneth WapnickPaulo Dionisio

Qiao KangMui Lam

Mariano E. MeléndezErnesto Vásquez

OOOOONENENENENEPPPPPRINCIPLESRINCIPLESRINCIPLESRINCIPLESRINCIPLES

PPPPP eople wonder about their purpose in life and long for fulfillment. Answers have appeared over the centuries in the

historical record and in mythology. To preserve a traditional wayof life, an action hero saves society from destruction by courageand great deeds. A wisdom hero, however, causes civilization toevolve through consciousness,

A wisdom hero understands a principle about the nature ofexistence that contradicts convention. To common sense, a realityof social and natural forces appear to confront an individual. Butdeeper reflection reveals an empirically verifiable truth: reality iscreated entirely within the mind. You see a hostile “world” whenyou are angry and a peaceful “world” when you are gentle. Bothare pure mental constructs. OOOO O

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16 PEACE KNIGHTS OF THE SOUL 16 PEACE KNIGHTS OF THE SOUL

Perception

=

Projection

CONSCIOUSNESS:AWARENESS OF ACOLLECTIVE ANDSHARED MENTALSTATE OF ONENESSWITH GOD.

Just as Newton discovered that the law of gravity governs themotion of physical bodies and Einstein found that energy consistsof the mass of an object times the speed of light squared, a wis-dom hero learns that the perception of reality is the projection ofa mental state (P=P). You see what you preconceive and noth-ing exists apart from thinking. Like the law of gravity, the powerof the mind is universal, belonging to everyone, i.e., the legendaryhero with a thousand faces.

Not as a reward for achievement, nor as a title of distinction, butas a model of understanding, a representative wisdom hero is cal-led, “Philosopher King” in Platonic theory, “Enlightened One” inBuddhism, “Disciple of Christ” in the New Testament and “Teacherof God” in A Course in Miracles (ACIM). Occasionally, the figureis cast in motion pictures: Forrest Gump, Powder, Contact, Star Wars,The Matrix, K-PAX and Signs. The character may change, but anexemplar of consciousness remains the same.

The Matrix (Warner 1999) for example, is a film about a smallband of men and women in the future who discover reality is anillusion generated by a sinister and pervasive computer system.To gain freedom, they use science, martial arts and an elect-edleader who is an ordinary person. Guided by Morpheus (Laur-ence Fishburne) and inspired by an Oracle (Gloria Foster) theMatrix is unplugged by Neo (Keanu Reeves). He is The NewOne who breaks computer control of the people by relying on agreater power in his mind.

In K-PAX (Universal 2001) Prot, i.e., Proto Human (Kevin Spacey,named perfectly) arrives on Earth from a future millennium, oranother galaxy. On the Internet, strange world in itself, Prot isthought to be an alien invader of a human host (the porter ofProt). His origin is secondary to his role, however, as peace am-bassador. Prot the prototype, is taken into custody, diagnosed as

delusional and institutionalized under the authority of a psychiatricteam led by actor Jeff Bridges.

Prot does not protest the unjust treatment and confinement. Hewears sunglasses all the time to shield his eyes from an intenseLight other citizens cannot see that sustains him in equanimityduring his sojourn on Earth. No one comprehends him when heexplains that he is a “Light Being.” His kind advice on the wardheals many grateful inmates and improves even his doctor’sestrangement from wife and children.

The doctor debates whether Prot is a space traveler, or a home-less lunatic, but as a scientist, worries that Prot’s plan to returnhome on a light beam is suicidal. Using hypnosis, the good doc-tor discovers that Prot is “Robert Porter,” whose identity was erasedwitnessing the murder of his family. His earthly past undermineshis claim to be an extraterrestrial. Prot is then seen as an earth-bound victim of events so horrible, like all humanity, wrenchedfrom heaven, he is insane in denial.

Knowing he is a Being of Light, even while persecuted in mortalform, Prot departs through his mind leaving his catatonic bodybehind like a shell. Foreshadowing his own return to the Light,the physician tries to coax Prot back to the mundane ward. Whencredits roll, however, the doctor is seen staring through a tele-scope and smiling. Presumably, he sees Prot faraway and realizeshis own destiny is to follow him there.

The Matrix Reloaded (Warner 2003) resumes world takeover bythe malevolent computers. While Neo acquires extraordinaryabilities, symbolic of his new consciousness, the audience isamused by choreographed martial arts duels and spectacularvehicle chases, crashes and explosions. Meanwhile, the SentinelArmy drills relentlessly underground to destroy the refuge of

Mind,

Not

Brain

1 OVERVIEW AND PROCESS 17

Neo

=

New

One


Violence

Never

Necessary

and

Vengeance

Never

Justified

humanity in Zion (the spiritual Self). The instantaneous replicationof the belligerent Agent Smith, thwarts the band’s hunt for insightto deconstruct the Matrix on the surface.

Despite setbacks, for example, that the Oracle turns out to be avirtual fraud who dies, Morpheus upholds the prophecy that Neois the One to liberate humanity by standing in the Portal of Lightto illuminate his consciousness. Not believing from within,however, the alabaster Neo remains unfazed. The Oracle tellshim, “You just have to make up your own damn mind, Neo.”This bleak middle story waits for fighting to fail before trans-itioning to the final episode.

In The Matrix Revolutions (Warner 2003) Neo finds himself inlimbo between the Matrix and Zion, He still lacks conviction. Asa metaphor for psychological change, a new oracle sends himthrough the computer fields to negotiate peace with the ma-chines. A rogue Agent Smith infiltrates Zion to destroy the sanc-tuary from within. Massive, underground resistance fails. ButTrinity’s faith in a higher power helps connect Neo who haltsAgent Smith and ends Matrix rule.

A similar transformation “saves the world” from tyranny in theStar Wars trilogies. A young man named Luke joins the fightagainst the war-mongers. Being tutored by Yoda, an ancient sageof wisdom, he learns how to be a Master Jedi Knight. LukeSkywalker bears a celestial name and wields an lightsaber as amodel wisdom leader. At the close of the chronicle, An audienceof millions witnesses his astonishing achievement of intergalac-tic peace.

Luke Skywalker learns in his mind to trust “the Force” andbecomes a non-combatant. He demonstrates in the finale thatviolence is never necessary and vengeance never justified in humanaffairs. His journey of discovery unites the visual imagery, special

Trust

the

Force

ANDERSON:ANDRO = GREEK

FOR ‘MAN,’HENCE, SON

OF MAN.NEO ANDERSON:

NEW SON OF MAN.ANAGRAM:

WORD PUZZLEREARRANGING

LETTERS TOFIND A HIDDEN

MESSAGE.

Neo

is the

One and

Everyone

is Neo


effects, digital editing and stereophonic sound of six sagas. Hispath is accessible to anyone who wants to learn about a sacredpower in the mind—whispered as the force of “God.” Relying onintuitive intelligence, “Jedi Knights” practice peace conscious-ness. This perspective was not the director’s intention nor theofficial Star Wars story.

Peace Knights of the Soul explains the process of attaining consci-ousness. Selected science fiction films are used to illustrate fourfundamental principles about being an avant garde thinker likeLuke, Leia, Prot, Neo and Trinity. The process requires no superhuman abilities and is not reserved for elite players who inheritor merit the status. The principles and stages are:

1. Willingness — Novice2. Patience — Apprentice3. Phantom Enemy — Disciple4. Mind Power — Master

From the vise of an identity based on anatomy, you unlock yourmind to awaken your potentials. The achievement is possible foranyone willing to initiate the maturation process. “All are calledbut few choose to listen” (ACIM). In The Matrix, Neo Andersonis told repeatedly, “You are the one.” Neo and One are anagramsfor the “new one” (Neo Neo) who finds unlimited wisdom withinthe depths of his own psyche.

Chapter 1 introduces the four basic principles of spiritual deve-lopment to neophytes who want to answer the call to conscious-ness. The story, history, allegory and critique of the epic StarWars parable are reviewed in Chapter 2. The step-wise procedurein becoming a peace knight is described in Chapters 3-7. In Chap-ter 8, five college students implement the basic principles in theireveryday lives.

FO

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PR

INCI

PLES


Justly

Evolving

and

Developing

Individual

(JEDI)

Teach to

Learn

and

Learn to

Teach

ESOTERIC:KNOWN ONLYTO INSIDERS.ACRONYM:WORD FORMEDFROM THE INI-TIAL LETTERSOF A NAME.NOVICES:BEGINNERS

The key issues of sex, love, having children and resisting theprocess are analyzed in Chapters 9-11. The origin of the fourprinciples in mythology is discussed in Chapter 12; the origin inChristianity and Mysticism in Chapter 13; and the origin indevelopmental psychology in Chapter 14. This study in spiritualmetaphysics is concluded in last Chapter 15.

PPPPPURPOSEURPOSEURPOSEURPOSEURPOSEThis manual began as a handout in lifespan development coursesat a proletarian, metropolitan university where the author has

been a tenured, full professor for many years. It evolved into a5,000 word essay, that was posted on the Internet, in the days

before the prequels. The endeavor was inspired by the forty-fiveminute middle-segment of The Empire Strikes Back, when Luke

Skywalker meets Master Yoda for the first time.

The writing coincided with the twentieth anniversary release of

the Star Wars: Special Edition in 1997. Never a diehard fan, I hadenjoyed the classic trilogy. Twenty years later, I was moved to

show When Luke Meets Yoda to my classes. In discussions, theparallels to our own situations in life became obvious. As the

instructor, I played the role of Yoda and was qualified by havingboth the years and the ears for the job.

Like a reused stone tablet, known as a palimpsest, only faint marksof the original essay appear in this book. “In the esoteric history of

Star Wars,” I told students, “JEDI is an acronym for ‘Justly Evolvingand Developing Individual.’ ” They responded with the same kind

of resistance Yoda faced with Luke: bewilderment, indifference,incredulity, hostility and ridicule. You teach to learn (ACIM)

and you learn to teach.

!

Some students did not know the words esoteric and acronym, andmy attempt at comic trivia at first baffled everyone. By introduc-ing humor, however, I was trying to put novices (beginners) in aplayful mood; to look at the forces that govern life in a new wayI have been told, however, “Out of your own doubt, you use hu-mor to prevent peace knights from being an idea that is takentoo seriously.”

Luke was insolent. Yoda retaliated by rifling his equipment, mak-ing fun of his attitude and pestering him with pranks. Yoda waspuzzled: how do these kids grow so big and strong eating junkfood? Incidentally, “Yoda” is not “Joda,” who is Yoda’s youngerbrother working in Ciudad de México. Amores Perros (Altavista2001) depicts the brutality at the heart of this great city.

In mythology, the “trickster” is an agent of social change andsometimes even God himself is portrayed as a practical joker whohelps us realize the truth by laughing with us at our foolishmistakes. When this strategy works, what was so awful before,now just seems funny. No one is harmed, or offended, becausethe real Force is always within you. When you rely on your mind,you recognize the fun in fundamental and just laugh.


Luke Skywalker meets Yoda to be trained as a JediKnight and encounters a sage of wisdom. Yoda re-presents the wise part of every person, who knows deepdown. coercion and violence are unnecessary in humanaffairs. Luke is frightened and threatens to blast Yodaaway out of an initial fear that peace consciousness isdangerous. People choose to fight with mentors andlovers to keep the idea distant.

YOUT

H M

EETS

SAG

E


Asked to explain what Yoda is doing, students usually respond,“Yoda is testing Luke.” They are less clear about the nature ofthe test. After some hesitation and commiseration, it becomesclear, they believe Luke is pledging the Fraternity of Jedi Knightsand Yoda is performing a hazing ritual. Accustomed to adversarialencounters with authorities, students expect obedience as a testfor promotion and graduation.

Yet, Yoda is genuinely playful, a true confederate, a reliable men-tor, a fond companion and really very funny. To the weary and thewary, however, he appears to be deceptive. They suspect that“the power in your mind,” really refers to “my power;” a check tosee if you respect the system I represent long enough to be certi-fied to join the social mobility club. But, an old truism says: yourecognize a teacher when you are ready to learn.

In beginning to learn the truth, Luke is anxious, suspicious, seri-ous and obnoxous because he is determined to become a techno-logical warrior using in a militant confrontation with “the en-emy.” At the same time, he is afraid that his mission to savehumanity from doom will fail. Ensnared in a dilemma, metaphori-cally, students fear failure and refuse to examine their basic as-sumptions about life.

“Yoda acts goofy” and “You’re just an eccentric professor,” I amtold. Realizing that fear makes you witless, Yoda and I both laughquietly and heartily at the accusation. We know humor disarmstemper when you relax, knowing you are allied with a higherpower who is allied with you. The fifth “commandment” of peaceknighthood is: thou shalt lighten up because God always loves,even you, unconditionally.

The acronym “JEDI” is credible until some dedicated Star Warsaficionado refutes it, or I confess it was made up. Most studentschuckle in nervous disbelief. Notes might be taken to prepare

Humor

Disarms

Temper

METAPHOR:ABSTRACT PRIN-CIPLE PUT INSTORY FORM.

Always

Loves

You


Gnothi

Sauton

(Greek)

Temet

Nosce

(Latin)

God

is the

Force

Deity

Society is

an Insane

Maze of

Mind

Power

Projected

for an examination, but peace consciousness and wisdom knight-hood remain controversial. “When I first heard about becominga Jedi Knight,” a student explained, “I dismissed it as preposter-ous. I was not going to participate in any make-believe battle forthe galaxy.”

My purpose is to teach and to learn mental self-reliance, or as“young dude” put it in slang, “To have peace consciousness forreal.” To surf, or to dive, is the question? To trust your own mind isthe crucial issue and the ancient key to wisdom. Shakespearewrote, To thine own self be true. Socrates’ motto was Know Thyself,inscribed in gold letters, in Greek, on the portico at the Templeof Apollo, on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, in Delphi and inLatin on a plaque over the kitchen door of the Oracle in TheMatrix trilogy.

CCCCCONSCIOUSNESSONSCIOUSNESSONSCIOUSNESSONSCIOUSNESSONSCIOUSNESS

Millions of people watched Star Wars, but few saw its instructivepotential because the gap between the audience and the hero istoo wide. An ordinary lad becomes a great man, but trappedwithin the insane maze of projected mind power, also known as“society,” viewers neither imagine a connection to the characternor visualize their own potential. Problems in life are thought tobe caused by outer forces that are beyond our control—a viewthat blocks intuitive wisdom.

Everyone figuratively pilots a starship and battles wicked demons intheir journey through time and space. Like an idealistic adoles-cent,everyone wants excitement and validation during their trip todestiny. But defeating the commander of death and becoming arole model for others to follow is considered a “wild daydream.”Star Wars thus remains a science fiction fantasy film rather thanan inspiring motion picture about the human potential.

!

Luke’s decision to become a JEDI is based on two basic principles(Willingness and Patience) and two advanced principles (PhantomEnemy and Mind Power). Most people are not motivated, how-ever, because they believe that power exists in the universe andnot in the psyche. To find the wisdom path of reconciliation, astrategy exists to gain knowledge through introspection ratherthan social action.

Just as you workout to gain muscular strength, you may exerciseto grow psychologically. Star Wars communicates this unique ideaby retelling an old story in modern terms. The principles are notstated openly, however, by the green sage of the swamp, MasterYoda. He personifies the truth so plainly that words seem unnec-essary. As a mentor, he practices insight to expedite the processand communicates telepathically to anyone willing to listen andto learn.

Not taught using textbooks in ancient schools, spiritual wisdomwas passed from teacher to pupil, whispered from mouth to ear.Beginners traveled to a lodge, entered a secret order and learnedprecepts and practices personally in interaction with an adept(expert). “Hermetic” means “sealed off” and comes to us fromthe esoteric teachings of the followers of Hermes Trismegistus(1st-3rd Centuries A.D.).

Peace Knights of the Soul openly walks the reader through the pro-cess of learning peace consciousness and associates each stagewith the story as first taught to Luke by Yoda. The principle isthen stated clearly, explained fully and related to contemporarytimes. As knowledge is shared, personal spiritual developmentleads step by step from Novice, to Apprentice, to Disciple, toMaster. This process is mental and does not involve anythingtechnical or technological.

Wisdom,

Not Action

Hero

HERMESTRISMEGISTUS:“THREE TIMESGREAT”ANCIENTLEGENDARYTEACHER INEGYPT SAID TOBE AN EARLIERINCARNATIONOF JESUS.

24 PEACE KNIGHTS OF THE SOUL

Luke is a prototype for gaining wisdom and maturity (Chapter14) without a need for clergy, bible, sacrament, ritual or church.He learns that no evil, no sin and no devil exist, due to thepresence of the “meta-mind” (God) within the individual mind.There is nothing you can do, no matter how heinous, that stopsGod from always loving you. “Only the dead have seen the endof war” said Plato, but consciousness allows the living to rest inpeace, for God is never angry.

A peace knight gives up using physical force to resolve disputes,including whether or not to initiate the trip to faith in a higherSelf. Though you make the decision, you do not instantly illumi-nate, due to self-doubt, though it theoretically is possible. Thesole purpose in acquiring peace consciousness is freedom fromthe illusion of all limitation in life. Under any kind of duress,however, God is blind in your mind.

“Evil” stems from not seeing the Light, in the same way thatdarkness arises from the absence of the sun. No angry deity dif-ferentiates between good and bad people to mete out eternaldamnation in an afterlife. A wisdom knight endeavors, throughinsight, to be aware of eternal love during an earthbound transit.Be Willing and be Patient, to see the Phantom Enemy and to dis-cover Mind Power that ends the rule of strife in your life.

No Evil,

Sin,Devil,

No Angry

God



Date: sun, 13 jun 1999From: [email protected]: “on becoming a jedi knight”To: [email protected]

I came across your article, “On Becoming a JediKnight” and was taken by the weirds. I was search-ing for information or a “teacher” in the ways ofmind and spirit using the term “Jedi” as a pathwayto the knowledge I seek.

Your article is like none other I have seen. Do youreally believe the way your speak? Are you trulyone of the mind? I am a 19-year-old high schoolgraduate who seeks to learn the ways of wisdom

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TTTTTWOWOWOWOWOHHHHHISTORYISTORYISTORYISTORYISTORY

IIIIIn chronological order, the six acts of the two Star Wars dramas are:

Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) Episode I: Phantom Menace (1999) Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Star Wars was conceived as a “trilogy of trilogies” explained JamesWard, an Internet author of a satire about a hypothetical EpisodeVII. Lucas said in interviews that Episodes VII-IX would not ap-pear because he had no story. Also, he would never designate asuccessor to carry on the series. Due to the death of Darth Vaderand the triumph of Luke Skywalker, Lucas explained the prequeltrilogy (Episodes I-III) make clear why Return of the Jedi: Episode VI isthe end of Star Wars.


In the struggle against the Empire, the droids do not have thepotential to be violent in any meaningful way. C-3PO nevercomes close to violence and R2-D2 struggles almost playfullywith Yoda and an Ewok, unassuming and unthreatening crea-tures. Both droids wind up having to be repaired in all threemovies because they have been damaged or virtually destroyedin an act of violence beyond their means of defense.

They rely upon the intervention of Luke, Han, Leia, or Chew-bacca to rescue them or repair them. ...unable to be vio-lentand faced with an opponent unwilling to communicate, thedroids wind up as a pile of scrap. Their inability to be violent,however, does not render them useless. At some point withineach film, C-3PO and R2-D2 manage to save the day becauseof their ability to communicate, either with other people orother machines. C-3PO with his knowledge of six million formsof communication acts as translator and medium for the Alli-ance throughout the trilogy.

In ‘Return of the Jedi,’ his mastery of language convinces theEwoks to join in the struggle against the Empire—an impor-tant turning point in the film. R2-D2’s capacity to interfacewith other machines and computers allows Luke to finish hissuccessful attack on the Death Star, fixes the deactivatedhyperdrive on the Millennium Falcon, averting almost certaincapture and gives Luke his light sabre on Jabba’s barge, allowing him to complete the rescue of Han Solo.

Matthew C. Mohs

SEN

TIEN

T R

OBO

TS

Thirty years later, A New Hope ranked thirteenth on the AmericanFilm Institute’s roster of 100 greatest American films. The film’slasting popularity is a combination of the old-fashioned adven-ture story, the revolutionary special effects, the John WilliamsOscar-winning musical score, the ultra stereophonic sound andthe offbeat humor of two sentient robots with obstinate person-alities just like real human beings.

Back in 1978, according to film critic Mark R. Leeper, 20th Cen-tury Fox Studios told theater owners, “If they wanted to showThe Other Side of Midnight, they would have to book this sciencefiction film called, Star Wars.” No one now remembers the oldmelodrama about the love life of shipping magnate AristotleOnassis. Thirty-two theaters screened Star Wars and no one fore-saw its phenomenal success.

“Star Wars was obviously a ground-breaking film from the firstmoments of the film,” continued Leeper. “Just showing a field ofstars, it did something that no other film had ever done. It pannedthe camera upward ... space scenes had always been done [be-fore] with a fixed camera.” The screenplay was written originally,however, in pencil, in a notebook, by a shy young man from Mod-esto (modest) California.

President Ronald Reagan’s (1911-2004) Strategic Defense Initia-tive (SDI) was dubbed “Star Wars” by the media in the 1980s.The air defense shield was based on laser technology that coin-cided with the vanguard special effects of Star Wars playing in the-aters. The distinction between fantasy and reality collapsed. “StarWars II” and “Son of Star Wars” were also cold war missile de-fense systems. The federal government spent over $100 billiondeveloping the project; then the name changed under the Clintonadminstration in 1993.

2 STORY AND HISTORY 29


The Empire Strikes Back was the middle installment of the firsttrilogy that featured the sudden appearance of a higher caliberof evil in the galaxy, Chancellor Palpatine, outranking even DarthVader as a fiend. As The “dark side” paled in comparison andcritics objected to making the original villain a second. Profoundguidance also showed up in the episode as the patron saint of JediKnights, Master Yoda.

According to insider accounts, throughout the filming of A NewHope, there were intense struggles with stars, crew and studioexecutives. The escalation of good and evil apparently was basedon Lucas’s experience working with 20th Century Fox Studios.Hospitalized for hypertension and exhaustion, Lucas dramatized,“It’s like fighting a fifteen-round heavyweight bout with a newopponent every day.”

“Hollywood is the Death Star and Lucas is the eternal rebel,” ex-plained biographer Dale Pollock (1990). After A New Hope, Lucaslost hope as director, withdrew from Hollywood and founded anindependent film production company, Lucasfilm Limited, inMarin County, California, about an hour north of San Francisco.He had discovered more enmity in real life than originally conceived in thescript.

International warfare spanned Lucas’ lifetime (World War II, theKorean War, the Vietnam War and the Cold War). Within thecontext of the times, Star Wars was an antiwar film series. In theunprecedented non-violent climax, in Return of the Jedi, withoutviolence and vengeance, a modest young man vindicated thelaw of faith in a power beyond his ego, discarding his weapon andrefusing to fight a tyrant.

Lucasfilm archives went on display, at the National Air and SpaceMuseumin in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.

Epic

Anti-War

Film

Law

of

Faith

in 1997 (Hart 2002). Emphasizing military costumes and weap-onry and including a gift store, the exhibit was free to the publicand credited by the Washington Post with helping the capitol cityattain a banner year for tourism. The exhibition toured nationallyin 2000 and can still be visited online (nasm.si.edu).

The curator, Mary Henderson, wrote an illustrated, full-color,companion volume: Star Wars: The Magic of Myth (1997). Just asancient stories entwine history and myth, the exhibit and thebook glorified Star Wars as a “creative masterpiece.” JoiningLindberg’s Spirit of St. Louis, the Wright Brothers’ Flyer and NASA’sSpace Shuttle Enterprise, Stars Wars was installed in national aero-space history.

Star Wars terms were among 3,500 new words to enter the fifthedition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary in 2002. “Jedi,”“the Force” and “dark side” were added, along with “Klingon,”“warp drive” and “mind meld” from Star Trek. “Jedi” was definedas an “invented name” for a “mystical knightly order.” The tech-nicalities and spirituality in Star Wars and Star Trek are compar-ed in Chapter 13.

Mass murder and mayhem activate the story, but an unimposingfigure comes forward drawing on inner resources to transform selfand universe. The wistful young hero replaced glinting, vengeful,old action figures famous in Hollywood legend. More innocuousthan Clark Kent, Superman in disguise, Luke Skywalker “defeats”the bad guys by just being his sensitive self.

Luke’s journey is told from the time of his father’s childhood(Episode I) to his father’s courtship and open marriage (Episode II)to his father’s fall from grace (Episode III) to his recruitment to thecause (Episode IV) to his struggle with destiny (Episode V) to the re

Without

Violence

and

Vengeance


New Type

Hero After

WWII


demption of his father (Episode VI) as the bearer of a mystical Forcethat ends warfare and liberates humanity from tyranny. War endswithout political or military action when a young man decides toforgive his father and no longer fight.

After World War II, the image of the hero was revised also in thefilms of director Akira Kurasawa, son of a Japanese samurai armyofficer. In The Seven Samurai (1954) “Ronin” were uprooted, mas-terless warriors in the 1600s, akin to roving western cowboys inthe United States in the 1800s. They had lost their personal iden-tity and social position, due to cultural devastation and moraldisintegration. As individuals, however, they upheld the traditionalethical code of the samurai (bushido).

The Seven Samurai was the first foreign film ever to be nominatedfor an Oscar for best picture at the Academy Awards in the UnitedStates. The term “Jedi” may have originated in Kurasawa’s “JidaiGeki” films, period dramas set in medieval Japan, during theheight of the samurai, as opposed to “Gendai Geki,” which takeplace in contemporary settings. Internet reports claimed Lucassaw a ‘Jidai Geki’ television program in Japan, before Episode IVwas made and adopted the term.

“I’m telling an old myth in a new way” Lucas asserted in a TimeMagazine interview with Bill Moyers in April 1999. Jedi Knightsspeak of a mystical-universal Force that reconciles human dis-cord. Their hallmark salutation, “May the Force be with you” isan appeal for celestial guidance in the remediation of earthly dis-putes. An implicit spirituality, therefore, may be another explana-tion for Star Wars’ global impact.

STORYAll I Really Need to Know I Learned Watching Star Trek (1994) wasa bestseller written by Madison Avenue executive, DaveMarnaccio. A successful businessman who faced challenges,Marinaccio fought for justice, treated rivals fairly, remained pro-fessional and knew “how to pick up girls.” About the cavalierKirk, the author wrote, “He’s always in fighting [and lovemaking]shape. He is a military man and his method of dealing with con-flict is to confront it straight on.”

Star Wars was the exact opposite; an inoffensive, eighteen-yearold boy gives up dedicated fighting for temporal power to be-come a mature, genderless, asexual “Jedi Knight.” Mark Hamillwas 24 years old when Star Wars began in 1975 and 32 in 1983when it ended, but he looks like a preteen in beginning EpisodeIV. The trilogy spans four years and there is a three-year gap be-tween Episode IV and V, meaning Luke was 21 in the former and22 in the latter.

According to the annotated official script that includes all thescenes either cut or not filmed, Lucas first described Luke Sky-walker as “a farm boy with heroic aspirations who looks muchyounger than his eighteen years.” His sister, Leia, on the otherhand, was sixteen-years old and not a twin. Lucas himself was inhis early thirties, a scrawny young man in blue jeans, sneakers andthick-framed glasses, and not noticed as the director.

As a guileless rube who becomes a great space savior, Mark Hamillwas cast ingeniously. His small, youthful frame, androgynous ap-pearance, physical awkwardness and personal insecurities revealedweaknesses that run counter to the popular conception of theaction star. Just an average young man—with no special abilities—Lukegrows up bored on a desert planet—operatic devices that lend em-pathy to his character.

Orphan

Farm

Boy

ANDROGYNY:BISEXUAL AP-

PEARANCE ANDPERSONALITYNOT DIVIDEDBY SEX ROLE

SOCIALIZATION.

2 STORY AND HISTORY 33!


During casting, Mark Hamill said he thought Harrison Ford, whoplayed Han Solo, was “the Flash Gordon character and I must beone of the sidekicks.” Luke needed training as an actor, accordingto critics, but played an immature figure of acute vulnerabilitywith whom viewers identified. His image contrasts with his fatherin Phantom Menace,boy wonder, electronic genius, champion pod-racer, military conqueror and interplanetary defender as a merechild.

The ungainly Luke was a candidate for the valiant role of super-hero, just as a small, ugly, old, green, frog-like, creature, withlong pointed ears, as wide as he was tall, played the sage of an-cient wisdom. Lucas picked Hamill because “he was a gosh andgolly kid, which is what I wanted Luke to be” (Pollock 1990). Ex-traordinary deeds by an unnpolished person means role modelsare simple folk like Forrest Gump.

Harrison Ford was a carpenter working on movie set construc-tion when Lucas discovered him, first for a minor role in Ameri-can Graffiti (Universal 1973) and later for the part of the rogueadventurer, Han Solo. About Star Wars Lucas said, “It’s aimedprimarily at teenagers, the same audience as American Graffiti.”But, Star Trek (TOS) targeted middle-aged, upper middle-class,male professionals with discretionary income.

George Lucas as a young man and Luke Skywalker(Mark Hamill) as a character in Star Wars, are un-spectacular heroes who mirror one another in reallife and in the movies. The two exemplify the ideathat becoming a wisdom knight requires no specialbiographical, biological, racial or supernatural quali-ties, an option for anyone willing to initiate the pro-cess.

UNSP

ECTA

CULA

R HER

OES

In Star Wars, the truth is found within the self, whereas Star Treksearches the expanse of space. Star Wars focused on self-discov-ery, to reconcile personal conflict in the mind to become a peacekeep-er. A “trek” tests physical endurance, however and tech-nological limits. The former transforms personality while the lat-ter extends its dominion everywhere.

AAAAALLEGORYLLEGORYLLEGORYLLEGORYLLEGORYThe history of Jedi Knights is recorded in the Star Wars novelsand serves as the backdrop to the galactic struggle that framethe two trilogies. Custodians for fifty centuries, the old league ofenlightened bladesmen worshiped a power called “the Force.”But an expert in belligerence, Emperor Palpatine and his comman-der of death, Darth Vader, purge their reign.

Luke Skywalker joins the clan of Jedi Knights and his call to serveunites the series of six films into one epic drama. The hero isdestined to save, or damn humanity, depending on his decisionto love God, like his spiritual father, Obi-Wan Kenobi, or to hateGod, like his biological father, Darth Vader. In electing faith, Lukerelinquishes fear and anger for all people.

In a Playboy interview Lucas once explained, “I was trying to say,in a simple way, that there is a God and that there is both a goodside and a bad side. You have a choice between them . . .” (Wein-traub 1997). According to insider reports (Jenkins 1997) Lucaswas “adamant” about wanting to represent a spiritual perspec-tive though he often repudiated the idea.

In annotated screenplays Lucas wrote, “I’m not dealing with deeppsychological problems. My films are storytelling movies.” Buthere he tells a story of another kind because “the Force” wasconceived as a common denominator to all religions—from prim-itive to modern. An ideological core to world religion was a premise

2 STORY AND HISTORY 35!

also in the writings of Joseph Campbell, who Lucas once called,“My Yoda” (Foreword). Star Wars also helped popularize Camp-bell’s theories.

To refer to God as “the Force” is not a big stretch, but to summar-ize all religion in a single abstraction is more than telling tales. Ina Time Magazine interview with Bill Moyers (April 1999) Lucasexplained, “I consciously set about to recreate myths with classi-cal motifs.” And he added, “I didn’t want to use God or any ofthose kinds of connotations. ... I eventually shorthanded it justto the Force.”

Like literary allegories, Dante’s Inferno or Homer’s The Illiad andThe Odyssey, the normative narrative makes Star Wars a moralityplay. “Allegory” comes from Greek, meaning to speak figurativelyabout the hidden meaning that transcends the literal meaningof a text. In Judaism, for example, the body of the law, the Torah,is interpreted in the Mishnah, the spirit of the law.

From the Greek word that gives us “to compare,” parables in theHoly Bible are used to teach ethical lessons. Star Wars is thus a para-ble that conveys theological premises in the form of modern enter-tainment. The ancient battle of the corporeal versus the spiritualself, challenges us to look beyond literal perception to an abstractconception of the self.

TORAH:SACRED SCRIP-TURE OF JUDA-ISM AND FIRSTFIVE BOOKS OFTHE CHRISTIANBIBLE.

Bill Moyers interviewed George Lucas concerning the“true theology of the Force” (“Of Myth and Men,”Time Magazine, April 1999). “I would hesitate to callthe Force God” said Lucas. The two discussed life as abattle between good and bad forces culminating in thetragedy and finality of death. Fighting “evil” is seenrational attack on deserving enemies in the name ofself-defense.

F

IGH

TIN

G ‘E

VIL’



I was trying to take certain mythological principles andapply them to a story. Ultimately, I had to abandon thatand just simply write the story. ... when I went back andread it ... they were all there. It’s just that I didn’t putthem in there consciously. I’d sort of immersed myself inthe principles ...these things were just indelibly infused intothe script.

MYT

HOLG

ICAL

INTE

NTI

ON

In the allegory of Luke Skywalker, Star Wars depicts a war betweensacred and profane cosmic forces. Kevin M. Nord notes, “Whenyoung Skywalker’s name is compressed into first name and lastinitial, it becomes ‘Luke S.,’ intensifying suspicion of this characteras a directorial stand-in. This pivotal figure is perhaps a shortenedform of ‘Lucas.’ ” During filming, Mark Hamill reportedly said, “Oh,I see, of course, Luke is George” (Jenkins 1997). Also, in SpanishLuke is “Lucas.”

The Foreword to this book notes that Lucas’ story has appealed togenerations. The oft-quoted opening crawl, “In a galaxy far, faraway, a long time ago,” is more time now than most audiences canremember. The original trilogy forecast the future of humanity treatedas history. The prequels concern a time nearer our own. Hendersonwrote “Lucas has taken a highly advanced technological society andportrayed it as existing in the past.”

Events on Earth during the 20th Century are thus the “prequel” tothe six sequels of Star Wars projected as the future of the planet.Star Trek occurs in the Twenty-Fourth Century, whereas Star Warstakes place in the Twenty-Third. This means Phantom Menace: Epi-sode I, lies immediately ahead in the Twenty-First or Twenty-SecondCenturies. The theologies of Star Wars and Star Trek are discussed inChapter 13.

George Lucas quoted in The Magic of Myth


Lucas demurred in public appearances saying, “Star Wars is just amovie.” But he also declared, “It was designed to make peoplethink about the larger ... mysteries of life” (Bob Heisler, “It’s Justa Movie,” Los Angeles Times, May 20, 1999). Paul Lieberman re-ported that Lucas “also recalls how he set out originally to createnothing less than ‘a modern mythology’ ”(Los Angeles Times, “StarWars Gets Forceful Unveiling,” May 10, 1999).

In contrast to War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy’s (1828-1910 magnumopus, the title of Star Wars’ is abbreviated. Relying on absolute non-violence, Lucas’s hero practices what India’s Mohandas Gandhi(1869-1948) perhaps meant by satyagraha as an expression of thetruth during political movements he led to undo two hundredyears of British colonial rule. Star Wars and Star Peace as a titlemight not have captivated audiences.

CCCCCRITIQUERITIQUERITIQUERITIQUERITIQUE

Special individuals and their families possesses the extraordinarypower of the Force in Star Wars. In Phantom Menace, “midi-chlor-ians” were microscopic organisms found in the cells of humantissue that genetically transmitted the Force from one genera-tion to the next. As a hereditary condition, the quantity of themicrobes made one eligible for training in the elite corps of theJedi Knights.

George Lucas said in the Making of Episode I, “The midi-chlorianshave brought Anakin (Skywalker) into being as ‘the chosen one’who will balance the universe.” Liam Neeson reported that Lucastold the cast during filming that there are “thousands of bacteriain our system” and that “some people had a stronger strain ofthese bacteria than others did.” (Bouzereau 1999). In this context,“bacteria” is another name for “midi-chlorians.”

Prequel,

Sequel,

Postquel

!

Neeson added he personally found the idea “fascinating” and“believable.” The Star Wars Encyclopedia also refers to “dark sideevil” that “courses through the veins” of select non-Jedi Knights.“The group from whom evil descends” is “the Sith” and DarthVader was the “Lord of the Sith.” Based on some fantastic bodychemistry, the Force is genetically inherited by groups and in-dividuals. SITH, however, is an anagram for excrement.

Controversial among fans, midi-chlorians received little debate inthe media. Kevin Blades, creator of a disbanded website (Star WarzLegacy) argued that midi-chlorians “despiritualized” the Force,putting a gnome in the genome. In The Myth of the American Superhero(2002) John Lawrence and Robert Jewett asserted that midi-chlorians resemble World War II Nazi slogans like, “We thinkwith our blood.” One chapter heading reads, “Fascist Faith in theStar Wars Universe.”

Lawrence and Jewett believe the superhero in Star Wars relied onredemptive violence, but their idea overlooks the ending of the se-quel trilogy. It is exactly the reverse—Luke throws away his weaponand he stops fighting (Chapter 6). In claiming Stars Wars “... of-fered a rationale for Timothy McVeigh’s indiscriminate killing inOklahoma City,” these authors go overboard too. Yet, their workwon the Popular-American Culture Association Book of the YearAward in 2003.

In The Empire Strikes Back, the fifth installment, Yoda told Luke,“A Jedi’s strength flows from the Force” (not the bloodstream).Ambiguously referring to social or biological transmission, Yodasays to Luke, “The Force runs strong in your family.” But in StarWar’s book of genesis, Phantom Menace, the spirit seems to devolve.“The Force” was mystical in the sequels, but appeared genetic orracial—in the prequels trilogy.

SITH

=

SH _ _



“I need a midi-chlorian count,” announced Qui-Gon in PhantomMenace, making knighthood physiological. That the hero in StarWars was stereotypically white, blond and male, or that DarthVader was a black-clad, blue-eyed devil, are irrelevant. Peacecounts on consciousness, accessible to all ages, genders, bodytypes, sexual preferences and nationalities. “Sapiens,” as in homosapiens, refers to wisdom, not to biology.

Peace consciousness has nothing to do with parents, birth, eth-nicity, blood type, body fat, or the hereditary molecule (cellulardeoxyribonucleic acid—DNA). Identity is established conceptual-ly not congenitally. Jedi Knights are elite in the sense that few peo-ple meet the challenge to mature psychologically. Charges of rac-ism and sexism about Star Wars have persisted’

A New Hope, was criticized for having few women and no dark-skinned actors. The voice of James Earl Jones was adopted forDarth Vader, but the actor behind the mask was white. Jones ac-cepted $10,000 for his voice-over work, but heeded rumors thefilm was destined to flop and declined screen credit to protecthis career (Baxter 1999). Ironically, the public now associates hisvoice with the evildoer. Another black actor, Billy Dee Williams,played a Judas-like character in The Empire Strikes Back.

The accent and mannerisms of Jar Jar Binks, a computer-gener-ated, goofy-eared amphibian, stirred controversy in Phantom Men-ace (Harrison 1999). Lucas called the idea “absurd” and said noethnic stereotype shaped the character. But a re-edit from stocktape, Episode 1.1: Phantom Edit, appeared on anti-Jar Jar websitesin 2001 and eliminated the figure from the film entirely. In Revengeof the Sith he shows up but had no dialogue.

Peace knighthood is self-initiated as one acknowledges a higherpower in the mind. There is no other way—no mystical rites,

Wise

Homo

Sapiens?

REDEMPTIVEVIOLENCE:SAVED USINGVIOLENTMETHODS.

training sites, geographical relocations, technical skills, supportteams or special weapons squads that make it happen. You neednot dodge bullets, walk on ceilings, or be a flying, kick-boximgmartial artist. As illusions, biological prerequisites and super-natural abilities are irrelevant.

Everyone belongs to the “new breed” because it is a club of the mindnot a big stick. In acknowledging a sacred right, you begin a psy-chological ascent. In this context, SITH is understood as an ac-ronym for “Suffering Individual Through Hatred,” a learned styleof thinking that can be transcended. The lack of awareness is“original sin,” that precipitated the fall of Anakin Skywalker, inthe prequel trilogy (Chapter 10).

Implied in Star Wars is the radical idea that the suffering of allthe characters, “good” and “bad” is a product of thinking. OnceLuke learns that war is the divided state of mind, acted outbetween beings and planets, he realizes that what he thinks de-fines himself, his father and the whole universe. Thus, thinkingmakes “reality.”

Superficially, the spectacle is about combat, but more deeply, it isabout surrendering to “the Force” and giving up fighting to be-come a peace knight. The choice is hard at first because veter-ans and refugees perceive a protracted world at war. The message isnot deliberately concealed, but remains obscure, like moral les-sons in parables, due to the persistence of self-doubt.

Intuitive wisdom requires you to be dispatched to a remote loca-tion where it is safe to detach from “reality.” Then you open to asage of wisdom buried in the bog of your psyche. As you retreatand relax, tranquility restores quickly. Anger and fear are learnedby children from elders and replicate in the next generation asthey become the adults.

Suffering

Individual

Through

Hate

(SITH)

Conceptual

Not

Congenital



People do not think star peace is an alternative to star wars througha commission in consciousness. It seems unbelievable that all con-flict is designed, executed, contained, halted and eliminated with-in the mind. Having no origin outside the ego, no malicious con-spiracy prevents you from ending the perceived “strife.” To knowthat the matrix is an illusion, you need not swallow a red, white or bluepill.

Waging war is an irrational solution to an unreal problem that hasnever worked historically. The famous Swiss psychoanalyst, CarlG. Jung, said, “When you lose your temper, the battle is alreadylost” and Jung lost many. When you enter the wrong state ofmind, forgetting forgiveness, the opposition looks formidable.When you regain your right mind, however, the conflict dissolvesand adversaries fade away like old soldiers.

