Star Wars Insider – July 2019

STAR WARS INSIDER / 43

CAN YOU FEEL THE FORCE?

henJediyounglingsoftheOld

Republicneededlightsaber

training,theymightbetreated

toa lessonfromMasterYoda

himself.Hewasguiding

studentsastheydeflected

energyboltsfrompracticeremotesonthe

fatefuldaywhenObi-WanKenobicameto

seehim,trackingJangoFett.Yodaquickly

lightenedthemoodoftheclasswithsomewry

humor:“Losta planet,MasterObi-Wanhas.

Howembarrassing.”Cueyouthfulchuckles.

InthisandotherglimpsesofYoda’steachings

throughoutthesaga,thediminutivesageshows

thecoreoftheJediphilosophywithwitandcare.

Whatis theForce?Audiencesarefirst

introducedtoit byoldBenKenobiinStarWars:

A NewHope(1977),whousesit toinfluencethe

minds of others. Later, he teaches the young Luke

Skywalker to use it to augment physical fi ghting

abilities—such as sensing incoming blaster bolts

fast enough to prevent them from striking. Yoda

takes the concept of the Force as an ability and

adds the idea of the Force as an energy. The Force

lets Luke not only affect his surroundings in

magical ways, but to feel a deep connection to

other life. (And also lift objects both light and

heavy—after all, size matters not!)

The Flow Of The Force

The Force exists wherever life does. It can

infl uence the lives of all people, whether they

aresensitive to its messages and can use it

themselves or not. Force-users need to be

trained before they can access and control

all of their abilities—and that’s exactly

where Jedi teachers such as Yoda come in.

First, let’s look at some of the lessons

Yoda taught Luke in the original trilogy,

which became key elements of all Jedi lore that

followed. One of the fi rst lessons Yoda teaches

Luke is that, “Wars not make one great.” Luke

initially confuses martial prowess for heroism.

Yoda shows him the two may overlap but are not

always the same. In peace time, the Jedi of the

Old Republic did not serve as warriors at all. It

was only the gradual corruption of the Republic

that turned them into soldiers. Yoda is careful to

place a cap on Luke’s expectations: Dagobah isn’t

a boot camp.

Indeed, when they fi rst meet in Star Wars:

The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Yoda crawls into

Luke’s luggage to steal his food, then plays tug-

of-war with R2-D2 for it. Not exactly the actions

of a dignifi ed Jedi or warrior. But how about an

eccentric monk trying to hide his identity from

the galaxy? Perfect.

Yoda at fi rst hesitates to train Luke, explaining

to him the more serious side of Jedi philosophy.

“A Jedi must have the deepest commitment,

the most serious mind.” Luke, Yoda says, is too

much of a dreamer to make a good Jedi. He has

his head in the clouds. He needs to concentrate—

which requires disciplined focus, even breathing,

and setting aside questions about the past and

future. When Obi-Wan convinces Yoda to train

Luke, more lessons build on this, including the

famous line, “Do or do not. There is no try.”

When he tries to raise his X-wing out of the

swamp, Luke is pessimistic, doubting himself

W

“Do or do not”

is a reminder not

to think about

how we might

fail—or even what

might happen if

we succeed—but

to do, to live in

the moment.

02

01 Master Yoda
disguises his
true identity
when Luke
Skywalker
arrives on
Dagobah.