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| December 2005 |
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'The Dharma of Star Wars', by Matthew Bortolin
22nd December 2005 |
| I'm currently reading the Zen Buddhist interpretation of Star Wars, 'The Dharma of Star Wars', by Matthew Bortolin. Like many other such books that have been made available over recent years, ones that look at Jungism, Taoism, and myth, this one focuses on one's centred wellbeing in the universal interdependent community that is everyday life. |
I have just read one passage that I felt was quite thought-provoking, and I wanted to share it with you here :
"[For example] In Artoo is Wedge Antilles, who would not have been able to help destroy the second Death Star had Bothan spies not discovered its secret location ; those spies would not have been able to report their findings to the rebel alliance had the Alliance not escaped from the Empire's attack on Hoth, which could not have happened without See-Threepio identifying the signal sent by the probe droid to the Imperial fleet ; Threepio himself would not have been on Hoth had he been destroyed when the first Death Star was primed to annihilate the fourth moon of Yavin, which would have happened had two proton torpedoes not hit the space station's reactor system and set off a chain reaction ; that one-in-a-million-shot could not have been achieved by anyone save Luke Skywalker ; Luke would not have been in that X-Wing had stormtroopers not killed his aunt and uncle, and they would not have been killed had certain vital information not come, albeit unknowingly, into their possession ; that information would not have reached them had Princess Leia not been part of the scheme to deliver them to the rebels ; Leia herself would not have been born had her mother not met her father ; Padmé could not have met Anakin had she not fled to Tatooine ; she would never have reached that desolate world had her ship been destroyed by the Trade Federation blockade surrounding her planet ; and that most definately would have occurred had her ship's shield generator not been restored at the last second by a little astromech droid we know as Artoo-Detoo".
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| The book has moved on, and is now looking at the 'Dark Side' in relation to the suffering brought about by ignorance of mindfulness. It's well written and fairly accessible, and gives a pretty persuasive argument in adjusting one's own outlook. |
| Something else that plays in my mind each Christmas time now is the - respectful - comparison I make to the Christian Madonna and Saviour, with that of what has been revealed to us by George Lucas in the Star Wars Saga. |
| What I have been mulling over is how certain characters and events from the six episodes can correlate to the Bible. In fact, the 'stories' that comprise the Bible would be akin to the six celluloid 'stories' that we have now. |
| So, what if we had :
Yoda & Mace Windu as the Old Testament prophets, aware of the possibility of future portentous events, and, later, representative of the incumbent overlord, Herod.
Qui-Gon as the John the Baptist figure.
Shmi 'impregnated' by the Force, and miraculously conceiving Anakin, a common world-myth icon just as much as a christian one.
Obi-Wan as at times Joseph as well as the First Disciple figure, the droids and Jar Jar, even, perhaps representing the other enamoured disciple followers.
Padmé representing the Madonna, the temptress Mary Magdalene, and the loyal disciple.
Close friend Palpatine as Judas, the brother-disciple and betrayer, as well as Satan the seducer, and then as Pilate, the final 'owner' of the Chosen One.
The foster parents, the Lars and the Organas, in nurturing the only hope for redemption, would perhaps be akin to those who guarded the tomb.
The period of the resurrection would equate to the lives of Luke and Leia in promoting a New Hope.
And the Ascension would be visualised by those final scenes between Luke and his father as Anakin embraced the compassion of the Good Side, shrugged off the mortal coils of the Sidious serpent, was laid upon a farewell pyre, and the released spirit that ascended later re-appeared to those who were instrumental in the enlightenment !
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| Now, I'm no christian, so forgive my casual references ; but I find it fascinating to look upon two powerful stories and regard any comparisons that can be made. |
| Also, my earlier editorial looking at the Uses of the Force, below, sparked a few questions in its very own discussion thread here ! |
| And finally, I'd like to wish you a Good Christmas this year, and we'll see what 2006 brings us.... |
| Nathaniel Reed, 22nd December 2005 |
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"The Force is what gives the Jedi his power" - Obi-Wan to Luke.
13th December 2005 |
| I thought it might be interesting - and fun ! - to explore the various canonical uses of the Force, how it's been used and presented in the films. I hear many arguments regarding what's a Dark Side use and what may be Good, but these people seem to miss the point that all such 'tools' are available to a Force-wielder. It's how a Knight consistently applies the Force that will be telling. |
| If we have different types of 'affectation', then we could have self, other, mental, and physical, where the user affects himself or someone else, telepathically or telekinetically or physically. |
Mental
Meditation - calming one's thoughts - Yoda, Qui-Gon
Insight - gaining deeper understanding - Luke
Telepathy - communicating by thought alone - Yoda, Vader
Mind influence - persuading another to speak or act - Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Luke
Health diagnosis / boost - determining the immediate status of a patient - Sidious, Obi-Wan
Health dampening - calming or comatosis - Qui-Gon, Anakin
Visions - seeing the past, remote present, immediate future, or possible futures - Anakin, Yoda, Luke, Sidious
Force disturbance - being emotionally receptive to universal disturbances - Obi-Wan, Yoda, Sidious
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Physical
Push - telekinetic movement - Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Tyranus, Sidious
Pull - telekinetic movement - Vader, Obi-Wan, Luke
Manipulate - subtle and remote telekinetic movement - Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Vader, Luke, Sidious
Choke - choking another - Vader, Luke
Breath - holding one's breath - Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan
Run - increasing one's speed - Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan
Jump - improving agility - Obi-Wan, Anakin, Luke, Yoda, Sidious, Tyranus
Hide - masking one's presence in the Force - Luke
Deflect - defence against energy bolts - Sidious, Tyranus, Yoda, Vader
Lightning - casting withering bolts - Sidious, Tyranus
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| And the degree of exploitation and suffering would then determine if the Dark Side of the Force is being drawn upon, or the Good Side. One example would be the Choke, for this is used by both Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, whereas Luke 'hides' from his father on the second Death Star, and many Jedi have been seen to exert the "Mind trick" to exploit others ; presumably, these three 'devices' lean the Force-wielder towards the Dark Side ? |
In november, I came across the Wikipedia site, a voluntarily updated and freely accessible online encyclopaedia. It's pretty breathtaking !! :o)
Naturally there is a HUGE section devoted to Star Wars ... and in turn a dedicated 'wikicity', known as the Wookieepedia ! So impressed have I been, I've added a link to it on the left here of the main VE.net page.
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| The logic of the placement of Naboo on my Galaxy map has been nagging at me !! So I've moved this Republic world into the outer Mid Rim, but also within possible sublight reach of Tatooine ! |
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| Now I feel much better !! I've also added 'crosshairs' to the Navigation Map, and my intention is to slowly introduce mouse-over popups for all the planets on the main map to present a 'visual display' of what to expect on each world ! That'll keep me busy .....!! LOL |
| Looking ahead to 2006, and the VE.net's place in it, I have the last few pages of the spies' Virtual Edition of Episode III to complete ; continue the plot draft and subsequent illustration of the Virtual Edition Sequel Trilogy that I am authoring together with longtime forumer Indy500 ; and possibly trying to incorporate my erstwhile and fledgling SW Marvel Comic guide & review into the VE.net |
| Nathaniel Reed, 13th December 2005 |
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