Willingness is the first lesson involving many starts, stops, fitsand lapses because novices forget to forgive and project guilt inthe name of defense. The ego is robotically programmed to pro-claim innocence. A spiritual path is difficult, but not as hard asnever getting started. Consigned to a withering body in elusivetime and vacuous space, the riddle of identity and destiny are sol-ved tripping to faith.

Are You

Taking Bets

on the Ego

Versus

God?

e

THREEMMMMMENTORENTORENTORENTORENTOR S S S S SEEKINGEEKINGEEKINGEEKINGEEKING

TTTTT he Empire Strikes Back is the middle act in the Star Wars drama and the bleakest period in the rebellion. It is set in

the frozen wastes of an ice planet where the rebel alliance hasretreated after victory over the imperial army at the end of ANew Hope. Through teamwork, Han and Luke are now comrades,but Han and Leia are locked in a caustic romantic rivalry.

Out on a reconnaissance patrol at the beginning of this episode,Luke is knocked unconscious again and dragged by a grisly snowmonster into an icy cavern where he is hung on a hook upsidedown to be slaughtered. We are alerted that something impor-tant is about to happen because desert creatures previouslyknocked him out just before his enlistment in the moral crusadeof Jedi Knights. NNNN N

OVI

CEO

VICE

OVI

CEO

VICE

OVI

CE &

&

&

&

&

MMMM MEN

TOR

ENTO

REN

TOR

ENTO

REN

TOR

!


The bleak landscape serves as metaphor for the devastated stateof the rebellion at the time. As Luke’s mood and the confederatecause plummet, bad weather forecasts the prospects for peace.Though suffering is only prolonged, hostile thinking persists.Mislocating the problem to some remote arena precludes victorythrough inner reconciliation.

Using psychokinesis, Reminiscent of young King Arthur removinga sword held hard and fast in anvil and stone, Luke extracts hislight saber jammed in the snow nearby. As the monster preparesto devour him, Luke severs its shaggy arm, but lacking thestrength to return to the rebel base, he collapses in the tundra.Luke is prepared unconsciously for a new way of thinking.

Obi-Wan now appears as a visage, not to reassure Luke in thispredicament, but to announce a new rebel strategy—reassign-ment to training with Master Yoda. Obi-Wan, formerly known asgentle “Ben Kenobi,” has retired from active service to disguisehis role as Luke’s guardian. Only two teachers of truth remain onthe galactic playing field to correct the lies of Darth Vader.

The meek invite peace while the brave resist it. Many peopleadopt faith only when weakened by accidents, illnesses and neardeath experiences. Delirious, Luke seems lukewarm about thetransfer and not sure he comprehends the message. In the mean-time, Han comes to his rescue, reminding him in good-naturedsibling rivalry, “That’s two you owe me, junior.”

Against the backdrop of galactic warfare, Luke flies boldly andswiftly to his destination, accompanied by his intrepid robot-navi-gator-aide, Artoo Detoo. During the rapid transit, the fighterpilot is wrought with worry. Rooted in self-mistrust, the remotelocation of the training facility suggests just how unaware Lukeis that the civil war is a product of his thinking.

The Ego’s

War with

God in the

Battle of

the Mind.

PSYCHOKINESIS:THE ABILITY TOMOVE PHYSICALOBJECTS WITHTHE MIND.

The endo-psychic dimension of the war is clarified in parallelscenes in which Luke’s comrades, Han Solo and Princess Leia,evade Darth Vader’s pursuit by hiding in a cave on a flying aster-oid that turns out to be, like Jonah and the Whale, the interior ofa giant “space slug.” Caught-up in their own primal spheres, Hanand Leia engage in a competitive chase.

An “engagement” refers both to marriage and to warfare. In Span-ish, casar, “to marry,” is close to cazar, “to hunt”—la caza is “thehunt” while la casa is “the house.” Jokes abound confounding thetwo. Marital and martial may look alike in English, but sounddifferent. Attack hides guilt that makes enemies appear real andcontradicts the love of God.

In the war with Darth Vader, Han and Leia are entangled in a feud,but once alone, in the belly of the beast, they turn ravenous forone another. The pair overcomes mutual loathing, falls deeply inlove and bonds with the Force. As the secular sexual couple,however, neither is ever trained or knighted, in contrast to Lukeand Yoda, the asexual pair of Jedi Knights in training (Chapter 9).

Luke’s driving ambition is to be remembered in the annals of timeas a great war hero in space. He expects to: break from the fight-ing, be trained quickly, return to the front, defeat his arch foe and

3 NOVICE AND MENTOR 45

Retreats

to

War

Bonds

with the

Force

With a frown on his face that must be relinquished,Luke pilots a spacefighter to his training base to learnmind power and to become a peace knight. He gets tothe level of apprentice before, fearing success, hesuspends training and retreats to the universal warfor “safety.” As a defense against awareness of theForce, fighting covers fear with anger.

RES

ISTA

NCE


save rebel civilization. Yet, he doubts that he possesses the abilityto become a Jedi Knight. En route, facial close-ups reveal the per-sonal struggle he endures. Adding to his “weakness,” childishly hedenies having any misgivings.

The acknowledgement of fear separates fledgling, from full-fledg-ed, peace knights. Eventually, you learn to press forward withbasic trust in mind power. In soaring away during the transitionfrom militancy to serenity, Luke is “sore afraid.” Repressed fearemerges as blameworthy culprits, who attack like clones, mimick-ing exactly what you think of yourself.

Luke worries that he will not find his guide and not accomplishhis mission. As a test of character, he fears he may prove corrupt,like his father, mentored by the weak side of his mind. His foulself-doubt is reinforced when he is confirmed as the genetic scionof Darth Vader. Conceived before, but born after his father’s fall,“born in sin,” is the reason for the clash.

The contradiction between Luke’s solid plan and his lack of con-fidence reveal a psychic tug of war. In truth, the only obstacle toovercome is his self-doubt, but it is too early in the quest, and heis too young to know, for already he is what he seeks to become.To acknowledge your true-self can only be imagined to be difficult.Anyone can be a peace knight because everyone already is “theone.”

Approaching the planet, flight instruments indicate that no civili-zation lies below—only forms of animal and plant life. Thus theeducation Luke is about to undergo is organic. In a hurry to betrained to win the war, however, he crash lands his spacecraft.Wanting to become a new kind of fighter, he rushes headlong intothe mission without parking first in basic self-trust.

Everyone

is

‘the One’

Clones

Mimic

Thinking

Symbolically, Luke is swamped by primitive self-doubt. If you areafraid to be who you really are, it is easy to make mistakes, get lostand not find your guide. Extricating himself, Artoo Detoo fallsoverboard, but before he drowns, is swallowed by a giant serpent,the appearance of intensified fear at the threshold of change. Theunderwater monster again suggests that the outer conflict con-ceals an inner one.

Artoo Detoo is spit out, however, because the worm of the under-world is another form of the “devil,” who seeks to devour the hu-man soul, not the metallic body of the robot. Luke is relieved thathe did not slip and fall, and tells his companion, “You’re luckyyou don’t taste very good.” Back on terra firma, spared consump-tion by the vile reptile at the genesis of his quest, Luke does notknow what to do, or even what a mentor looks like.

When you activate faith, you know little about the land you enteror the buried treasure you discover. Shocked and dismayed at first,you perceive only that the new way threatens a customary lifestyle.Fearful, you are not sure you want to undertake a spiritual jour-ney. Resistance is inherent in any new venture and reflects misgiv-ings about your potential to love God. The known may bore usbut the unknown terrifies us.

In looking for Master Yoda, Luke begins his first lesson—willing-ness—the desire to acquire faith. He continues to be willing tofind his master by not allowing obstacles like leaving comrades,flying into isolated areas, crashing his spacecraft, losing his com-puter overboard and not knowing the way—to deter his pursuit.Willingness refers to being a tiny bit open-minded about theprospect of meeting your destiny.

Inward

Journey

to Faith

A

Mentor is

Qualified

in Level

Three or

Four



LESSON ONE: WILLINGNESS

Luke’s prerequisite of willingness is taken for granted in the film.On account of the urgency of the galactic civil war, he begins bywanting to be an old-fashioned warrior knight. His aspiration tobecome a peace knight is demonstrated when believing a mentorexists and seeking Yoda. Beneath a belligerent facade, he longsfor the love of the Force. A wisp of will, a mere whisper, initiatesthe process.

At first you must have a desire to learn instead of to win. Areceptive attitude is a prerequisite for anyone wanting to let goof hostile thinking. Being “required to volunteer” or “compelledto join,” contradict the integrity of mind power that is given inuncondi-tional love. In The Matrix, a vivid Morpheus says to aplacid Neo, for example, “I can only show you the door, you’rethe one that has to walk through it.”

A wisdom hero is an ordinary person in appearance who wants todiscover the purpose of life. Willingness is the mental state of readiness tostart learning. The desire arises from the consent of your governedmind as an act of free will. You may start peace knighthood with adivided mind and hesitate, but you make a mistake staying di-vided, yet it is never too late to change your way of thinking.

Willingness initiates spiritual development which does not involvesacred covenants, solemn oaths or pledges of allegiance. There areno esoteric secrets to uncover, no karma to repay for past life mis-takes, no qualifying examinations to pass, no rites of passage tonegotiate, no occult lore to memorize, no elaborate rituals to per-form, no advanced fees and fines to pay and no big commitmentto make.

You do not face an ordeal of bravery, walk on hot coals, toil longand hard by day and night, acquire the discipline of a disciple,

A

Whisper

Will

Ready

to

Learn

!

give up worldly pursuits, vow poverty or abandon sensuality.Willingness does not concern physical ability, intelligence, privilege,class, race, gender or any bodily attribute. Knighthood dependsnot upon social or genetic breeding.

It is a mistake to try to prove yourself worthy through some testof resilience instead of simply volunteering. A little willingnessmeans you can remain mostly uncertain about being a peace knight.The fulfillment of your fate rests solely on a decision—“now” isthe time and “here” is the place to transition. Typically, however,fighters want fanfares and parades to bolster their resolve.

So, it takes mental fortitude to tolerate being totally ignored as an“ordinary nobody,” appreciating the anonymity of peace knight-hood, Willingness opens your mind to the intuitive wisdomwithin. If you must prove anything to anyone, including yourself,you do not believe you deserve to be liberated. Once you desirethe wisdom of peace, an inner academy takes over your faculties.

Willingness is not strenuous or dangerous. Without pressure, will-ingness starts to make you innocent of guilt in your heart longenough to realize that the walk on the calm side of life has begun

Willing

and

Patient,

Period.


♦ Your own free will♦ Any tiny percent (.01%)♦ One time decision♦ One step program♦ May be consciousness♦ Consciousness speeds up process♦ Impossible by threat or coercion♦ Effects evidenced empirically later♦ Involves no action or work

WIL

LIN

GNES

S


gun. Patience, the next step, does not endure frustration, toleratepain or defer gratification. It is a contradiction to say your aregoing to “work on being a Peace knight.” Unwilling to be patientmeans you are not yet ready to learn.

Willingness initiates the peace process in your mind. It happenswhen you want it and you need to want it only once. You speedup the process when remembering your desire and you delay itwhen you forget. If you believe it takes time, it does, because inthe interim you are not willing. You can close your mind andrepress desire into the unconscious for as long as you want.

You cannot halt the transformation, however, once it starts. Yourhealthy mind knows when you are ready to risk the leap to faithby undergoing the hero’s noble quest for wisdom. The initiationworks on your behalf to restore you to the Source of your originalwholeness. Only one step begins the process and the master planis out of your hands. The Force uses no force.

You need not strive to avoid diversions along the way, but allowyour legacy to unfold. To say, “Within my limits, I am willing,” isnot willing because you first establish a barrier. Further, it is self-defeating to exaggerate willingness by distorting it out of range. Itis not necessary to cause oceans to rise, cities to fall or to ach-ievethe impact of a meteor.

Wanting peace may seem hard, but staying upset, hostile, imma-ture not want peace is harder. Willingness cannot be difficult be-cause it is just an innocent attitude. Thinking he has to become anew kind of warrior, while mistaken, awakens Luke’s longing forPeace Knighthood. But you may insist it is beyond your capacity ifyou wish. (Me? A Peace Knight? Nah).

To be willing, period. You either remain guilty and undeservingor guiltless and deserving. The truth is, you need to honor the law

The Force

Uses No

Force

Head for

Peace and

Peace Heads

for You

of faith but once. The intention begins to erase all previous soc--ialized programming. You usually do not all of a sudden transform,due to reservations, though theoretically it is possible. When you

head for peace—peace heads for you.

BEYOND WILLINGNESS

Willingness initiates basic self-trust that is not whole-hearted atfirst, but enough to get started and it breaks the frame of extra-verted consciousness. It involves insight, in contrast to superficialthinking that tries to impress others with appearances. The falseself is never so deeply ingrained, however, that it cannot be overcomeby wanting to grow. Forever does the “dark side” control yourdestiny only until you change your mind and decide to get out.

Without remembering your right mind and deciding to leave,within the system, there is no hope of escape. There is no penaltyfor remaining in the dark, except the personal hell created by alack of faith. If you hesitate, it means you still are attracted byguilt to psychic and physical pain. You can procrastinate after youare willing because inconsistency is a level of commitment—.01%or less initiates the process.

Beyond willingness is: dedication, reverence, adoration, vigilanceand devotion. This level of commitment is difficult to achieve be-cause it requires strict discipline to counteract an abiding sense ofshame arising from an original decision to separate, enter the denseworld, encapsulate in a body and inflate an ego. You die and goto Heaven, but you are born into Hell on Earth. Attempting “ironwill” means you rely on your will power—not God’s Will.

You need not “sheer will” but “mere will.” You do not “have towant it hard enough” but “just want it.” An old platitude says,“Where there is a will, there is a way.” In the beginning, it is not

Born into

Hell to

Raise Peace

3 NOVICE AND MENTOR 51!


A

Peace

Knight

Becomes

You

To

Mature is

Natural

necessary to believe the outcome will improve the quality of yourlife or end the civil war in your mind. Only one level of com-mitment is required—be willing to start. Prefer to be a peace knight,instead of a space fighter and starting is done.

Because mind power works through you, once you want to beled, the process operates in reverse—a peace knight becomes you.You do not “master the Force,” nor does “the Force master you,”because it is not a wrestling match or a chess game. It acknow-ledges what is given. Thinking you must discharge all self-doubt,prevents you from having the little courage to begin.

You take the first step and do not know the outcome in advance.You learn the four principles along the way and discover your lifepurpose. The precepts are psychological and involve changes onlyin disposition and perception. No other action is required andwillingness to learn is only an attitude. But under the rule of guilt,you think you are never good enough to please God.

Learning does not depend upon repeated lessons, endless prac-tice, or years of experience. It requires a fraction of the time, moneyand energy needed to become a professional, artist or performer,for example, and imparts genuine self-esteem. Like breathing, theaspiration to mature is natural. You want peace and will be a peaceknight.

Peace Knighthood is neither a grave undertaking nor a matter oftotal dedication. Great devotion characterizes advanced peaceknights, not aspirants. Being too serious is also humorous, so youcan relax and laugh at your long face laced with misgivings. Will-ingness may begin after opposition to God for many years. A be-ginner is not even required to smile.

To expect accomplishment before initiation asks for graduationbefore matriculation. In learning anything, you make unreason-

Join

the

Force?

Imperfect

100% or

Perfect

.001%?

able demands when you think you must be finished immediately.Perfectionism scares you away from just wanting to learn how toheal and be happy. You do not have to be perfect—not one per-cent of the time—faith that knows no bounds is angelic—and needsno earthly instruction.

Early lessons are learned with little effort, once you are mentallyready to join the Force. Willingness initiates the unfolding of acontingent set of principles that has a domino effect. Given that itis any percent, willingness cannot be difficult, though you can sayyou are willing and not mean it. If .01% is a “leap of faith,” try.001%, or .0001%. Being 99.99% uncertain still initiates the peaceprocess.

Other words for willingness are: to want, to invite, to log on, todesire, to accept, to admit, to apply, to elect, to resolve, to declare,to purpose, to dare, to awake, to be tempted and to choose. Inthe lexicon of the Old Testament, willingness is also known as be-ing “right-minded,” “righteous” or “having rectitude.” (“I have pur-posed it, I will also do it” Isaiah 46:11).


♦ Dedication without doubt♦ Letting go of all restraints♦ Believing totally in yourself♦ Taking full responsibility♦ Having no reservations♦ Possessing unwavering determination♦ Having absolute commitment♦ Following through without fear♦ Knowing you will succeed♦ Overthrowing all the old taboos♦ Realizing your true goals

No trite

traditional

truisms

are true.

WIL

LIN

GNES

S NO

T


Willingness is not didactic or arrogant, both defensive maneuversthat arise out of fear of not having the capacity to succeed by willalone. You do not make yourself a peace knight—it is done throughyou by a greater power—you only witness your ascension. All thework of transformation is done for you once you recognize thatyou already are the one who wants to begin.

Do not rush to finish, but stick to the simple task of startingwillingly. You need not be a child prodigy or identified by won-drous signs in infancy. “The journey of a thousand miles beginswith the first step,” wrote Lao Tzu, the wise founder of Taoism.The first step may be taken in slow motion and a mere decisionstarts the process.

Nothing precedes willingness and there is only one task— wantingto learn to trust in intuitive wisdom. So, just say “Yes,” or “Yes,My Master.” Becoming initiated takes only an instant of volitionto accept learning forgiveness as your learning goal. Collapsingdistance, a student once declared, “Taking the first step is a mile-stone.” Willingness is the start of basic trust in a guiding teacherin your mind.

If you feel constrained to carry out a duty to become a peaceknight, then you seek to be what others want, out of an underly-ing sense of shame that confirms self-hate. If you could be forcedto develop, mind power would not exist and control by outer for-ces would be absolute. You would not know it, however, just asyou do not know now that you have mind power. The unwrittenfifth principle of peace knighthood is laughter, not fearful obed-ience nor angry defiance of authority.

Laughter

not

Obedience

or

Defiance

AAAA APP

REN

TICE

PPRE

NTI

CEPP

REN

TICE

PPRE

NTI

CEPP

REN

TICE

&&&& & MMMM M

ENTO

REN

TOR

ENTO

REN

TOR

ENTO

R

FOURMMMMMENTORENTORENTORENTORENTOR FFFFFIGHTINGIGHTINGIGHTINGIGHTINGIGHTING

IIIIIn The Empire Strikes Back, Luke sets out to find Yoda, to learn about the Force and to become a Jedi Knight. Yoda is a

venerated sage who knows how to teach mortals the doctrinaland practical ways to mind power. In mentoring Luke, Yoda trans-mits the law of faith to the rebel people, but Yoda is not Yodauntil Luke is patient.

Luke doubts the law of faith in himself and suspects that Yodaand the Force are frauds. Given the celestial connotations of thename “Skywalker,” he must possess the Force, for he is not called“Skyjacker” or “Jaywalker.” He fears his real name is “Luke Vader,”however, and that he must stop the behemoth of brutality or thecivilized galaxy is doomed.

!


Recovering on a jungle bank after crash landing, Luke has apremonition. “Something out of a dream,” he says, there is “some-thing familiar about this place.” Vaguely he recalls being in thispredicament before, but dismisses the notion. Actually, he remem-bers that he returns to knighthood rather than starting out for thefirst time.

Luke senses being watched and is surprised to hear a voice behindhim. The sequence of the events confirms his intuition, but hisacuity also frightens him. He spins around, blames his fear on alittle green troll and threatens to blast him away. Luke is toldpatiently to put down his weapon for no harm is meant to him.

Yoda finds Luke and asks, “I am wondering why you are here?”Asif Yoda is nobody, Luke says, “I’m looking for someone.” “Foundsomeone, you have, I would say, hmmmm?,” Yoda replies. In look-ing for a “great warrior,” Luke holds preconceptions about theappearance of Jedi Knights, but his search for wisdom affirms anold truism—a teacher appears when the student is ready to learn.

In cryptic syntax, the wizened but wise old Yoda declares, “Warsnot make one great.” Just as Luke anticipates the nature of histraining, he anticipates Yoda’s image to be splendid. Darth Vaderis two meters tall and wears flowing black robes over full bodyarmor. It is not a question of “bigger” or “stronger,” however, be-cause mind power expands from within.

At first, Yoda does not measure up to Luke’s expectation and isregarded as a bumbling pest. The wise part of the self is tiny, wrongand ugly in the beginning. Jesus was not recognized as the Messiahto deliver Israel from the Roman occupation and Socrates, inancient Athens, was short, fat, ugly and unkempt. Judge not a men-tor by his stature?

TROLL:FIGURE INFOLKLORE:DWARF, ELF,GNOME,GENIE, IMP,OGRE, SPRITE.

Wrong

and

Ugly

Returns to

Knighthood

Yoda is small, old, lame, uses a cane (“gimer stick”) and acts odd.The physique of Kermit the Frog crossed with the genius of AlbertEinstein makes Yoda a hybrid strain of mentor. Appearance isirrelevant, however, to the inner being. The oracle in The Matrix isordinary, lives in a tenement, smokes cigarettes, bakes cookies,eats candy, speaks plainly and dies. Luke and Neo perceive onlywhat they preconceive.

As a military professional, Luke is prepared to fight enemies withhigh-powered technology. Yoda wants Luke to be patient and toacquire a high-powered mind. Like a little child, Luke wants toknow, “Where’s Yoda?” Well, he is standing undisguised right infront of him. The Gospel of Thomas says, “You do not recognizethe one who is before you and you do not know how to read themoment.” Like Simba in Lion King (Disney Studios 1994) Lukecannot wait to be king-knight.

Lacking impressive dimensions, Luke does not recognize Yoda atfirst as a master. Luke believes the power needed to defeat theenemy is gross physical power, precisely the reason the rebel causeis losing. The strength of the body is puny in contrast to the mightof insight. This idea is strange at first, like Yoda and his teachings.Given intuitive wisdom, you are already informed.

Mental strength concedes physical weakness. The spiritual andmaterial worlds collide and what Luke thinks is strength, is weak-ness, and vice versa, the mind is powerful. For this reason, Yodainstructs Luke standing him on his head. In a spacecraft damagereport, protocol robot See-Threepio, communicates the idea ofreverse perspective to the mercenary Captain Solo when tellinghim, “To replace the negatively polarized power couplings.”

Luke is afraid to backs down in front of Yoda, afraid he will appearcowardly, small, green, ugly and harmless. Yoda is contemptible

Use

Reverse

Perspective

Small

Body,

Big

Mind

4 APPRENTICE AND MENTOR 57


because Luke estimates him based on his height of twenty-sixinches. This was the size of the model of King Kong (RKO 1933) inthe eponymous depression era motion picture. “Judge me by mysize [ears] do you,” Yoda retorts defensively.

Akin to Walt Disney’s Mighty Mouse, Luke cannot imagine a pint-sized master. Luke treats Yoda the way Han treats Luke when theyfirst meet, though Luke does not call Yoda “kid” or “junior.” Be-ing small in the natural world makes you a big target of hostilityfrom ones who dread being little and it expresses concealed con-tempt for children. A taut mind cannot be taught.

In pestering Luke with pranks about growing so big eating strangefood, Yoda stoops to Luke’s level. This means Yoda is flawed likehuman beings and not a perfect alien entity. Yoda makes fun ofLuke, “Aww, can’t you get your ship out?” He rummages throughhis equipment bag until he finds a flashlight. Annoyed, Lukedoes not realize that Yoda wants to shine away his worries aboutbecoming a mighty Jedi Knight.

Playing with Luke, Yoda tries to help him relax and open hismind to a new way of thinking. When Luke is told, “Yoda. Youseek Yoda,” Luke realizes the creature knows Yoda and can guidehim to his hideout. Quickly, Luke turns compliant, expedientlyregarding Yoda now as an ally. Insignificant a moment before,Yoda rivets (ribbets?) Luke’s attention.

Yoda, who is not yet Yoda to Luke, leads the naive young man tohis native cabin, there to eat, rest and recover from the distress ofrelocation and to prepare to encounter Yoda the Great. Restless,Luke cannot settle his mind and asks incessantly how to find Yoda.Luke must calm down, but thinks he needs training immediatelyto save the galaxy from ruin.

A

Taut

Mind

Cannot Be

Taught

Play

Opens the

Mind

EPONYMOUS:THE PERSONFOR WHOMSOMETHINGIS NAMED.

As if training him for conventional warfare, Yoda’s goal is not totest Luke to see if he has the “right stuff.” The question is, willLuke be patient long enough to allow the process to unfold—will he permit his consciousness to evolve? Knighthood is Luke’slegacy whether he believes it or not.

When Luke relaxes, he demonstrates the requisite attitude ofwillingness and patience. Then he is ready to meet Master Yodaformally and to move together toward the next principle—the en-emy is illusion. The transformation slows when willingness is for-gotten and kept unconscious. Patience allows the prospect ofknighthood to enter consciousness.

LLLLLESSONESSONESSONESSONESSON TTTTTWOWOWOWOWO::::: PPPPPATIENCEATIENCEATIENCEATIENCEATIENCE

To guide his destiny in becoming a peace knight, Luke replacesthinking based on sense perception with thinking based on in-trospective wisdom. The love Luke learns to honor arises fromthe resource of his true-self that has no connection to his physi-cal body. Because the material world is all Luke remembers, how-ever, the new perspective seems incomprehensible.

The inertia of ignorance must be overcome by having the desire tolearn faith. Knowledge appears in an unexpected form in the be-ginning, the way the new world showed up as America, instead ofIndia, to European explorers. Peace knighthood is not a rewardfor patience, because it is already given, but you know it belongsto you through this attitude.

In stillness and silence you claim the truth of who you are. Yourrelaxed state of mind allows the hidden knowledge to surface.Intuitive wisdom is the line to God in every individual mind. ButLuke is preoccupied with the geographical location of his guideand his racing mind inhibits awareness. Being patient means you

Novice

with

Attitude

Who

Wants to

Learn?

4 APPRENTICE AND MENTOR 59!


you wait with hope, not feeling ashamed about “wasting time” orannoyed by “being bored.”

Relaxation begins Luke’s training in a thinking transformation.Yoda tells Luke, “Only a calm mind knows the difference betweengood and evil” or has a sense of humor, knowing a good from abad joke. As the son of a natural born podracer, perhaps Lukeacquired impatience from his father.

As a brazen adolescent Luke haughtily says, “We’re wasting ourtime.” Yoda himself now loses patience and blurts out irritably, “Icannot teach him. The boy has no patience.” Yoda is agitated.Luke tests Yoda’s patience, as Yoda tests Luke’s, and the twoprogress in tandem. Luke at least shows that he can concentrate ina way required later to absorb Principle 4: Mind Power.

To be patient means not to wait in a hurry or to give up hopewhile personal change takes effect. Yoda’s reaction is surprising,given that he is the most intelligent creature in the galaxy, with900 plus years experience in educating novices. An impatient men-tor teaches impatience. Yoda is mortally imperfect, yet also per-fectly divine.

In Spanish, there is a saying, quien espera desespera (whoever waitsdespairs) but the opposite is true, revealed in the fact that “towait” and “to hope” are the same verb: esperar. Yo espero meansboth I wait and I hope, that is, to wait patiently is to hope. Simi-larly, realizar is not “to realize,” a false cognate, but “to achieve.”Yo creo means both “I believe” and “I create.”

Children lack patience and long to grow up quickly to accessthe microwave-oven, jet-engine, instant-network society. At agetwelve, you want to be sixteen, so you can get a driver’s licenseand start dating. Then you want to be twenty-one to drink, gamble

Wait

with

Hope

Espero

y

Creo

and stay out all night. Next you seek a good job, a new boy-girl-friend, a fast sports car in order to speed to fiestas to dance salsaand swing.

There is no way to know whether your development is fast orslow, requiring longer for some than others. Patience helps youhold onto hope while awaiting the unexpected. Patience preventsyou from giving-up during delays and keeping you out of the raceto be an ace. You would not be in a big hurry, if you did not feelguilty about wasting time and about what you were doing whilewasting it.

You do not recognize a true self. Therefore, you do not know:when development happens, how long it takes, or when it is fin-ished. With hope you are patient. If you remain hopeless, as inThe Matrix, you will fight the same gang of lackluster lookalikes(Agent Smith) until you are defeated. The ego is a system of delu-sional defenses. If you judge others as insane, you are crazy too.

Once Yoda reveals himself, Luke realizes his training has begun.But, an exasperated Yoda announces that Luke’s training is over.Yoda tells Obi-Wan’s visage that Luke’s attitude is too rigid. “Muchanger in him, like his father.” Yet, there is much anger in Yodatoo. “He is too old. Yes, too old to begin the training.” Yet, Yodais older. In contrast, Artoo Detoo is ageless, for his chrome domespins 360 degrees in either direction.

Luke is just twenty-one, while Yoda is over 900 years old. Yodathinks Luke craves excitement and is ready to ship him back to the“outer battle,” where Luke (and Yoda) mentally remain in the mo-ment. Yoda perhaps needs to meditate on patience and review thetraining manual? Reportedly, it took four hours to film every twolines of Yoda’s dialogue, making his fee for sage exorbitant.

Rush and

Rash like

Youth

Out

of the

Ace Race



When Luke figures out that the creature is Yoda—The Jedi Man—undaunted by his blundering audacity, he begs Yoda to allowhim to stay and promises to reform. Luke fears expulsion fromtraining, poor grades at the academy, non-supportive letters ofrecommendation, failure to graduate and the loss of the greatcivil war. Obi-Wan intercedes, however, to remind Yoda that bothof them were once rash, just like Luke.

The fast track to knighthood is what his father, Anakin, soughtduring his days in training, but patience is the shortcut. Iras-cible, Yoda shakes his head dolefully, but agrees to give Lukeanother chance. Obi-Wan assures Yoda that Luke will completehis mission. Luke eagerly accepts instruction now and says he isnot afraid. Still fallible, Yoda warns him, with a scrutinous eye,“You will be.”

Yoda’s reaction shows that even advanced knights can lose theircomposure and sense of humor. For example, Yoda threatens Luke,“You will be afraid,” scolds him for being “too adventurous,” yellsat him, “You must learn to control” and disparages him by shakinghis head. Yoda acts like a little drill sergeant and his remoteassignment may be the penalty for his intransigence.

Losing patience while teaching patience seems funny, but by hisexample, Yoda teaches impatience. Luke is not going to learn towait and trust from the example of this great master. Being flawed,however, Yoda shows that the capacity to be a peace knight lieswithin mortal reach. Yoda is less oracle-like and more believableas a little ogre and cranky imp.

Forgive your flaws when you are perturbed, for you forget thatyou are divine—and forgive to forget. Holding onto guilt is choos-ing not to forgive. A peace knight may want to give everythingto a higher cause, but this does not mean there are no lapses or

Forget to

Forgive and

Forgive to

Forget?

Patience

is the

Shortcut

Mentor

or

Tormentor

regressions. Wings and halos are not standard issue. You are stillon the path to destiny while lost in the wilderness.

You may think there is some impediment to overcome before youcan be willing, but mind power transcends the wrongs of the pastand lifts you out of the present. Though Luke signed on to be abetter warrior, his intention to change initiates consciousness. Ifyou think more is required, you are not yet willing. You need thewill of a rookie, not a wookie, just a little, and development beginsin time.

Luke longs to inhabit the peaceful place in his mind that heintuits, but does not know how to attain. In place of fantasies ofcon-quest by the action hero, willingness starts to fill-in con-sciousness with the law of faith in the nascent wisdom hero. Truthis cognized and then recognized, the second act confirming thefirst, as pacifism is instilled.

MMMMMENTORENTORENTORENTORENTOR BBBBBEINGEINGEINGEINGEING

You glimpse knighthood as you react with greater ease to inci-dents that used to activate your “fight-flight instincts.” As you be-come more tolerant of your self and others, subtle changes showthat your thinking is being turned upside-down. Empirically testedfaith lifts the contentious old way of seeing and you feel better aspeace belongs to you.

Based on your new understanding, you enter a second stage ap-prenticeship and encounter someone, in a new or old relation-ship, to whom you give advice. Self-conscious at first, you mayquote your mentor without acknowledgment. Your answer helpsthe novice turn into an active student of consciousness, one whosewillingness is reinforced by your acceptance of their awkwardnessas a beginner.

Two Active

Students of

Consciousness

Acknowl-

edge a

Mentor?

4 APPRENTICE AND MENTOR 63!


This collaboration accelerates your development as an apprenticeand reinforces their initiation. For this reason, during training,two peace knights appear to work together, making for the Ruleof Two. “The work” is internal, though it may seem interpersonalas between individuals. The social bond is provided because youthink it valid confirming your preconceptions.

You stop caring for pet peeves. The change takes place in yourmind, but you do not recognize the location. Others think youlook the same outwardly where their attention is still fixed. Asyou acquire patience, following willingness, you reinforce devel-opment. When you enter discipleship, your novice graduates toapprenticeship and the two of you progress together. The rewardof teaching is learning (ACIM).

Your training case is assigned to help you practice your teach-ings. This might be called the “chain of command” among peaceknights, but it is mutual and casual. Thereafter begins the jour-ney to the third and fourth rungs: disciple and master. Now youproceed on your own, for you must come to terms with the Ruleof One (i.e., the Law of Faith in God). Or, you can hang out inthe kingdom of appearances as an apprentice for the rest of yourdays if you wish.

Novice to apprentice is accomplished quickly with little effort,but the journey to faith beyond the elementary levels arousesresistance. You encounter two ruthless warriors, master and ap-prentice, projections who want to stop your spiritual progress.Legions of “opponents” will mobilize to destroy you. Anger, pro-voked to cover fear about receiving the love of God, attracts youto fighting a deeply felt “dark side.”

Major battles with fear and self-doubt will continue to erupt. Fromthe ego, there is expected sanctions from God. People unite injust social causes to establish common enemies to shield against

ATraining

Case

The Ruleof One

The Ruleof Two

anticipated retaliation. The psychological motive for external actionis entirely hidden to individuals. The immediate payoff is sharinggoals and bonding with others as an aroused public. The price isthe alienation from God that divides the self into allies and foesto provoke endles warfare.

Ironically, the decision for spiritual growth stimulates the fear ofGod. If you forgive your self-sabotage, in believing the deity ispunitive, and stay aware that you confront but an illusory part ofyour own split mind, then progress will follow. When you lapsein consciousness, however, you will feel assailed by a pair of terror-ists and a phalanx of enemies. We think we are misled, rather thanguided by rational faith.

Only a few begin the arduous trip to disciple and master training.Distraught, people want to live forever, instead of transiting timeand space with faith. Health, purpose, creativity, laughter, joy andpeace follow. Not understanding his own disloyalty, Saint Paulsuffered the dilemma saying, “For the good that I would I do not:but the evil which I would not, that I do.” (Romans 7:19). Theburden of guilt in being mortal is too heavy for humans to bear.

The two common most errors are trying to convince yourself thatyou are worthy of the love of God or deciding unilaterally thatyou are not worthy. You are not in charge of His loving. He doesnot condemn you just because your mind is undecided. No mat-ter what you think, you are loved totally and He never changes Hisdecision. Think this is true one iota and the misery vanishes.

The mortal self, versus the immortal Self, rages in the split mind.Everyone in time is slaughtered by MSother Nature. Fearfully, indi-viduals project warfare into outer space to conceal conflict withGod over death by aging. The war is seen faraway because it istoo horrific to acknowledge personally. Suffering two irreconcil-able identities until passing, everyone returns to absolute Love atlast in the end.

Hide Guilt!!!!!

Split Mind

!!!!!Alienate God

!!!!!Find Allies

and Foes

!!!!!Go to War


ROBERTO DURAN:P A N A M A N I A NBOXER KNOWNFOR ENDING AFIGHT WITH THEWORDS, “NO MAS,NO MAS.”


From: [email protected]: [email protected]: no more fighting!Sent: sat, 11 sep 2004

Yodo teaches Roberta that evil does not exist. Butstrong willed, she has believed for a lifetime that shelives in a world outside her mind. Roberta fightsagainst what she is being taught, but not to challengeYodo. When you preconceive evil, you see it as real.

Loving Yodo as a mentor, Roberta ends the battleand Yodo returns her feelings. In The Matrix, Neastruggles for three full-length films. Roberta enduressix features in Star Wars, before she declares “no morefighting.” Reversing perspective and perceiving theworld as illusion takes time to comprehend.

NO M

AS!

DDDD DIS

CIPL

EIS

CIPL

EIS

CIPL

EIS

CIPL

EIS

CIPL

E &&&& &

MMMM MAS

TER

ASTE

RAS

TER

ASTE

RAS

TERFFFFFIVEIVEIVEIVEIVE

LLLLLESSONESSONESSONESSONESSON TTTTTHREEHREEHREEHREEHREE::::: PPPPPHANTOMHANTOMHANTOMHANTOMHANTOM EEEEENEMYNEMYNEMYNEMYNEMY

TTTTThe third lesson continues to immerse Luke in the mystery of the Force. Yoda rides around a swampy planet,

strapped to Luke’s back, like his conscience. Luke thinks he ispreparing to study the art of warfare and getting in physical,instead of mental, shape. He runs, jumps and swings becausemotor skills must be practiced constantly to be maintained.

As the two rest together after exploring the terrain, Yoda tellsLuke, “A Jedi’s strength flows from the Force. But beware of thedark side. Anger ... fear ... aggression. The dark side of the Forceare they ... If once you start down the dark path forever will itdominate your destiny.” As the message sinks in, Luke is anxiousbecause he previously “failed” patience and thinks he is about tobe tested again.

!


The War

Against

War is

Still War

Defensive

Fear of

Physical

Weakness

about Aging

and Dying

Suddenly, Luke feels the chill of fear—a premonition about beingalone in a vulnerable in a dangerous place. Still caught-up in anold-fashioned, competitive way of thinking, based on feelings ofstrength and weakness in his body, he is threatened by the sensa-tion. He decides to penetrate the jungle, to suppress his emo-tions, confronting the peril, at risk of attack.

When thinking mpulsively, you are drawn like a magnet to the“dark side.” Luke disregards the precept of patience and reactsfearfully to Yoda, the jungle and the Force. He transfers an inse-cure way of thinking onto the environment and believes safety liesin physical might and arms. “Your weapons ... you will not needthem,” Yoda tells him. Strength of mind needs no reinforcement byattack or defense.

Whether resisting or joining the “dark side,” you lend it credibil-ity entering its physical dominion. Being mad about war meansfright and fight still govern your mind, for the war against war isstill war. To not fear dying is impossible, as long as you believe youare mortal and that fighting is worthwhile. “Resist not evil,” meansnot to join, but also not to oppose it, because terror then is madeto appear real.

The Qutir’án (Koran) says, “to repel evil with good.” The “dark side”has power only when you invest believe in it. Whether you win orlose a battle, Darth Vader always wins the larger war because yourmind is limited to the hostile boundaries he defines. You cannotdefeat someone you allow to: name the contest, the slope of theplaying field, the terms of engagement, the definition of scoringand the meaning of victory.

Darth Vader is the champion of the pathos and chaos that resultfrom self-attacks concerning the physical weaknesses of agingand dying without faith. A war against biology is irrational be-

5 DISCIPLE AND MASTER 69

cause physical life is terminal. Just as the Emperor magnifies DarthVader, attack makes “the devil” seem stronger. In The Matrix tril-ogy, Neo cannot defeat the obsessively hostile Agent Smith be-cause he replicates while fighting him. The more you attack an“enemy,” the more fiercely he appears to counter-attack. “Evil” is adouble-edged sword, for first you think it exists and then condem-nation reinforces it.

No threat or use of force makes peace possible and mutual re-crimination only reinforce self-hate. “Fighting for peace” perpetu-ates conflict by attributing guilt to the advocates of war. Whethersmall or large, “evil” is an illusion. Luke disavows Yoda’s inwardprinciple, however and lacks mind power. Warfare in “the world”ends when fighting stops psychologically.

To “surrender” does not mean to admit defeat, nor to fake an-other delay in the fighting, but to adopt a new style of thinking.“We are going to have peace even if we have to fight for it,” saidWorld War II General Douglas MacArthur. In the contest of egos,peace was never his intention. With self-other-forgiveness, how-ever, no matter where you go, warfare is over forever.

Luke displays his ambition to attain social power in a misalliancewith the “empire.” That he thinks he knows how to defeat dark-ness, means he is in “danger,” for without a guide, he has goodreason to fear failure. Yoda does not order Luke to enter thejungle; it is his own impertinent decision. Luke ignores Yoda,rather than his feelings, hiding his guilt by attacking a “bad father”for his own physical weakness.

Without a guide, hardly anyone discovers and adopts the law offaith in God. Cooperative learning is the opposite of basic mili-tary training, performed anonymously in large units, under rigidregulations, using intimidation and punishment for mistakes. Any

Trapped

in

Illusion

You

Stop

Fighting

You

Terms

of

Repulsion


War

Parties

Are

No Fun

Helmet

=

Hard-

Headed

meaningful communication between officer and soldier contra-dicts the objectives of death and destruction. Military personneltrained in meditation to improve concentration are reported tolose the will to fight.

God is heard as an inner voice, not through ears attached to thehelmet of your hard head. Whether a tree falls in a forest, orgrows in Brooklyn, is irrelevant, compared to allowing your mindto attune to its intuitive power. War parties are costly and no fun.The only losses involved in spiritual growth are the cost of arms,battle fatigue and the agony of defeat.

Believing he faces a test of courage, however, Luke buckles onhis weapons belt anyway. He does not realize that Yoda orches-trates the lesson as he sits there calmly toying a “gimer stick.”Luke enters a cave in the jungle that represents his hidden mind.Yoda lets him think that his way of doing things is right, beforeintroducing him to mind power that is located “underground.”

In addition to using the gimer stick to walk and as a‘weapon’ against Artoo, Yoda carries the stick to ... well... chew on it. According to Slavicsek’s “Guide to theStar Wars Universe,” ‘ the gimer plant produces a succu-lent juice that gathers in sacs on the bark. The sticks canbe chewed for their flavor and to quench thirst. Yoda . . .was fond of chewing gimer sticks.’ ” Thus, Yoda is notimpervious to all external influences. (Anita Backory).

In defiance, Luke maintains a power struggle with Yoda and theForce, blocking communication and keeping his trainer annoyedand dismayed. Luke defends, not against injury, but against gain-ing awareness. Instead of employing conceptions, he deploys

weapons using the fear of a weak body to defend against mindpower. He believes he must slay his natural father, making thehorror and terror seem real.

Luke thinks Jedi Knights are specially trained devil-killing monks.He takes his weapons because he believes there is an enemy andgiven an armed search, he will find a deadly one. Like dreaming,reality seems vivid while you are asleep. Luke wants to retaliateand must be taught not to seek revenge. The Emperor, who killedhis foster parents and Obi Wan, who told him Darth Vader killedhis father, sent Luke down the war path.

In the third lesson, like Plato’s classic “Allegory of the Cave,”Luke enters his mind, visualized as descent underground. Creepysnakes, lizards and rats at the portal portend the danger he thinkshe will encounter in this primitive place, but he is destined toadvance into the sunlight of mind power. In The Matrix trilogythe spiritual self also resides beneath the surface in “Zion.”

Suddenly, a holographic Darth Vader appears to Luke’s immedi-ate left. The virtual image suggests a phantom figure, arising as aprojection from the creative side of Luke’s right brain. Luke drawshis lasersword first and matching blow for blow and with the firstswipe, decapitates the icon of “evil.” So easily is he done-in, Lukemust be tricked, for you cannot overpower “the devil” when hedoes not exist outside your thinking.


In disguise, Yoda toys with a “gimer stick” to appearfeeble and innocuous. The cane serves many purposes:walking, chewing, warding off R2-D2 and screeningholographic lessons about knighthood. As a pointer,it keep Yoda himself on the point of faith in the Force.

CH

ICAN

ERY


No

Enemy

Anywhere

Remaining

Stubborn

Retards

Psycho-

logical

Growth

With Yoda’s magical huff and puff, Darth Vader’s signature blackhelmet falls to the ground. The sight of his own face inside theiconic helmet shocks Luke. This is no faceless storm trooper froman alien realm. His own wide-open eyes stare back at him in dis-belief. Luke thinks, “I have met the enemy and he is me.” wroteMary Henderson (1997). “Darth Vader is not an external evilpresence but the shadow side of Luke himself.”

The crucial third lesson is realizing that the enemies you thinkyou see outwardly are projected aspects of your own thinking.Luke must understand that opponents are not real. The enemyis not you, or your evil twin-clone, for there is no enemy any-where. Luke must trust that Yoda is a reliable mentor who differ-entiates fabrications from creations in his mind.

When Luke decapitates Darth Vader and discovers his own startl-ed face inside the fallen helmet, Yoda says nothing, trusting thecontext of the scene to convey the message. Cadets mistake thislesson to mean “the enemy is within me,” but this bars the way totruth by stubbornly believing the guilt is real. It insists on usingthe anti-Force of physical might to repudiate bodily weakness in-stead of accepting mind power.

Being “beheaded” suggests getting rid of guilt, the way Darth Vadertosses out the “evil” emperor in the finale. Luke was taught to feelguilty as a child (Chapter 10) and he reengages his “enemy-self”wherever he turns as an adult, because he encount-ers his projectionas “reality.” If he deposes militancy (helmet-headedness) he ascendsto a new level of awareness. Thus, “meeting the enemy in me,” orin anyone, is refuted.

Believing, like his father, that the enemy is real, Luke at first takesan aggressive stance. But the truth is—no enemy—no Darth Vaderexists in reality and no evil in Luke Skywalker. Making no distinc-

tion a student once declared, “I believe in Satan as much as Ibelieve in Jesus Christ!” Not surrendering to mind power makesouter forces looks absolute. But with inner control, you can standsafely in the dark or in the Light.

God is not divisible into good and bad, for true power knowsneither opposite nor scope. Oneness means God is indivisibleinto dark and light forces except during hypothetical separationsfrom Her. As one almighty being, no finite power rivals His infi-nite power except among those who imagine that death of thebody is the end of life. Death is a phantom enemy and all foes arefalse (faux foe).

“Evil” becomes a category of fantasy and your perception of selfand others is transformed. But Luke is helmet-headed, predis-posed to see an opponent who is not really there, keeping theidiot-ego aroused in the body to defy the Force. Shielded by ahelmet, Luke cannot hear the truth. The helmet traps Luke (andAnakin) in circular reasoning, justifying outrage over his expul-sion from heaven (and the Order of Jedi Knights).

Using coercion, being “helmet-headed,” refutes wisdom knight-hood and repudiates God. There is “no enemy” includes studentswho may cite horror stories from the media as proof that mentorsare mistaken about the illusion of “evil in reality.” As long as you

An

Indivisible

God

All

Foes

are

False


Discovering his own face within the helmet of a be-headed Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker thinks that Yodateaches, “I am my own worst enemy.” But the lessonis about the helmet, about being head strong inbelieving enemies exist. As long as Luke staysobstinate, he has no alternative to engaging in an endlesswar with “evil” in the “world.”

HELM

ET H

EAD


think you know the whole truth, assumptions go unexamined. Aswe project, so shall we perceive.

People project “evil” and perceive in others what they deny to betrue in themselves. You will not see conflict with another person,however, without self-conflict. Your self-concept lies behind theenemy you conjure up before you. We blame others for being whowe think we are, just as they blame us for being who they think weare. Under the rule of guilt, the higher self does appear trapped byhostile forces.

RRRRRETREATETREATETREATETREATETREAT FFFFFROMROMROMROMROM PPPPPEACEEACEEACEEACEEACEMixed up about the nature of power, Luke breaks training anddefects to the “dark side.” He confuses Yoda with Darth Vaderand thinks both threaten to take away his meager might. Thethought of a trick is the trick, but he cannot be deceived if hetrusts his mind to dispel the dark. Luke does not realize that hepursues fighting to block consciousness and to repel wisdom.

The foremost trick of the “dark side” is to lurk in the unconsciousand derive power from the belief that you and Darth Vader evol-ved from the same stock. Hidden guilt reappears outwardly in theshifting shape of wrongdoers. But in the light of being right-minded,these characters become innocent. Dracula withers in the daylight,Mr. Hyde is exposed in public and an adolescent boy with a glow-stick transforms “the devil.”

Personal guilt surfaces as the judgments of others when you donot remember that you project reality (perception=projection).Your unacknowledged discontent always shows up as the mali-cious misconduct of malcontents. Hidden “stains and blemishes”draw you to participate in the “dark side” that appears realistic.With no root of concealed self-attack, however, there are noenemies anywhere.

!

PROMETHEUS:A TITAN IN

GREEK MYTH-OLOGY WHO

RULED THE

EARTH UNTIL

DEFEATED BY

THE GODS OF

OLYMPUS. HE

STOLE FIRE

AND THE ARTS

FROM HEAVEN

TO GIVE TO

HUMANITY AND

WAS PUNISHED

BY ZEUS BEING

CHAINED TO

A MOUNTAIN-SIDE WHERE HE

WAS ATTACKED

BY A VULTURE

FOR ETERNITY.FREED BY HER-CULES, KNOWN

FOR STRENGTHAND COURAGE.

When you release preoccupation with the physical, what dis-ap-pears is not power but terror—for your mind now trusts itselfrather than mistrusts the actions of others. Thinking muscle wins,prolongs mental anguish. There is no trap to avoid, nor action toexecute, unless you are bound to a body, like Prome-theus, to arock. Wary students accuse Yoda of being tricky, but projection isa trick of the mind. Luke fools Luke, to enter the jungle and con-front a “death monster.”

Luke did not construct his own lightsaber as was the custom. As agift passed through Obi-Wan, Luke’s lazer cutless had belonged tohis father when he was young Anakin Skywalker. This means thepower of wisdom is handed down through the generations. Duringthe climax, Luke goes beyond good and “evil” to fabricate a newsceptre that represents his new consciousness and reinforces thelineage of wisdom knights.

In Spanish, saber means “to know.” A “light saber” suggests know-ing the Light, though this point gets blunted in the technical liter-ature on Star Wars which refers to a one meter long weapon thathums and glows with the enormous energy radiated by crystaljewels in its handle. Lightsticks are actually aluminum tubes paintedfluorescent colors and wrapped in plastic, to contain fragmenta-tion. The indignity of the ego uses fighting others to spurn thelove of God.

Knowing he will return one day because he already is headed fordestiny, the reclusive Yoda watches the G.I.-Jedi depart. Luke needsmore defeats in outer skirmishes since he believes he can be de-stroyed by the perils “out there.” The “dark side” does not exist,however, and you choose to be at war or at peace, captured or en-raptured, wherever you enter the “world.” The ego pleads for suffer-ing to sustain self-hate and to avoid forgiveness.


Saber

=

To Know


Protected by a helmet, you can retreat to warfare convinced thatpower resides in the brawny body and dense matter. Or, you canexpel the teacher and leave the classroom. Never are you trapped,however, because the answer lies right within your mind whenyou learn to forgive you and others for not learning.

Love and beauty are invisible as long as you reject sanity and seren-ity. Making guilt real is a mistake and a bad habit to break. Fight-ing begets fighting because, disguised as an enemy-agent, you are al-ways at war with yourself and always losing. Staying fearful stimulatesattack as a defense and reproduces unconscious guilt that demandspunishment of others who “deserve it for being wrong.”

Stamping out “evil” causes it to rise. Individual and “collective”peace come from consciousness. Physical location means nothingand mental attitude means everything in life and death. Whereyou are in your mind is always where you are, for “reality” is en-tirely mental and never a place beyond your thinking. Planet Hellis the mental state of being invested in the world.

MMMMMINDINDINDINDIND PPPPPOWEROWEROWEROWEROWER::::: LLLLLESSONESSONESSONESSONESSON FFFFFOUROUROUROUROURAs instructed, Luke stands on his hands and attempts to levitatetwo stones. The act of juggling upside-down appears odd to theuninitiated. Yoda asks Luke to assume this position because itillustrates the task and puts it right conceptually. Not familiarmind power, you think you are the victim of natural and socialforces, but the reverse is true.

The script says Yoda teaches Luke to lift one rock into the air totouch another and at first, it looks like he is getting the hang of it.Frantically, Artoo Detoo beeps and whistles because at that mo-ment, the spaceship sinks deeper into the mire. Luke’s fearof los-ing control and becoming obviously helpless are synchronized inhis inability to raise the spaceship.

The

‘World’

is the

Mental

State of

Hell

Forgive

Your Not

Forgiving

!

To trainees power exists in nature. To defy gravity and operate as aknight in the light of day, seems dangerous. Represented by thespacecraft, mind power puts Luke at risk of losing residual naturalpower to fight and flee. Locked into the domain of physical con-trol, Luke does not grasp an inward focus. Adopting wisdom,however, allows the body at last to rest.

Aspiritual thinking separates cause and effect and reverses the or-der (ACIM). Touching two rocks suggests a choice of inner versusouter concentration, but Luke displaces his mind outward anddeclines an inward attitude. He substitutes power in the world forspirit in the mind and protracts a covert mind-war with God. Youare not deprived of life by death, but deprived of spirit by life,which is death.

Scientists claim that ideas are synthesized in the brain, but have noidea where and are not dissuaded by the lack of evidence. Not theneurons in the brain, but the synapse to God fires the mind. Notrealizing that “reality” originates from the base of guilt in the splitmind, physics investigates only the effects of isolated thinking.The science of physics makes reality finite only in theory.

Humans quit the mind of God to enter the ego in the name of thebody, time and space. Because we think we exist in this alien place,no one becomes whole until returning Home. Leaving Onenessdivided everything in the universe into clashing dualities: positiveand negative charges, yin and yang energies, east and west continents,north and south poles, left and right politics, male and femalebodies, conscious and unconscious thinking.

The world is known only through the split mind so “reality” derivesfrom the projected self-concept of divided beings. In physical exile,people need spiritual repatriation. Intuitive wisdom is diminishedwhen thinking is disconnected from God’s love. With an ego-cen-

In the

Name of

the Body,

Time and

Space



tered science, humans construct an earth-centered universe andarrogance expands like the big bang.

The gap created by the departure from Heaven is the buildingblock of “the universe,” an effect of phenomenal thinking. In Span-ish, física is the science of physics, but físico is vainity. Real means“royal,” suggesting reality is artificial—not empirical. The Dutchartist M. C. Escher, fascinated with drawing shiny spheres thatdistorted the reflection of the viewer, claimed, “Man’s ego is thecenter of the universe.”

An egotist wants someone to watch his or her act because a look-ing glass self is very fragile. Only a creature of Artificial Intelli-gence (Warner 2001) wants to have a robust ego like a human be-ing. As a scientist, Galileo, confronted the church, but did notrealize that an invisible force called egotism caused the collision.Galileo knew, however, that spinning on an axis made everyoneon the planet dizzy.

The ego breaks the first commandment, “Thou shalt have no Godsbefore me,” including thyself. There may be a soul to physics, butthere is no physics to the soul. Luke tells Yoda that moving stonesin the air is different than raising a spaceship, but Yoda insists,“Only different in your mind.” Luke concentrates on the size ofthe outer object. Mass and density are sheer illusions of energybut mind power is real.

“Breathe,” “relax,” “focus” are exercises to trust that no separationexists and no existence separates us from God. Your mind is yourbest muscle and not restricted to the brain. In being linked to aninfinite power undetectable to the senses, it has no height, weightor size. Mind mutates matter the way fire consumes wood, daylightovertakes darkness, knowledge surpasses ignorance and wakefulnessreplaces dream states.

The

Vanity of

the Senses

Ego-

Centered

Universe

Wisdom

is

Intuitive

Both science and science fiction assume that observer and ob-served are real, making reality the religion of the senses. Perceptionappears to be objective and “reality” is constructed. The bodyand world exist only in the mind, but this knowledge is concealedby divided consciousness. Willingness to learn unlocks the vaultto hidden wisdom.

Doubting mental science, Luke says, “I’ll give it a try.” In themost famous line in the film series, Yoda responds tersely, “No!Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.” Obediently, Luke pointshis right hand toward the craft and focuses. It dislodges, but he isfearful of the effect that confirms mind power. He shifts attentionto protect himself and loses concentration. The ship then sinksand he gives up complaining, “It’s too big.”

Thinking Yoda demands the impossible—mind over matter—Luke tries Yoda-Vision briefly and then powers down. To demon-strate mind power, Yoda retrieves the sunken spacecraft from themurky waters. An incredulous, Luke says, “I don’t believe it”and the wise Yoda replies, “That’s why you fail.” Luke need nottry harder nor practice longer—he must simply trust God in hismind to do the heavy and Light work.

The science of physics conceives a material world because spiritis repressed and attention is extruded to defend the vulnerableego. Only an ego needs a system of defenses. Reality exists, how-ever, because you think outside your mind. When mind power isprojected, natural and social forces appear strong and you feellittle and weak. Your identity shrinks to anatomical proportionsas your great spirit is overlooked.

You then expect your body to make up for what is missing in yourmind. Since this is impossible, you think and act irrationally like“others in society.” Trying to fill the void inevitably arouses a deep

“Reality”

is the

Religion

of the

Senses



sense of deprivation. Denying the emptiness, however, you findfault with everyone else for your suffering that testifies to their“mistreatment” of you.

Thinking the body is intelligent is not smart. Your body will tryto comply with your demand to make you happy, but will break-down with illness and disease from chronic abuse. If your bodywas intelligent, on account of the mistreatment, it would have leftyou long ago. But it is neutral, responding to what you thinkduring an earth bound transit.

We think we are a physical beings because it is what we perceive, but weperceive we are a body because it is what we think and project. Whenplaced onto a superficial plane, identification with the body makesan “objective” self-conception. The illusion is meaningless andneither hard-bodies nor hardheads stand between heaven and earth.Yet, loathing death, embodied egos still think so.

When identity is physical, consciousness rests on the absence ofGod in a private war that rages in unconscious denial. In materialform, physical powerreplaces God’s love and excludes Him fromawareness that is then blamed back on Him. He is not silent andabsent, “we have silenced him” (Wapnick 2004)and “you have with-drawn from Him” (ACIM).

The search for extraterrestrial (and domestic) intelligence starts withan inward focus. Looking for life on Mars means wisdom is scarceright here on Earth. Not being smart but not realizing it, you seewhat you preconceive and your mind creates whatever you intend.A peace knight stay focused, but is still learning to be kind and for-give on the wings of peace.

Luke tells himself the task is too difficult because the spaceship istoo big. Yet he need only remind himself that he is capable and

Call

on

Love

Use Your

Forgiveness,

Luke

the size of the craft matters not at all. If you think “evil” exists, itevidence is created in the form of “enemies” who appear to attackyou as angry clones of the separated self. Friends and foes are ofone split mind. Peace knights are rare but never extinct.

Disregarding mental life, traditional Christians think you are savedif you act sinless. But grace is given regardless of aware-ness orcompliance. In always knowing you are loved by God, age-oldenemies, including non-Christians, just disappear. Then movingstones and mountains are trivial in contrast to the miracles youcan perform with your mighty mind muscle.

Luke wants to control objects to become a legendary warrior. Hisambition contradicts his potential, however, since he wants thenew ability for military conquest and the glory of the humongousego—the essence of the “dark side.” He has not changed his per-spective and cannot see yet that true power comes from control-ling inner attention, granted through will power that leads to mindpower.

Friends and

Foes are

One

Clones

of the

‘Dark Side’


Yoda stands Luke on his head because lessons reversethe worldly view that power is in the natural world.Once willingness and patience are learned, touchingtwo stones in meditation suggests first contact withmind power. The entrapment of comrades frightensLuke and he quits training. to retreat to galactic war-fare, rationalized as a rescue mission, but actually avoidsadvanced instruction. He fears the loss of physicalmight and reproductive capacity, if he stays in train-

ing to become a peace knight.

REVE

RSE

PERS

PECT

IVE

The term “peace fighter” is an oxymoron. Luke wants power topursue fighting because he thinks, like a little boy, who enviesthe size of big-ger boys and grown men. Aware or not, everyone isloved unconditionally, but given the denial of the unconsciousmind-war with God, the “world” is seen as cruel and vengeful. “At-tentiveness is the natural prayer of the soul,” wrote Nicolas Male-branche, a French Roman Catholic priest and philosopher (1638-1715).

You learn peace is a decision and all previous misperception iscorrected. Luke believes with his senses that power is external,but Yoda knows in his mind that it is internal. Because the taskis mental, the goal is to invert your point of view, causing the sizeof an object to be irrelevant. An apprentice may delay learningon the threshold of wisdom by taking another tour of duty throughmine fields and war zones.

In advanced training, you keep a low profile and try to stay awareof the love of God. A choice between two illusions, i.e., tworocks, is no choice at all, but two rocks touching means first con-tact—as conscious and unconscious knowledge of the Force meet.Validating the fourth principle, Luke opens his mind to an innerstrength that dissolves the guilt of self-hate. He perpetuates theancient enmity of enemies or options for the united sanity of saints.

OXYMORON:A CONCEPT

WITH CONTRA-DICTORY TERMS.

Peace

Fighter

Oxymoron

FFFF F

AITH

AITH

AITH

AITH

AITH

&&&& & PPPP P

EACE

EACE

EACE

EACE

EACE

SSSSSIXIXIXIXIXTTTTTRAPPEDRAPPEDRAPPEDRAPPEDRAPPED ANDANDANDANDAND DDDDDEFEATEDEFEATEDEFEATEDEFEATEDEFEATED

SSSSSearching for Yoda, Luke shows a willingness to develop his mind to gain wisdom. He trusts himself to rely on his men-

tor and become a student of peace. Seeing his own reflection inthe helmet of Darth Vader meant conflict with others is projectedself-conflict in need of resolution. As a sign of understanding, helevitates two rocks, but still he is frightened by mind power andflees training.

As protection against “enemies,” Luke irrationally decides toreturn to fighting. At the gateway to Principle 4, he foresees hisfriends being captured faraway. As long as he is fearful of learn-ing, they represent the parts of his mind trapped in the uncon-scious. Escaping to battle, Luke turns fear into anger and finds anold adversary. He is no help in rescuing his friends in this episodeand should have stayed in training with Yoda.

!


Luke fears losing control over hia life if he gives up physical bodypower to acquire mind power. Lesson four is regarded as a trickset by Darth Vader who tortures his pals. Guilt lies beneath hisworry about being defeated. Acting warlike conceals guilt and pro-tects self-reproach condemning others deserving punishment as“enemies.”

Luke decides to confront the mega-terrorist. He bails out of mindpower training to resume being a fighter pilot and flies off to con-tinue warfare. To Darth Vader the captured sundry crew membersserve as bait to lure Luke back to combat. Luke also believes hislove life, represented by Han and Leia, will be sacrificed if he isdubbed “peace knight” (Chapter 9).

Yoda tells Luke, “the future is difficult to foresee,” but the truthis, his friends will be confined until Luke transcends inner discordto acquire peace consciousness. In comprehending Principles 1and 2, Luke is midway to knighthood. Willingness and patiencecome easily, but phantom enemy and mind power are more diffi-cult to learn. The wisdom of faith can be resisted for years and re-main incomplete even among elders.

Luke departs to face Darth Vader for a second time, but immed-iately realizes that his physical power is rudimentary. The fatherreminds the son, as if the devil were his higher self, that withoutconsciousness, “Your destiny lies with me, Skywalker.” Luke alsofinds out that Obi-Wan lied to him: Darth Vader is his biologicalfather. “Not true. That is impossible. No! No!” Luke cries out.

Horrified, Luke learns that he must do mortal combat with asworn enemy and murder his own progenitor. This lends a maca-bre new twist to the idea of being part of your father’s bloodline.As guilt escalates, the revelation that Luke and Satan are kinsmenraises the specter of patricide. Thinking he is genetically linkedwith the “devil” crushes Luke’s confidence.

Wisdom

of

Faith

Guilt

=

Self-Hate

=

Self-

Attack

=

Projected

=

Warfare

Darth Vader promptly amputates his son’s right hand and sendsinto oblivion, what Slavicsek called “his father’s heirloom light-saber.” The right-hand symbolizes free will, but believing he was“born in sin,” drains Luke’s energy to fight well and win. Cool,unhanded Luke fights hard, but his adversary has the psychologicaledge. Alas, Luke is “luckless.”

The severity of his trauma is emphasized by the two losses: handand saber. During this crucial showdown with Father Vader, UncleOwen’s and Obi-Wan’s account of his “evil” lineage contributeto his enfeeblement. Mohs explained, “Luke refuses to join his fa-ther and says he would rather die.” Luke drops into the centralabyss, lands in the rigging on the underside of the city and clingsupside down to a cross-shaped antenna.

Here in the depths of despair, Luke recalls Yoda’s teaching aboutreverse perspective (mind power) and calls out to Ben (Obi-Wan). Contradicting gender expectations, the new pilot of theMillennium Falcon, his sister, has learned that she too is gifted.Telepathically hearing her brother’s plea, Leia flies to retrievehim. He sails away with her and her co-conspirators, who haveall escaped the wrath of the dark lord, except Leia’s dear com-panion, Han Solo.

Densely baptized, Solo is frozen solid and transported by a bountyhunter into the custody of a wormy mobster. The mercenary getsa fat reward, the gangster gets revenge—and the madman of“evil” rules the realm. Just as Luke feels handless, Han feels power-less at the hands of Luke’s malicious parent. The rebel resistance iswounded, scattered and demoralized. Luke has lost: his right hand,lightsaber, best buddy and joined the satanic gene pool. The Sonof Satan is “damned.”

Midway in Return of the Jedi, intimidated by the calm prospect ofmind power, Luke does not become a wisdom knight. He gives

Right

Hand

=

Free

Will

6 FAITH AND PEACE 85


up training, believing he will lose the little power he retains, physi-cal might to combat an agitated “enemy.” He also fears losing thecapacity to procreate, expressed in the cold damper put on thehot affair of Han and Leia (Chapter 9).

Like his father, Luke is too impatient and too scared to face hisinner “demons”—to learn that reality is an illusion and that theForce of spirit is not. He remains undisciplined because he doesnot enter inner space and secure mind power as a wisdom knight.He does not change his basic assumption—depart the “dark side”—grasp the dimension of light with consciousness.

As a military man, based on the denial of mind power, Luke seeseverything in terms of rational, instead of intuitive consciousness.Trained to kill, he is too terrified to trust a self and not vanquishfoes, to see a source of Love originating from outside time andspace. He must put his weapons aside for a new era of peace toappear, but preoccupied with might literally, Luke has no visionof personal wisdom.

Luke’s resistance resembles our own as we skirmish continuouslywith those we love and hate. Through conflicts with others, as aresult of guilt, the “bad” son and daughter in our personalitieskeeps insight insulated in outrage. “The meek shall inherit theearth,” for they know not how to fight. When we change our“Lukeness,” we ride with the peace knights.

RRRRRESUMPTIONESUMPTIONESUMPTIONESUMPTIONESUMPTION OFOFOFOFOF TTTTTRAININGRAININGRAININGRAININGRAININGIn Return of the Jedi, all the knights, robots and denizens of deepspace reappear. Episode VI resumes on Luke’s desolate home planetwhere the fostered child first began his adventures in A New Hope.But now he is taken across the barren wastes to witness the ob-scene lifestyle of the gross drug trafficker in the universe, the lordof the illicit “spice” trade.

Faith

Wrapped

in Outrage

Enter

Inner

Space

!

A petrified Han Solo is hung on the headquarters wall like a sculp-ture of pain. His grimace warns others of the gruesome punish-ment befalling lovers (of the Force and one other). A roving mes-senger, Artoo Detoo, shows up at the dive with a hologram fromLuke. To avoid an “unpleasant confrontation,” the hoodlum-chiefis advised to unfreeze the captain and offered the two robots inexchange.

Luke thinks he has to sacrifice the computers to rescue Han andto redeem the ultra hedonist at large. The conversion of the obesethug of greed to higher consciousness appears to be as formidableas his bulk. Luke follows-up the message with a live appearanceand refers to himself as a “Jedi Knight.” But an advisor informsthe crime lord, “He’s no Jedi.” The offer is declined and the loyalrobots are relieved.

Disguised as a male bounty hunter, Leia thaws Han out with theheat of her steadfast love and rescues him for the first time. Whenhe hears that Luke calls himself a “Jedi Knight,” fully humiliatedhimself, Han claims Luke suffers “delusions of grandeur.” Luke isthen imprisoned, while Leia, in scanty attire, is manacled by theneck, like a concubine, to the altar of the vice lord. The siblingsare caught, the male shut away in a dungeon and the female ex-posed on a throne.

The entire contingent of rebel convicts is transported to the cen-ter of an expansive desert to be fed to a gnawing orifice that livesbeneath the sandy wasteland. The voracious cavity represents thetotal isolation of the self via the retention of grudges and remain-ing ravenous for revenge. In the Special Edition the greedy pitacquired a head and tentacles, but slow digestion remained ex-cruciating torture for the pursuit of spiritual development.

Out of his innards, Artoo Detoo delivers to Master Luke, an im-proved lightsaber and the massacre is averted. In the ensuing melee,the hoodlums are all killed off or routed—consumed by the backfire


As

formidable

as his bulk

is the

hunger for

revenge by

the obese

thug of

greed.


of their own anal plot. Single-handedly, Leia strangles the slimelord to death with the chain that enslaved her. She fights savagelyas an avenging victim turning on her captor.

Now for the first time, Luke saves Han and begins to repay hisdebts in the tally of rescues. As soon as his friends are released,Luke is free again to pursue becoming a prince of peace underthe tutelage of the frog sage. “The revelation of his lineage, theloss of his hand and his failure to save his friend, Han Solo, fromsolidification, demonstrate the need to be stronger in the Force,”wrote Mohs.

Luke evolves as a wisdom knight. Emperor Sidious and DarthVader foresee the renewed threat to their regime and team-up todrag him back to the “dark side.” Luke has ascended to leveltwo, apprentice and therefore, two “evil” characters combine tostop him. Luke’s decision to return to training and his promotionto disciple are reasons the master and apprentice from the “darkside” unite, but still their effort is futile.

Luke finds Master Yoda on his deathbed. Yoda reminds Luke thathe knows what to do and Luke replies, “Then I am a Jedi.” Yodacontradicts him saying that he must confront Darth Vader yetanother time. “Then, only then, will a Jedi you be. Unfortunatethat you rushed to face him ... that incomplete was your train-ing.” Luke and Leia believe crimes by their father against humanitymust be righted by revenge.

Among fans, Luke is reputed to be Yoda’s best pupil and his flightfrom training is nostalgically forgotten. Driven by guilt as usual,Luke’s mind remains locked into the temporal-territorial planeand he assumes Yoda means another lazersword duel with hisarchnemesis father. An instructor must repeat lessons since train-ees miss the point that the challenge involves coming to termswith the mental, not the physical, parent

Guilt

Driven as

Usual

Luke confronts Yoda with a question, “Master Yoda, is Darth Vadermy father?” Yoda turns away, saying he needs to rest, like UncleOwen, evading an answer. Though he is all ears, Yoda is notlistening. The truth about Luke’s inheritance of “evil” is too heavy,even for Yoda the Great to bear. He reminds Luke, however, thatfighting is folly. “Once you start down the dark path, forever willit dominate your destiny.”

Yoda’s audible last words are a clue that Luke is not alone, “Thereis .... another ... Sky ... walker” (his sister). At this point, Lukewitnesses Yoda’s demise after a biblical lifespan, according to anunofficial count, of exactly 973 years. This is longer than Meth-uselah, who lived to age 969 (Genesis 5:21). [Yoda’s passing maybe proof of General Douglas MacArthur’s claim in the 1950s:“Old soldiers never die, they just fade away”].

Yoda’s instructive self-sacrifice is not apparent in the film or inthe script, however, in that he is old, weak, sick and dying indespair. Vainly, Yoda tells Luke he should look as good as Yoda at900 plus years old. Death ordinarily is less traumatic than birthand the rest of life. When the mind returns to Mind, the corpsedecays and the ego disappears as nothing. Yoda says, “Twilight isupon me and soon night (knight) must fall. That is the way ofthings, the way of the Force.”

Diverted to fighting, Luke remains young Master Luke, insteadof Luke, the Master Knight. However, Luke may be too distressedby Yoda’s passing to function as fighter pilot and is at risk. Yodaappeals to Luke’s vanity, saying “Do I look so old to your eyes?”He lightens the situation, for Luke is about to be orphaned forthe fourth time: parents, foster parents, Obi-Wan and now Yoda.To be trained as a warrior, not a savant, Luke must learn to denydeath. For centuries, elders have used the youthful need heroes toenticed teenagers to battle on their behalf.

Fighting

is

Folly

Orphaned

Four

Times



When Yoda’s expires, the issue of human immortality falls silent.Given the presumptive weakness of his unproven knighthood,Luke continues to misunderstand and to invest in the illusion ofbeing an abandoned mortal. He considers sin, guilt, fear and deathto be real threats. To free the rebel race from bondage, he thinkshe must “attack” and “defeat enemies.”

Holding on to “evil,” however, is a way of hedging on transcen-dence. There is no reason for a split decision in a contest withGod. Jedi Knights come and go as needed and appear to be ex-tinct only in time and space. Their transition may be invisible,but their special function is never eliminated. The mind has nobirth or death.

Luke is distraught, but Obi-Wan comes quickly in spiritual form,to console and counsel him. Luke confronts him about his fatherand Obi-Wan equivocates: “What I told you was true from a cer-tain point of view.” Luke says he cannot kill his father and beginsto see himself in the image of his Father. The wrong mind has noreal power over the right mind and so, he is true to his function,in the face of ego interference (ACIM).

Luke stops regarding himself as the offspring of “evil,” knowingmorality is not genetically determined. Now becoming a truewisdom knight, he sees basic good in his father. Obi-Wan dissents,

The Soul

Never

Sleeps or

Dies

Obi-Wan let himself be killed by Darth Vader, as Lukelooked on, in A New Hope, demonstrating to the ap-prentice that Jedi Knights are eternal beings guided bythe Force. Fans questioned why Obi-Wan’s robe wasleft behind when he dematerialized and wondered if itmeant he was “impure.” Demonstrably “evil,” DarthVader’s carcass had to be cremated. D

ISAP

PEAR

ING A

CT

Guilt

Attracts

the ‘Dark

Side’


however, stating, if this is right, “Then the Emperor has alreadywon. You were our only hope.” Obi-Wan’s distortion mean hehas not yet ascended after passing? Luke knows and presses forconfirmation of a reputed sister and guesses it is Leia. Then Obi-Wan admits, “Your insight serves you well.”

Deviating further, Obi-Wan tells Luke that instinctual feelings hehas about his sister are dangerous. “Bury your feelings deep downLuke, because they could be made to serve the Emperor.” But, re-pressing guilt attracts the “dark side.” Obi-Wan needs to completehis transition? The Emperor tells Darth Vader that Luke’s “com-passion for you will be his undoing,” but it proves to be his great-est asset.

“E“E“E“E“EVILVILVILVILVIL””””” EEEEEMPIREMPIREMPIREMPIREMPIRE EEEEENDSNDSNDSNDSNDSReturn of the Jedi (1983) originally was entitled Revenge of theJedi. According to an Internet Frequently Asked Question List, Pro-motional materials (movie posters, patches, etc.) were printedand are now collectors’ items.” Perhaps the title change was doneto avoid confusion with the vengeful plot of Star Trek II: Wrath ofKhan (Paramount 1982). “Revenge” showed up, however, in Re-venge of the Sith.

Luke relapses after Yoda’s passing and misconstrues his mentor’steachings. He soars away to carry out his mission of militant com-bat with his biologic and psychic father. But soon, Luke’s atti-tude changes, as he decides to restore his father to the goodside, rather than subdue him as the scapegoat of the bad side.His father as Darth Vader, surrendered to the dark, but dismiss-ing the idea of “evil,” Luke surrenders to the Light.

After the destruction of the first Death Star, the Emperorordered the construction of a second planet-destroyingspace station even larger than the first. Assembled in orbit

!


around the emerald moon Endor, the second Death Staris protected by an energy shield from the planet surfacebelow. This titanic weapon is only part of an insidiousplan to draw the Rebels into combat, for the Death Star’sincomplete structure hides its full operational capabilitiesand it is a giant trap waiting to fatally ensnare the RebelFleet” (Texas A&M Website).

The rebel troops plan to attack the shield of the second DeathStar, so the armada of the alliance can destroy the symbol of re-newed resistance to spiritual growth. Luke flies to a giant redwoodforest on an adjacent moon, which looks remarkably like NorthernCalifornia. Here he joins a tribe of pygmy teddy bears who havethe curious custom of wearing clothes over their furry coats.

Luke meets with Leia to tell her about her spiritual inheritanceand that the two are siblings. To both bits of news she repliesintuitively, “Somehow, I have always known.” On the death globe,Darth Vader senses Luke is nearby and Luke realizes he endangersthe mission. Luke informs Leia, “there is good in our father.” Heexplains to her, if he surrenders, he will not be turned over to theEmperor: “I can save him and turn him back to the good side.”

Luke sounds like Anne Frank (1929-1945) who hid in an atticwith her family for two years during the Nazi occupation of TheNetherlands. In her famous Diary of Anne Frank, she wrote thepoignant lines, “In spite of everything I still believe that people arereally good at heart.” No one is so depraved that they are not sal-vageable by love and kindness. So, Luke submits to the stormtroopers without malice or militance.

A budding peace master, Luke realizes that armed combat is point-less and passes through the final veil of darkness to demonstratedefenselessness. Standing vulnerably before the giant icon of“evil,”Luke calls him “father” and moralizes that Anakin “is the name of

your true-self. You’ve only forgotten. I know there is good in you.”This means his good father, Anakin, never died.

Luke reminds Father Vader that he was unable to kill him on thefirst Death Star, at the end of A New Hope. Luke says he knowshis father will not hand him over to the Emperor, but in the nextmoment, Luke is given over to evil’s ranking authority. First, hisfather checks-out his reconstructed lightsaber and declares, “Yourskills are complete. Indeed you are powerful as the Emperor hasforeseen.”

Standing helplessly before the chief executive officer of hate,Luke is told by the Emperor that, like his own father, he will beforced to capitulate to the “dark side.” A gnarled old man, hoodedand robed, sits like a boxer in an arena, the undefeated cham-pion of megalomania and disorder of the galaxy. He symbolizeselder citizens, self-absorbed and disgruntled, still fighting death tothe bitter end.

Luke insists he will not turn to the dark side—he will not be thrownin the throne room. Sparring verbally and posturing threats, theveteran pugilist incenses Luke by annihilating rebel ships in pan-oramic battles within their vista. Luke then knocks Darth Vaderdown, but quickly realizes that by fighting, he goes over to the“dark side.” He stops boxing with his dad as he recognizes hisfather’s (and his own) basic goodness.

An “enemy” appears during fatal moments when the love of Godseems absent from our mind. Like a scared child hiding from awrathful parent, Luke at first disappears, but in action symbolicof transformed resolve, he performs an amazing reverse somersault(reversing reverse perspective). He lands on the catwalk overhead,metaphorically in higher consciousness. With perfected inner vision,Luke looks down on his father calmly without condescension.

CEO

of

Hate

Young and

Old Fight

Death



COUP DE GRACE:DEATH BLOW OFMERCY TO ENDSUFFERING.

Genuine

Coup

de Grace

Sword

of the

Soul

As peacekeeper, instead of outraged space fighter, Luke announ-ces his new strategy. He draws on mental resources to take this re-volutionary stance. Determined not to fight his father, but stillfearful for his twin sister, Darth Vader psychically reads his son’s“weakness,” and learns, for the first time, of Leia’s existence. Char-acters who intuitively know one other’s thoughts, belong to OneMind.

Darth Vader threatens to corrupt Leia, “If you will not turn tothe dark side, then perhaps she will.” Incensed, Luke knocks hisfather to his knees and cuts off his right hand, symbolically dis-arming him of his will to fight for the “dark side.” Deciding touse insight in place of might, Luke rejects violence and refuses toexecute his father. His motive is compassion (Barad 2005). Thescreenplay reads:

Luke looks at his father’s mechanical hand, then to hisown mechanical, black-gloved hand and realizes how muchhe is becoming like his father. He makes the decision forwhich he has spent a lifetime in preparation. Luke switchesoff his lightsaber. Luke casts his lightsaber away. The Em-peror’s glee turns to rage.

Luke opens to the idea of good within his mind. He does not op-pose, but surrenders to the love of the Force and performs a genuinecoup de grace. The bedeviled Emperor, however, unmercifully laysbolts of “dark side” lightning on Luke. Darth Vader looks backand forth between his gleeful master and writhing offspring. For amoment it appears that, along with his weapon, Luke has thrownhis life away.

Unarmed, Luke lifts not a hand in self-defense. Near his death,the electrified youth stretches out his arms in agony and pleads,“Father, please. Help me.” Shocked by the Emperor’s lethal cru-

is restored to fatherhood, meaning he finds love in his heart forhis suffering son. Like mad wrestlers, he grabs the Emperor frombehind and heaves him into the shaft of the reactor furnace.

The shafted “evil” sorcerer bursts into flames as the nucleus of thesphere explodes with the release of all its phony, pent-up energy.That “dark forces” betray one another means everyone strives forimminent peace. Faithless hostility disappears as rebels triumphin a coup d’état by the grace of wisdom. But the resilience of “evil”persists in franchised writings when a new clone emperor showsup six years later.

To escape the morbid orb, Luke drags his father’s hulk to a shuttle-craft, as the fortress explodes in flames from attacks on its maingenerator by rebel fighters flying its interior. Breathing heavierthan ever as a result of this excitement, Darth Vader asks Luketo remove his mask and helmet, meaning he accepts death of thebody and ego. Anakin says to Luke, “Just for once let me look onyou with my own eyes.”

A scorched, hairless, elderly figure smiles faintly recognizing hisgood self in the image of his son and dies a natural death. With-out the disguise of mask and helmet, he resembles his tormentedkinsman, Jabba the Hutt. Luke illuminates, rather than eliminateshis father. Darth Vader dies as Anakin Skywalker and his last words

COUP D’ÉTAT:OVERTHROW OFTHE STATE BY A

SMALL GROUP.

Project

Hate,

Provoke

Fights


Darth Vader tosses the Emperor out of the galacticarena of the ego and into oblivion, symbolically riddinghis mind of “evil.” Without guilt, there is no reason toproject hate and provoke fights. His life as a tyrantpasses and total good returns to rule the galaxy. DarthVader then models peace consciousness briefly beforepassing on to Heaven.

GUI

LTLE

SS


are, “You were right about me being basically good. Tell your sis-ter.” Here Darth Vader confirms what Padmé told Obi-Wan at theconclusion of Revenge of the Sith (Chapter 11).

The “evil” side of Anakin Skywalker expires because good over-

comes “evil” in Luke’s thinking. Anakin dies a Jedi, sending amessage of hope to everyone who believes their “wickedness”

puts them beyond redemption and in league with “the devil.”Father and son wrack Satan, rescue humanity and restore faith

in God.

The grandiose ego cannot survive without an “evil” headmaster,who invents all the horror about death in the first place. Guilt

and sin encircle your mind like a crown of thorns. In pain we aremade self-centered and care only to retaliate. In a dark corner

of our psyche, pacifists are persecuted as traitors to customaryrevenge. Pride and arrogance deny divine consciousness that is

humble in having faith like a child.

But why must Anakin die? He felt no pain, for his severed hand

was artificial. Might he not have healed psychologically and physi-cally, and lived peacefully hereafter with his new lightsaber of

wisdom? Might not Anakin have returned to Jedi Knighthood?A reformed terrorist-politician not viable as commercial project?

Only Darth Vader’s mortal body was fatally wounded by theEmperor’s “white lightening.”

Darth Vader’s conversion proves that the darker the appearanceof the knight, the brighter is the inner light. To be elevated to

heaven, however, his mortal remains must be purified in a ritualbaptism of fire. While the victors celebrate, Luke cremates his

father’s carcass. That Ben and Yoda are master knights is the rea

Traitors

to

Vengeance

Death

Without

Fear

Light

Saber of

Wisdom

son their bodies vanish when they die, but to liberate Darth Vader’simmortal soul, Luke ignites a funeral pyre and bids farewell to an

ancient enemy ancestor. (in the mind).

Lucifer, the “light giver” in Latin, awakens within the dreamerwho returns to Heaven. He can fall back to Earth as a new warrioror new peace knight. Luke surrenders to the will of the Force, nolonger needing a civil war to keep guilt sealed-off with rage. Hebrings peace, making it clear that Star Wars is an antiwar filmand that wisdom is not a function of chronological age. The uni-verse is saved from the titans of death by a youth who turns onthe power of Light consciousness.

Luke dared to recognize his immortality and brought down theheinous regime of corruption. Fireworks explode and alliancefighters fly overhead in a galactic independence day celebration.The rebel allies defeat the axis empire. Light forces conquer darkforces via consciousness. Luke looks dismayed, yet the veneratedtrinity of Yoda, Obi-Wan and Anakin are delighted. This belovedboard of immortals surpasses all preceding celluloid heroes.

The three nod in compassion at Luke’s grief, but are aware of hisachievement from their elevated perch, knowing that learningto forgive is it own reward. And so peace endures, no longer justan interlude between galactic military campaigns. The “dark forces”

Lucifer,

the Light

Giver


Farewell

Old

Enemy!

In the finale, Luke throws away his lightsaber saying,“I will not fight you, Father.” Contrary to expectationand tradition, he does not slay Darth Vader in a cli-matic lightsaber duel. He refuses to be furious and as-sault the “dark side.” He relies instead on mind powerto bring about personal and universal peace. Bells tolla farewell to arms and all is quiet at the front.

ANTI-C

LIM

AX


can never be reconstituted because trusting God dissolves sin andguilt that never really exist. When the Light is on your side andyou are on the Light side, victory is won through the law of faith.

Random individual violence and organized military warfare per-vade human history. Luke’s final stand corrects the view that anoffended deity seeks retribution and it renounces the commonsecular accord of blood-letting revenge: lex talionis (an eye for aneye and a tooth for a tooth). In his glory, Luke reaffirms the codeof mystical knights that negates the use of physical force and re-stores the prime directive of faith in the Force of God.

The

Force of

God

From: [email protected]: [email protected]: “on becoming a jedi knight”Date: thurs, 24 jun 1999

As a Muslim I believe that there is only one trueforce, namely “Allah.” All things, whether per-ceived as ‘good’ or ‘evil,’ form the ‘light’ or ‘dark,’and manifest from His will. The choice determineswho we are.

We are all Allah’s evident ‘slaves’ but are not Shai-tan’s (the Devil’s) eager disciples. The ‘dark side’ isjust a label—it has no real power. All power is dueto Allah. There is ‘light’ and there is ‘no light’ butdarkness has no substance. The ‘dark side’ is just animaginary form of the ‘Light Side.’

A

LLAH

AN

D S

HAI

TAN

S S S S SEVENEVENEVENEVENEVENTTTTTHEMEHEMEHEMEHEMEHEME R R R R REPLAYEDEPLAYEDEPLAYEDEPLAYEDEPLAYED

NNNNNow we drill the basics and pass in review. The theme of Peace Knights of the Soul concerns learning peace con-

sciousness. The four steps are: being willing, having patience,seeing the enemy as phantom and consenting to mind power. Tofulfill one’s destiny, a spiritually developing person changes theirmind about the source of identity. With willingness everythingabout the past is irrelevant to the present and the future.

A mentor appears to accompany you to enlightenment when youare emotionally ready to move on. Nothing comes before willing-ness and the next step is patience. Waiting with hope, instead oftiring in despair, is a choice. In stage two you may think, “the jour-ney is too difficult,” but a guide waits with you in your mind. It isharder to stay living in “reality” than to start acquiring mind power. DDDD D

RIL

RIL

RIL

RIL

RIL LLLL L

&&&& & RRRR R

EVIE

WEV

IEW

EVIE

WEV

IEW

EVIE

W!


The principle is: we perceive what we project and we project whatwe perceive (P=P). This third step is identified as the phantomenemy. The formula means “reality” is entirely an illusion in themind and never a real social condition. Trying to solve problemsocially will always fail because conflict is reproduced via uncon-scious projection. Pending a revision to our thinking, we do notrealize a hidden state of mind reappears before us as barriers.

When we fight another person, we mistakenly believe that somewrong has been done to us. We can choose to go deeper, how-ever, realizing that discord starts in our self-relationship The en-emy is an apparition, but fighting makes the illusion appear to bereal. Mind power in the last step, when the outer world begins todissolve in importance and you surrender to inward thinking. Will-ingness is not hard, but we remain stubborn—not forgiving othersor our self—who are one and the same.

NNNNNOVICEOVICEOVICEOVICEOVICE::::: WWWWWILLINGNESSILLINGNESSILLINGNESSILLINGNESSILLINGNESSIn place of “quiet desperation,” most people sincerely want tofind meaning and fulfillment in life. Achieving this goal dependsupon a simple aspiration. Principle 1, therefore, is about the will-ingness to learn to forgive and to extend this reflection of God’slove to others through possessing peace consciousness.

Willingness releases self-hate and opens the mind to being kind tooneself and otherz. Willingness does not mean total commitment,but this miscalculation interferes with getting started. To aspire isto choose. A decision of .01% or less, but not zero, works. Withoutwillingness, however, consciousness waits in the hall of receptionfor as long as it may take.

Willingness is fundamental because there first must be a desire tolearn to forgive. Aspiration is natural for anyone wanting toget ridof angry thoughts and behavior, but any attempt to coerce

Any

Percent

Willing

P

=

P

!

the learning process is contradictory. It is not possible, therefore,to be pressed into peace service. Willingness is the first step in un-doing the sense of unworthiness that usually is blamed on othersin the projection of guilt.

A modest desire to proceed initiates patience and elevates the as-pirant to the next level of apprentice. Unlike the hero in the 1998Walt Disney Studios animated film Mulan, no one can volunteerin place of another. Based on ancient Chinese legend, the youngheroine takes her infirm father’s place in the national army whenbarbarian Huns invade their beloved country.

You cannot be forced to be willing and peace knighthood asksnothing more of you than a bit of free will. The power of Godlends you strength and makes you immune to all weakness. En-thusiasm is optional and stamina unnecessary. Without simula-tion, the simple desire signifies readiness to learn and you herebypromote yourself to the rank of apprentice.

You do not transform yourself, but you make change possible bygiving your receptive mind to the project. A sense of moral obli-gation darkens the spark of light in your thinking. Resistance im-pedes initiation, arouses self-doubt, feels awful and makes the goalseem unattainable. You can choose to remain in the dark or in theLight, reactive or reflective, trapped or freed.

To get started you need not the deep inner knowledge of the per-fect love of the almighty force. Yoda’s idea of “deep commitment”and “serious responsibility” are burdensome to novices. Experi-ence comes with age, but wisdom arrives with the simple desire tosecure it. Willingness honors and obeys the law of faith in a greaterpower within your own mind.

“Being responsible” and “accepting the consequences of your ac-tions,” sound arduous and arouse fear of making an “irresponsible

Initiates

Intuitive

Wisdom

Immune

from

Weakness

7 DRILL AND REVIEW 101


-sible” choice. You are not guilty, but procrastination makes youthink you are. Your development is only delayed while you are inthe wrong mind. Being willing means you have minimal readinessto learn to change your way of thinking.

Free will initiates the procedure. Greater responsibility comes af-ter the decision, not before. Making the choice for faith in Godand giving up guilt over being “irresponsible,” begin to liberateyou from the “dark side.” Once your thinking opens to intui-tivewisdom, you will not need to be more responsible until you areready to develop more fully.

No matter how much encouragement you receive from others,unless you change your mind first, nothing will happen. You cancontinue to claim the process does not work for you. A kick in theposterior will not overcome the inertia of being unwilling. Ifwillingness is not enough, you are still fearful believing you arenot qualified to start. Nothing precedes willingness except notbeing willing.

Willingness raises the white flag of ceasefire. You allow yourself tothink it is remotely possible that the law of faith works in you. Itis not absolute, but you can only concentrate on one self at atime. Willingness is the “mustard seed” of faith (Matthew17:20).Because willingness is miniscule, wisdom is attainable by every-body, no matter what shape, color or size.

The option exists in mind through willingness, not social oppor-tunities, political action, genetic inheritance or good fortune. Youcontrol “the universe” with mind power. Knighthood happens asa matter of clarity about what you want, not intensity of desire,experience, or length of service. You realize that holding onto guiltis an attack on God in a covert mind war.

A

Willing

Head

Start

Covert

Mind

War

You may become a devotee to a higher power after you are willing,but not before and the past is irrelevant. What matters is yourdecision to nurture your spiritual self in the present. Luke wouldnever have achieved wisdom knighthood without being willing tolearn. He inspires and models the process, but no mortal, beforepassing, has absolute faith in God.

AAAAAPPRENTICEPPRENTICEPPRENTICEPPRENTICEPPRENTICE::::: PPPPPATIENCEATIENCEATIENCEATIENCEATIENCEBeing in a hurry reflects inner discord. Asking how much pa-tience is required is an impatient question. In stage two, an ap-prentice practices the art of tranquility as a prelude to absorbingPrinciples 3 and 4 (recognizing the phantom enemy and harness-ing the power of the mind). The harder you resist, like kickingin quicksand, the more stuck you get, exactly what the “enemy-self” seeks.

Patience cannot be rushed. There is no risk of getting side-trackedbecause you are already off-road in a civil war in your mind.Luke creates the diversion he needs—escaping to rescue hisfriends in trouble. Popular ways of maintaining guilt and remain-ing off-track involve having: accidents, injuries, illnesses, law-suits, romances and children. Fighting and mating are the two greatsports of the ego.

Impatience disguises mistrust, making time the enemy and dis-tractions a protection that darkens consciousness. By focusingattention on physical sensation, the excitement of diversions in-sulates you from self-hate. Patience, however, makes you recep-tive to incoming Principles 3 and 4. Luke acts as though Yoda in-vented the principle of patience to persecute him personally.

Beginners often lose patience in order to arouse emotions, want-ing to graduate before they matriculate and to skip over stages.They have not yet learned that the source of all knowledge isnot books, libraries, computers, conferences or mentors. The

You

Parent

Yourself

Two

Great Sports

of the Ego

7 DRILL AND REVIEW 103!


goal is not social power, but conceding to faith in God. Coura-geous perseverance characterizes the fourth stage, but willing-ness induces the developmental process.

As soon as willingness opens your mind, it is on to Principle 2.Spiritual maturity takes time if you need it. If you are impatient,you think anger is justified, forgiveness unwarranted and enlight-enment too difficult. Thus, it may take you yet another lifetimeto find peace. When you relax, a light breaking through the dark-ness of self-doubt, a pin-ray signals readiness.

Once the beacon shines, it cannot be snuffed out and patiencekeeps it steady. While learning patience, time is never wastedfor what you learn is timeless. “I’ll be patient when I find time,”is only true in reverse; you will find time only when you are pa-tient. Things done in a hurry are usually done poorly and rushingworries everyone. “I have been patient too long” is not logical—when you are patient, you remain patient.

“Padawan” refers to an apprentice of the Force. This is Luke’slevel in Empire Strikes Back, Obi-Wan’s in Phantom Menace andAnakin’s in Attack of the Clones. Padawans have close-croppedhairstyles accented by a thin braid. “The braid’s length, togetherwith small beads braided into the hair, denotes the Padawan’slevel of training” (Vitas 2005). The focus on braids and beadsindicates that the mind is still knotted and twisted with doubtabout the Self.

Time

to be

Timeless?

Given too

much slack

(time and

freedom)

most peple

tie a knot

to shorten

the rope.

DDDDDISCIPLEISCIPLEISCIPLEISCIPLEISCIPLE::::: PPPPPHANTOMHANTOMHANTOMHANTOMHANTOM EEEEENEMYNEMYNEMYNEMYNEMYOnce Luke demonstrates willingness and patience, he becomesa novice and an apprentice. Yoda introduces Principles 3 and 4,Luke is intimidated because he still believes the enemy is realand that violence is the solution. Argue for a shadow-self and itappears like Shakespeare’s ghost of Hamlet’s father. To exist withinthe “dark side” is no real choice in light of the love of God.

Luke thinks Darth Vader is a mass murderer and ruthless despotwho seeks to obliterate goodness in the galaxy. He believes thereare intrinsic “evil” acts like rape, murder and genocide. Further,the galaxy is full of greed, exploitation and brutality. Thus, Prin-ciple 3, recognizing the enemy as phantom, is regarded as a trickset-up by the naive Yoda instead of the sinister Darth Vader.

As a military man, Luke relies on athletic training and muscularstrength. He fears the loss of physical might if he pays attentionto mind power. Luke’s view is backwards, however, through thefilter of the fear of defeat, rather than the clear crystal of victory.The band he leads is tormented by Dearth Vader precisely tostop his training—to cause him to fight for their release—toshackle him as prisoner to the “dark side.”

Luke breaks training on the pretext, therefore, that he must savehis friends from the clutches of this ruthless villain. At the sametime, Han and Leia are enthralled by romantic love. Secretly,Luke fears that celibacy, implied in wisdom knighthood, will makehim impotent, instead of outstanding, as a hero. He must escapeYoda’s psychic regimen, he thinks, to succeed as a great fighterand lover (Chapter 9) the double pleasures of the ego.

When biology is destiny, genitals are family jewels to be treasured andpeace is a test of the testes. Luke does not yet understand that the“dark side” is illusory—confronted irrationally by violence

Prisoner

of the

‘Dark Side’

Fighter

and

Lover



that makes it appear real. Carl G. Jung once wrote, “Conflict ex-ists strictly as an opportunity to raise consciousness.”

Luke falls for Darth Vader’s ploy and postpones learning advancedPrinciples 3 and 4. He reverts to coercive thinking that preventsattaining disciple and master status until Return of the Jedi. Fornow, he strikes out to reinforce “evil” in the prevailing illusion ofcosmic injustice. Gullibly resuming militancy appears to empowerthe wicked warlord, but the “dark side” is never there.

God is monistic not dualistic. No “dark side,” no opposite, hasany substance outside the imagination. The darkness of “evil” doesnot exist in the light of a power that is totally good and limitless.Just as there is no night in daylight, shadows exist only whereshields are erected to shade the light. When this truth is upheld,the “devil” is deposed as god of your mind and you no longer revelin self-hate.

‘In God We Trust’ is the coin of an inner realm. Conflict withothers is projected self-conflict and an opportunity to mature.Adversaries are appearances of the false self, who have no powerbecause they have no real substance. When you identify as aphysical body, “evil” appears in the world, but given a new pointof view, the menace to peace vanishes.

“Enemies” are apparitions of hateful misperception of the self.Within the unconscious projection, you lack the overall vantagepoint to see the illusion. To extricate yourself, you need a frame ofreference in the light, to see in the dark, that attacking othersalways reflects self-hate. You not loving you is misconstrued asothers not loving you since, you dress your self-hate in their disguise.You despise your twin-self.

A mirror reflects appearances. The “devil” you see in others revealsyour own self-misconception, for ugliness and beauty reside in the

No

‘Dark

Side’

Monistic

Not

Dualistic

You

Hate

Your

Twin-

Self

eyes of the beholder. The “enemy” is the egocentric part of yourmind that nullifies the love of God and initiates the self-other-attack-defense cycle. But you are guilty only as long as you believeyour projections are real. Attacking clones misperceive self-hate as“enemies” since they possess your projected guilt and not theirown (ACIM).

Conflict is an illusion—anywhere, anytime, always. Your worstenemy is your best friend because he or she reveals exactly whereGod stands in your mind. It does not follow that your best friendis your worst enemy because the idea of an “enemy” is mistaken,as is the idea that “the enemy of your enemy is your friend.” Theonly way to win at war is not fighting because opponents are illu-sions of self-mistrust arising from a wrong state of mind.

To know there are no enemies is to be limitless from the point ofview of the whole Self. Holding a grudge maintains that you area victim of some limitation or injustice. You are confined or liber-ated by the image you have of you.Either you adore, or abhor, thespiritual Self. You are capable of loving you, but do not recognizeyour potential, when, like Yoda, it looks peculiar.

To love “enemies” extends kindness. To prepare a table for thineenemies (Psalms 23:5) invites you to be generous, because giving asa host is a way of receiving as a guest. Poverty is of the mind andyou increase your wealth by giving it away (ACIM). The limitlesslove of God is shared in the form of food, conversation and laugh-ter by all. You need not fear false gods because they are fake, nor thetrue God, because She is real.

You do to yourself exactly what you claim is done to you by others.“Enemies” mirror hidden self-attacks. “But they attacked first anddeserve retaliation,” of course. If you did not feel guilty about

Attacking

Clones=

Self-

Hate=

Projected

‘Enemies’

Worst

Enemy =

Best

Friend



what you are accusing them of doing to you, “they” would not beassailing you. You would not attack “them” if you did not believeyou deserve being attacked in return.

The “logic” of attack and counter-attack is warped. Others mirroreither the self or the Self. Projections go back and forth, and fight-ing goes round and round, until one recognizes that the other isguiltless and quits the cycle. The ego is convoluted precisely todisguise the rotten core of self-hate. In every dispute, both sidesare holy even while believing the foe is mean and spiteful. In ANew Hope, however, Luke thinks mind power denies the “evil”that is really out there.

Darth Vader, the phantom of the Star Wars opera, is defeatedwith the realization that he does not exis. “Evil” comes to be re-garded as a category of mistaken perception about the “reality” ofa dark side and the “unreality” of God. Mindful of Principles 3and 4, Luke sees good in his father and saves humanity by accept-ing the love of the Force. Darth Vader then sees himself in the eyesof his devoted son who redeems him at the end of two trilogies.

Phantom enemy means the enemy “perceived in reality” is im-agined. This does not mean there is an enemy you do not see. Tofollow destiny, you need not “fight the devil,” in your own personalwar with God. Instead, you can let the clandestine peace knightbe your representative in daily life. God loves and forgives uncon-ditionally, even when “betrayed” by lapses in awareness. PeaceKnights are rare, but never extinct.

Luke Skywalker detaches from “the world” of violence and ven-geance. At first, almost everyone rejects the idea because it assertsthat the “dark side” reflects the shadow of doubt about your rightfulplace in eternal sunlight. The premise sinks in as inner peacewhen the love of God is felt, the consequences of willingness andpatience.

-

God

is

Real

Enemies

are

Imaginary

Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Buddhist monk, nominated for theNobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King in 1967, in TouchingPeace (1992) wrote, “We do not have to die to enter the kingdomof heaven.” The option remains in every tormented clash and ra-diates its healing light to others through the power of the mind.“The peace of God surpasseth all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).

MMMMMASTERASTERASTERASTERASTER::::: MMMMMINDINDINDINDIND PPPPPOWEROWEROWEROWEROWER

Once Luke’s accomplices are freed, by the midpoint of Return ofthe Jedi, he resumes training with Yoda, but finds the little sageon his deathbed. Altruistically, Yoda knows he must expire forLuke to realize that he possesses the Force. Yoda reminds Luketo confront Darth Vader (in his mind) and demonstrates the im-mortality of Jedi Knights by passing to the spiritual plane.

Luke at last comprehends that lesson four is about confronting“Darth Vader” psychologically. Ready for promotion to masterstatus, Luke uses mind power to end the wars of Star Wars. See-ing basic good in his spiritual father, Anakin Skywalker, at thecore of his biological father, Darth Vader, Luke throws away hislightsaber—an astounding feat for a fighter. (In Revenge of theSith, however, Anakin lays down his arms and legs).

Luke recognizes that no enemy exists anywhere in the galaxy. Withthe acceptance of mind power, he promotes himself to therank ofaccomplished wisdom knight and unites with the force of God.Luke sees goodness in his father, who is now redeemed rather thancondemned. Seeing the re-release of Return of the Jedi, a ten-year oldboy told his mother, “Darth Vader was saved because Luke lovedhim so much” (and vice versa).

Darth Vader recognizes his own basic goodness and demotes theawful emperor by throwing him into the abyss of “reality” wherehis dark energy disappears into nothing. You “overthrow” the

Love

&

Forgive

Mind

Power

Master

(PRONOUNCED:TICK-NAUGHT-HAN)


Several points are pure speculation, such as the idea that Qui-Gon could have been Anakin’s biological father and that the Jediare celibate as a rule. These things “Star Wars” books and filmsdo not specify. “Star Wars” fans are often given to similar fanta-sies. If the theory does not appeal to diehard fans, it can be over-looked, to get to the important message of the book.

Many other points I agreed with wholeheartedly. Most refresh-ing was the humor with which many ideas were presented. Forexample, the author claims that the closest Padmé ever came toinfidelity was oiling Artoo Detoo in ‘The Phantom Menace.’ Othertrue ideas were that Yoda’s hypocritical fear of Anakin, ulti-mately brought about the fall of the Jedi Order and that Anakin’sown guilt led to his attacking others.

The author explains how Luke’s realizes that his worst enemy,Darth Vader, is in reality the father he had long idealized andbelieved dead. From the revelation this internal conflict gener-ated, comes Luke’s discovery that peace—refusing to fight—isthe key to victory. By redeeming his enemy, rather than killinghim, Luke’s elevation to the status of “Peace Knight” is achieved.

If you are a “Star Wars” fan and you think beyond the surfaceideas of the saga, this book will provide understanding. Theauthor’s sense of humor and affection for the “Star Wars” dramaare evident and make “Peace Knights of the Soul” an enjoyableread. Yes, even for fans whose interests do not lie in the realm ofmetaphysics.

Reihla, Volume 2, Issue 7, July 2006Saga Journal: Academic ‘Star Wars’ Fan Journal(www.sagajournal.com)

C

RITI

CAL R

EVIE

W

enemy by dismissing the validity of the idea in your mind. Fatherand son submit to the Light and turn in their “weapons”—thefierce emperor for the father and the little lightsaber for the son.War without end—ends without war.

Darth Vader is the prototypical hurt and angry mortal. Uponrequest, Luke removes his father’s hardheaded helmet and de-ceptive mask to reveal his true self. Thereafter, Vader resumesthe form of Anakin Skywalker, his presatanic identity. “You al-ready have [saved me] Luke. You were right. You were rightabout me. Tell your sister . . . you were right.” If “the devil” canbe saved, then no dualism of good and evil exists.

A penitent Darth Vader revives Anakin Skywalker and his bodychanges back because his consciousness reverses. In the light offaith: the “devil” disappears, the emperor abdicates, the empirecollapses and the rebels celebrate. One peace knight changesthe “world” to good. The serenity of spirit reigns supreme in thetrinity of Yoda, Obi-Wan and Anakin who beam radiantly fromtheir perch in eternity. Peace endures—no longer just a break ingalactic combat.

Initially, people are afraid of the Light and are not afraid of thedark. As the psychological component of “sin,” guilt seems real.Darkness can be seen with the eyes, but Light is all that prevailsbeyond the veil. Denial ends when you realize that you are afraidto join the peace band because you are the conductor. Fearingfailure, you stay angry to avoid: risking faith, giving-up self-hatequitting self-attacks of guilt, blaming others and hiding the fear ofending the underground war with God.

Spiritual mind power is kept conscious, or unconscious, with theintention of the mind, but it is always there whether you realize

One

Peace

Knight

No

Enemy

Anywhere

Iconic

Mask and

Helmet



it or not. Forgiveness reveals that enemies are phantoms—illusionsabout who we think we are before we assume our divine identity.When the One Mind fills in the one mind, the domains of indi-vidual and Universal coincide. Then, “May the Force be with you,”is a decision that you make.

Vaya

Con La

Fuerza

from: [email protected]: [email protected]: one with the forcesent: 30 june 2005

Thank you for writing Peace Knights of the Soul. Yourinterpretation of Star Wars is interesting and differ-ent. It is well researched and well written, with a clearand simple message. As a high school student usingthe book, I am eager to continue my training to be-come One with the Force.

Ryan PhilbrickDiehard Fan

DIE

HAR

D F

AN

EEEEEIGHTIGHTIGHTIGHTIGHTTTTTTHEHEHEHEHE P P P P PHANTOMHANTOMHANTOMHANTOMHANTOM F F F F FIENDIENDIENDIENDIEND

MARIANO E. MELÉNDEZ

RRRRROBOTOBOTOBOTOBOTOBOT

IIIII am a male in my late twenties. I stand six feet and change; have dark hair, dark eyes, dark skin and weigh upwards of

two hundred pounds. I have a high, narrow forehead, as was thestyle in the Victorian era among the aristocracy. I walk with astrange gait. Who am I? Where to begin?

I am born. I grow up. I die. Yes, die. I died about three years agowith the passing of my mother and the breakup with my fiancé. Isaw my mother die and watched the love of my life speed away ina cloud of indifferent automobile exhaust. Since then, I havebeen living another life far removed from what I knew before. EEEE E

XPER

IEN

CEXP

ERIE

NCE

XPER

IEN

CEXP

ERIE

NCE

XPER

IEN

CE &

&

&

&

&

MMMM MO

DEL

ING

OD

ELIN

GO

DEL

ING

OD

ELIN

GO

DEL

ING

!

I came into this world in the filthy city of Washington D.C. in the year 1972.While studying law my father worked for a senator. My mother taught highschool and earned yet another degree in world history.

I recollect being strapped in a yellow high chair in the drafty breakfast nooknear the kitchen. A screwdriver hung on the opposite wall—its handle was abeautiful deep blue—its shaft a most brilliant metal. The whole universeexisted in that fascinating object. It was so far away—something unattain-able. I guess I already knew something had to be screwed.

Fast forward to the City of Angels, an oxymoron. My sister is born and broughthome to our small house—the year is 1976. She was all big eyes and wavinghands. Joy permeated the living room and with amazement my parents lookeddown at my sister and smiled. They looked down at me and smiled.

With my Lego set spread across the dining room floor, I was about to embarkon the construction of a new and more threatening robot when my sisterlurched toward me. Gingerly, I cleared a path for her to make her way andwaited patiently. Of course, my parents found this adorable, but I just thoughtit only logical. I do not know if this was the last of my genuine displays ofconsideration for others and the beginning of my lifelong indifference.

My father became a government lawyer and transferred to Arizona. I alwayshave had an affinity for water in any form. My sister and I picked days sounbearably hot it hurt to open our eyes. We immersed ourselves in the Jacuzziand then leapt out, dashed ten feet to the pool, and in gales of laughter, theicy water melted the heat from our bodies.

Arizona is the last memory I have of being truly happy. Back in Los Angeles,I finished high school and confronted that specter for the underachiever—the local community college. I was too smart for my own good and willinglyembarked on a path toward self-destruction. Books, not peers and television,were the source of my corruption.

I reveled in the works of the narcoticized heroes of the thirties—HowardPhillips Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith. These kin

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dred spirits, were visionaries, geniuses and scoundrels, who evoked beautyand horror. Yes, these were the debauchers, ravagers, kings of the silver flask,imbibers of opium; tragic intellectuals among the damned.

Thus, began my decadent descent. Months? Years? I know not. I drank oceansof liquor, licked sheets of lysergic acid and snorted highways of powderywhite lines. Endless nights were insulated from reality. I was searching for mymuse, wanting to be the Hunter S. Thompson, the Jerry Stahl, the WilliamBurroughs of the Nineties.

The only thing I found in those dark nights was this: the inner workings ofcities are greed and despair. Evil pulses in the veins of the alleys, pubs, whorehouses and bottles. I was on a sojourn in Hell. I was both the mad DoctorFaustus and the evil Mephistopheles.

LOVERThen I met my teenage angel of mercy. It was the tumultuous time of theWorld Cup. Disturbances broke out, windows were shattered, people marchedup and down the streets brandishing flags from other countries and cursingin foreign tongues—overall an air of menace—and enter the raucous soccerhooligans.

I saw her with some faceless friends in a café waiting out the mock riot. Wemet eyes, we locked eyes, I fell in love. We kissed that night, for the firsttime. I will never forget how utterly absolved I felt. She was a catharsis ofbeauty. I knew then I wanted to be with her forever.

We were still honeymooners, secure in each other and I was almost happy.There was one thing though—I was still Faustus. To keep this gift of heaven,I had to become a better person. I tried to reform but became a shadow andknew not myself anymore.

She was elated. She spoke of marriage, children, houses and marital bliss. Iwas all for it! But, I was not happy because she had no idea she was in lovewith a golem. To quote Richard Lewis’ character in the film, Drunks, “it wasso ...ing true you couldn’t even say it.”

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I had to improve, so I joined the military. Wow, I leapt right in! The Navy,Special Warfare, Explosives and Ordinance Disposal, Special Combat, Ag-gressive Reaction Systems, Underwater Demolition and my favorite, CloseQuarters Combat.

But this new kind of hell was not making me a better person. My angel beganto lose interest and wanted out. Christ, I was doing it for her! One morething, my mother was slowly dying of cancer. I came home. My fiancé left me.My mother died. I died.

I became one of my long-forgotten Lego robots. I functioned mechanicallybut did not self-destruct. Dante and Faustus both found their woman, but Iwas just a ruined fiend. I remember only indescribable sorrow. The day mymother’s died, I recall my sister saying, “and so, I guess its over for you now.”Was she right?

SCHOLARNow we’re here in real time. I enroll in the university and to my surprise,enjoy it. At times, the curriculum is insultingly below me. It is a nice, safe,predictable place. I am a student known by my social security number. Kill-ing for the government is far behind me and my heartbreaking losses areovertaken by academic goals.

Still, I feel like a robot, but one with an old soul. I exist among teenagerswith petty problems: “My parents won’t let me stay out late!” “Gosh, “I dranksix whole beers last night and I’m kind of sick!” “My girlfriend is cheating onme!” “My friends are pressuring me to try pot!” “I need my own place!” “Theseclasses are too hard!”

Sometimes I don’t know how I keep on trying to become a better robot. Onemore year and two quarters, and I am finished. Then it is off to graduateschool. I am an anthropology-archaeology major—the most humanistic ofthe sciences and the most scientific of the humanities.

I’ve been disgustingly successful in this endeavor: Honors Society and Sec-retary of the Anthropological Society. I look forward to a doctorate in Egyptologyand going to Cairo. The hot desert nights are made habitable by soothingbeer in smoky taverns, rife with opium, and belly dancers in exotic silks.

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Maybe that shinny blue screwdriver is within reach? Oh yeah, I am currentlyemployed by Warner Brothers Television Studios in Burbank. Isn’t that ironic?I live by myself in a one-room apartment in an esthetically challenged area ofthe city. I listen to Forties era music or Eighties punk rock. I read all the timeand on my sacrosanct weekends I go down to the coast to surf.

SURFERWhen I enrolled in this class, I was barraged by radical ideas and baffled.Most of us were. You waste no time. The concepts got harder to accept anddown right outrageous at times. I believe that I speak for most, since I havestolen glances around the room and seen classmates as lost as me.

But some ideas stimulated a vision about my unrealized potential. I was de-termined to grasp the tenets, especially Principle 3: Phantom Enemy. Themore I strove, the more understanding eluded me. Only now do I realize thatI lacked willingness. That’s all—mere willingness. The revelation came atthe end of the quarter when I finally arrived on the marshy training planet.

You said, “Every morning we wake up to enter an insane asylum.” I thought,“What!?” To paraphrase, you said that if we were to go into an actual asylumand inmates cursed or slighted us, we would pay it no mind. We would ex-pect this behavior from the psychotic—insults would be shrugged off as mean-ingless—we’d know they are phantom curses.

You went on to say that society-at-large is the lunatic asylum but we don’tnotice the sign over the gates. There is no partition—it is just one big loonybin. If we switch our perception, we will see the marquee announcing, “Nowplaying indefinitely: The Insane World.

We would see reality for the first time for what it is—a mere illusion. Wewould see our interaction with others and our feelings about ourselves, asproducts of dementia. We are visitors on tour through the crazy house—this allmade sense to me—and it rested only on my willingness to see it.

Here is an example of Principle 3 in action. This weekend I went to ParadiseBeach with my cousin. This part of the coast is rife with localism—all the

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bleached blond surfer-punks know each other and who is an outsider. Thatday they were more hostile than usual. How can they lay claim to waves thatare free? Sure, they live around there but the ocean is damn well not theirs.

They snaked waves that I had already dropped-on, cut in front and gave memenacing looks. I knew that I was in no real danger. They wouldn’t take itthat far. But I was still upset. I knew their taunts were merely feelings of in-feriority coinciding with my own ideas about myself—where I live and thecolor of my skin. It was baseless and I let them roll away with the current.

I could wait out their wrath. Just so! They ran out of steam and left in a huffseeing that I was still in the water. I gave them a big smile and waved goodbyewithout any hint of malice. “See ya next week, fellas,” I said. But I knewthey never were really there to begin with, were they? And for me they wouldnever be there again.

For the rest of the day, until twilight mingled with the salty air, I surfed wavesI still dream about. It was just me and several old-timers, with the maturityto nod a greeting and go about enjoying our waves. Thank you for the initia-tion in training and someday I’ll sign up for the rest of the course.

IIIII AAAAAMMMMM SITHSITHSITHSITHSITH LLLLLORDORDORDORDORDLUCHO GUERRERO

FFFFFREEREEREEREEREE FFFFFALLALLALLALLALLOn August 4, 1977, a boy named Lucho Guerrero was born in Los Angeles.His parents were immigrants from México. He attended Catholic school andteachers were bothered by his lack of effort. Some accused him of not payingattention in class. He did not like boring games and sat with his friendstalking about taking revenge on those awful nuns.

Lucho was expelled and went to public school. He breezed through highschool and graduated doing enough work to get by, but never enough to getgood grades. In high school, his goal was to have as much fun as possible:going to parties, cutting class, drinking and using drugs. Lucho was obvi-ously a bad influence on himself and his friends.

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He hurt his parents by disobeying them. He came home late, drunk or high,or did not show up until the next day. He knew they would not throw himinto the streets. Then he was accepted to college and was enthusiastic aboutgoing. Surprisingly, he did well and his family was impressed. But one warmFall evening, two males pulled alongside his car, pointed a chrome pistol andshot Lucho.

I had a life like everyone else. I knew successful people and many who werethe opposite. I was one of the successful ones. I was very content with my life.I was working hard and going to school. I had it all . . . I HAD IT ALL! I wasbig and strong. I was not afraid of anything.

Then some cold-blooded bastard decided to strip it all away from me. Heshot several times. But he only got one in me. The son of a bitch waited tosee if I got up. But I played dead. Not knowing I had been wounded, Iquickly tried to leave in my car after he left.

While sitting in the car still in shock, I felt warm. When I looked at myhands and shirt I was drenched in blood. This was not a movie and therewere no retakes. I screamed for help but only hot air came out of my mouth.No voice. Suddenly, a crowd was around me.

The fire department ripped the roof off my car. Damn, I really liked that car!So much time and money I put into it. It was taken away just like that! I wasin the hospital for months, suffering the humiliation of having to be fed likea baby.

I could not even write. I had to go to the bathroom with someone. My handshurt every day because of the nerve damage. I lost my balance often. Myarms are incredibly weak. I lost my job and missed school for a full year. Thencame the worst news of all.

I went to physicians and endured many degrading procedures. I have failedat everything. I had never touched a woman. I felt stupid for not taking mychance while I could. I am as innocent as a priest. Now I blame the world forbringing down my glorious empire.

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MANGLEDI see the world as traitor. I was always a good person. Other people’s sufferingnow makes me feel better. Many of my relatives are trying marriage, familyand children. But I want them to fail hard so they will know what it is like tosuffer. I wish the worst for them. How dare they insult me with their successes!

A new Lucho was born a cripple, who looks deformed, with a heart full ofhatred and rage, and a mind set on revenge. The only thing I think about ispay back. Who is responsible for this outrage? Perhaps fate was envious thathe had gotten away with so many things in his life until then.

Someone wanted to assassinate him? Or, was it plain misfortune, being in thewrong place at the wrong time? Who knows? The truth will one day surfaceand this atrocity that devastated his mind and body will be over. Until then,Lucho will never be at peace.

We live in a world of good people and bad people. Most lead lives that havemeaning. They have dreams and goals that may not be reached but still, theymake the best with what they have. These are the mature ones.

Knowing there is no enemy, one can live fully and happily. JEDI, Justly Evolvingand Developing Individual, is an idea I have found interesting. I now seeStar Wars from a different angle. Though I understand you, I cannot acceptthis way of thinking.

I refuse to believe. I am not developing. I do not think I will ever be ready. Ihave thought about my dark future and have concluded that I am a Suffer-ing Individual Through Hatred, or SITH. By twisting your idea my way, Ican explain myself. What better way to do this than the nemesis of the SithLords?

I am not WILLING to become a better person, much less have any PATIENCE.I have too many ENEMIES to deal with. I hate almost everything in this world.Since I am suffering, I want the rest of the world to suffer just like me. I feellike death is grinning at me and enjoying it.

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I know the routine. To become mature there are four steps. First, you musthave the will to change and the least bit is enough to get you started. Sec-ond, patience, one must wait while development takes place. The third stepis to realize there is no enemy.

When Luke was put to the test in the cave, Darth Vader attacks him first.Vader is the aggressor and Luke must defeat him to become a Jedi. Thefourth step is the power of the mind. Yoda explains to Luke that nothing isimpossible but Luke has doubts.

I see life though my “injured self” because I really am injured. Now maybeyou will understand a little bit more about why I cannot see a bright future.The last thing I found out was the most devastating of all. It is somethingthat no doctor or Jedi mind-trick can solve.

This is why I will grow old, lonely and cold. No one wants a boy. A man I willnever again have the chance to be. That opportunity I missed several times.I understand what is required but not everyone can be at peace. I am a SithLord.

CCCCCHINAHINAHINAHINAHINA D D D D DOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLMUI LAM

DDDDDRAGONRAGONRAGONRAGONRAGON S S S S SLAYERLAYERLAYERLAYERLAYERI am a Chinese woman bound by rules and tradition. I am quiet, obedientand patient. I am sensitive to criticism because I do not have high self-esteem. I also do not criticize other people. I try to be optimistic about life butalways end up pessimistic. I am superstitious and do not like to rely on others.

I was born on July 16, 1978 in Hong Kong, the middle child in an immigrantfamily. There are seven in my family, my parents and five children. We cameto America when I was five-years old. Being female and the middle child hasalways been a big disadvantage.

Growing up in a traditional Chinese home, I was taught to be respectful andwell mannered. When I was little, my mother dressed me up like a doll andmade sure I respected guests and family. I always did everything she told me.

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My parents were born in China and are old-fashioned. In the United States,they practice the old customs such as gender preference. In China, mostfamilies prefer male to female because males pass on the last name to thenext generation. By comparison, females are considered less significant.

My parents focused attention on my oldest brother while I was a shadow inthe dark. He got special privileges such as staying out late and doing whathe wanted, while I had none. They were busy also with their work.

My mother taught me that males are the dominant ones and females shouldnot go against them. Worst of all, my brother has authority over me. My job inthe family is to assist my oldest brother or take care of my younger brothers. Ialso run errands.

My brother left dirty laundry in the living room. I told him to pick it up, buthe did not listen. We argued back and forth and my mother said it is the wo-man’s job to clean the house. I got mad at her for being sexist and left.

I am closer to my mother than my father, but I cannot trust her love becauseshe believes that female is inferior to male in the family. I could not fulfill mymother’s desire to be a boy and so I felt betrayed. She punished me for beinga girl and caused me to be depressed.

There is little communication with my parents so most of my feelings andthoughts are kept inside. I cannot tell my mother that her belief in femaleinferiority is wrong because she will not listen. She is too traditional to changeher mind about the female role.

My mother worries about how people see her. If we are not well mannered,relatives criticize her for not being a good mother. Concerned with keeping“face,” as they called it in China, she puts all her time into making sure webehave. But my mother succeeded only through my childhood.

GROWLING TIGERAs I grew older, I began to disobey my mother in ways that changed myappearance and I did what I wanted instead. One time she got upset withme because I dyed my hair and pierced my ears. She told me that everybodythinks people who dye their hair are bad and wild.

Her source was our conservative relatives who see everything from one pointof view. My mother was afraid of what her relatives would think of me, andmore important, what they would think of her. So, she insisted I dye my hairblack, but I did not listen. Rumors spread that I was out of control.

The rumors became true because my relatives would not allow their daugh-ters to go out with me. This affected me in the sense that I began to seemyself as different and bad. I felt guilty when my mother criticized my ap-pearance and I started to believe the rumors were true.

I isolated myself from social gatherings because I was affected by their criti-cisms. Now, I realize I am not the way they describe me. I am not wild,disobedient or out of control. I have become more mature. Before, I believedothers opinions were important and that I must conform to be happy.

But I have learned to be happier and disregard what other people think. Myrelatives’ view is based on appearance and not on the real me. If I think I amgood, then I am good. Who I think I am is who I am.

For example, we were in the living room and my mother asked me to go paybills. “I will pay the bills after the show.” From the look on her face, she wassurprised. I do not argue with her any more. I know she picks me because Iam reliable and not because I am inferior.

Later that day she told me I was growing each day and I smiled. I was happyto know that she noticed the change in me. I do not get jealous any morewhen my mother gives my brother special treatment and we all argue less.

I know the conflict between my mother and myself is in my mind. I believedI was not as smart, strong and as good as the boy. So, whenever I blame mymother for being sexist, it is really me blaming myself for not being a boy. Inchanging my mind about myself, the misunderstanding is resolved.

I am as smart, strong and capable but blinded by my idea of being inferior. Ibetrayed myself in not loving myself to begin with. No one can hurt me unlessI believe it. I no longer see myself as a victim of gender preference. Being afemale and the middle child is a blessing.

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It is positive because I am the center of the family and I have an older brotherand sister who I look up to, and two younger brothers who look up to me. Iallowed myself to learn new ideas because of my willingness. I am happierthan I was before.

My future career plan is to become an elementary school teacher, an occupa-tion I wanted to pursue since I was a little girl. Now that I am learning,perhaps I will be a good teacher. Knowing my self-worth, I will help girls andboys who think they are worthless learn to be proud.

I am a female Asian minority who at first affirmed my limitations because ofgender, generational and cultural differences and I resisted the achievementof my potential. But, I learned none of these things are true and have foundmy way to greater success and happiness.

FFFFFOUROUROUROUROUR SSSSSTRANGERSTRANGERSTRANGERSTRANGERSTRANGERS MMMMMIRRORIRRORIRRORIRRORIRRORPAULO DIONISIO

VVVVVISIONISIONISIONISIONISIONIn the depths of my mind stands a door with a strange light seeping throughits hinges. As I walk toward the door, a mist forms. My heart thumps and mymind thinks “fear.” An aging bronze plaque reads, “Halt! Enter if thou seekthyself, but beware. Once the door opens it will never close again.” I hesitatebut decide to open it. Suddenly, there is a flash of light and I forget who I am.

I hear a familiar voice, “Enter Paulo Dionisio. Born in the Philippines January25, 1979, who recently turned 21. Enter if you want to know you.” An intimi-dating voice followed, “Ha! You are no JEDI. You are a BARD, a “Bad AssRock Dude.” I agree with the four principles but I do not always follow them.

As I enter and open my eyes, I find myself in a dark, mysterious room with amirror before me. The mirror looks odd because, instead of my reflection, itshows four strangers that look like me. One has a determined look, the othera patient look, the third an intimidating look and the last an inquisitivelook. One by one they introduce themselves.

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“I am Will” the determined stranger answers. Waiting for others to speak, asecond says, “I am Wait.” “I am Hate,” the third utters in a powerful tone.The inquisitive one then stares at me, and majestically voices, “I am Etherthe Mind Bender.” He smiles and says, “It is best to explain us one by one.”

WWWWWILLILLILLILLILL ANDANDANDANDAND W W W W WAITAITAITAITAITWill begins by telling me how I am willing sometimes and not at other times.He then shows me a movie in the mirror about one of my experiences wheremy willingness was weak. It was last year, when I wanted to learn to sing. Myyounger sister tells me to play the guitar because my voice is hopeless. Never-theless, I took lessons, but did not practice very often.

Still, I improved. I can now sing with a powerful tone in a limited range andonly when alone or in front of my voice teacher. I played in a recital to test mynew voice. With my guitar strapped on my back, I played and sang my ver-sion of the Doors’ masterpiece: People are Strange.

Though there were technical problems with my voice, people complimentedmy performance. “This shows even if your willingness to learn is small, youmanaged to sing well,” said Will, as the movie faded to an end. I acceptwillingness as one of my principles but only in pursuit of what interests me.

It was Wait’s turn, but all he did was stare at me. A movie about trying to joinor form a band appeared. When I graduated to intermediate guitar player,my only connection to musicians was my teacher. I asked him how to findplayers around my age to jam with me.

He said that I could post an advertisement on the bulletin board in musicstores and schools. I also surfed the Internet and found a bass player. Hecame over to my apartment and we jammed for hours. That was the first andthe last time we played together.

But I played with my high school friends when I was in the Philippines forsummer break, my cousin during a family get together and my guitar teacher.On the way home from a lesson, a guy asked if I wanted to jam with him. Weplayed Hendrix’s Foxy Lady and some exhilarating impromptu blues.

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We attracted a few people and he asked if I want to be the first member of hisband, Seymour and the Soldiers. At last, I was in a band. But his landlordkicked him out of his apartment on account of the noise. Someday, I will findthe perfect band. As the movie ended, I realized I have been patient.

HHHHHATEATEATEATEATEI still do not have “consciousness.” Sometimes I do, but most times I do not.It was Hate’s turn to explain himself. He is an intimidating guy with flamingred hair and an icy stare. He shows me a movie about my senior year in highschool back home in the Philippines.

High school there was different. Teachers move from one classroom to an-other. You have the same classmates in every class until the end of the schoolyear. I did not agree with the social hierarchy in my class. I chose to be anoutcast because the elite, cool people were boring.

I had no enemies, but later I began to hate the cool people. They tried to useus as stepping-stones. They picked on us and labeled us “autistic.” At first, Iwas proud of the label, but my fellow autistics were not. So, the label becamea drag for me too. I felt like a silly clown and berated myself for being one.

I blamed the cool people. Every time they picked on us, I would counterattack with some sarcastic remark. I was called a wild and unpredictableautistic. I still hated them when we graduated. But I was proud to be aunique autistic.

There are times now when I rebuke myself and criticize others. So, the phan-tom enemy appears and disappears. I agree with the third principle, but Hateis always in the mirror, though I know I see self-hate. He fades but alwayscomes back because I believe he hates me.

ETHEREther the Mind Bender tells me not to be afraid or angry at Hate. Hate issometimes useful for example, in composing and playing punk rock songs. Ibegin to hear Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze and find myself engulfed in a purple

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haze of tranquility. “Do not be afraid,” Ether speaks with a soothing voice. Icompose my own song, For Shame and For Fame.

I am not cool enough to play punk rock because I am too clean. I do not takedrugs or smoke tobacco. I begin to hate myself for not being cool, but then Iturn it around. I will be cool about cool. I write a hybrid tune, with psyche-delic, jazz and punk elements. It is raw, loud and weird compared to main-stream music but it is my masterpiece.

At times, Ether is weaker and Hate takes over. Homework and school projectsusually make Ether bend. I wrote a research paper for political science andbarely passed. I tried to be interested in the topic but had writer’s block.Ether tells me that the source of his power is my interest that is filed in Will’sdepartment.

I begin to analyze the situation. I agree with the four principles, but I do notalways follow them. I am only willing and patient if I am interested in thesubject. I am also sometimes angry. I do not follow the light side, nor the darkside of the force. I follow my own side that is often no side.

I am a BARD, not a JEDI. I choose to be one but I cannot always follow theadvanced principles. The four strangers in the mirror are strangers to me nomore. Their images merge into one crazy person that shatters to a millionpieces. Does this mean seven years of good luck?

Suddenly, the shards of the bard from the mirror become silver butterflies.They fly past me and away through the darkness, removing my clothes asthey sweep by, leaving me naked and alone. Perhaps I am not insane and canstart afresh with trust in my creative mind.

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Willingness: I know what I want.Patience: I have faith in the future.Phantom Enemy: I know all my enemies are false.Mind Power: I have no limitations.

Whitney Arnold

PEA

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OEM

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FFFFFARARARARAR AAAAAWAYWAYWAYWAYWAY FFFFFROMROMROMROMROM HHHHHOMEOMEOMEOMEOMEQIAO (JO) KANG

TTTTTRIPRIPRIPRIPRIP OOOOOUTUTUTUTUTThere is a friend I have not seen for a long time since she moved to Earth.Our story goes like this: we were best friends when we both lived on a far-away planet called Heaven. A few years later, she left our home and sincethat time I have never seen her again. I heard she moved to a strange newplace. That is how we got separated.

Two weeks ago, luckily, I got in contact with her and made my plan for avisit. My trip to Earth exhausted me and for three long days, I could notwake up. When I awoke, memories flashed in front of my eyes, but I couldnot recall where I came from.

All I can see is my Earth friend enthusiastically talking to me. “My dearenemy, I am glad you came to visit me . . .” Oh, at home we call our friendsenemies—remember? You were my best enemy in childhood! This is your firsttime here, so allow me to show you around, how is that?

As I wrote to you, I live in a place of illusion. Everyone here is dressed infancy clothes and wears nice makeup. The way we are taught, we try to lookelegant all the time. Yes, we are vain, but occasionally we hear an innervoice telling us to trust in some “higher power.” It bugs me!

But do not worry, we are safe here. I am sure nothing can harm us. Besides,we all learn to deny and ignore our true identity anyway. Of course, the mosteffective way to cope is to pretend—that is right—just pretend you hear novoice at all and believe instead in Evil. What? How can you not understandwhat I am saying?

By the way, do you like my new mask and space suit? We were scared whenthe air quality damaged our skin and lungs. Our great scientists came to-gether and invented outfits for us. They fit perfectly. No one has complainedsince we started protecting ourselves. Children do not wear the new suitsbecause their faces and bodies are too small.

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They will wear them when they turn eighteen. Lucky kids! Actually, I stillhave an extra. Do you want one? No? Some of the Innocents attempted totake off their masks to get fresh air. How dangerous! You know, once I . . .My friend just went on and on. She is quite talkative and makes me speech-less. But I have been patient the whole trip.

If you have never heard of Earth let me explain it to you. Earth is in the realmof illusions. It is the exact reverse of our world. There is a supernatural powerhere called Evil and people are the Innocents. The interrelation among themis simply this: Evil controls the whole planet and the Innocents form a systemto worship it.

In our realm, we worship others as ourselves because we know we are one.But people here believe illusions are real and see Evil within others. TheInnocents are born with a natural ability to push Evil away, but many havedecided already to go back home. Yet, all of them will one day leave Earth.

TTTTTRIPRIPRIPRIPRIP BBBBBACKACKACKACKACKI am incredibly happy now that I know I will be heading back to Heaven.These Innocents are pathetic. I can hardly stand being in this place longer. Ipity my friend. Her mask makes her look like someone I do not know. Shehas no idea how beautiful she is.

Innocents have no idea how their ugly outfits hide their true selves. I worryfor my friend—and wish I could help her. But I cannot stay away from homeany longer, even with a mask, space suit and the company of a good friend.Once I got back, I sent her this message:

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Dear JoDear JoDear JoDear JoDear Jo

This is your best enemy from planet Heaven (back home we callfriends enemies). I got back safely and the return trip was easierthan leaving. Before I left, I imagined you as quite a differentgirl. I did not expect to see you in a space suit. Jo, you reallyhave changed a lot while you have been gone. You are a strangerto me now. The place where you live is so different from here.

As a friend, I respect the way you are and I accept the way Iam. I wish I could persuade you to change, though I know itdoes not matter. The law here says we can invite anyone homebut no pressure is allowed. I know you know the way homebut have forgotten. Honoring the law, let me just remind youthat you are always welcome to come and stay for a while.

This is the only place where people find impossible things likereal happiness and peace. So, please, come for a visit and youwill soon see what has kept me content here for so long. If youlike, you can come home through a wormhole in your mind,until you decide to relocate permanently.

Though the distance between us is great, it feels like you areright here next to me now. How wonderful it will be when youcome home for good from your journey so far away to a distantplanet. Are we still good friends? Can we become best enemiesforever again? I am looking forward to our future together.Your true and original self ...

Sincerely, JoSincerely, JoSincerely, JoSincerely, JoSincerely, Jo

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NNNNNINEINEINEINEINESSSSSEXUALITYEXUALITYEXUALITYEXUALITYEXUALITY

IIIIIn theatrical releases of Star Wars, Lucasfilm reported that thirty-five percent of the audience consisted of women

(starwars-chicks.com). Yet, one question has persisted—why arethere no women Jedi Knights and why so few females in StarWars? As political leaders, Princess Leia and Queen Amidalaplay strong roles, but are overshadowed by the male leads. Theyare disadvantaged also in not being trained for the knighthood.

Shmi Skywalker, young Anakin’s mother in Phantom Menace, actsthe part of a dupe, since her child is given to the cause of warwith her consent. Only nine years old when he departs, she tellshim, “Be brave and don’t look back.” Perhaps, “the system” con-trolled her thinking since she was three years old herself whensold into slavery. Given the projection of guilt, outer forces ap-pear to be absolute.

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Only in franchised writings is Leia trained to be a Jedi Knight. Theofficial Star Wars Encyclopedia states that her brother, Luke, taughther “rudimentary skills,” but as the offspring of an authentic knight,the question is why? Reputed to be “feisty,” she never protests thedecision. Did her liaison with Han disqualify her due to guilt, oris she the wrong gender? The former involves her being physical,while the latter, her physical being.

Before the sequels, another question was, where in the galaxy isLuke and Leia’s mother? From Phantom Menace we learned thatshe is Padmé Amidala. Her whereabouts and her husband’s mo-tives for going over to the “dark side” were not clear. (Chapter 11).While Darth Vader was out raising hell, Leia reportedly went tosome serene planet with Lady Skywalker-Vader, who then fadedfrom the story. This means she did not die birthing the twins asdepicted at the end of Revenge of the Sith.

There must be some explanation, beyond “power corrupts,” toexplain Darth Vader’s denunciation of the Jedi Knights and hiscapitulation to the Sith. Novices are furious when knighthooddoes not come faster and easier, but do not decide to embody theAnti-Christ. Padmé’s disappearance in the sequel trilogy must con-tribute to her husband’s furious demise. The ending of their lovestory has kept fans in suspense for the entire twenty-eight year his-tory of the Star Wars serial.

In Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader refuses to murder his son andboth learn to honor the loving Force. Luke’s ability to “slay” hisbiological father and overturn his lineage, may be founded in thelove his mother had for him as a child in Phantom Menace and onthe love of his wife, Padmé’s, in Attack of the Clones. He exemplifiesinner strength by refusing to join his father and decides instead toreturn to the Force, leaping into the central abyss at the end ofThe Empire Strikes Back.

Refuses

to

Murder

Returns

to Loving

the Force

As a senator of peace in Phantom Menace, genteel Padmé is threat-ened with assassination. For his affair and marriage to her in At-tack of the Clones, the impetuous Anakin is threatened with banish-ment from the Order of Jedi Knights. At the end of Revenge of theSith, Obi-Wan “kills” Anakin in a duel which unleashes Darth Vader.Padmé dies mysteriously in childbirth on Obi-Wan’s spaceship(Chapter 11).

There are three explanations for Darth Vader’s plunge into theblack hole of the “dark side” and his decision to purge Jedi Knight:1. the murder threats against Padme as an advocate of peace, 2.his expulsion from the order for dereliction of duty and 3. hisdevotion to romance instead of the knighthood. His redemptionat the end of the six-part mega-saga shows, however, that never washe trapped by “evil”—and forever does it not control his destiny.

Star Wars is known as an asexual film. “Lucas simply didn’t wantsexuality in his fairy tale,” wrote biographer Dale Pollock. Lucasperhaps wanted to attract general audiences? For whatever reason,Luke’s discrete romantic interests are blatantly acted out in theintrigue between Princess Leia and Captain Solo, his sister andbest friend. Irvin Kershner, Director of Episode V, explained thatin their love story, “A kiss is the equivalent of a sex scene.”

The asexuality of Jedi Knights is conveyed in Yoda’s benign ap-pearance. “Yaddle” is a female of Yoda’s species, on the Jedi Coun-cil in Phantom Menace, but there is no hint of romance. Obi-Wanis a quiet old hermit living alone far out in the desert. Duringtraining, Yoda chastises Luke, “Adventure. Heh! Excitement. Heh!A Jedi craves not these things.” Critics complain Return of the Jedi,the climax to two trilogies, is the least exciting episode.

That Jedi Knights are asexual is evident in their tragic “extinc-tion.” “Their fire has gone out of the universe” and their legacy

Kiss

=

Sex

=

Sin

Lone

Desert

Hermit

9 LOVE AND HATE 133


comes to an end. Recruits are attracted to physical fighting on the“dark side,” instead of being drawn to the Light of the Force. Isthe passing of Jedi Knights an effect of deciding to live withoutmates and offspring? Meanwhile, Darth Vader sires twins of bothgenders and his empire thrives.

Where does “evil” get its power and where have all the Jedi Knightsgone, long time passing? Luke is repeatedly warned about the “al-lure of the dark side of the Force.” In Star Wars Irresistible Force,Kevin M. Nord links sexuality and the rise of the “dark side” whenhe states that “Anakin” might come from “Anakim,” the name “inthe Old Testament for a race of giants, ‘the sons of the gods (who)lay with the daughters of men.’ ”

To human beings, sensuality and spirituality are mutual repellants,like oil and water. Being aroused physiologically reinforces uncon-scious shame in thinking God is offended by sexual activity. Ax-iomatically, when guilt is hidden, conflict is projected outwardonto others. Guilt is easy to dish out but forgiveness is hard toswallow. Interpersonally and internationally, self-attacks of guilt kindlewarfare with “enemies.”

AAAAASEXUALITYSEXUALITYSEXUALITYSEXUALITYSEXUALITYIn The Empire Strikes Back, Luke encounters the second barrierto higher consciousness, the incompatibility of the physical andspiritual worlds. He decides to return to battle to escape disci-plined training in higher consciousness. The obvious impedimentis the fear of losing social power and being vanquished by foes.The second obstacle, the loss of eroticism and reproductive po-tency, is defied in the risqué love story of Han and Leia.

Their affair ignites the moment Luke seeks a liaison with the as-cetic Yoda. While Luke goes to spiritual boot camp, Han and Leiahead for the cave of bestial delights and the two subplots unfold

War

Projects

Self-

Attack

Guilt

=

Self-Hate

=

Self-

Attack

=

Projected

=

Warfare

!

in back and forth cuts. Drawn to the ignoble Han, instead of theLuke, the plebe Leia acts carnal rather than transcendental. Shetakes after her sexy father instead of the celibates, Obi-Wan andYoda. Leia has no trainer and has lost her mother.

The sister follows a secular, while the brother follows a sacredpath to spiritual heights. Leia acquires a special love partner to off-set the fear of death in the dark side, while Luke is tempted by theLight to align with pious virtue. The first limits, but does noteliminate fear, while the second tries to surmount it morally. Thesplit track between romantic excitement and spiritual commit-ment polarizes the pair in the world of opposites.

Both ways involve loving—the former with the mind and the latterwith the body. Leia enters a special partnership while Luke entersa spiritual mentorship, two methods of contending with the grimreaper who harvests the father’s hate through bloodshed and deathin warfare. Luke quarrels with Yoda, just as Han and Leia bickerwith one another, as the couples mistrust the Force and lash outat their mates. Neither way is superior.

Traditionally, one marries and has children while the other ab-stains sexually and joins a convent or monastery. If giving up sen-sual desire is the price to be paid for posting as a universal moralsentinel, however, young men and women everywhere recoil frompeace duty and prefer military service. Then, along with the plea-sures of rest and recreation, sexual excitement compensates forthe nasty business of war.

At their physical peak, young people are ready “to go for” ratherthan “to forego” eroticism. To exchange earthly delights for celes-tial deliverance is thought impossible only for non-libidinousyouth. People prefer making out, fighting and making-up, to theboredom of peaceful celibacy. The “couple’s war” that follows the

Go For

or

Forego ?

Profane

or Sacred

Path

9 LOVE AND HATE 135

Take the

A-Trail or

Betrayal?


honeymoon phase in romantic relations is more thrilling and yetmore devastating.

The clash of body and spirit in Star Wars derives from the equa-tion: “sex equals sin.” This idea is woven into religious fabric thatis the cloth of Star Wars theology. That one cannot be sensualwithout offending the deity and feeling shameful, is a wrinkle. Sexis then closeted in secrecy or eliminated in abstinence. “Sinful”acts are hidden and one feels guilty—or desire is repressed and oneacts asexual—overt and covert strategies that preserve the split mind.

A conflict persists between moral knights and immoral mortals.Like priests and nuns in historical religions, Jedi Knights are obligedto remain chaste. Sexuality offends God, the way it arouses theasteroid beast in A New Hope (discussed in the next section). As aninhibitor of vice and greed, faith is feared. Thus, the lower-self op-poses the higher-self to retain eroticism, reinforce guilt and maintainthe separation from God.

Action heroes are great warriors and great lovers, but a wisdomhero gives up both fighting and lovemaking. There is no libera-tion, however, as long as the decision for spiritual empowermentcomes from the fear of sacrifice and sacrilege. True love knows noloss. To join the Force, young people believe they must forfeitromance and lose sensual partners in the world in exchange forthe thought of God in the mind.

Hence, the cadre of peace knights dwindles as the battle for theSelf is lost. Luke preserves his sexual prerogatives by fleeing basictraining to rescue his compatriots and to protect his masculinitythat mating and fighting express. The deeper fear of feminine sur-render to the Force is entirely hidden. In dreading the loss of mas-culine powers and returning to combat, Luke flees Yoda’s Prin

True Love

Knows

No Loss

Fighting

and

Love-

Making

ciples 3 and 4. He reckons that risking death is better than pledg-ing lifelong chastity.

Historically, religions have required vows of celibacy (and poverty)or sanctification through the custom of marriage. A less commonmethod practices unique (holy) orgasm, i.e., “tantric sex.” Allthree measures exaggerate the importance of sexuality, however,by making it acceptable only within specific bounds. Sacredorgasm, celibacy and matrimony condemn other forms of sexualityas impious.

Using color photography and special-effects technology, Star Warsfilms modernized an old black and white story about good andbad people. Yet, the human habit of getting rid of hidden guilt,derived from replacing spiritual love with physical pleasure, per-sists in finding scapegoats to blame for the habit. Conflict arisesfrom mutually projected self-hate denied, believing the guilt isvalid, in a covert mind-war with God

RRRRROMANTICOMANTICOMANTICOMANTICOMANTIC LLLLLOVEOVEOVEOVEOVEThe future lovers, Han and Leia, exude enmity when they firstmeet, aggravated by social class differences. She is a well-bredprincess from an aristocratic family. He attended a military acad-emy and graduated with honors as an officer, but was dischargedfrom the royal naval academy for insubordination in defendingmistreated slaves. He turned into a low-life smuggler and scurrilousspace pirate.

As Han’s leader in basic trust (Chapter 12) Leia is from a highersocial class and further up the ladder of faith. Playing the role of amercenary in A New Hope, is base level is shown in his refusal tojoin the insurrection on the first Death Star and without compen-sation, not to participate in Leia’s rescue. When she is threatenedwith termination, he cynically says, “better her than me.”

Sex

=

Guilt

=

Deny

=

Project

=

Blame

=

Attack

=

Combat

9 LOVE AND HATE 137!


Flyboy

=

Zipper

Man

A rivalry flares as egos collide over who is in charge of the fight-flight plan, a ruse for who takes the subordinate position in theirrelationship. At first, there is a fight within the fight that di-videstheir romance from the larger cause. Given the illogic of passion,the more they are meant for one another, the bigger the barriers.To truly love each other, however, both must overcome their fearof being at peace with God.

Han facilitates Luke’s destruction of the Death Star (first rescue ofLeia) at the end of A New Hope. He undoes the stigma of his classinferiority and wins her affection. His heroism makes him eligibleto be her suitor and their relationship changes from fighting loversto loving fighters. No longer a degenerate rogue, but steadfast leaderof the rebellion, Han acquires the right to compete among insid-ers for her affection.

In the sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, their heir relationship re-gresses to bitter rivalry Luke flies away to a swamp planet to betrained by his dry-witted mentor, Yoda. Han saves Leia as they es-cape Darth Vader’s assault on their asylum. Han and Leia navigatethrough an asteroid field to hide in a cave on a giant rock tum-bling through space (second rescue of Leia). The cave turns out tobe the interior of a giant space dinosaur.

In flight, the couple teases and speaks meanly to each another.The irreverent Han calls Leia “your worshipfulness,” and she al-ludes to his zipper calling him “flyboy.” When the budding loversare alone and safe, they share a first kiss. But an interloper, onewho is not jealous, See-Threepio, senses the danger and foils theirfun as he pretends to investigate equipment repairs in their area.

Their erotic interlude arouses the beast who is threatened by lovewithin his body, even in carnal form. Han narrowly flies the space-ship out of the hostile environment (third rescue) and he is awarded

Lovers

and

Fighters

kiss two from Leia. It is rescue and reward, the merry merit paysystem that entangles the two lovers. No longer solo, Han getsmore experience under his belt than his “younger brother” who ison an asexual trajectory to the Force.

Escaping the asteroid beast, Han eludes Darth Vader again (fourthrescue) endearing him further to the princess and the whole bandflies off to Cloud (Nine) City. The following morning, Han takespayment and kisses Leia for a third time. But the ragtag gang isdrawn into a trap set by Darth Vader, who wants to terminateLuke’s training by resuming the fighting to revive the rule of the“dark side.”

The sexually of Han and Leia activates the guilt that severs the linkwith the Force and incapacitates even the faithful robots. See-Threepio is dismantled and Artoo Detoo is imprisoned. To preventpeace knight breeding, Darth Vader tests whether Han can survivecarbon freezing before icing Luke. The romantic love of Han andLeia leads the ring of fellows beyond the sensual to towers of faith.Through spiritual love, without sacrificing physical love, you aredrawn to maturity.

The lovers biggest kiss (number four) comes moments before theiraffair is cooled down by the petrification of Han. Leia declares, “Ilove you” and Han replies somberly, “I know.” Perhaps he realizesthat her love seals his doom? Or, he loves her too, but does notknow whether he will survive and decides not to convince her.Just as Yoda releases Luke during his death scene (Chapter 6) Hanhides his love to enable her to fight on.

In Return of the Jedi, Leia heads for the organized crime center onthe fringe of outer space. With the warmth of her body, she thawsHan out to love again. Her rescue and masculine disguise suggestthe two equals are fully in love. They kiss (number five) as com-

9 LOVE AND HATE 139

Being

trapped in the

larger struggle

makes Han and

Leia mistrustful

of one another

and vice versa,

mistrusting

one another,

traps them in

the warfare

system.


rades in the arms of love and war, and traces of rivalry vanish. Theirsexual bond is no threat to the Force who tractors the coup-le to the Light.

Embraced in love, but ignorant of a greater purpose, Han and Leiawork together as paired rebel leaders, too occupied for more kissesnow. At times, Han appears to be jealous of Luke’s relationshipwith Leia. Following the destruction of the second Death Star,Leia informs Han that Luke is her brother and the competitionsubsides. Since Han and Leia are not to be trained further, no vowof celibacy impedes their union.

Leia’s love for Han evolves as he goes from: sleazy opportunist,egotistist-rogue, and lustful soldier of fortune, to champion rebelleader. In mythology, women tame men by bringing them out ofthe wilds into civilization. Through her love, Leia elevates Han’scharacter, arousing passion for each other and devotion to the Force.Han becomes “the first husband of the New Republic.” Followingmore kissing, they bear three “Force-sensitive” children.

FFFFFORBIDDENORBIDDENORBIDDENORBIDDENORBIDDEN LLLLLOVEOVEOVEOVEOVE SSSSSTORYTORYTORYTORYTORYTrue romance erects barriers for lover’s to cross in order to provetheir mutual devotion. Because personal attachments may conflictwith military duty, Attack of the Clones confirms that love affairsare off-limits to Jedi Knights. The conduct rule stands in the way

In

Mythology

Women

Civilize

Men

Disguised as a bounty hunter, Leia rescues Han andthey become commandos in the arms of love and war,kissing passionately and uniting to fight “evil” in thegalaxy. They represent the gender divided pair who takea secular route through romantic love to find spirituallove, in contrast to Luke, who follow a direct path tospirit via training with his asexual mentor, Yoda. B

OUN

TY O

F LO

VE!

of Anakin and Padmé’s formal commitment to one another. Theiraffair and marriage are taboo, and in the end, both are punishedfor their transgressions.

Separate trailers advertised Attack of the Clones as “Forbidden Love”and “Clone Wars.” The seismic cause and effect relationshipbetween the two events, however, was not a message intended byLucas. Moviemaker and moviegoer do not realize that self-attacksof guilt are projected onto scapegoats in an underground war withGod. Their illicit love ends tragically, as one true hero dies of abroken heart and the other pursues mad revenge and is destroyed(Chapter 11).

The romance of Anakin and Padmé moved center stage in the pre-quels, whereas the love story of Han and Leia remained in thewings of the classic trilogy. The barriers to love are now insurmount-able—the rigidity of elders and institution. A ragged slave boy, work-ing for a junk dealer, falls in love with an elegant young queen. InPhantom Menace, Anakin tries to impress Padmé with his equip-ment—robot and podracer—but she regards him as an odd littlefellow.

Falling in love at first sight, their romantic passion ignites tenyears later, in Attack of the Clones, when the Jedi Council assignsAnakin to bodyguard Padmé at a remote lake-island resort. Un-til then, he is busy training in the armed forces of the Jedi Knights.Her profession is now galactic senator. At the retreat, Anakin re-calls his mother’s love for him, but chastised as a child by the JediCouncil for thinking of her, he fears he is making a big mistake inloving Padmé.

Their love making intensifies the danger, so the two fly away toAnakin’s barren home-planet for safety. He discovers that his mo-ther was kidnapped months earlier, confirming the omens aboutthe consequence of their heedless passion. Anakin’s mother dies

Two

True

Heroes

Odd

Little

Fellow

9 LOVE AND HATE 141


Love

and

Peace

in her son’s arms as twin suns arise. Since his guilt is aroused, heslaughters a village of nomadic sand people and the first battle ofthe Clone Wars follows.

Now the lovers quarrel over who is in control of their relation-ship. Thus, the couple’s war and the Clone Wars go hand inhand, for you cannot have rampant warfare without “secret sinsand hidden hates.” Pulling rank, Padmé reprimands Anakin say-ing, “You remember your place, young man” (Stover 2005). “Iwill not condone a course of action that will lead us to war” sheasserts. Yet, she knows nothing of the unconscious effect of ro-mantic guilt in aggravating social relations.

Anakin’s turn to terrorism and the reactivation of the civil war,begin with their sexual liaison and continue with the consum-mation of their marriage. In the last scene of Attack of the Clones,Anakin breaks the celibacy code of Jedi Knights to marry secretlyhis childhood sweetheart. Padmé dies mysteriously while he ismutilated openly. Jedi Knaves must do both dirty deeds be-causeAnakin joins the Sith to retaliate and to protect his children withPadmé (Chapter 11).

In the novel and graphic novel of Revenge of the Sith, an affair is ru-mored to take place between Obi-Wan and Padmé that slandersthe Skywalker marriage. The closest Padmé ever came to infidelity,however, was cleaning and oiling Artoo Detoo in Phantom Menace,after the brave little navigator helped her to escape her besiegedhome world. Another misunderstood incident involves Padmégiving See-Threepio an oil bath one night while waiting for Anakinto find his mother’s kidnappers.

Anakin turns to rage and rampage over the “Conspiracy of JediKnights” (Chapter 11). Padmé’s murder aggravates the old wound.Anakin suffered as a child when he was taken prematurely from

Clones

Attack

Them-

selves

Self-

Attacks

Project

‘Enemies’

his devoted mother for training by the Jedi Knights (Chapter 10).Anakin’s three losses as a teenager (mother, wife and community)leave him with nothing to rekindle kindness. He literally has nolegs, or hands, to stand on in the brutal ending to Revenge of theSith.

Anakin’s descent into darkness was also motivated by neglectinghis mother for ten years. Accepted for training at the advancedage of ten, a decade passed before he saw her again. He wasbusy, like many young people, trying to make his mark in the gal-axy. Luke could not remember his mother, but Anakin learnedthe lesson of the Jedi Council in Phantom Menace to never againthink about his mother (Chapter 10).

Anakin did not know his mother was freed from slavery, remar-ried, had a stepson and suffered “a hole in her heart” where heused to be (quoted from the novel). She dies minutes after theirreunion and he goes berserk, slaughtering her kidnappers, includ-ing women and children. The novel states that Anakin misusesthe Force to do his marauding. He believed failing to care for hismother contributed to her capture and torture, fueling the furyagainst the nomadic tribe.

Attack of the Clones forewarns of Anakin’s transformation into DarthVader. The galactic war surges with the passion of the handsomeAnakin and the beautiful Padmé. In the prequel, the lovers replaythe story of Adam and Eve, activating warfare and repeating thetragic course of human history. The connection between sexualityand fighting is revealed in the climactic war, but the link, throughthe projection of guilt, is little understood.

It takes intuitive wisdom to realize that assaults on others are al-ways based on self-attacks of unmitigated self-hate. In departingHeaven, deep down, we were convinced of our own “original sin.”

9 LOVE AND HATE 143


Since politics arose historically to preempt intimacy with God,people habitually blame one another for the desertion. Our hid-den shame then is blamed on outsiders who deserve punishmentfor being “the bad ones.” The idea of attacking clones suggest,however, that we fight no one but ourselves.

OOOO ORI

GIN

RIGI

NRI

GIN

RIGI

NRI

GIN &&&& &

TTTT TRA

NSM

ISSI

ON

RAN

SMIS

SIO

NRA

NSM

ISSI

ON

RAN

SMIS

SIO

NRA

NSM

ISSI

ON

TTTTTENENENENENBBBBBUNCHUNCHUNCHUNCHUNCH OFOFOFOFOF SSSSSITHIESITHIESITHIESITHIESITHIES

TTTTThe war in Phantom Menace is incited by a cartel of greedy businessmen and politicians who monopolize commerce

in the galaxy. They blockade a peaceful planet ruled by a fairand good, fourteen-year-old sovereign, Padmé Amidala (NataliePortman). She is Anakin’s (Hayden Christensen) future wife andLuke’s mother to be. The Sith lead the reign of corruption, butdo not call them “sithies.”

A trade embargo “shrinks the film to the scale of the 19th Century”observed film critic Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun Times (May17, 1999). As the “backstory” to the classic trilogy, however, Phan-tom Menace is meant to foretell events in the Twenty-First orTwenty-Second Centuries. Closer to our period, Phantom Menaceis thus Star War’s “Book of Genesis.”

!


The ruler of darkness is the hideous Darth Sidious, who looks andacts just like the future prosecutor of death, Emperor Palpatine(Ian McDiarmid). When tyrants use pseudonyms (Palpatine=Sidious and Dooku=Tyranus) and appear identical in blue-tinged holograms, epoch after epoch, they must be fake. The“Lord of the Sith” has a red-devil apprentice, Darth Maul, pre-cursor to the black-clad Darth Vader.

Anakin is a gifted nine-year-old slave boy living with his singlemother in poverty on a remote planet. Being in a single-parentfamily and from lowest social class, indicate that being a Jedi Knighthas nothing to do with wealth or social status. He looks five or sixyears old, but the actor, Jake Lloyd, was eight at the time of film-ing. Reacting to a Phantom Menace poster in a toy store window, amother was overheard to say incredulously to her son, “You meanthat little boy becomes Darth Vader?”

On screen, the hero descends in age while off-screen, the film-makers ascend. Lucas claimed Phantom Menace was designed toappeal to prepubescent boys and girls, as contrasted with theteenage target audience of the classic trilogy. “It is a film fortwelve-year olds ... a Saturday afternoon serial for children” (GeorgeLucas, Los Angeles Times, May 10, 1999). Ironically, due to violentimages, children under thirteen needed parental supervision tosee Revenge of the Sith.

“Annie” (not “Ani”) is an expert “pod racer” and in close-ups llokslike a fierce kindergartner on a tricycle. Given his diminutive sizeand name, he appears to be androgynous. “Pods” are chariots with-out wheels, propelled across the hot planet by pairs of big jet en-gines. Race scenes with diverse drivers and spectators reveal thecompetition among ethnicities on this home world.

To reinforce the message, Anakin is the action hero of the filmtwice over. First, he wins first-prize money that pays for repairs to

An

Elected

Queen?

Hey, You

‘Sithies

the queen’s spaceship in order to resume its flight to the capitolplanet. A second heroic feat occurs during the climax when Ana-kin accidentally pilots a spacefighter, navigated by Artoo Detoo,to attack the command center of the invasion.

When the attack proves futile against shields, the two sweep in-side a hanger, launch two torpedoes and detonate the main reactor.The flying headquarters is demolished, suggesting that child inno-cence destroys “evil” naturally. Padmé tells Anakin, “We owe youeverything.” The victory is fleeting, however, because Annie is notyet knighted and it takes place at the action level of racing andfighting.

The indisputable child hero of the grand republic single-handedlyobliterates the enemy of the people at the macro level of the “uni-verse.” A little ray of light expanding from within, whose name isAnakin, effortlessly abolishes the space fortress from the insideout. Closer to a true self as a young child, fantasies of injustice aredisposed of easily. Technically, Anakin also obeys Qui-Gon’s or-der to stay in the spacefighter.

The parallels between Anakin and Luke Skywalker, father and son,are evident in these battle scenes that remind us of Luke’s assaulton the Emperor’s Death Star to take place in Episode IV. As thebackstory, Phantom Menace tells how the father learned that “evil”must be eliminated from the galaxy. Luke learns his father’s lessonas a child, for both were taught by elders to believe in the reality ofsin, both personally and universally.

Officially, Anakin is scheduled to begin his fall from grace in up-coming Episodes II and III. Luke and Leia are born after Anakin“dies,” reportedly scalded to death by falling into a caldron ofvolcanic lies and hate. Anakin did not know that Padmé was preg-nant, nor that she births twins: Luke and Leia. As Darth Vader, heunknowingly tortures his daughter about the site of a rebel base

10 ORIGIN AND TRANSMISSION 147

‘Revenge’

is Not

for Kids

Caldron

of Lies

and Hate


almost kills his son in a chase during the conclusion to A NewHope.

In Episode I, a crescendo of combat arises between Qui-Gon (LiamNeeson) and Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) who team up against DarthMaul (Ray Park) an apprentice crimson with animosity. Yoda claimstwo Lords of the Sith always appear together, master and appren-tice, but here, Darth Maul fights the two good knights alone.Tattooed face, razor-sharp teeth, crown of horns and double lasersword, he is a demonic adversary.

While good and “evil” duel, a chorus sings Qui-Gon’s Noble End.The lyrical fight scene is choreographed inside a grand cathedrallike structure. Darth Maul is more agile and fluid than the clumsyObi-Wan. Qui-Gon kneels to pray to the Force and the ending ofEpisode VI could have occurred right here—the series over in Epi-sode I.

But Darth Maul kills Qui-Gon. The distraught protégé, Obi-Wan,retaliates by slicing Darth Maul in half and the villain top-plesinto the endless shaft of the “generator-melting pit,” to be regener-ated in many forms in future episodes. Darth Maul multiplies dueto the concentration on his destruction. Fighting “evil” is a “two-edged blade”—first you assume it exists and then you replicate it with effortsat eradication.

The clever “devil” arises from guilt in the split mind of the dumbapprentice. Making “enemies” reinforces the rule of self-hate inyour mind. “Evil” is overcome by forgiveness. Hate separates youfrom God and you assault others when intensified shame makesyou fearful of death alone without faith in the love of God. Separa-tion!weak body!guilt!fear!hatred!anger! attack!death!loop. Once you quit fighting you, however, warfare is over forever.

Sepa-ration

!!!!!

WeakBody

!!!!!

Guilt

!!!!!

Fear

!!!!!

Hatred

!!!!!

Anger

!!!!!

Attack

!!!!!

Death

!!!!!

Loop

CCCCCHOSENHOSENHOSENHOSENHOSEN CCCCCHILDHILDHILDHILDHILDEscaping her planet under attack, the Queen’s damaged space-craft lands for repairs on Anakin’s home world. In an excursioninto town to find replacement parts, Qui-Gon encounters youngAnakin and notices his dexterity, for example, that ordinary hu-mans lack. Anakin is impressed by a glimpse of Qui-Gon’s big lasersaber tucked beneath his poncho.

Each suspects the other of being a clandestine Jedi Knight andthe theme of father and son emerges. Avoiding a portentous sandstorm, Anakin invites Qui-Gon to shelter in his home and tomeet his kind mother, Shmi Skywalker. The company is intro-duced to See-Threepio, a neurotic robot Anakin built for domes-tic work The child prodigy he is indebted to his mother for herloving care in an alien slave system.

Artoo Detoo meets See-Threepio for the first time and tells himrudely he is “nude,” that is, he has no metallic body coverings. Inbiblical terms, he wears no “fig leaves.” All his wiring, circuitsand inner functions are visible. He projects Anakin’s transparencyand looks emaciated because he is not greedy? The babbling, butendearing computer, might have been called “See-Thru-Pio,” forhe has nothing to hide.

Little Anakin and lanky See-Threepio have no secrets because with-out guilt, they are not ashamed and know nothing of deceit. Ana-kin’s loving mother shields him in a wanton world to preserve hisnatural purity. As a visionary, when they first meet, Qui-Gon tellsAnakin’s mother, “He’s a very special boy” and she agrees. Thenovel adds, “... the look she gave him suggested they shared an im-portant secret.”

The mother reacts as if Qui-Gon has “discovered a secret,” accord-ing to the script. Apparently Shmi is fully aware of Anakin’s spe-

Father

and

Son

See-

Thru-

Pio?

‘A

Special

Boy’

10 ORIGIN AND TRANSMISSION 149!


cialness and awaits his adoption by a teacher of truth. But theadults act as if there is undisclosed information about the identityof Anakin’s father. The introduction of mystery about his ances-try suggests we will need a prequel to the prequels—to return to aneven earlier time for more clarification.

Qui-Gon explains to Anakin’s mother that quick reflexes meanAnakin sees events before they happen. Qui-Gon foresees thatAnakin will qualify as a Jedi Knight and raises questions aboutAnakin’s father. Feigning naiveté, like a teenager, Anakin’smother says, “There was no father that I know of ... . I carriedhim, I gave birth ... I can’t explain what happened.”

She asks Qui-Gon to help her son and in the novel, but not inthe film, she touches his arm. Reproduction is another amazingfunction of the Jedi Knight lasersaber? This is perhaps the reasonthe rod hums and glows? Reputedly, its length extends by turningsmall knobs on its handle. “Anakin’s whole body hummed to thetune of his blue-hot blade,” explained the novelist of Revenge of theSith (2005).

Shmi’s statement may be taken literally or figuratively—animmaculate conception or an absconded father—a chosen or aban-doned off-spring. Qui-Gon reassures her that Anakin has “the wayof the Force,” but already “he’s too old” for training. By compar-ison, Luke, his son, will be eighteen-years old when he learns aboutintuitive wisdom.

Prequel

to the

Prequels?

A

Phantom

Seduction?

“Nude,” without body coverings, Anakin constructedan innocent C-3P0, who might be called “See-Thru-Pio.”A guiltless child prodigy, Anakin gets rid of hatefulthoughts, saving the galaxy from “evil” in Phantom Men-ace, as does his son, Luke, in Return of the Jedi. Fightingis folly, so Luke throws his weapon away and warfareends forever. P

RECO

CIO

US R

OBO

T

Qui-Gon tests Anakin’s blood for infection while treating him forabrasions after a competition. Qui-Gon notices Shmi watchingfrom the threshold of a nearby doorway as he discovers high con-centrations of “midi-chlorians.” According to the screenplay, themother is “embarrassed” by the intimacy revealed in her glance.The official Making of Episode I says there is a “hint of romance”and “subtle chemistry” in their interaction (Bouzereau 1999). Per-haps, Qui-Gon tests for his own DNA?

Because the midi-chlorians test proves positive, Shmi is told thather son is to be released from slavery and taken to a distantplanet for examination by an elder tribunal. Playing Qui-Gon,Liam Neeson departed from the script at this point, touching theshoulder of Pernilla August, the Swedish actress who played thepart of the mother. From behind, he places his hand on her shoul-der and asks, “Will you be all right (without Anakin).”

According to media reports about the shooting of this scene, thegesture was allowed after protracted negotiations with Lucas. Sur-reptitious tenderness and blood tests in the home, arouse suspi-cion that these two are the biological parents of little Anakin.Qui-Gon’s culpability as progenitor would explain his termina-tion at the end of Phantom Menace. He originally broke the celi-bacy code of Jedi Knights, foreshadowing his son’s affair withPadmé.

The

Natural

Parents?

A

Touching

Gesture


Qui-Gon tests Anakin’s blood while his mother, Shmi,observes from a doorway in her home. In a gesture ofaffection, Qui-Gon touches her shoulder, a departurefrom the script, at the insistence of Liam Neeson, whoplayed the part. Are they the parents of Anakin Sky-walker who becomes Darth Vader? The scene was re-tained after intense negotiations with the director. K

NIG

HT A

ND S

LAVE


Paternity is another Qui-Gon’s personality quirks? The Slave Mis-tress and the Jedi Knight may have been an episode of Star Wars notreleased in theaters? Like angels descending among mortals, ro-mantic tales are told of Jedi with non-Jedi Knights? Anakin in-herited a fascination for the opposite sex, his downfall in the pre-quels, from Obi-Wan, his father? One implication is that “evil” arisesfrom the miscegenation of races or classes.

Meanwhile, Qui-Gon obtains his son’s freedom, but leaves hisformer mate. He tells Anakin, “You are strong with the Force, butyou may not be accepted by the Council” (because of parentage orage?). “If you succeed,” he warns, “it will be a hard life.” Anakinturns to his mother who says, “Listen to your feelings Annie, youknow what’s right.” The mother thus encourages the child to trustin his own mind and by implication in the Force.

EEEEELDERLDERLDERLDERLDER T T T T TRIBUNALRIBUNALRIBUNALRIBUNALRIBUNAL

A schism between creed and greed paralyzes the galactic con-gress.The Queen pleads with its leaders to defend her planet while Qui-Gon petitions the elder tribunal to approve Anakin’s training andto assign him as the trainer. Qui-Gon is not a member of this eliteclergy, in the “Temple of the Jedi,” because his thinking is toostrident. His chief detractor is Grand Master Yoda: a young-er,greener, feistier, hairier critter than in earlier episodes.

Anakin is brought to be character tested before this board of twelvemaster knights who gather in a circle. Three are female and two ofthese are human. Yaddle is a third female who appears to be of thesame species as Yoda. Mysteriously, in this episode, Attack of theClones, the females all disappear from the inner council chamberand we never see the whole membership together. The first femalesJedi Knights ever, show up in gladiator battle scenes.

MISCE- GENATION: SEXUAL INTERCOURSE OR MARRIAGE BETWEEN RACES OR CLASSES.

Trust

the

Force

Creed

versus

Greed

!

Yoda interrogates Anakin and given the way he is treated, Anakincomplains that he feels cold. Yoda rebukes him saying, “Yourthoughts dwell on your mother” and “Afraid to lose her ... I think.”Defiant like his father, Qui-Gon, little Anakin retorts, “What’sthat got to do with anything?” Yoda then pontificates, “Fear is thepath to the dark side ... fear leads to anger ... anger leads to hate ...hate leads to suffering.”

Wanting to live up to senior council expectations, but fearing hewill be rejected for training and disappoint Qui-Gon, Anakin in-sists, “I’m not afraid.” Not trusting his own fabled intuition andin conduct quite unbecoming to a sage, Yoda acts like he be-lievesthe cadet and resumes the interrogation. Now smaller than ever,Yoda is provocative and cruel. What has happened to the greatfrog’s humanity?

Without explanation, Yoda opposes Anakin candidacy to JediKnighthood. Yoda not clear why boy’s future clouded is. Anakinreports Yoda has always disapproved of his existence (Stover 2005).A slave child, with no legal father, is taken from his single motherto an inquest held by a set of odd creatures, on a faraway planetand scornfully challenged not to be afraid? Yoda acts like the com-mander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Jedi, a post he occupiesin Attack of the Clones.

Living under harsh conditions of slavery, Anakin has no identityof his own and, therefore, every reason to feel fearful. In mediainterviews, Lucas reported that shooting the goodbye “was a diffi-cult scene” because Anakin was supposed to be upset about leav-ing his mother, but not distraught. In the novel, however, “tearsstreaked his face” and he was “wracked with sobs.”

Padmé’s love for Anakin later soothes this trauma, but their affairand marriage break the sex taboo that leads to the threat of herassassination and his expulsion from the community of knights.

The

Great

Frog’s

Humanity?

The

Master

Conveys

Fear



In Revenge of the Sith she must hide her pregnancy before she in-explicably dies in childbirth at the hands of Obi-Wan who betrayshis friendship with Anakin (Chapter 11).

With no compassion, the elder tribunal tests Anakin’s ability toconform and forbear pain. Why is this super-intelligent panel soinsensitive to his plight and why is it wrong to complain and befearful? Historically, the endurance of pain is part of an inductiontest into war-culture. In a rite of passage, male children are pre-pared by elders for adult scripts as soldiers.

Officially, Anakin’s descent was scheduled for Episode II, but he isscared and scarred—by the senior council—who initiates him tothe “dark side” right here in Episode I. As one mad cycle, the processalso works in reverse. Fear creates the judgment of sin that justifiesintimidation. Smart children sense the insane system of sadismand many rebel in puberty. As adults, they may exercise free willand break the chain of historical violence, however, to find sanityand serenity.

In Phantom Menace there is no victory celebration, however, be-cause Qui-Gon has gone with the Force. Anakin’s ally is killed,as the child is stripped of mother and father in a process identi-cal to the one to be endured by Luke, orphaned four times insequel episodes. Ranking officers in a culture at war with “evil”immerse Anakin in anger and fear by: separation from his mother,threats of rigorous training and a harsh endurance test.

Yoda notices Qui-Gon’s defiant streak in Anakin and thereforedoes not approve his nomination for training. Yoda senses “gravedanger” in the proposal to train Anakin and Yoda speaks for fear,anger, hate and suffering by opposing the child’s potential tosucceed. Yoda held a “gruff disapproval of Anakin’s very existence”(Stover 2005). The elder council does approve, however, and the

Scared

and

Scarred

Gone

with the

Force

Sanity

and

Serenity

matter is settled temporarily. Obi-Wan tells Anakin, “I am yourMaster now. You will become a Jedi, I promise.”

Before credits roll, however, alluding to the endless spiral of vio-lence, Yoda deliberates as to whether it was the insidious DarthSidious or the malicious Darth Maul, apprentice or master, thatwas slain by Obi-Wan. It matters not, because the ending is thebeginning, in a non-stop cycle, whenever fighting sin is made anabsolute good. In Return of the Jedi, not fighting is the inspiringlast chapter to the mega-saga, the extraordinary ending to whatgets started here in Phantom Menace.

You can disclose the ending of a series in the beginning becausethere is only one story to tell over and over. A wondrous childdeposes “evil” in the galaxy. Under the aegis of his mother, Anakinwas a paragon of brilliance, virtue and courage—until meetingoutsiders (Qui-Gon, Yoda and the senior council) who scald himin the furies of the “dark side.” As a minor and a slave, he learnsanger, contempt and disgust concerning dangers in life that ap-pear to be real, fatal and final.

A

child

scalded

in the

furies

of the

‘dark

side.’


Anakin Skywalker, proto hero and proto villain of StarWars, is subjected to fear and anger in a test of endur-ance by a grand jury of elders in Phantom Menace. As aslave child, he was separated from his mother, broughtbefore the forum of strange creatures and warned tonot be afraid. The cadet is hazed in a rite of passage tothe ‘dark side’ by senior officers in a culture at warwith ‘evil.’ Officially, his plunge into darkness wasscheduled for Revenge of the Sith, but his transforma-tion into Darth Vader already begins here.

PUSH

ED F

ROM G

RACE

?


Never was there, never is there, nor will there ever be, any “evil”that is real. Like children, we need to hear this story over andover. It is the same ancient story—because it is the only truestory. When faith in God endures, only good will prevail in timeand space. “Evil” is artificial, or the title of this episode wouldbe Real Menace instead of Phantom Menace. The mythology of StarWars fabricates a “dark side.”

Date: thur, 05 aug 1999

From: “sin sin” [email protected]: [email protected]: i want to be a jedi!

Hello, are you a Jedi Knight? If you are then willyou tell me your Jedi name? Also, can you teachme how to become a Jedi? E-mail me back.

P.S.: I am 12 years old, how old are you?

REA

DY T

O E

NLI

ST

EEEEELEVENLEVENLEVENLEVENLEVEN

CCCCCONSPIRACYONSPIRACYONSPIRACYONSPIRACYONSPIRACY

IIIIIn Attack of the Clones, enemies arise to conceal self-hate and the fear of peace. Yoda becomes the commander in chief of

a clone army that fights the droid forces of the secessionists. Bran-dishing a blazing lasersaber, he leads a massive invasion of JediGladiators. Bombarded by special effects, viewers cheer loudestwhen Yoda discards his cane for a weapon and becomes a militantgeneral. “Gandhi turns Rambo,” quipped Time Magazine.

Replacing the insipid Jar Jar Binks, See-Threepio, the belovedmultilingual ambassador of universal peace becomes the butt ofcomic relief. Accidentally, the computer’s head is welded to thetorso of a battle-droid, suggesting fighting is now totally absurd.Audiences hilariously applaud the plight of the hysterical robot,but the human species is ridiculous. Wisdom is a casualty missingin action. CCCC C O

NSP

IRAC

YO

NSP

IRAC

YO

NSP

IRAC

YO

NSP

IRAC

YO

NSP

IRAC

Y &&&& &

CCCC CO

VER

OVE

RO

VER

OVE

RO

VER ---- -

UUUU UPPPP P

!


Wisdom

is Missing

in Action

Previously slandered by critics and fans alike, Jar Jar’s diction im-proves and his role as languid buffoon diminishes in this episode.He serves on the staff of Senator Padmé Amidala and proposes tothe ruling assembly that the president be given emergency powersto prosecute the war. The decoyed dictator takes over the empirein the next episode. Set up to play the role of traitor to the repub-lic, the claim of reviewers that Jar Jar was rehabilitated in thisepisode was premature.

Senator Amidala is the lone voice for peace and to her peril, sheopposes the building an army of clones for the defense of the re-public. Advocates of war want fighting to resume no matter whowins or loses. The elder tribunal, led by General Yoda, maneu-vers Padmé out of the political arena to protect her from assassi-nation plots provoked by his leadersip rivalry with the Sith forpower in the galaxy. No one listens to Padmé.

The tribunal of elders assigns Anakin, without supervision by hismaster, to protect Padmé at a secluded retreat. While he courtsher, the peace initiative disappears from the senate debate in thesame way females are gone from the inner council chamber andthe clone-production planet vanishes from celestial charts. Thelackey Jar Jar, takes Padmé’s place to nominate the rising tyrant.His role as former fool disguises the threat of takeover.

The slogan, “Only a Jedi could do this” punctuates the film. TheJedi Council switches sides and align with the Sith in a jointseizure of power. “Dark forces” now inhabit Jedi Knights. Usingthe separatists as a front, the control of the republic is divided byYoda and Palpatine between Jedi and Sith Knights. The three leastsuspicious figures, Obi-Wan, Captain Typho and See-Threepio,claim this puzzle is not logical. But cannot Jedi Knights en massecapitulate to the “dark side?”

Lone

Voice for

Peace

11 CONSPIRACY AND COVER-UP 159

Conspiracy

Camouflages

Conspiracy

In the novel, the bounty hunter teaches his clone-son that the artof deception is to appear to do one thing while actually doinganother. The boy pretends to fish while learning from his father todeceive. The father appears to relax with his child while overseeingthe assassination of Padmé. Jedi Knight leaders appear to be peace-keepers while actively instigating war. Just as the assassin is assassi-nated, conspiracy camouflages conspiracy. Yoda reiterates, “Un-seen is much that is here.”

Palpatine suggests to Yoda that Jedi Knights bodyguard Padméand the two-faced Yoda agrees. She is “protected” as the senateopposition leader who might investigate their collusion? It makesno sense for separatists, or Sith, to assassinate her since she op-poses the building of an army that would to fight them. WhenPadmé asks Yoda in the novel, “Who’s behind it,” he does notanswer, just as he does not reply when General Obi-Wan asks if herequisitioned the clone army.

The Jedi Council suspends Anakin’s supervision by Master Obi-Wan. Replacing Padmé’s security captain, Anakin is authorizedonly to guard her. The senate prohibits an investigation of sep-aratist discontent that might uncover republican corruption andthe wider conspiracy. Threatened, Yoda dismisses Obi-Wan whenyounglings in a training session hypothesize correctly that the cloneworks planet was erased from the archives by insiders, i.e., JediKnights.

In Revenge of the Sith, using the terrorism of rising sepa-ratists and the need for home world security, the chan-cellor acquires extraordinary war powers as humanrights decline and galactic wars expand. Peace doesnot last long because fighting is justified as defenseagainst the aggressors. Planets from all directions inthe galaxy pursue another war weary century.

POLI

TICA

L CIN

EMA


A Tactile

Body

Guard?

The senior council ignores Obi-Wan’s reservations about Ana-kin’sreassignment, just as Obi-Wan pays no attention to Ana-kin’scomplaints about being forbidden to pursue the assassins. He isglad duty puts him together with Padmé again, but wants touncover the conspiracy. He is not given his master knight trialsbecause he thinks independently like his father, Qui-Gon. Forconceiving Anakin with Shmi, Qui-Gon is executed in Phan-tomMenace?

Hunting for assassins, Obi-Wan discovers a work order by the JediKnights for the manufacture of a robot army. Practicing stealth,he pretends to inspect the project as part of his research. He sus-pects a Jedi Knight who has left the order, Count Dooku, is re-sponsible, but a figure in the shadows, killed probably to be keptquiet, signed the contract that was brokered by the bounty hunter.As bonuses, for agreeing to kill Padmé, the co-conspirator wasawarded clone-template and clone-child.

Obi-Wan acts naive about the conspiracy while questioning themercenary, who thinks he is being double-crossed by the JediKnight leadership. With his clone-child in hand, he tries to fleeto separatist territory. Ordered by the elder tribunal to take himinto custody, Obi-Wan attacks first: shattering the code of con-duct of Jedi Knights, endangering the child and overtly joiningthe conspiracy.

Dooku is former Padawan to Yoda and Master to Qui-Gon Jinn.His bust is still on display in the library as a legendary Jedi Knight.The chief archivist Nu and council member Mace Windu, de-fend Dooku, based on insider knowledge about the corruptionof the leadership of Jedi Knights. Dooku warns Obi-Wan of Sithcontrol of the republic and invites him to join the revolt he leads.Windu tells Obi-Wan,“Qui-Gon would never join you” (Salvatore2002) and later, “What Dooku told you (about the conspiracy)was actually true” (Stover 2005).

Some

Dynamite

Fans

Dooku is a double agent appearing to lead the separatists whilesecretly trying to re-establish the integrity of the traditional orderof Jedi Knights? He is said to fight with a lightsaber in a superiorstyle, long out of fashion. But he is eliminated by Anakin to be-come Palpatine’s understudy in the next episode (III). Leading theRevenge of the Sith, as Darth Vader, Anakin wipes out the entireJedi Council for complicity in the murder of Padmé. Her peaceproposal threatened their plans to take over the galaxy.

To assert the Jedi Knights join the Sith on the “dark side” is heresyto dynamite Star Wars fans. You either embrace Attack of the Clonesas an enthusiast, or you are ignored as a disloyal critique. TheForce Net (forcenet.com) a major but unofficial Star Wars website,for example, regarded this analysis of Attack of the Clones as “incen-diary.” Film Threat, an Internet website devoted to independentfilmmaking and thinking published the essay online (Snodgrass2002).

Jedi Knights betraying their original cause to bring peace to thegalaxy is not an argument designed to antagonize the legions ofStar Wars admirers. It actually dissolves the battle lines, includingthe one between fans and critics. Enemies are created the projec-tion of unconscious self-hate, the way fighting machines are manu-factured in denial on the lost planet. The director himself was notaware of the conspiracy within the conspiracy contained in the subtext ofown film.

Computer generated special effects and violent combat scenesdominate the big screen in the prequels. The spectacular actionsequences sustain Lucas’ reputation as independent filmmaker.Warfare rages as starfighter and lightsaber battles consume thenovel and film versions of Revenge of the Sith. The longest duel everfilmed occurs in the showdown between Anakin and Obi-Wan.The Matrix Reloaded also exploited fighting and special effects in itstransitional middle installment.

Mirrors

Split

Thinking



Peter

Parker

Picked a

Peck of

Fights

Good and bad guys mirror split thinking. “Jedi and Sith are similarin almost every way,” said the novel and the graphic novel of Revengeof the Sith. In three dimensional reality, George Lucas is both LukeSkywalker and Darth Vader. To shield the bad side, guilt is repressedand attributed to outsiders. Clone attacks are assaults of shamethat appear as armies of enemies (Sith or Smith). Warfare ismutually projected self-hate denied.

The Spider-Man series of films offers another example of the pro-cess (Columbia Pictures 2002, 2004). In Spider-Man, Peter Parker(Tobey Macguire) is divided between being an ordinary adolescentand a superhero. In Spider-Man 2 he is divided between being anordinary young man and a superhero. The more fundamental di-vision being the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) or Doctor Octo-pus (Alfred Molina) is not acknowledged, though they both areflamboyant.

Egregiously vindictive in the films, these two malcontents exist inthe fantasy life of everyone. Until they act overtly violent, how-ever, no one pays any attention to their covert thinking. Whetherguilt is flagrantly exposed, or shamefully hidden, the “dark side”thrives. God appears cruel when you think you are worse than thedevil. So, you are so bad you mortify Darth Vader?

Peter Parker espouses love, but cannot marry Mary Jane Watson(Kirsten Dunst) because it puts the two in danger of being killedby Spider-Man’s enemies (like Anakin and Padmé). Fighting cannotstop among human beings until villains are recognized as split-offparts of our own identities. In “Spidey 2,” Parker works as a photo-grapher, but his thinking remained fragmented. He never gets thebig picture, because as a reporter, his camera (consciousness)staysfocused outside to publicize the wrong doings of others in thetabloids.

War is

Mutual

Self- Hate

Denied and

Projected

Jedi Knights and Sith merge out of the fear of peace—an idea oftenconsidered preposterous. Peace arouses a fear greater than beingkilled in warfare—the dread of damnation for not loving God.Funds and troops are allocated to provoke yet another war in thename of peace. Anger covers fear to hide remorse over wrongs andby inflicting attacks to blame enemies. Intense self-hate surfaces asthe persistent threat of terrorism.

Padmé’s costumes may detract from her natural beauty. But, heradvocacy of peace in Episode II, threatens to end the fightingamong the rival factions of the self and makes everyone vulnerableto the love of God. The message is misunderstood in the movieand in society. Faith in a higher power, however, can reconcilehostility between ancient enemies and makes deadly force absolutelyobsolete in human relations.

TTTTTHEHEHEHEHE OOOOOFFICIALFFICIALFFICIALFFICIALFFICIAL SSSSSTORYTORYTORYTORYTORYRevenge of the Sith is the climax to the Star Wars prequel trilogy,the last chapter in the backstory. The second trilogy precedesthe first in time and emphasizes the darkness. Episode III: TheRevenge of the Sith bridges both trilogies by explaining: the disap-pearance of Padmé, the birth of Leia and Luke, the exterminationof the Jedi, the seclusion of Yoda and Obi-Wan, the rise of theChancellor and the fall of Anakin Skywalker.

Count Dooku, as Darth Tyranus, leads a secession from the re-public that finally is defeated at the battle for the capitol planet.Conquering the Sith, slaying Tyranus, rescuing Master Obi-Wanand Chancellor Palpatine, all combine to make Anakin Skywalker,who is only an apprentice, the solar system savior for the secondtime. He wins the admiration and gratitude of the peoples of thegalaxy. He already had the love of the woman of his dreams.What can motivate him to join the Sith on the “dark side?”

Solar

System

Savior

Fear

of

Peace

11 CONSPIRACY AND COVER-UP 163!


The Revenge of the Sith oversimplifies political factions, figures andissues. Anakin is depicted as a demented madman, for example,and the Sith have no heroes or redeemable qualities. Anakin’stransformation is unrelated to his background or to the historicalcontext covered in two prequels. Given his many legendary featsin the galaxyin possessing the omnipotent power of the Force,why crave malefic power?

Padmé and Anakin are reunited as lovers and she informs him thatshe is five months pregnant. They anticipate expulsion from themonkish Jedi Knight Order, because her condition cannot go un-detected for very long. She encourages her husband to seek helpfrom Obi-Wan who is indebted to him, but Anakin foresees Padmébeing killed in the birthing of their child. He thinks Obi-Wandoes not support his candidacy to master rank and will reporttheir marriage and baby to authorities.

The devious Emperor Sidious, disguised now as Chancellor Pal-patine, discloses that his capture and the defeat of the separatistswere simulated to draw the Jedi Knights into a trap to make themfight. He reveals that the enigmatic General Dooku was “strategi-cally sacrificed” to make the hoax look plausible. Thus, Sith be-tray Sith to trick and destroy Jedi, who betray Jedi and Sith. Anoverbearingly vulgar villain, General Grievous, steps forward asthe new Sith commander.

Thus, plot and counter-plot are thickly established. Disloyaltyoccurs at every level, within and among all the factions and be-tween every individual. The plot twists into knots of deceit even expertfans cannot disentangle. The hammered proposition turns any validdifferences into more intrigue. “Sometimes I wonder if we’re onthe wrong side,” muses a prescient Padmé. “What if the republicitself has become the very evil we’ve been fighting to destroy?”(Stover 2005).

Lies,

Mistrust,

Betrayal

Knots

of

Deceit

An estranged Anakin acts paranoid thinking Padmé has joined theSith. She may appear to betray him by recruiting disbanded sena-tors to topple Palpatine, Anakin’s political patron. In Revenge ofthe Sith, clones suddenly turn against their makers, without anyexplanation as to who flipped their switch or why. But quite lu-cidly, Obi-Wan says, “Of the whole council, only Yoda and myselfknow how deep this (conspiracy) goes ... . The dark side touchesall of us.”

Endless space battles and lightsaber duels permeate the novel andfilm and make tracking who betrays whom tedious and futile. Theramifications of insidious treachery resonate in deed, word andsymbol. Anakin has a “fake droid hand” and a “real flesh hand.”(Dooku amputated Anakin’s right forearm at the end of Attack ofthe Clones). Reinforced by the artificiality of computer animation,viewers must wonder: is Revenge of the Sith the real story or thecover-up?

Villains have double names according to the binary role they play:Count Dooku=Darth Tyranus; Chancellor Palpatine=DarthSidious. The Sith acknowledge a cleaved mind in their thinkingand openly embrace the dismal and abysmal. A hacking biome-chanical, General Grievous, creates carnage with four whirlinglaserswords, but using only one nom de guerre. Nothing seems real,except duplicity, denied by the Jedi and blamed on the Sith, toimbalance the force.

“The greatest danger of the darkness outside came when Jedi fed itwith the darkness within,” wrote franchised novelist Matthew Sto-ver (2005). When Palpatine-Sidious encourages Skywalker-Vaderto use his rage to subdue Dooku-Tyranus, is he ludicrous or seri-ous? When clone-killing armies fight droid-killing infantry, mach-ine=machine. With 900 plus years of lservice, how can the darkfrog’s acumen fail to detect that Palpatine is Lord Sidious?

The

Dark

Frog?

Real or

Fake Story?

Nothing

Seems

Real!



Fans know the Sith are “dark knights,” but because of subterfuge,how they proliferated in the galaxy cannot be traced. Sighted al-ways in pairs, master and apprentice, Sith Knights reproduceinterpersonally somehow? The two-by-two theory makes sensepsychologically, for the Sith are dark Jedi and the Jedi are LightSith. The division expresses the fault line beneath the surface ofhuman consciousness (Bonné 2005). By attribution to the other,both sides keep self-hate active in denial.

According to the plot, after three decades and six full-length featurefilms, moviegoers finally learn that Anakin Skywalker succumbsto the “dark side” for no reason whatsoever. As Artoo Detoo softlysqueaks and beeps to See-Threepio, “The factors don’t add up.”He is fearful of detection by whom? See-Threepio cannot makesense of it either. In defense of Darth Vader, the intrinsic unofficialbackstory, therefore, is reconstructed below (Last 2002).

TTTTTHEHEHEHEHE CCCCCOVEOVEOVEOVEOVERRRRR-----UUUUUPPPPPAs a scapegoat, Anakin is defamed to hide the Jedian-Sithianmerger. Anakin defends the Chancellor, killing Jedi General MaceWindu. He explains, without reservation, that he protects Palpa-tine as an ally in order to save Padmé from assassination in child-birth by traitorous Jedi Knights. Windu was a republican clonearmy commander, a top Jedi Council official, who is responsible,Anakin thinks, for her assassination.

Anakin, as Darth Vader, goes on a murderous rampage. Reput-edly, he senselessly decapitates a separatist leader, someone on hisown team and massacres child trainees in the Jedi Temple. Onvideo, Obi-Wan witnesses the slaughter and is about to announcethat he knows the conspiracy is the reason Anakin goes on a kill-ing spree. But, Yoda silences him with bombast: “There is nowhy!” The great savant now makes no sense at all?

No Jedi

Without

Sith

Jedian-

Sithian

Merger?

!

Padmé learns of Obi-Wan plans to kill Anakin and collapses intohis arms. A courageous politician and famous guerilla fighter,faints in front of her husband’s assassin? Being a wife is now herwhole life and accounts for her bland acting? The two loversonce fought-off waves of battle droids in perfect “teamwork.” Sherescued Obi-Wan once herself, but now acts helplessly pregnant?Unlike Lady Macbeth, Padmé is no accomplice to her husband’sbinge of revenge—has no bloody guilt on her hands.

In the novel, Lady Skywalker confronts Obi-Wan saying, “Its [all] alie.” She refuses to tell him the location of her husband and or-ders him to leave her apartment. Out of the depths of her devo-tion, she departs to warn her defiled husband of the danger thatObi-Wan poses and contemplates the reports of his horrid deeds.The capable wife and renowned senator then “sobbed the wholeway there?” The two forsaken lovers embrace, but a sniveling Padméacts as if a cocktail party has gone awry saying, “Anakin, can’t wejust go? Please.”

Anakin assumes Padmé has brought Obi-Wan to his hideout, butObi-Wan deceived Padmé too, stowing away on her starship. Whyis Anakin characterized as furious about an opportunity to dispatcha disloyal Jedi Army officer? He is known to be the best fighter inthe whole universe, “the greatest of the great,” the prophesiedone, who has more midi-chlorians even than Yoda. Previously Ana-kin has saved Obi-Wan’s life nine times. Legendary Anakin was“exceptional even as a Jedi Knight.”

Anakin is not granted master knight status, however, and is notadmitted to the governing council, in order to keep the foul playwith the Sith concealed. Their fear of exposure is the obviousreason Anakin is labeled a dangerous lunatic. Calling it the “willof the Force,” Qui-Gon, who was Anakin’s father, supported hisknighthood, but Obi-Wan, “closer than brothers,” does not.



Kept out by duplicitous and sanctimonious elders, in light of hisastounding galactic heroism, the slave boy is outraged.

Before confronting Obi-Wan, Anakin is shown choking Padméwith his “durasteel” fist around her throat (more graphic in thenovel than in the film). He strangles her after ruining his careerand leaving the Jedi Order to marry her? Before he snuffs her, atleast he does not kiss her three times professing true love likeOthel-lo. Loving her instead of the Jedi Order and repudiating theconspiracy has brought about his calumny as “traitor.”

A volatile Anakin fights Obi-Wan, “blade-to-blade,” riding a long-board on a volcanic ocean, symbolizing his submerged fury. Sud-denly, Obi-Wan severs Anakin limbs, stripping him to a torso,except for his prosthetic right arm. To describe Obi-Wan as “touch-ed by the ‘dark side’” understates his savagery. Lucas reportedlytold actor Ewan McGregor to speak, “as if you are talking to apiece of toast” (roast?) (Rinzler 2005). Episode III might be titled,The Ravages of the Jedi?

Anakin’s remaining extremities invite castration and decapitationnext? Sexuality thus comes to a head between the generaton ofmales in Revenge of the Sith. Pitiable in the novel, the grovelingtrunk pleads for mercy. For fornication, marriage, reproductionand defiance of the order, Anakin is stripped-down. His father’ssexual liaison and child with a female slave was disregarded bythe Order of Jedi Knights (Chapter 10). Anakin’s seduction ofthe daughter of an aristocrat provokes his mutilation.

Erupting volcanic calderas and flowing red rivers of lava in thebackground of the fight scene, remind us of Hell, as Anakin andObi-Wan duel on the Sith hideaway planet. Breathing easily inthe fiery furnace, the two barely perspire during a grueling light-

War

War

War

saber duel. The chancellor then traverses the galaxy in seconds torescue truncated Anakin. These scenes are incredulous; a galactichero and prospective father inexplicably kills his pregnant wifeand many school children? The dueling “surfers” superimposedon red hot magma, make the surface story suspect concealing avocano of deciet.

Dishonorably, Obi-Wan returns to his spaceship, where a sleekThreepio and Artoo Detoo have taken Padmé for medical treat-ment. She is oblivious to the summary execution of her husband.Obi-Wan slyly holds her hand as she cries out deliriously for Ana-kin. She gives birth and names the twins, Luke and Leia, whorepresent the reproduction of divided consciousness in the nextgeneration. For protection in the polar universe, the offspring areseparated: one to “Mars” and the other to “Venus.”

When Padmé realizes that the Jedi Knights have killed her hus-band, she loses her will to live. She dies quietly of an undiagnosedbroken heart. With her last breath she claims, “Anakin is good.”When Anakin dies as Darth Vader three films later, he repeats herline. In separate hospitals, Anakin and Padmé die simultan-eously,as their children are born with the prospect that Anakin’s inherentgoodness someday will prevail. Padmé is buried with a cherishedtoken object of Anakin’s true love.

Padmé, who opposed the robot army and the stupid war, whohad no animosity and no egotistical interest in glory, passes awaybeguiled. Anakin, satanized as all-bad and Padmé sanitized as all-good, constitute one realistic person. Their singular identity isconfirmed in the strength of their marriage bond and by the birth-promise of their two offspring. Similarly, Obi-Wan’s bad side,coupled with Darth Vader’ good side, bring balance to this ac-count of the Force.


Force

or

Farce?


Two Sith, or two Jedi, always show up in “reality” to reenact thesplit in human thinking. Everyone possesses an evil twin-self, whoprovokes dreadful “enemies” and blames them for denied self-in-flicted guilt and hate. In the backlash of the official back-story,however, murder, malice and mayhem are disproportionately onone side. The Force never condemns, but misperceiving mindsdismiss its love maintaining innocence and projecting guilt ontoscapegoats

In denial, aggrieved and incensed humanity perceives an expul-sion by God from Heaven. Stereotypically, tyrants and dictators,with inflamed egos, represent the everyday man and woman whowants to be special and standout among the masses to compen-sate for the democratic ending to life in death. Learning to for-give puts a wisdom knight among the multitudes to model areturn through the mind to the love of God as an alternative tothe unceasing madness in the endless fighthing with each otherin the bipolar world.

An

Inflamed

Ego

TTTTTWELVEWELVEWELVEWELVEWELVEKKKKKINGINGINGINGING AAAAARTHURRTHURRTHURRTHURRTHUR

TTTTT his chapter traces the quest for spiritual enlightenment through historical, literary and mythical sources and in-

volves a discussion of symbolism. Using popular science fictionfilm, the theme was introduced in Chapter 1 and elaborated inChapters 3-6. In the this chapter, the journey to the wisdom offaith in God continues by examining historical and mythologicalorigins of the idea.

The Myth of King Arthur of Great Britain began in the mist of pre-history. The classic telling of the tale is Sir Thomas Malory’s fam-ous Morte d’Arthur, written while he was imprisoned in Londonduring the War of the Roses (1455-1486). On the next page, thedrawing by Aubrey Beardsley is taken from his book, The Birth,Life and Acts of King Arthur (London: J. M. Kent 1894) publishedoriginally in 1485. HHHH H

ISTO

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TORY

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ISTO

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MMMM MYT

HO

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Grail Quest

SeeksSoul

in the

Battle of

the Mind

The story starts with a fratricidal rivalry between archangelic bro-thers, Michael and Lucifer, over loyalty to their Father in Heaven.Accursed in defeat, Lucifer is cast out headlong and as he falls,loses a glorious emerald from his crown. The emblem of his soulplummets into the abyss of the material world below. When thedegraded angel is restored to his Father’s house, sin disappears for-ever and humanity returns to paradise.

The Holy Grail is the acclaimed cup that Jesus Christ and his dis-ciples passed around to honor the occasion of the Last Supper. Inmythology, it came to be associated with the golden chalice soughtby King Arthur and his court castled at Camelot. In historicaltimes, it was linked with the cup that Joseph of Arimathea usedto collect the blood, sweat and tears at the crucifixion of Jesus onGolgotha.

Symbolizing humanity’s missing spiritual identity, divested in theseparation from heaven, the Knights of the Round Table (and theJedi Knights of the Force) seek to recover Lucifer’s lost soul. Find-ing the Holy Grail, frees the individual from the daily battle in themind where guilt rages over sin. Thus, the Holy Grail repre-sentsthe capacity to stay mindful of God, to forgive oneself and others,and to see good in every person.

As adventurers, King Arthur and his knights mistook the sacredcup for a tangible object imbued with magical power. Similarly,Jason and the Argonauts looked for a “golden fleece” and early draftsof Star Wars hunted a “Kyber Crystal.” The Grail, Fleece and Crys-tal reminders us to stay steadfast in seeking to return to

RAN

KS O

F

KN

IGH

TS

MIDDLE AGES MODERN TIMES

Knave Novice Page Apprentice Esquire Disciple Knight Master

Iron

anvil and

hard rock

symbolize

a locked

mind.

the love of God. Like an “alchemical stone,” “elixir of élan vital”or “holy water,” these objects stand for the vitality of faith.

According to the myth, to be recognized as the King of GreatBritain, King Arthur had to remove the sword that was locked inan anvil inside solid rock. In the war against “evil,” the rock andanvil represent the sheathe of the mind encased by guilt in hard“reality.” Through spiritual vision, the freed sword is the abilityto discern an alternative to coercion and violence.

Traditionally, a sword is both a weapon of war and a symbol ofauthority. But a “lightsaber” suggests “knowing the light” and re-fers to the incisively sharp blade that discerns mind power. Pos-sessing the weapon of intelligence enlightens you with the wit towield the cutting edge of consciousness. As a result, you can restin inner and outer peace.

YO

UNG

KIN

G AR

THUR


The Holy Grail secures the lost soul and ends social strife. InBeardsley’s drawing, young King Arthur stands unarmed at thewater’s edge, saluting the Lady of the Lake in a gesture of re-spect. The exposed sword expresses social power in conventionalterms. But she offers him “Excalibur,” the unique instrument ofwisdom that is unseen in the mind, like her figure submerged inthe water.

The lake reflects Arthur’s consciousness at the beginning of hisquest when knowledge is still superficial. His shape appears femi-nine and his impending transformation is anticipated in his cur-vaceous figure, wide hips, small breasts and delicate armor—sug-gestive of the feminine dimension in human liberation. His saluteshows his resolve to plunge into inward thinking.

The Lady of the Lake pricks his interest in seeking spiritual em-powerment through integrated mind power. Piercing the upperworld, the sword marks the point of decision to delve into theinnermost realm of the Self. Arthur willingly raises his right handand arm, signaling that he divests himself of worldly might in ex-change for the enlightenment beneath the surface.

Like the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor who holds aloftthe fiery torch of political freedom, the liquid Lady of the Lakeoffers King Arthur a beacon to inner liberation. By his attentionand gesture, he confirms a readiness to undergo personal trans-formation, to dive for wisdom. His right hand turns skeletal assymbolically he escapes death of the body.

In legend, however, reverting to military might, Sir Lancelot’sadulterous affair with Queen Guinevere, brings down the entirekingdom of King Arthur. When the king lay mortally woundedat the hand of his illegitimate son, the black knight, Modred, heordered the faithful Sir Bedivere to return the sword to the lake,

Willing

Right Hand

and Arm

Weapon

of

Wisdom

Poor

Old

Beggar

The

Point of

Mind

Power

due to t disregard for the point of spiritual mind power. From thedepths of the pool of the One Mind an arm arose, brandished itthree times, indicating misuse and disappeared.

The English actor, Sir Alec Guinness (1914-2000) played the roleof Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars. Though born illegitimate, theBritish Crown knighted him in the 1950s. As a concession to20th Century Fox Studios, Lucas chose Sir Alec as the celebrityto improve box office sales for an unknown director. Obi-Wanwas “killed” in the conclusion to Episode IV: A New Hope, but re-appeared as a “ghost” in Episodes V and VI.

During the filming, the media reported that Guinness was furiousabout his demise, but he claimed, he had persuaded Lucas to kill-off his character. According to rumors, photographs of Obi-Wansent by fans to Guinness for autographs, were thrown away by theactor. In his autobiography, A Positively Final Appearance (1999) hestated, “I shrivel inside each time it [Star Wars] is mentioned” and“it has led to a worldwide taste for a fantasy world of secondhand,childish banalities.”

Guinness enhanced the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi by making himless eccentric and more noble in character as he playing the oldsage in the sea of space. He was just “a shabby old desert rat of aman,” in Lucas’ original screenplay. (Facing his greatest perilupon returning home, in Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus disguis-ed himself as a poor old beggar). Guinness was nominated for anacademy award as best supporting actor for his performance inStar Wars.

12 LEGEND AND MYTHOLOGY 175


Geographic

Adventure

=

Metaphysical

Quest

METAPHYSICS:META=“ABOVE”PHYSICS, ORSTUDY OF AB-STRACT PRIN-CIPLES GOVERN-ING LIFE.

HHHHHELENELENELENELENELEN OFOFOFOFOF TTTTTROYROYROYROYROYA basic question in life is whether people are basically good, liketheir Creator, or sinful, guilty and fallible like their biologicalparents. According to the Holy Bible, God created man and womanin His “image.” The issue of human nature, therefore, cannot beanswered apart from the whole context—whether God is basicallygood or bad. If God is good, how do we account for imperfectionand affliction in the world?

The search for the meaning of life has preoccupied scholars andexplorers throughout the ages. A metaphysical answer is found inthe mind while physical answer has served as the underlying mo-tive for territorial conquest. In literature, the search for God isoften portrayed as seeking after a special woman and consecrat-edas a sacred marriage. The pursuit may begin geographically, butdue to hazards and setbacks along the way, the adventurer turnsto philosophical concerns.

Homer was a blind visionary, the first great poet, composer ofThe Iliad and its sequel, The Odyssey, the two oldest works in West-ern literature. In the 8th Century B.C., he wrote of events thatoccurred 500 years earlier. In The Iliad, Odysseus seeks Helen andin The Odyssey he returns to his beloved wife, Penelope. Dantesearches for Beatrice in The Divine Comedy and Cupid adores Psychein Roman folklore. A desire for spiritual union is evident when asymbolic meaning is given to these female figures.

In the Greek mythology, Helen was the daughter of Zeus, King ofthe Gods and Leda, a mortal, the most beautiful woman in theworld. She married Menelaus, King of Sparta, a Greek city-state.In an abuse of hospitality, Paris, a Trojan prince from a rival state,abducted Helen to an ancient city in Asia Minor, now in Turkey,known then as Troy. To her rescue, Menelaus and his older brother,Agamemnon, organized an expedition that included famous war-riors like Ajax and Achilles.

!

In

Middle

Years

Wrestle

Inner

Demons

and Rage

about Age

or Find a

Tranquil

Inner

Eye?

Homer chronicled the defeat of Troy by Odysseus, known as Ulyssesto the Romans. He offered a giant wooden horse as a great gift tothe city and when the gates opened, the Spartans rushed in toplunder the people. The Iliad focused on the military campaign,on the assaults and sieges that occupy young men during theirdays of vigor and valor. Militant conquest is an ancient methodfor filling an existential void in the absence of faith.

In The Odyssey, after victory in the Trojan War, Odysseus headedhome to Ithaca, a rocky isle off the coast of Greece, to live in peaceas king with his wife, Penelope, and their son, Telemachus. Onthe way, he encountered: attacks by the giant, one-eyed, man-eat-ing Cyclops; seductions by the enchantress Circe, who turnedmen into pigs; and confinement by Calypso on her paradise isle.Cursed by Poseidon, god of the sea (the unconscious) Odysseus istempted off-course by the Sirens’ songs (sexuality).

The sailors resist the Sirens’ mating call, but the ten-year returntrip is lonelier and more treacherous than the outbound voyage.Smoldering since youth and ignited by rage over aging, deeper is-sues erupt as men and women reach their middle years and wrestle“inner demons.” The Cyclops, for instance, may be regarded asthe legacy of infantile egotism, i.e., seeing life through one big eye.In Buddhism, the same design represents the inner eye of wisdom.

When youthful triumphs prove inadequate against the onslaughtof aging, emotional conflict rises to the surface in the second halfof life. Circe and Calypso stand for personality traits that holdback development in middle age. Both trick the person into stayingstuck in the physical realm of consciousness, the former by seduc-tion and the latter by entrapment. Though Odysseus defeats Circeand forces her to undo te disenchant of his crew, they loungearound a long time afterward feasting and growing lazy.



They

Sailed

Away their

Youth and

Faced the

Onslaught

of Aging.

The Iliad may be read as the trip out (physical conquests of youngadulthood) and The Odyssey as the trip back (spiritual resolutionof the midlife crisis) during an indenture on Earth. A similarstory occurs in an earlier Greek myth, Jason and the Argonauts,who sailed away their youth (twenty years) seeking a goldenfleece. Hera, Queen of the Gods, intervenes with Zeus, King ofthe Gods, to aid Jason and his crew of fifty sailors.

A film version directed by Don Chaffey (Columbia 1963) used stop-motion special effects by Ray Harryhausen to portray the demons.Loosely based on the myth, Jason confronts a giant bronze warrior,Talos, a venomous seven-headed serpent, Hydra, and seven inde-structible, sword-wielding skeletons. Medea, sorceress-daughter ofa local king, helps Jason obtain the fleece. She becomes his lover(film) and wife (myth). The film-adventure ends at midpoint, butin the legend the voyagers safely return home.

HHHHHOLYOLYOLYOLYOLY S S S S SOPHIAOPHIAOPHIAOPHIAOPHIAIn symbolism the female form represents either temptation or di-vine wisdom. Strongmen like Atlas and Hercules, Superman andBatman, stand for possessing power in the phenomenal world.The Greek word “philo,” meaning “love,” coupled with the fe-male noun “Sophia,” comprise “philosophy,” referring to the loveof knowledge. Suggesting oneness, “psyche” means both mind andsoul in Greek. “Sophia” is thus a female figure in mythology who per-sonifies wisdom.

As noted by Kevin M. Nord, when Luke Skywalker’s first nameand last initial are compressed, it reads, “Luke S.” Nord suggeststhat “Luke” may be the condensed form of “Lucas,” as in “GeorgeLucas” and that the character may represent the author and direc-tor of the Star Wars trilogies. But “Luke S.” might also be spelled“Lukess” and in this case, we have a female “Jedi Knight” or “HolySophia.”

!

Holy

Sophia

Personifies

Wisdom

Logic

and

Faith

Princess Leia in Star Wars (and Trinity in The Matrix) representthe goddess who bears the truth that the spiritual quest lies withinthe breast of the innermost self. This remains true, even thoughboth characters become embroiled in fierce fighting, side-by-side,with the avenging males. Trained in martial arts by her stepfa-ther, Leia acts hardened and solves problems with aggression justlike real men.

Luke and Leia coupled, suggests a whole person has no genderidentity. She orders Artoo Detoo to deliver to the rebel forcesthe stolen blueprints of the enemy fortress that makes possiblethe explosion of its core. Thus, a robot and woman persevereagainst all odds to demonstrate that logic and faith team-up to achievehigher causes. Based on an inner fitting, science and spirit coordinate wellwhen worn together as an outfit.

That “only” women (or men) qualify as spiritual leaders is ridicu-lous. Because both genders are notorious fighters, however, Leia’srole is symbolic and stock photographs show her lethally armed.A female guide refers to a feminine dimension in thinking, not togender. Mary Magdala (Magdalene) as another example, served asthe “apostle to the apostles” in early Christianity (King 2003).But both men and women can be vicious fighters when threaten-ed by death without faith.


Princess Leia plants stolen blueprints of the enemy for-tress in the computer R2-D2 who stands stoutly at at-tention to deliver them to rebel headquarters. The planslead to the destruction of the “empire of evil” andliberates rebel humanity. Leia represents Holy Sophia,a female figure in mythology who guides men andwomen to the wisdom of faith.

FEM

ALE

KNIG

HTS


Wise

Woman

of the

Psyche

Divine

Inner

Wisdom

The genitals traditionally are regarded as powerful organs of spe-cies reproduction. In mythology, however, the female figure repre-sents inner power while the male figure stands for social power.Superman, Batman, Spiderman, X-Men (and some females) areawesome science fiction action superheroes who use dexterity andstrength to avenge social injustice and to destroy pathological (male)villains.

The reproduction of life is associated with pregnancy of the mother.To compensate, we are named after the father under the laws ofpatriarchy. Spiritual birth is also associated with the mother. Sophialeads us to our Parents because she possesses the divine inner wis-dom that an inseparable link to God always exists through themind. As the mother of divine knowledge, she guides our gladreturn home on the inward path to higher consciousness.

Both women and men seek transport by the archetype of the wisewoman of the psyche. When consciousness is projected, however,Sophia is confined to unconscious obscurity, the way the Lady ofthe Lake remains submerged. Via female leadership (Lady of theLake, Sophia, Leia, Trinity) a hidden Light shines in the Self. Nomatter where you are geographically, you are always in the rightspot spiritually.

A horizontal cross points in the four basic directions of the com-pass. In Egypt, before Christianity, a cross, surmounted by a loop,was known as an “Ankh” or “Anch” (key of life) and resembles ahuman figure with outstretched arms. A Celtic cross encircles thecrux. Circle and loop imply femaleness and the cycle of life. Theupper, round, feminine half tops the lower, linear, masculine half.Papal and patriarchal crosses, however, have horizontal beams sym-bolizing rank in society.

Holy Sophia guides us to the wisdom within the innermost Self.When prospective peace knights of either gender pursue her af-fection, the relationship is divine. Aroused as lover, Lady Wis-dom wants you too and will take you, when you are ready to lether lead (Bergesen 2000). She offers the solace of intimate com-munion with God, just as Beatrice and Helen are soulful spousesto their poetic suitors. In vulgar versions, however, men take Sophiaas carnal lovers.

Just before his death, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)finished his epic poem, Faust, written over a sixty-year period,with the couplet, “Eternal Womanhead leads us on high.” (DasEwig Weibliche/Zieht uns hinan). A bond with God is also epito-mized in the poetry of the Spanish priest, San Juan de la Cruz(1515-1591) in his classic Dark Night of the Soul. The writings ofthe Mexican nun, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651-l695) repre-sent Holy Sophia in Latin American literature.

The tender mercies of the mother mediate between the waywardchild and the strict discipline of the father in the traditional fam-ily. Leia in Star Wars and Trinity in The Matrix are anima figures ofyoung women who facilitate personal transformation leadingnovices to the mastery of spirit. Due to her inner location, however,it is unnecessary to undertake an actual journey in the world.“Yoda” also suggests a feminine persona.

Inner

Guide

to

Wisdom

Yoda

Not

Yodo

ANIMA:LIFE-ENERGY

ASSOCIATEDWITH THE

SOUL.

Ankh Ankh Ankh Ankh Ankh Celtic Latin Patriarchal Papal Celtic Latin Patriarchal Papal Celtic Latin Patriarchal Papal Celtic Latin Patriarchal Papal Celtic Latin Patriarchal Papal

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ROSS

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ES


Embrace

Holy

Sophia?

What to do and where to go are masculine questions, as is themetaphor of a journey to faith. Going somewhere: desert, moun-tains, sea or city, expend energy outward, instead of drawing in-ward as “inplorer” or “inventurer.” To “know thyself” is based on“information” not “out-formation.” The notion of a trip to faithapplies symbolically due to the need to undo the turmoil createdby self-doubt.

When you realize you are there, the journey is over, even as a meta-phor. You can be alienated, but never lost from a place that existsright within your psyche. There is no divorce from the source andthe guru is always you. A fundamental objective then is to bethere now via awareness. The task is not gender specific, thoughculturally inwardness is deemed feminine. As the offspring of God,the Father, and Holy Sophia, the Mother, men and women bothbear the Light.

Darth Vader (the ego) knows romantic love draws men and wo-men toward spiritual love and he attacks both forms. Psychicimpediments block the way to the Holy Grail and the Holy Girl.Without knowing Holy Sophia, sensual love may stop short ofgreater consciousness. Peace knighthood does not require celibacy,or renunciation of pleasures, but men and women typically makesex incompatible with peace by engaging in the “couple’s war”(Chapter 9).

Femininity is also a way of being in the outer world, but the searchfor meaning in life encompasses being feminine inwardly. It callsfor spiritual surrender along with the desire to master consciousness.Willingness is the foremost inner act signaling readiness to trans-ition. The mind invested in worldly affairs, limits the passion forHoly Sophia. Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (NewmarketFilm Group 2004)depicts faith as intense physical suffering insteadof deep joy.

TTTTTHIRTEENHIRTEENHIRTEENHIRTEENHIRTEENSSSSSPIRITPIRITPIRITPIRITPIRIT INININININ SSSSSTARTARTARTARTAR WWWWWARSARSARSARSARS

IIIIInscribed in Star Wars is a theology and cosmology—a set of basic principles about the nature of God, humankind and

the universe. Master Jedi Knights Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobiteach Novice Luke Skywalker that “the Force gives a Jedi hispower. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy to-gether.” “The Force is a secularized version of God,” wrote MatthewC. Mohs.

The Christian reading of Star Wars was given originally by FrankAllnutt in The Force of Star Wars (1977, 1999). He wrote, “Thetrue Force is Almighty God” and claimed to have sold 210,000copies of his book. A British Methodist minister, David Wilkinson,in The Power of the Force (2000) and Dick Staub, American radiopersonality, in the Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters (2005) pursuedfundamentalists themes, as have others (Jones 2005, Grimes 2006,Mc-Dowell 2007). CCCC C H

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!


iIn The Empire Strkes Back a young man is recruited to be a fighterpilot and to join the Jedi Knight’s revolt against the “evil empire.”Luke seeks to become a special kind of warrior in order to defeatthe enemy commander of death, “Lord Darth Vader,” a contrac-tion perhaps of Dark Invader and Death Father. The demonichead of one-world government, the pope of anti-hope, he is thesupreme hater in the galaxy.

In Christian theology Luke is in the service of the Lord to save hu-manity by becoming an Archangel to rid the world of Satanicrule. Being an emissary of God and validating the good in everysingle person, his conversion to the religion of the Jedi Knightstakes place the moment he sees that he bears “the Force.” Thepower remains latent in him and invisible to others as long as he iscloaked aggressively.

In the New Testament, Jesus, the Son of Man, is christened to be-come Jesus, the Son of God. In Star Wars, Luke, the son of DarthVader, is knighted to become the son of Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi.Jesus is a messenger of God while Luke serves the Force (of God).Like the children of Adam and Eve, Luke and his twin sisterLeia, were conceived before, but born after the father’s defec-tion to the “dark side.”

The emperor and his second officer resemble historical rulerslike the Roman Emperor Caesar Tiberius and his local governor,Pontius Pilate, two levels of an alien power structure during theRoman occupation of Judea. Jesus of Nazareth appears to teachspiritual principles to an inner circle of disciples and speaks ofthe eternal love of God, as do Yoda and Obi-Wan in Star Wars.

In an oral tradition, Jesus teaches the apostles about an innerkingdom broadcast through the “good news” of the gospels. Intheir first meeting as a group and to the multitude gathered to

Bears

the

Force

Saves

or

Damns

Anger

Makes

No

Sense

hear his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explained the Law of Moses,“Thou shalt not kill.” He clarifies further that it makes no senseeven to get angry (Matthew 5:21). Anger is never justified accord-ing to ACIM.

As a millennial force for good, the Jedi Knights have lost heirhold on the universe. Unbounded greed and corruption havetaken over, resembling Canaan, Palestine in ancient times, de-stroyed in the great flood of Noah. The emperor and his venalwarlord fight the incipient rebellion and launch a genocidal ho-locaust. Luke’s training is imperative to save rebel civilizationfrom annihilation by the superior technology and overwhelmingnumber of alien intruders.

Jedi Knights are “almost extinct,” due to the “seductive power”of the forbidden “dark side.” Luke is warned “not to underesti-mate the power of the dark side of the Force.” Yoda’s famous linewas played up in the advertising trailer for Phantom Menace: “Fearleads to anger ... anger leads to hate ... hate leads to suffering.”Anger covers fear to hide guilt hidden in the mind.

Lucas, who is Luke, once explained, “Having machines like thedroids that are reasonably compassionate and a man like Vader,who becomes a machine, and loses his compassion, was a themethat interested me.” Irrational mortals are fearful of faith andridicule the humanistic robots as quirky eccentrics. Mechanicalsact human and humans act mechanical in the Star Wars firma-ment, but the good side is only obscured—not obliterated.

Darth Vader is the anti-Christ and Obi-Wan Kenobi is his failedinstructor in knighthood. Darth Vader was once a Jedi Knight intraining who fell from grace. Before the prequels, trying to savehim from the “dark side,” Obi-Wan knocked him into a lava pit

One

Vile

Knight

Two

Humane

Robots

and

. . .

13 CHRISTIANITY AND MYSTICISM 185


that completed his anti-baptism. Darth Vader became a killingmachine, hell-bent on revenge. One vile knight then menacedthe entire universe with hate. [The sequels reveal that Anakin re-acted to a Jedi-Sith Knight conspiracy (Chapter 11)].

Darth Vader required technological life support systems installedin a private chamber. He breathes and speaks through mechani-cal devices and cannot live without his mask and helmet, oncedescribed b Lucas as “a walking iron lung.” Symptomatic of infir-mity, his raspy breathing sounds sinister. When told he killed hiswife, Padmé, in Revenge of the Sith, Vader yelled, “Noooooooo,”making clear that nothing was wrong with his lungs.

Luke Skywalker and his twin sister, Leia, were born eighteenyears before the first episode of A New Hope, the year their fa-therturned malicious. Vader was not aware of their birth. Obi-Wanthought Anakin was killed, but when he found out he survived as“Darth Vader,” to protect the minors as targets of reprisal, he re-located Luke and Leia to different planets. In Revenge of the Sith,Vader asks what happened to Padmé, but asks nothing about thetwo babies.

Neither child was informed of their birthright (or birth wrong).As a princess on a peaceful planet, Leia was brought up in a royalfoster family. She did not know she had a twin brother. As achild, Leia remembered her mother, but Luke did not. Leia be-

Twin

Stars=

Dual

Destiny

Separated at birth, Luke and Leia are prospective peaceknights, but do not know one another. They representthe primary division of the original Self into masculineand feminine dimensions in the polarized world. Alldualities end when these two are reunited through higherconsciousness.

TW

IN S

ELF

Two

Reclusive

Teachers

Peace Dove

Christianity

!

comes an outspoken galactic senator and discreetly joined withher foster father in the leadership of the army of rebellion. Padmé’sdisappearance remained mysterious until she (inconsistently) diesgiving birth to Luke and Leia in Revenge of the Sith.

Luke was sent to a remote planet that had two suns blazing side byside high in the sky. The climate was inhospitable and the terrainhued double orange in color. The twin stars symbolized the des-tiny of brother and sister in bringing enlightenment to the galaxy.

Mohs describes the scene:

Lucas shoots Luke in extreme long shot from behind withthe suns in the background—a technique that isolateshis hero with the horizon, much like a scene from an oldwestern. He then cuts to a medium shot to capture theexpressions on Luke’s face as he contemplates his future.

Uncle Owen, Obi-Wan’s bitter brother, resembles the “good son”in the biblical parable of the Prodigal Son who obediently stayedon the farm while the preferred, younger sibling wandered aboutthe galaxy. Obi-Wan had been trained as a Jedi Knight, knewabout the Force from Master Yoda, served as a general in galac-tic civil wars, defended the old order and became Luke’sguardianand waited patiently to be his trainer.

Obi-Wan and Yoda are reclusive mentors in a morally waning uni-verse who live in seclusion as the last hope to undo the reign ofcorruption. “Ben Kenobi” is known locally as an eccentric oldhermit isolated in the desert. He resides near his brother to over-see Luke’s upbringing and to groom Luke when he comes of age,unlike Merlin the Magician, who actually took over the parentingyoung King Arthur (Chapter 12).



Aum

Hinduism

Obi-Wan becomes Luke’s guardian and is martyred at the end ofthe classic trilogy. Young man Luke is the heroic figure who pre-vents an apocalyptic battle between the forces of good and evil byconverting his father to faith in the Force at the close of the six-actdrama. For Luke, the struggle is between Obi-Wan Kenobi, hisspiritual father and Anakin Skywalker, his biological father, alsoknown as, Darth Vader.

The conclusion shows that you can be misguided all your life andstill fulfill your destiny. Luke comes to understand that fighting,for any reason, is mistaken and sacrifices his ego. The designation”enemies” reproduces enemies. The two trilogies set up the revela-tion that occurs during the last moments of Return of the Jedi.“Star Peace” is thus the result of a decision to be absolutely non-violent and the ultimate moral lesson of Star Wars.

Heretofore, Luke’s mind was divided between two role models,Darth Vader, the anti-Christ and the devout Obi-Wan Kenobi.Rather than being purged as the last surviving Jedi Knight, Lukeexpels the idea that demons exists, in him or in anyone, anywherein the galaxy. Acquiescence, not aggressive or defensive action,nor capitulation, restores the universe to absolute good. The per-sonal peace of one knight saves humanity from all strife in theworld.

MMMMMYSTICISMYSTICISMYSTICISMYSTICISMYSTICISM INININININ SSSSSTARTARTARTARTAR WWWWWARSARSARSARSARSAccording to Jonathan Young (1999) when the hero is advised to“trust in the Force,” a mystical power is evoked. John Porter (2003)in, The Tao of Star Wars, sees the polarities of Yin and Yang fromTaoism at work. Matthew Bortolin (2005) wrote of the Dharmaof ‘Star Wars’ based in Buddhism. Steven J. Rosen (2005) drawsparallels with Hinduism in The Jedi in the Lotus. Many are the the-ologies in the parable of Star Wars.

One

Peace

Knight

☯Yin and

Yang

Taoism

!


Characters in Star Wars also resemble archetypes of the collectiveunconscious in the psychoanalytic psychology of Carl G. Jung; forexample: the Shadow, the Wise Old Man, the Dwarf and the Trick-ster. When called an “energy field,” the Force sounds more re-mote and electric, however, than mystic and deistic. The skepticalHan Solo exclaims, “There’s no mystical energy field that controlsmy destiny.”

The idea that God dwells intimately in the mind of every indi-vidual is a doctrine in the West generally known as “mysticism.”The more you cast your mind outward, however, the greater isthe personal separation from the Source in an illusory world whereGod appears to be absent and other people appear to be “en-emies.” In mysticism, the human mind knows God, who is uni-versal Love, intuitively.

Psychic introspection via meditation and revelation, for example,are immediate pathways to knowing God. Various charismaticmovements in the West have restored God to the mind, but theidea became heretical in the European Middle Ages when the instit-utional church forbade inward knowing (gnosis) as a means to sal-vation. As a result, an inner spiritual tradition was lost in theWest (Amis 1995).

Spiritual prescience (foreknowledge)is honored in Hinduism andBuddhism in the form of “Krishna consciousness” and “Buddhanature.” The Buddha’s legendary last words were, “Be a lightunto yourself.” In Hinduism, “Brahma” refers to the awareness ofGod, expressed in the mystic symbol, Aum..... Christianity definessin as the absence of God and the New Testament proclaimed the“Kingdom of God is within” (Luke: 17:21).

The concept of the Force in Star Wars relates to many religions:Western Mysticism, Eastern Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism and

Many

Path to

Consci-

ousness

Peace of

Mind

Lotus Flowr

Symbol of

True-Self in

Buddhism


Christianity. Labels like “Hindu,” “Buddhist,” “Muslim” and Jew,however, can segregate us from the truth that many are thepaths to consciousness. God arising from multiple creeds, canunite, rather than divide, humanity. Variously, Luke is: arche-type, wisdom knight, mystical being, ordinary mortal and teen-age boy.

The message in Star Wars is not encrypted, but the images andspecial-effects technology of the adventure story shrouds a sa-cred point of view. Though no one is deceived on purpose, audi-ences remain naive about the film’s religious purpose and spiri-tual essence. When the presence of “the Force” is rediscoveredin the mortal mind, Jedi Knights are not “extinct” by exclusionfrom the mind.

The first Star Wars trilogy portrayed God as existing within thedepths of the individual psyche. “Trust the Force, Luke” was a re-current message. The filmmaker himself may not have been awareof the mystical implications nor appreciated that we are all of OneMind. Whether or not Lucas intended a spiritual message is irrel-evant, since the message is the message, regardless of his intention.He has said repeatedly, “I don’t see Star Wars as profoundly reli-gious.”

The mystery of the Holy Force in Star Wars is more familiar to theaudience, however, than all the weird creatures and strange planetsthat populate the galaxy. Awe struck by the technological finesse,viewers may not have recognized the moral foundation to the filmseries, especially not a transcendent one. Audiences might nothave immersed themselves in this fascinating motion picture hadthe message been overtly theological.

Mystical

Knightly

Order

SSSSSPIRITPIRITPIRITPIRITPIRIT OFOFOFOFOF SSSSSTARTARTARTARTAR TTTTTREKREKREKREKREKA glut of literature exists about Star Wars—paeans to locations,costumes and hairstyles, but little has been written critically oranalytically. In contrast, many books have appeared about its ri-val, Star Trek. Paramount Studios accepted non-franchised authorsand introduced four new television series, an animated televisionseries and ten Star Trek movies as of 2002. On its official website,The Matrix trilogy welcomed commentaries.

For twenty years, however, there was no television, films or inde-pendent books about Star Wars. Lucasfilm earned a reputation as alitigious company that sued non-franchised writers (Publishers Week-ly, March 15, 1999). The Science of Star Wars (1999) written by aformer NASA astrophysicist, Jeane Cavelos, is an exception thatfocused on the feasibility of the film’s technology. Fearing legal ac-tion by Lucas, literary and scholarly studies of Star Wars are as rareas Jedi Knights.

Technical studies of Star Trek also abound: The Physics (Krauss 2007);The Biology (Andreadis 1999); The Computers (Gresh 1999; The Tech-nology (Shapiro 2005) None were licensed by Paramount Studios.There are also humanist, literary and philosophical treatments byindependent scholars: Enterprise Zones (Harrison 1996); The Mean-ing (Richards 1997); The Metaphysics (Hanley 1998); Race in Space(Pounds 1999); The Ethics (Barad 2000); The Human Frontier (Barrett2001); The Religions (Kraemer 2001).

Star Trek (The Original Series 1966-1969) on television and at the-aters, was a humanistic search for knowledge. The difference be-tween Star Wars and Star Trek (TOS) is evident in the missionstatement of the Starship Enterprise: “To explore strange new worlds,to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where noman has gone before.” (Yoda does say in The Empire Strikes Back that“A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge”).

Recruit

to

Wisdom

!13 CHRISTIANITY AND MYSTICISM 191


In Star Trek (TOS) like Star Wars, the action takes place in outerspace—the “new community” according to Joseph Campbell.“The community today is the planet not the bounded nation,”he wrote in 1949. In Star Trek (TOS) however, there are no promi-nent women players and little concern for the meaning of life.The central rift is rational versus irrational differences amongadventurous males who explore outer space.

The hero of Star Trek (TOS) is the logically minded, middle-aged, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) who is always in control,but also compassionate and amorous. He is more thoughtful andplayful than leading masculine role models of the past. Still, JamesTiberius Kirk is the decisive captain, on and off the bridge of hisspaceship, classic symbol of curious males probing the universe.

At his right hand is Mister Spock (Leonard Nimoy) the offspringof an irrational human mother and a super-rational Vulcan fa-ther. Spock is admired precisely because the father side of hismind controls the mother side, as inward conceptions of humanliberation are repressed. Spock overrides the sensitive physician,Doctor McCoy (DeForrest Kelley) and can contradict the captainif he respects these politics of the mind.

Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) assumed command in the StarTrek Voyager series (1995-2001). Plots and symbols from the threeprevious series, under male captains, were revised. Voyager wasstill science fantasy about a dedicated crew of men and womenastronauts. But, Janeway’s team immediately got lost, light yearsfrom Earth, in the “Delta Quadrant” of remote space, suggestingthat separation is the basic human dilemma.

In the two-part, opening episode, the fresh crew was suddenlyswept in a space storm, 70,000 light years away by a powerful“caretaker.” A literary-philosophical study of Star Trek by Michèleand Duncan Barrett (2001) British mother and son team, claim-

Curious

Males

Probe

Universe

ed this dramatic device is a way to look back at Earth and our-selves. Because self-reflection is freer away from home, “This voyageout is also a voyage in.”

“The exploration of the cosmos is a voyage of self-discovery,” an-nounced popular astronomer Carl Sagan (1934-1996) in his thir-teen-part drama, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. The most watched pub-lic television series in history, seen by 500 million people in 60countries. It was also a book on the New York Times bestseller listfor 70 weeks in the 1980s. Paradoxically, Sagan believed that onlymatter and energy existed, and was skeptical of institutional andrevelatory faith.

Reading and writing poetry are methods for exploring inner space—locating wisdom at home on the range of your mind. The crew ofVoyager, however, roams the galaxy and confronts hostile alien spe-cies. To settle disputes with strange new races and amongst theheterogeneous crew, Captain Janeway avoids using force, but herstrategy rarely works. Tricorder and computer scans diagnose prob-lems that ultimately are solved by erecting weapons shields andfiring photon torpedoes.

As an avowed atheist-scientist, Captain Janeway is an eccentric whouses intuition as a practical last resort. She reiterates, “Do it,” anold Star Trek slogan, to make change happen along the way, echoingseafaring captains on classic sailing ships telling crewmen “to makeit so.” Janeway’s female officers are: the ultra rational cyborg, Sevenof Nine (Jeri Ryan) and the chief engineer B’Elanna Torres (RoxannDawson).

The Vulcan, Tuvok (Tim Russ) does “mind melds” and Kes (Jenni-fer Lien) is from an intuitive species called the Ocampa. But herlifespan of nine years is cut short when she dies at age two to makeway for the computer-like Seven of Nine. Kes was never admitted

Star

Trek=

Mind

Trip

Home

to

Mind



as a regular crewmember, unlike her replacement, who is CaptainJaneway’s darling. Under warp speed that takes twenty-three years,the company is exhausted and elderly when they finally return toEarth, as are earthlings by the time they go to faith (or die with-out it).

After seven seasons on the air, the series ends with Tuvok, tacticaland security officer, expiring of a degenerative neurological disor-der that pathetically wipes out his mind. Janeway sacrifices herlife to destroy the enemy Borg Queen and her Hive of assimilatedautomatons. The tragic ending suggests that inner space research isfar more treacherous to explore than outer space.

The fifth series, Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005) reinstates a malecaptain who hunts galactic terrorists plotting to destroy Earth.Humanity is portrayed as peaceful, intelligent, enlightened andkind while alien species from foreign planets are aggressive, cun-ning, deceitful and cruel. Unlike Star Wars, there is no inwardtransformation that establishes universal peace through non-vio-lent consciousness.

The Final Frontier (1989) directed, written and starring WilliamShatner, was the most spiritually oriented Star Trek film. Shotwith the TOS cast, twenty years after the series ended, Kirk andSpock were fifty-eight and “Bones,” the medical doctor, nearlyseventy-years-old. A renegade Vulcan named Sybok (LaurenceLuckenbill) is a telepathic healer and Spock’s half-brother. In aliteral quest to find God outside the galaxy, Sybok rebels againstall reason to hijack the Enterprise.

Flying beyond the great barrier reef of fear, the crew encounters anirrational God, a projection of Sybok, who destroys himself indismay over his error. Staying calm and using weapons, however,

AUTOMATONS:MECHANIZEDHUMANBEINGS.

Inner

Space

Research

Poetry

Explores

Inner

Space

the rest of the crew, in their brand new spaceship, escapes thedemented deity. Among fans and critics alike, The Final Frontier isthe least popular of all Star Trek movie. The ending suggests faith in aSupreme Being is insane, but looking for Her outside your mind is absurd.

The tenth Star Trek film, Nemesis (2002) using The Next Generationcast, makes moral self-improvement the difference between goodand bad human beings. Robots are incapable of understandingthe distinction.Using doubles to reinforce the message, both Jean-Luc Picard, the captain (Patrick Stewart) and his science officer,Data (Brent Spiner) encounter replicas representing their shadowselves.

Picard faces a young villain copied from his own DNA, “Shinzon”(Tom Hardy) and Data encounters prototype “B4” (Before). Bothduplicates are defective. Shinzon degenerates neurologically andwants only to payback his miscreators while B4 was not pro-grammed to learn, and can only imitate his clever master, Shinzon.Picard thinks good human beings rise above physical limitations,unlike their opponent-selves.

The spaceships collide as the two philosophies battle for suprem-acy. Data proves he has acquired the capacity to overcome an-droid limitations by blasting the bad guys (and himself) to smith-ereens. Copying the methods of the “bad guys,” the resolutioncontradicts the captain’s basic premise. Affected by shock wavesperhaps, everyone acts like the “good guys” have won through vir-tue. Yet nothing has changed inwardly and so we know that the“dark side” will rise again.

ANDROID:COMPUTER-IZED ROBOTDE-SIGNEDIN HUMAN

FORM.



From: [email protected]: monday, 06 jan 2003To: [email protected]: peace knight path

Your book is a different look at Star Wars than I haveever read and I must say, thought provoking andrefreshing. I honestly never made the connectionsyou drew from the films. I do not relate to the “psy-chobabble,” but it does not interfere with your mainpoints that are superb and very much in accord withwhat we teach at the Jedi Academy. It is a finelycrafted work and compelling. It made me contemplatemy own path and how to be a “Jedi” in real life.

Alcander CaedmonJedi Academy Faculty

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PPPPPeace knights are keepers of the wisdom that humanity is raised from lower consciousness, using the bodily senses,

to higher consciousness, using the pensive mind. As a young man,Luke Skywalker leaves childhood behind to embark on the he-roic journey to faith in God. “Knighthood” is equivalent to “adult-hood” and Star Wars is a coming-of-age story with which every-one can identify.

For Luke, the struggle involves Obi-Wan Kenobi, his spiritual fa-ther, contra Darth Vader, his biological father. Luke must make achoice as to whom he pledges allegiance. One option is to belike his genetic father, who he resembles in form, in the world ofappearances. His ambition is to be bigger and stronger since healways has been smaller physically than his father. To excel byany other means is unimaginable to a child.

!


Babies and children are taught to identity with gender, whichwelds together mind and body. A choice becomes available inadulthood (21+) through independent, conceptual thinking. In-stead of conformity, or rebellion, to gender identity, there is anoption of psychological maturation. Physical growth in childhoodis then surpassed by emotional growth and spiritual wisdom inadulthood.

As a young adult (21-28) you may look like your biological par-ents, but you can learn to think like your Mother-Father. Thedecision is faced again in the mid-life crisis (28-49) when mistakesin social relations and physiological deterioration are no longerdeniable. Becoming introspective mitigates the trauma that typi-cally begins at age thirty-five for women and forty for men. In arupture of another kind, some people awaken to a loving Lightthrough near death experiences.

You can become autonomous—proceed a third way—and think inline with Spiritual Parents whom you resemble in abstract form.You can recognize an inner identity in young adulthood insteadof waiting to be compelled by falling into the pits of the midlifecrisis. A conscious decision initiates the return to faith in God atthis time.

Unlike wine, however, people do not naturally improve with vin-tage. In aging, the immature mind sees only awful decay—the per-sistence of physicality. An alternative to vanity and preoccupa-tions with sensuality, is to trust that appearances mean nothingin life and death. In thinking you deteriorate and perish, you maygo to pieces instead of peace. In finding your right mind, how-ever, you are relieved of suffering in the wrong mind.

Faith waxes and wanes with crises. People remember their spirit-ualpotential in despair and forget when they recover from an or-

Adults

Mature

Inwardly

Genetic

versus

Spiritual

Parents?

deal. But you terrorize yourself unmercifully all the time in life bydepending on a youthful, beautiful and perishable body as thesource of identity and destiny. As the naked eye can see only thesurface, getting older and choosing not to mature, make the guiltabout creeping decrepitude seem real. Concealed in denial, peopleare horrified that aging is taxation and death the cost of living. (To die isa price we all must pay. Euripides).

While in linear time, along with three-dimensional objects in space,the search for meaning challenges every individual, in every gener-ation, in all cultures. Like the changing of the seasons and theturning of the planet, you have an option to grow in an inner lifecycle. You can decide to give up sensate thinking for the wisdomof personal grace. Then you forget how to tell time as you psy-ho-logically mature.

Like captives in Plato’s allegorical cave, however, who mistookshadows for true-selves, people live in preconscious states of mind.“It’s worth remembering,” wrote Colin McGinn (2002) “that ma-trix originally meant womb—so people are in effect, prenatal dream-ers.” A Course in Miracles advises, “being awake within the dream.”Faith disengages the mind from the body and deflates the ego.

The decision to awaken cannot be done without consent, nor byanother, but it may be postponed. Because the ego is arrogant, as-pirants to faith often need a guide—a selfless, older, wiser guru likeYoda. Without willingness, however, the thought of being bornin sin and bathed in guilt retard mind power. The handicap isovercome when you give up wanting to join, or rebel, against par-ents, teachers and society.

To establish a precedent for peace and to facilitate the transfor-mation, Luke is tutored in the secret teachings of an ancient mysteryreligion known as the Jedi Knights of the Force. Do you take

Maturity

is an

Option

Inner

Life

Cycle

Disengage

Mind from

Body and

Deflate Ego.

14 WISDOM AND MATURITY 199


Darth Vader or Anakin Skywalker to be your bonded parent? LikeLuke, the only battle that exists in the galaxy is the battle of theEgo versus God over aging and dying. In terms of the body, allhumanity is terminally ill.

Spiritual growth supersedes the atrophy of the body and deathrebirths the soul. The first of a new breed, Luke escapes self-per-secution to save himself and the universe from apparent impris-onment in the body-ego. As he matures, history becomes history—no matter who his parents are—or what was done to him in thepast. You are never alone or forgotten when you remember thelove of God.

No power in the universe can hold back awakened consciousness,or as French author and social critic Victor Hugo (1802-1885)once wrote, “No army can withstand the might of an idea whosetime has come.” Light always is faster than dark that really has nospeed whatsoever. The inscription on the crypt of King Arthur isthen fulfilled, “The once and future king.”

IIIIINTUITIVENTUITIVENTUITIVENTUITIVENTUITIVE WWWWWISDOMISDOMISDOMISDOMISDOM

Star Wars may be viewed as the action adventure of a superherowho battles good and bad forces in the universe. Or, the seriesmay be seen as an example of the struggle in the life of an ordi-nary person to gain intuitive intelligence. Like interpreting adream, all the figures, places, objects and events can are aboutthe inner world of Luke, or Lucas, a representative human beingwisely seeking the meaning of life.

Just as every cell in the human body contains the entire DNAsequence of an individual, everyone belongs to a greater mind.One person psychologically represents all people universally and“reality” is the inner self cast objectively outward. “Every mind

Death

Rebirths

the Soul

Powered

by

Mind

!

contains all minds for every mind is one,” (ACIM). Motion picturesthus can be read as projections, meaning all the characters thatpopulate a story are psychic elements common to any one personand to all people at once.

Luke models the thought system of the one who attains the wis-dom of a peace knight. Though the form may vary according toindividual taste, cultural tradition and temporal period, anyonecan follow Luke’s lead to insight in their evolution toward theLight. Thus, Star Wars reflects the inner battle of a regular person,trustee for humanity at large, as he or she dares to respect the lawof faith in God.

The law of faith states that as a divine birthright, every individualpossesses Light in an innermost self, just like Luke Skywalker andis an emissary of peace, just like the Jedi Knights. It is not possibleto be outside the fateful law because no one is ostracized by Godwith whom we remain forever One. Through a link to our Source,people can coexist in psychic peace.

In the split mind of the mortal Luke, Darth Vader and Obi-WanKenobi compete for dominance. Darth Vader dispossesses the Forceon account of some tragic experience of betrayal in his childhoodand tries to take over his son’s thinking with military might. Phan-tom Menace sketches his life as young Anakin Sky-walker and howwarfare broke out in his mind and in the “galaxy,” transforminghim into Darth Vader (Chapter 2).

Obi-Wan Kenobi, on the other hand, possesses the power of con-sciousness and appeals to Luke to recognize their shared identityand destiny through faith in an innermost unity with the Force.The central theme is the struggle for supremacy over thinking—towhich side will Luke turn—to the genetic law that he is the bio-

I

am

Them.

They

are

Me.

We

are

One.



logical son, or to the cosmic law of faith that he is the spiritualson of the God of Love? Who rules his fate?

The polarities in the struggle are: impulsive, arrogant and aggres-sive versus humble, pensive and tranquil. Dramatized as separatecharacters, the resistance exists in the mind of every single personand all peoples. Acting like rival brothers who join clashing armiesduring historical civil wars, the two figures represent the reign oflower versus higher consciousness in the thinking of the everydaymortal being.

“Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader started as one character in thescreenplay until Lucas separated them into the good and badfathers,” wrote Lucas’s biographer Dale Pollock (1990). Actually,three characters inhabit the mind. Luke is the conscious self, DarthVader the secular self and Obi-Wan the sacred self. Typically, weare divided three ways: who we think we are, whom we thinkothers think we are, two versions of the false-self, and who wetruly are as spiritual beings.

Luke’s dilemma resembles that of Cain in Genesis, who was con-ceived before, but born after Adam and Eve were expelled fromthe grace of the Garden of Eden. Just as Cain, the bad son, fol-lows his father, Adam, in the providential lack of faith, Luke fearsthat he will imitate his father’s tumble through heaven’s gate. Thestory of the Garden of Eden can also be read metaphorically. Cain“killing” Abel concerns the common human error of lower takingover higher consciousness.

Luke’s “sister-self” complements a “brother-self;” therefore, the re-lationship with Leia may also be seen in terms of “self-concept.”Luke’s “contra-sexual self” has many literary names: “anima,”“psyche,” “soul” and “inner feminine being.” Leia stands for themythological figure of “Holy Sophia,” from whom we get “phil-

Humans

with Split

Identities

Wisdom

Hero=

Ordinary

Mortal

osophy,” the love of knowledge. She guides the inward journey tofaith in a transcendent second half of life (Chapter 12).

The cast of good and bad characters (crewmen, robots, bountyhunters) represent angelic and demonic aspects in the intrapsy-chic life of every human being. The wisdom hero is thus an ordi-nary mortal. Making its mystical presence felt in consciousness,Jedi Knights, for example, symbolize the intelligent and creativecapacities in the hidden mind that seek, in concert, an alternativeto psychic pain and universal strife.

Like Holy Sophia, Yoda represents knowledge deeply buried inthe psyche, but being less evolved than she, he appears in animalform. Holy Sophia assists the Godhead and takes on a humanshape. When Lucas conceived of Yoda, he had read JosephCampbell (1949) who wrote, “In fairy lore it may be some littlefellow of the wood, some wizard, hermit, shepherd or smith, whoappears to supply amulets and advice the hero will require.”

An irascibly flawed little creature, Yoda is a split-off and over-looked part of our thinking that can be reintegrated to recog-nize the wisdom of the ancient masters. Yoda corresponds to the“inner wizard,” within the mortal mind, according to what Merlinthe Magician taught young King Arthur (Chopra 1995). Yoda tooevolves as a sage from the prequels to the sequels.

In The Wizard of Oz (MGM 1939) the star is a farm girl of indis-tinct age from the Midwest. Judy Garland, the actress, however,did not fit the mold. As “Dorothy,” she is swept away in a cycloneto the Land of Oz. In the book (1899) she actually takes the tripwith her pet cow, but in the film, she dreams her journey afterbeing knocked unconscious. She encounters rural folk, good andbad witches and three unforgettable characters: Lion, Tin Manand Scarecrow.


Look

Inward

Angel

A

Farm

Girl

AMULET:TANGIBLEREMINDER

OF FAITHUSUALLY

WORN ANDINSCRIBED.


In this American fairy tale, the heroine rescues emotionallytroubled males. Dorothy is merely lost, but her companions lackbrains, heart and courage, qualities we are told they really possess.Intrapsychically, these are missing elements in Dorothy’s person-ality. Loving her, the male figures save Dorothy from the Witch ofthe West (her wicked self). Her self-doubt is dissolved by the in-telligence of plain water. She repeats a logical axiom, “follow theyellow brick road” and is not dissuaded by any obstacles along theway.

To get home , Dorothy needs help, though nobody had ever heardof a wizard before. She knows a common answer exists as sheguides the pilgrims to Emerald City. The wizard offers amulets, adiploma for the Scarecrow, for example, to protect against hisincapacitating and recurring self-doubt. The Lion (courage) andthe Tin Man (passion) are emotions essential to wholeness. Oneauthor claimed all the characters were given “self-confidence torecognize their own worth” (Rogers 2002).

Luke’s lieutenants, the fraternal twin robots, Artoo Detoo andSee-Threepio (aka R2-D2 and C-3PO) exemplify the potential toremain steadfast comrades in open communication with the Forcewhile exercising non-violent options. Their irritable bicker-ing, how-ever, depicts basic human frailty in this endeavor. By retainingrational faith, ironically, it is the adroit droids who tap into theForce in order to rise above mortal limitation.

The computers lack the shame ordinarily associated with bodilyfunctions and possess the ability to combine the rational and faith-ful into one step forward for humankind. Cynicism is pervasiveand divisive, but faith in the Force, and mutual trust in one an-other, are integral. Anger projects guilt, produced by hidden self-condemnation in being alienated from God that justifies attack-ing others in self-defense.

Rational

and

Faithful

Faith

in the

Force

Four

Pilgrims

to Oz

Because rational faith terrifies us, the devout robots are comicfigures, related to Laurel and Hardy, el gordo y ellaco. Artoo Detoolooks like a shop vacuum cleaner, while his skinny buddy, See-Threepio, gold colored with one silver leg, resembles a life-sizeOscar. According to Lucas, the pair did not receive a warm wel-come in the beginning. Similarly, Jar Jar Binks in Phantom Men-ace wrangled the nerves of fans and critics.

Film critic Pauline Kael (1919-2001) called Return of the Jedi, “Aflabby excuse for a lot of dumb tricks and noise.” In retrospect,however, another view emerges concerning the Star Wars visualfestival. Its mystical foundation, profound theological premise,deep psychological meaning and humanistic promise address auniversal law concerning human transcendence in spirit that isupheld by faith in the Force.


Robotic

Odd

Couple

The robotic odd couple, C-3P0 and R2-D2, is inca-pable of violence and revenge. Transcending humanlimitation they remain steadfast in sensible devotionto the Force. They are continuously assaulted and dis-mantled, however, by human beings envious of theirsuperior metaphysical capacities. The two are inspira-tional models to be imitated.

RATI

ONA

L FAI

TH


THE DIMENSION OF SPIRIT IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Peace Knights of the Soul was written for courses in humandevelopment. Accepting one’s mortality is traditionally con-sidered a positive outcome to the midlife crisis. A matureperson becomes “generative,” finding an altruistic life-pur-pose to assist the incoming and outgoing generations in thetransition.

To overcome childish vanity about biological aging and dy-ing is the objective in developing maturity. The change maybegin in young adulthood (21-28) or be delayed until thecoercive impact of the midlife crisis in middle adulthood(28-49). Usually, psychological growth is motivated only byadversity.

Four stages in the process of maturation are identified:willingness, patience, phantom enemy and mind power. Thefirst two steps are reached quickly as a plateau, but thesecond two are arduous, requiring disciplined and long termcommitment. Whether intuitive wisdom will be used in the21st Century as a way for younger adults to become matureis open to question.

Paper Presented at the Pacific Sociological AssociationPasadena, California, April 3, 2003

M

ATUR

ITY

IIII I DEN

TITY

DEN

TITY

DEN

TITY

DEN

TITY

DEN

TITY

&&&& & DDDD D

ESTI

NY

ESTI

NY

ESTI

NY

ESTI

NY

ESTI

NY

FFFFFIFTEENIFTEENIFTEENIFTEENIFTEENCCCCCODAODAODAODAODA

TTTTThe first Star Wars trilogy told the adventures of Luke Sky- walker, an orphan boy from a planet on the fringe of the

galaxy who is adopted by an elite corps of martial and spiritualbeings. He is mentored by the Jedi Knights to overcome the cor-ruption of his forbearers. The second Star Wars trilogy occurs beforethe tragic fall of Luke’s father, Anakin Skywalker. In learning tolove the Force, the son redeems himself, saves his father and bringsabout universal peace.

Peace Knights of the Soul reveals in Chapter 10 the unwritten storythat Qui-Gon Jinn and Shmi Skywalker are the biological parentsof Anakin Skywalker, a gifted child, who as a young man, turnsinto the malevolent Darth Vader. His father, Qui-Gon, was a famousJedi Knight and his mother, Shmi, a female slave. His birth wasthe outcome of mixing classes, either salvation or damnation. Ana-kin’s parentage is not acknowledged in the films and novels, andthe clues went undetected by both fans and media.

!


Peace Knights of the Soul documents Anakin’s ancestry usinginformation in the films, novels and franchised writings (Chapter10). Qui-Gon was deemed pure and above suspicion because hu-mans believe a savior must be asexual. But his son, Anakin, openlymarries and conceives a child with his sweetheart, Padmé Amidala.As punishment, she is threatened with assassination and he is ex-pelled from the celibate order of Jedi Knights.

The sexual theme of the Star Wars prequels contrasts with thespiritual theme of the sequels. Anakin and Padmé have an affairlike his parents. When blood tests for “midi-chlorians” prove posi-tive, Qui-Gon takes his son to be character tested by an elite tribunalto determine his eligibility to train in the Jedi Knights. The gene-ticlly determined depiction of Jedi Knighthood subjected Lucas-film to charges of racism, but the issue was downplayed in themedia.

Before the awesome tribunal, Yoda interrogated little Anakin andchastised the child when he appeared fearful in thinking of hismother for comfort. Yoda pontificated, “fear leads to the darkside,” yet Yoda himself is afraid of Anakin becoming a Jedi Knight.Insensitive treatment intimidates the little boy and Grand Mas-ter Yoda hereby initiates Anakin to the “dark side” (Chapter10). Children everywhere are socialized into war-culture by el-ders who deny and lie about their fear of dying.

Betraying the mission of peace in the galaxy in the prequel trilogy(Chapter 11) the Jedi Knights merge with the Sith on the “darkside.” Violence escalates as Yoda becomes a battlefield comman-der, women knights turn into warriors, digital combat scenes over-whelm the big screen and a specious bloodstream substance qual-ifies candidates for the elite training. In the sequels, however,the action hero throws his weapon away, trusts in “the Force,”refuses to fight “evil” and becomes a wisdom hero.

CODA:THE ENDOF A COM-POSITION.

One Mind,

and

One Force

Between the two trilogies, cause and effect were put in reverseorder by the director. Lucas forewarned about Revenge of the Sith:“It’s a tragedy,” a sordid story for smaller audiences because in thistransitional segment the “bad guys” win. Putting the trilogies inchronological order, however, corrects the reverse perspective. Nowthe beginning is the ending and the ending is the beginning andthe wisdom hero triumphs.

Luke Skywalker uses the Force in his mind to bring about uni-versal peace. Intuiting the principle that perception is projection,he recognized that seeing “enemies” is thinking immaturely. Inprotecting personal guilt by attacking others, we defend againstthe fear of the love of God. Using science fiction film, Peace Knightsof the Soul illustrateshowver, faith in the love of God transcends alllimitations.

The original separation from God (the great fall) is replicated inthe traumas of birth, infancy and early childhood that split mortalbeings from their immortal soul. People possess an intelligencewiser than is realized, however, and retain an option to recover aspiritual identity. Characters from selected science fiction films,Neo, Trinity, Prot, Luke and Leia, are prototypes of humanity’spotential liberation. To know “the Force” is a state of mind intouch with God through faith in being One.

OOOOONENENENENE MMMMMINDINDINDINDIND

Luke thinks he has “enemies” because he believes he is vul-nerable in a body instead of invincible wit the power of spirit inhis mind. He seeks martial training by an elite warrior caste inorder to defeat the cruel commander of death who is but an imagin-

15 IDENTITY and DESTINY 209

Prequels = Physical — Sexual

Sequels = Spiritual — Metaphysical‘T

RILO

GYTH

EMES

!


ary form of his own self-hate. Luke possesses the fidelity of peaceknights, but wanting to be bigger and stronger than his father, hemisconceives the way to victory.

Luke’s combative methods copy his father, a fallen angel and atfirst, he is corrupted in his thinking. This contributes to his losingthe galactic war and delaying maturation. But, his intellect opensto an esoteric truth: no real enemies exist, mentally or in “reality.”Relinquishing illusions, on the threshold of acquiring wisdom, Lukelapses in consciousness and defects to the “dark side.” He remainsself-centered in the body, not yet spirit-centered in the Force.

Yoda does not train Luke to stand on his head to learn balance(Barad 2005) but to teach reverse perspective (Chapter 4). Willing-ness contradicts fear, while patience keeps clear the goal of acquiringinsight. Luke is not his own worst enemy, but being intractablemakes “enemies” look real. Beneath anger lurks guilt, but in the endhe elects the option to forgive. To “surrender” is a decision—the only realpower humans possess.

Reality is an illusion of pure projection and no behavior, social orantisocial, has any meaning. Being cruel to children and practic-ing terrorism are often said to arise out of love. But assaulting any-one, for any reason, denies the personal presence of God. Separatedthinking reproduces “enemies” in perennial wars for peace that nevercomes to pass (Vidal 2002). Violence is an insane solution thatnever works for a problem that does not exist (ACIM, Wapnick2010).

Vicious people affect you only when you think they do. If you arekind to you, no one can ever mistreat or harm you. Only purpose—always of the mind and never of conduct—makes taking any ac-tion intrinsically good or bad. A new world arises out of spiritualvision, not out of sensual form and peace consciousness is mindcraft,for there is no outer globe to transform.

I Sense

Great Love

in Him

“Do you

copy” means

do you obey,

not do you

understand.


15 IDENTITY and DESTINY 211

Adversaries are misperceptions of the self derived from a belief inthe abandonment on Earth by God. Attacking others for being“evil,” substantiates “evil” and replicates what you intend to re-pudiate. As an effect of thinking, fighting for peace and justice,even against tyrants and terrorists, activates the violence-ven-geance cycle. Warfare lacks faith in God.

Newton’s first law of physics applies to human relations, mean-ing for every attack, there is counter attack. Anger and fear begetanger and fear unto the nth generation. That enemies possess thesame mind is what the Holy Bible means when it says, “A man’sfoes shall be they of his own household” (Matthew 10:36). No oneexists apart from the One Mind, except as an illusion of the splitmind—the separated ego.

The illusion of reality is not the same idea as historical revision-ists who claim the non-existence of atrocities like the holocaustin Germany, the genocide of Native Americans or the enslave-ment of Africans in the United States. That “it did not happen”makes the same mistake as “it did happen,” for neither is true.Both camps dispute the form, but not the concept of reality. Bothassume that the separation from God is real.

A similar fallacy exists in the theories of the naturalist, CharlesDarwin and the political-economist, Karl Marx. The idea that“violence is the midwife-locomotive of history,” imparts an imper-ative to time. But the excitement derived from fighting and kill-ing enemies, is pure sensation. Unforgivable wrongs are projectedonto others as justification for their being “inferior” and deserv-ing of punishment, enslavement and extermination.

Warfare

Lacks

Faith in

God

No

Peace by

Violence

Novice: External EnemyApprentice: Internal EnemyDisciple: No EnemyMaster: No Reality

VISI

ON


The task is not to take psychology into politics that exists only bythe denial of insight, but to enter a peaceful state of mind. Mani-pulating human relations appears to cause outer conflict to inten-sify. As an ideological stance that believes violence is meaningful,being anti-war is not the answer. Both reproduce apparent antago-nisms between “idealists” and “realists” about war. A clash of twoillusions, however, means nothing.

As a dreamer, trying to restructure the polar world of separation isfutile. Wanting to change “reality” preserves guilt by reinforcingthe myth of a “dark side,” making death seem frightful. An unbear-able fear is then attributed to outsiders, who appear to assail youin order to shield you from your own hateful self-attacks. Assaultinganyone, for any reason, is never justified. ACIM states, “Therefore,seek not to change the world, but change your mind about theworld” and about yourself.

The body disintegrates and dies—the source of the ego’s secret warwith God. As punishment, guilt makes death appear awful andfinal. In the interim, there are many penalties like: interpersonalincompatibilities, family estrangements, illnesses, diseases and com-plementary depression. All political views are out of synchronywith the reality of God and history is one mass psychosis. OnlyGod-consciousness can bring forth sane human relations.

“May the Force be with you” is a plea to awaken, equivalent to“Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). Being saturatedin guilt and fried in fear make “evil” look real. “Open thy eyes andthou shall be satisfied with bread” (Proverbs 20:13). As a devo-tional prayer, “Daily Bread” tastes delicious during all our hungrydays and restless nights in the spin on the big colored marble inthe vastness of space.

One

Mass

Psychosis

Politics

Denies

Insight

15 IDENTITY AND DESTINY 213

I

am an

Indivisible!

Remembering the origin of one’s identity and destiny in the di-vine, anamnesis, is the opposite of “amnesia,” caused by the bigbang of the trauma of birth on the polarized planet. Many diver-sions exist in the journey through dark world, but there is onlyone real choice for truth in inner vision. In Latin, “individual”means “without division;” being an “indivisible” is the only sense inwhich eight billion egos in bodies on the biosphere are special.

Peace joins your mind to God and lifts you out of depressing self-absorption in degenerating as a physical being. The shared knowl-edge of Oneness ends the need for arms and armor, but not foramour. Peace then extends through you to others from a Sourcebeyond time and space. If you remain dual-minded, however,you stay duel-minded: gunning for others, divided by guilty self-attacks and consumed by combat with “villains.”

Heaven is peaceful, but the ego tried to take over creating three di-mensional bodies in space and time. Believing you are an ego-body arouses “the beast” in you who is afraid to die. A decision toreturn to God-conscious is described in the Holy Bible as, “He whohas eyes to see and ears to hear.” ACIM says that denial is a deci-sion not to know. You make the decision to forget and then forgetthat you make the decision. But even in the wrong mind, thechoice remains.

You are asleep in a dream forgetting you are the cause of yourexperience and represent all the actors. In life, you unconsciouslyplay every role and every role plays you. An awakening occurs asan abstract change of mind that shows up in “reality” to accom-modate your new point of view. The idea that “perception is pro-jection” enables you to be the one (the savior) because you as-sume responsibility for the illusion of the world as the awakeneddreamer of the dream.

ANAMNESIS:REMEMBERCE ORRECOLLECTION.

Dual-

Minded

is

DuelMinded


This idea is analogous to Neo dreaming his dream of being withinThe Matrix. At first, he battles a immense conspiracy that appearsto be outside his mind in the boring self-attacks on spirit (Zion).When Trinity is wounded and he is blinded, Neo relies on faith tostop the vicious Agent Smith, who represents the unrelentinglyhostile ego. Neo’s ability to rise to consciousness, mirrors yourown potential, unfettered by “reality” and “personality.”

In Signs (Buena Vista 2002) farmer-minister Mel Gibson gives upfaith in God, like many people angry about life’s brutality. Whenhis wife is killed in an automobile accident, an alien invasion takesover the planet of his mind. She passes quickly as her body wassevered in two—the way we are all sliced-off from heaven on Earth.But the invasion recedes and his faith is restored when his childrensurvive his toxic thinking and retain the option for faith, by hisexample, to endure life’s hardships.

Beyond pairs of opposites like “life and death,” “good and evil,”“man and woman,” “mother and father,” past all words, catego-ries and archetypes, is God. At the deepest level of discourse, ourbest understanding is that distinction itself, beginning with thethought of radical separation, is the cause of all human suffering.You are bound to the body by psychic pain, not bound to psychicpain by the body. Never can you be a victim when you hold theoption for faith in God.

All human suffering derives from not staying aware of Oneness.The fall of our natural parents into mundane madness and misfor-tune, is righted by the resurrection of spiritual parents within themind. The spirit arises out of the ashes of the physical man orwoman and one’s corporeal nature “dies.” This is the symbolicmeaning of animal sacrifice in religious ceremonies. A spiritual-Self, protects against the ego’s retaliatory God.

Congenital or

Metaphysical

Birth?


Option

for

God?

In the mystery of your origin, who are your parents? Is it God andHoly Sophia (Chapter 12) abstractly, or your genetic parents prac-tically? If your father’s name is “Joseph” and your mother’s nameis the “Virgin Mary,” who are your real parents? Was Jesus theliteral offspring of Joseph and Mary; did he have real brothers andsisters? “Conception” refers both to physical birth and to ab-stract thinking,so is your origin congenital or metaphysical?

Do you exist within or beyond time and space? Is there a God ordo you believe there is just this big question? Do you doubt whatyou believe and then believe what you doubt? Do you say, “In thebeginning was the ovum and the sperm?” One day, science willprove “the Fall” coincided with the big bang that blew individualsinto pieces on Earth. Was there nothing, or was God there, beforethe big bang beginning began?

Only God creates ex nihilo — something out of nothing. The ques-tion refers to the beginning of all time and to your personal timein transit on the planet. The answer you formulate creates the“world” you encounter, because what you are looking for respondsto the consciousness with which you are seeking. “I was createdas the thing I seek,” says ACIM. “Reality” is created by your think-ing—so what do you think—catastrophe or serenity?

OOOOONENENENENE FFFFFORCEORCEORCEORCEORCE

Star Wars is a story about an advanced civilization looking backon its past. The time exists, therefore, in a future not too distantfrom our own. Luke Skywalker’s consciousness mirrors the po-tential of humanity in the nuclear century. Until he becomes agentle mental giant, however, Luke believes fighting is the an-swer, as he repudiates the Force, replicates the civil war and re-peats the weary natural history of the world.

!


“May the wind be against your back” is an ancient mariner’s sal-utation resembling Christians who say, “May the Lord be withyou (and also with you”). Knights of the Jedi say, “May the Forcebe with you.” Jews say shalom, Hindus say shanti and Muslims sayassalmu alaykum (peace be with you). Human discretion theremay be about God, but there is no equivocation in His love,which never shifts like people and the wind.

In distemper, God did not cast his children apart from paradiseand the lessons of peace are contradicted whenever He is por-trayed as having a “dark side.” He appears to be extinguished whenthe Light in your mind is dimmed by doubt. God cannot be di-minished, but a peace knight can be mistaken by having a dualidentity. Neither can God be out of balance, but a person can beoff his or her rocker in choosing the wrong mind.

Fair winds and perfect light, cast high in the sky, are provisions forthe turbulent trip through territorial time. To find solace andsupport depends on a decision to join hands, outside the realm ofseparation and to find, like Anakin, the reflection of love throughforgiveness. A circle is the image of the Self, center and circum-ference, point and diameter, because there is no line between exclu-sion and inclusion.

You are there and always have been there, a member in good stand-ing, tall in the ring where no differentiation into inner and outerspheres exists. In your right-mind, no separation into form andno form of separation, is possible. God residing in your mortal mind isthe reason the sides of your head are called “temples.” You keep con-scious what you want to keep conscious and intuitive wisdom setsyou free and guides you home.

The place where God is with you and you are with God, dissolvesbecause there never was a demarcation between you two. He isalways with you, because She is within you (Chapter 12). The ans-

Dimmed

by

Doubt

Surrender

to the

Force

People

and the

Wind

God

is the

Self


wer lies inside and outside because there is no division. There isonly one whole Self residing in faith and peace. To trust in God isthe one immutable law in life—“let nothing be done through strife”(Philippians 2:3).

Becoming a “Justly Evolving and Developing Individual,” a JEDI,instead of a SITH, “Suffering Individual Through Hatred,” ismade possible by allowing the truth to be credible. Difficulty andcomplexity are convolutions of the ego, though your genius maygo unnoticed. “May the Force be with you” means you have in-tuitive wisdom to overcome every adversity. Meanwhile, fightingdeath to stay alive is killing you softly.

Ultimately, you are forced to surrender to God by the exhaustionof the ego-body strategy of survival in using attack psychology.Surrender allows the reflection of love to shine in the mind. For-give me my ego. In the matrix, forgiveness is the troubling glitch. Mor-tals fight a hidden war with God, but the end of war extendsthrough you as a peace knight.

The spectacular special effects of Star Wars cloud its brilliant mes-sage, but its appeal to everyone, at some level, is the revelation ofour hidden divinity. It is the will of the Force, not the force of thewill that counts. As reliable as the knight (and the day) you are aspowerful as the Self you reconcile. Islam means “submission toAllah”—ending the wars of the world—brand new to history andeven to mythology.

To have peace consciousness: be willing, be patient, know no en-emy and find mind power. The split mind fabricates “enemies”under self-attacks of guilt. Anger directed outward protects guilt,precludes forgiveness and fights God. As long as you believe ban-ishment to Earth is punishment, you are fearful of the Light andstay in the dark. Inevitably, you grasp the truth and depart to eter-nity, Peace Knight of the Soul.

The End

of War

WWWWWISDOMISDOMISDOMISDOMISDOM TTTTTESTESTESTESTEST

INSTRUCTIONSThere are many tests of science fiction trivia, but here is a set of questionsabout intuitive wisdom. Take the test before and after reading this book tomeasure your progress in learning. The correct answers are based on theprinciples of spiritual metaphysics presented in the text, not on conventionalwisdom. Answer True or False by checking the appropriate box.

T F" " 1. To qualify as a wisdom hero you must possess a special precious

metal known as “jedite.”" " 2. God is with you when you have the right DNA." " 3. A wisdom hero must be a technological genius in preschool." " 4. You must prove to a panel of elders that you deserve to be a

wisdom hero." " 5. Only boys and men can be wisdom heroes." " 6. Anyone can be a wisdom hero and in fact everyone already is one." " 7. A wisdom hero escapes reality to an imaginary world of fantasy." " 8. When you trust in mind power, the real world changes." " 9. The insight of mentors is usually false, arising from the influence

of mind altering drugs." " 10. You need only a little will power to start to become a wisdom hero." " 11. The idea of social justice is a central concern to wisdom heroes." " 12. A wisdom hero must be committed absolutely to a higher power." " 13. Once you enter the “dark side,” forever does it dominate your destiny." " 14. You must solve all personal problems first, before becoming a wisdom

hero and then you can solve social problems." " 15. Peace of mind is important to a wisdom hero as preparation for

greater battles." " 16. The phantom enemy means there is an enemy you do not see." " 17. You are a wisdom hero whether you believe it or not." " 18. Wisdom heroes swear to fight the phantom enemy with all their

might.

219

220

ANSWER KEY1. F 6. T 11. F 16. F 21. F 26. F2. F 7. F 12. F 17. T 22. T 27. F3. F 8. F 13. F 18. F 23. T 28. F4. F 9. F 14. F 19. F 24. T 29. F5. F 10. T 15. F 20. T 25. T 30. T

" " 19. The phantom enemy usually starts the fight with a wisdom hero first.

" " 20. The phantom enemy is the enemy that does not exist." " 21. The mind projects the phantom enemy due to not understanding

that the enemy is oneself." " 22. The power of the mind is also known as “the Force.”" " 23. Writing and reading poetry are ways of researching inner space." " 24. One meaning of “lightsaber” is “to know the light.”" " 25. When willing, you find a teacher and when patient, you find a

student of your own." " 26. Being a wisdom hero opens your mind to a source of energy in

the galaxy." " 27. Wisdom heroes cannot eliminate “evil” in the world but can

prevent these forces from taking over." " 28. Wisdom heroes learn to control the minds of others and to levitate physical objects." " 29. You must take vows of poverty and chastity to be a wisdom hero." " 30. Being totally logical, one would not resist wisdom knighthood.

WISDOM LEVELNOVICE APPRENTICE DISCIPLE MASTER

(0-7) (8-14) (15-21) (22-30) # # # #

(number correct)

TTTTTHEHEHEHEHE CCCCCANONANONANONANONANON OOOOOFFFFF‘‘‘‘‘ SSSSSTTTTTARARARARAR WWWWWARARARARARSSSSS ’’’’’

TTTTThe “canon” of Star Wars is not a starship weapon. From biblical studies, “canon” refers to sources considered “orthodox” by experts.

A debate means there is no agreement about a single creator of the Star Warsuniverse. George Lucas is author and director of A New Hope, including thescreenplay, novel and film. Others were authorized to pen novels and screen-plays, and to direct sequels and prequels.

Lucas drafted both trilogies, the screenplay of Episode I, IV and coauthoredEpisode VI. Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan are cited as authors ofReturn of the Jedi. Lucas is also the executive producer of the prequel, thesequel and the Special Edition film series. But the canon is not fixed and anydefinition is arbitrary.

Canon in this book was considered to be the six film scripts (including earlydrafts) the six novels and the three revised films of the Special Edition. TheStar Wars Radio Drama falls into this category, but the twelve episodes werenot consulted (available on the Internet and on DVD). This definition of“the bible” excludes voluminous licensed, as well as unlicensed materials,the so called “expanded universe.”

Introduced by George Lucas, the three classic novels, are available in oneedition, The Star Wars Trilogy. The first novel was credited to Lucas, but report-edly ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster. The second and third novels, werewritten respectively by Donald F. Glut and by James Kahn. Terry Brooks pennedthe novel of Phantom Menace. R.A. Salvatore wrote Star Wars: Episode II: Attackof the Clones. Matthew Woodring Stover novelized Star Wars: Episode III: Re-venge of the Sith.

Several biographies appeared in 1999. The most detailed was John Baxter,Mythmaker: The Life and Work of George Lucas (New York: Avon Books, 1999).Sally Kline collected and edited, George Lucas: Interviews (Jackson, MS: Univer-sity of Mississippi Press, 1999). Two books discuss Star Wars using the theories

221

!

of Carl G. Jung: Steven A. Galipeau, Journey of Luke Skywalker: An Analysis ofModern Myth and Symbol (Chicago: Open Court Publishers, 2001) and SusanMackey-Kallis, The Hero and the Perennial Journey Home in American Film (Phila-delphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001). An untitled, philosophicalanalysis of Star Wars was written by Matthew C. Mohs (1994)(mds.mdh.se/~uks/starwars/article/paper.txt).

On the Internet there are 1,500 non-official Star Wars websites. Official sitesare devoted to the Special Edition and all the prequels (starwars.com). Aprivately maintained, now defunct, Frequently Asked Questions List (FAQ-L) dis-cussed Star Wars phenomena with an emphasis on technical issues. Also seePeter J. Weber, The Incredible Internet Guide to Star Wars (Tempe, AZ: Facts onDemand Press, 1999).

222

MMMMMISTERISTERISTERISTERISTER DDDDDARTHARTHARTHARTHARTH LLLLLUCASUCASUCASUCASUCAS

Dear Intellectual Property Rights Attorney:

I have written a book entitled, Peace Knights of the Soul: Wisdom in “Star Wars.”I have a professional agent to represent the work, Ron Laitsch. of AuthenticCreations, Atlanta, Georgia. We are looking for an intellectual property rightsattorney to evaluate potential liability for copyright infringement to be used inthe process of obtaining a publisher.

Because Lucasfilms is listed in the Literary Marketplace as a publisher, I havewritten twice to ask whether his organization is interested in publishing mybook. Both times I have received a reply from his film company telling me thatI do not have the right to write a book on this subject. I did not ask for per-mission to exercise my constitutional right to freedom of expression. I wroteto them as a prospective publisher.

My book is a work of scholarship and inspiration not endorsed or licensed byLucasfilms Ltd. in any way. Because there is some objective distance fromthe people who created Star Wars, my study is balanced by criticism andanalyses, on the one hand, with insight and appreciation for its creativity onthe other. My book is unlike any otherabout Star Wars on the market.

As you may know, George Lucas threatens to sue publishers of ideas about StarWars that are not endorsed by his organization. My agent reports that editorswill not consider Star Wars related material for fear of needing an army oflawyers to defend against a powerful, litigious organization. It is ironic that thesuccess of the film series has made its creator in the image its most malevolentcharacter, i.e., “Darth Vader.”

A suit against Little, Brown by Lucasfilms for infringement of copyright ispending in the publication of Ted Edwards, The Unauthorized Star Wars Com-pendium, 1999. With very little original information, analysis, or commentaryby the compiler, Lucas may win this case because, as the title suggests, it is acatalog of Lucasfilm products. The suit was reported in Publisher Weekly in

223

March, 1999 and may have been settled out of court by this time. The out-come is not public information.

Two other examples are, Jean Cavelos, The Science of Star Wars (New York: St.Martins Press, 1999 and Peter J. Weber, The Incredible Internet Guide to Star Wars(Tempe, AZ: Facts on Demand Press, 1999). The former NASA astrophysicistargues for the feasibility of Star Wars technology in the future. Cavelos told mein an email that St. Martin’s lawyers did have to contend with Lucas afterusing ‘Star Wars’ in the title of her book.

On the other hand, Frank Allnutt, who authored the first of many fundamen-talist Chirstian interpretations of Star Wars, declared on his promotionalInternet website to have sold over 200,000 copies of his book. He also used‘Star Wars’ in his title (1977) and said in an email sent to me, “I have personallyhad no problem” with Lucas. Allnutt reissued his book in 1999 to stay cur-rent with the sequels.

I believe my work is free of any type of infringement because it does not useany Lucasfilm character or story line in a work of fiction, reiterate plot syn-opses, quote liberally from the dialogue, nor imply that Star Wars creatorsendorse my project. I would like an evaluation, however, by an experiencedand trained lawyer in the field of intellectual property rights.

I am writing as a sociologist and psychoanalyst about Star Wars as a culturalphenomenon, which is my right as a citizen and scholar under the first amend-ment of the Constitution. Quotes from the screenplays are minimal and clearlywithin fair use guidelines. Critical studies of films and writings in popularculture are not required to have filmmakers’ permission to review or analyzetheir work.

Amidst a glut of authorized writings that focus mainly on the technology andspecial effects, my book is about the wisdom lessons implied in the Star Warstrilogy. I identify four principles in a process one undergoes in achieving intui-tive wisdom implicit as a subtext in the film series. In the tradition of schol-arly film study, my work constitutes an original and creative project in its ownright and reveals the philosophical foundation of the Star Wars saga.

224

For example, one chapter reviews the information from public statements tothe media by George Lucas, to the effect that his intention was to create a filmseries with a metaphysical message (Chapter 2). He is quoted in the main-stream press, in public appearances, claiming to forge a “modern mythology.”Substantive chapters concern the parallels between Star Wars, for example,and the Myth of King Arthur, the Myth of Holy Sophia and the early history ofChristianity (Chapter 12) as well as, a comparison with Star Trek (Chapter13).

In my research I discovered that an early religious community known as theEssenes, located at “Engedi,” in what is now Israel, may be one source for thename “Jedi.” This was the Jewish sect that left behind the manuscripts knownas the Dead Sea Scrolls. I cannot prove the word “Jedi” was taken from thisplace name, but it is easy to show, in a scholarly way, that Star Wars containsthemes, names, places, events and characters described in these ancient docu-ments, which are based on real historical events.

I know from my own experience that information about the content of theDead Sea Scrolls were publicized in American popular culture during the pe-riod when Lucas was a young man writing Star Wars—for he and I are the sameage. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the 1950’s, but only recently havebeen translated and released due to political controversies. However, the con-tent was widely reported at the time and is now a matter of record in encyclo-pedias.

The Essenes were a religious community that revolted against Roman occupa-tion in AD 64. They were annihilated in the same way the “Evil Empire”seeks to eradicate the reverent “Jedi Knights.” One implication is that JediKnights originally may have been “Juda Knights,” Jewish warriors who foughtfor religious freedom against the persecution of the Roman Empire.

Lucas has appropriated themes and events from mythology and history andasserts these are his personal property. If history and mythology were copy-righted, he could not have written Star Wars. He tries to prevent criticism ofhis artistic products, as any creative person might want to do in the market

225

place, but not on the grounds that others have no legal right to evaluate hiswork. Due to audience appreciation and fan support, his ideas have became acultural phenomenon and therefore open to scrutiny by critics, scholars andthe public.

Because of a free press, however, Lucas has not been able to stifle journalisticcriticism of controversial issues in the Star Wars motion pictures. PhantomMenace contained characters with Caribbean accents and stereotypic man-nerisms, for example, in the figure of “Jar Jar Binks.” “Midi-Chorians” con-tained in the bloodstream were presented as a physiological precondition forqualification for Jedi Knighthood, suggesting a genetic code of entitlementfor the status. The elitism of this view is discussed in the book.

Peace Knights of the Soul: Wisdom in ‘Star Wars’ was written in conjunction withteaching human development at California State University, Los Angeles. Inthe book, there are essays by five students who describe their experience inpersonal growth. Lucas began his education at Modesto Community College,Modesto, California. It is unfortunate that he is not aware of how his filmsillustrate principles of human development.

I am the author of three commercially published books, the latest being,Follow Your Career Star: Career Quest Based on Inner Values (New York: Ken-sington, 1996). I have also published articles, including a recent review ofthe academy award winning Roberto Benigni film, Life is Beautiful (“TheRiddle of Life: Comedy or Tragedy,” On Course Magazine, July-Aug 1999). Iam licensed in California as a psychoanalyst in private practice and a tenuredfull professor in a state university.

Please let me know if this project is of interest to you, what your evaluationmight include and an estimate of the cost of your services.

Sincerely,

Jon Snodgrass, Ph.D.South Pasadena, CA (2001)

. 226

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FFFFFILMOGRAPHYILMOGRAPHYILMOGRAPHYILMOGRAPHYILMOGRAPHY

A New Hope (Twentieth Century Fox 1977) 27-29, 43, 93, 109, 136-138, 148,112, 153, l75186, 221.

American Graffiti (Universal 1973) 34.Amores Perros (Altavista 2001) 21.Artificial Intelligence (Warner 2001) 78.Attack of the Clones (Twentieth Century Fox 2002) 27, 104 , 132-133, 141-143, 152-153, 157,

161, 165, 221.Contact (Warner 1997) 16.Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (Cosmos Studios 1980) 193.Empire Strikes Back The (Twentieth Century Fox 1980) 20, 27, 30, 40, 43, 56,104, 132, 134,

138, 184, 191.Final Frontier The (Paramount 1989) 194.Forrest Gump (Paramount Pictures 1994) 16, 34.Jason and the Argonauts (Columbia Pictures 1963) 172, 178.King Kong (RKO 1933) 58.K-PAX (Universal Studios 2001) 13, 16, 214.Lion King (Disney Studios 1994) 57.Matrix The (Warner 1999) 13, 16-19, 23, 42, 48, 57, 61, 69, 71, 161, 179-180, 191, 214.Matrix The Reloaded (Warner 2003) 17, 161.Matrix The Revolutions (Warner 2003) 18.Mulan (Disney 1998) 101.Nemesis (Paramount 2002) 195.Other Side of Midnight The (Twentieth Century Fox 1978) 29.Passion of the Christ The (Newmarket Film Group 2004) 182.Phantom Edit: Episode 1.01 (Anonymous) 41.Phantom Menace (Twentieth Century Fox 1999) 27, 29, 34, 38, 40-41, 104, 110, 131-133, 141,

143, 145-147, 150-151, 154-156, 160, 185, 201, 205, 221, 225.Powder (Hollywood Pictures 1995)16. Return of the Jedi (Twentieth Century Fox 1983) 27-30, 86, 91, 106, 109, 132, 134, 140, 150,

155, 188, 205, 221.Revenge of the Sith (Twentieth Century Fox 2005) 27, 41, 91, 95, 109, 132133, 142-143, 150,

154-155, 159, 161-165, 168, 186-187, 209, 221.Seven Samurai The (Sojiro Motoki 1954) 32/Signs (Buena Vista 2002) 16, 214Spider-Man (Columbia Pictures 2002) 162.Spider-Man 2 (Columbia Pictures 2004) 162Wizard of Oz (MGM 1933) 203Wrath of Khan (Paramount Pictures 1982) 91

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GGGGGLOSSARYLOSSARYLOSSARYLOSSARYLOSSARY

ACIM: A COURSE IN MIRACLESACRONYM: WORD FORMED FROM THE INITIAL LETTERS OF A NAME.ADEPT: EXPERTAMULET: TANGIBLE REMINDER OF FAITH USUALLY WORN AND OFTEN INSCRIBED.ANAGRAM: WORD PUZZLE REARRAGNING LETTERS TO FIND A HIDDEN MESSAGE.ANDERSON: ANDROS = “MAN” IN GREEK, HENCE, SON OF MAN.ANDROGYNY: BISEXUAL APPEARANCE & PERSONALITY NOT DIVIDED BY SEX ROLE SOCIALIZATION.ANDROID: COMPUTERIZED ROBOT DESIGNED IN HUMAN FORM.ARCHETYPE: BASIC MODEL, IDEAL TYPE, TEMPLATE.AVANT-GARDE: FUTURISTIC.AUTOMATONS: HUMANS WHO ACT LIKE MACHINES.CANON: WRITINGS CONSIDERED AUTHENTIC BY EXPERTS AND AUTHORITIES.CONSCIOUSNESS: AWARENESS OF COLLECTIVELY SHARED MENTAL STATE OF ONENESS WITH GOD.CODA: THE END OF A COMPOSITION.COUP D’ÉTAT: OVERTHROW OF THE STATE BY A SMALL GROUP.COUP DE GRACE: DEATH BLOW OF MERCY TO END SUFFERING.EPONYMOUS: THE PERSON FOR WHOM SOMETHING IS NAMED.ESOTERIC: KNOWN ONLY TO INSIDERS.GENOME: UNIT OF GENETIC INHERITANCE.GNOME: AGELESS ELF IN FOLKLORE.HERMES TRISMEGISTUS: (THREE TIMES GREAT) ANCIENT LEGENDARY TEACHER IN EGYPT SAID TO BE AN EARLIER INCARNATION OF JESUS.INTRAPSYCHIC: WITHIN THE MIND.MISCEGENATION: SEXUAL INTERCOURSE OR MARRIAGE BETWEEN RACES.METAPHOR: ABSTRACT IDEA PUT IN STORY FORM.METAPHYSICS: META = “ABOVE” PHYSICS OR STUDY OF ABSTRACT PRINCIPLES GOVERNING LIFE.NOVICE: BEGINNER.OXYMORON: CONCEPT WITH CONTRADICTORY TERMS.PADAWAN: APPRENTICE

PALIMPSEST: REUSED STONE TABLET.PRESCIENCE: FOREKNOWLEDGE

PROMETHEUS: A TITAN IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY WHO RULED THE EARTH UNTIL DEFEATED BY THE GODS OF OLYMPUS. HE STOLE FIRE AND THE ARTS FROM HEAVEN TO GIVE HUMANITY AND WAS PUNISHED BY ZEUS CHAINED TO A MOUNTAINSIDE WHERE HE WAS ATTACKED BY A VUL- TURE FOR ETERNITY.PSYCHOKINESIS: THE ABILITY TO MOVE PHYSICAL OBJECTS WITH THE MIND.REDEMPTIVE VIOLENCE: USING VIOLENCE AS A MEANS TO SALVATION.TORAH: SACRED SCRIPTURE OF JUDAISM AND FIRST FIVE BOOKS OF THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE.TROLL: FIGURE IN FOLKLORE: DWARF, ELF, GNOME, GENIE, HOBGOBLIN, IMP, OGRE, SPRITE.

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CCCCCONTRIBUTORSONTRIBUTORSONTRIBUTORSONTRIBUTORSONTRIBUTORSPAULO DIONISIO

I was born in the Philippines in 1979 and raised there as a child. I came tothe United States for a few years and returned to the Philippines when I wassixteen. After graduation from high school I returned again to the UnitedStates. I am finishing my degree at California State University, Los Angeles,in computer science though I still long to be a musician.

LUCHO CALVO-GUERRERO

I was born and raised in the City of Los Angeles twenty-four years ago. I grad-uated from California State University, Los Angeles with a major in politicalscience. I am working as a teacher’s assistant. I plan to teach high school gov-ernment and history. As a hobby, I like building and repairing computers. Iam trying to be at peace with everything behind me and starting fresh.

QIAO (JO) KANG

I am a nineteen-year old Chinese female born in Beijing. I moved to theUnited States in 1996 and obtained my high school diploma from ArcadiaHigh School. I am a student at California State University, Los Angeles. Myculture has an impact on me, but I have focused on learning English and mypassion is reading fiction. I like creative writing and I am expanding my fond-ness for this soul seeking activity.

MUI LAM

My family immigrated to the Unites States when I was five years old fromHong Kong where I was born in 1978. I grew up in metropolitan Los Angeles,and like the city, I find myself very busy. I am a graduate of California StateUniversity with a degree in computer information systems and accounting. Iwork as a legal secretary and live at home with my parents, three brothersand a sister.

MARIANO E. MELÉNDEZ

I currently live with my Pit Bull-Labrador in Silver Lake, California. I con-tinue my education at California State University, Los Angeles while work-ing at various nameless jobs. My free time is spent riding waves or enjoyingthe evening breezes on the trails of Elysian Park. I am also trying to pursue arelatively stress-free existence.

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JONATHAN YOUNG

I am a psychologist, storyteller and author. I was assistant to mythologist Jo-seph Campbell and Founding Curator (1990-1995) of the Joseph CampbellArchives and Library at the Pacifica Graduate Institute, Santa Barbara, CAand chaired the Mythological Studies Department. I am now Director of theCenter for Story and Symbol and teach mythic stories using depth psychology(folkstory.com). I edit SAGA: Best New Writings on Mythology (White CloudPress). I live with my cats in an old house in Santa Barbara, California.

JON SNODGRASS

I was educated in U.S. government schools in the former Panama Canal Zone.Born in Colón, Republic of Panamá, I have U. S. and Panamanian citizenship.I obtained B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Maryland and a Ph.D.from the University of Pennsylvania (1972). A professor of sociology at Califor-nia State University, Los Angeles for many years, I teach child and adult deve-lopment, and group dynamics.

I hold a second Ph.D. in child psychoanalytic psychotherapy from the Reiss-Davis Child Study Center in West Los Angeles (1985). Licensed as a psycho-therapist, I practice privately in South Pasadena, California. I am author of threebooks: Follow Your Career Star: Career Quest Based on Inner Values (Kensington,1996); The Jack-Roller at Seventy: A Follow-Up of ‘A Delinquent Boy’s Own Story’(Lexington, 1982); and For Men Against Sexism: A Book of Readings (TimesChange Press, 1977).

Jon Snodgrass, Ph.D.Department of SociologyCalifornia State UniversityLos Angeles, CA 90032(323) [email protected]

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