Newsletter... 5-25-02


Sun, May 26, 2002

MONKS SEEING DOUBLE: Echoes of dharma in 'Star Wars'

 
Director George Lucas is lucky Lord Buddha didn't copyright his teachings
 "In whom there is neither fraud nor conceit. Who is without greed.
 Unselfish. Desireless. With anger quelled, his mind quenched. He is a -
 Jedi?"
 
Buzzzz! Wrong answer. Thank you for participating in "The Weakest Link". You
 may step down.
 
Although we have learned that the Jedi code says: "A Jedi shall not know
 anger. Nor hatred. Nor love", the correct answer to this question is a
 "bhikkhu" or monk, according to the Udana section of the Buddhist cannon.
 The verse is said to have been uttered by none other than the Lord Buddha
 himself.
 
Now try again. Who said, "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate
 leads to suffering." If you think the answer is "Buddha", then you're wrong
 again. It's actually the top Jedi master Yoda. (Notice how similar the names
 sound).

Anyone familiar with Buddhism can spot its parallels with the Star Wars'
 Jedi order, particularly in George Lucas' latest instalment. This clone-like
 copying gives a new and quite literal meaning to the film title "Attack of
 the Clones." Incidentally this is also Episode II. Anyone seeing double?
 Lucky Lucas can get away with it without paying royalty fees, because the
 Buddha didn't copyright his teachings or Dharma, describing them as the
 universal truth which he had only discovered, not created. And if that
 sounds familiar, perhaps you're thinking of The Force, described by Yoda in
 these words: "Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Feel the force around
 you . . . Here, between you and me, the tree, the rock."

This sci-fi franchise is long known for its religious overtones, which
 differentiate it from the next-in-line Star Trek with its secular
 techno-babble. Lucas himself admitted in a Time magazine interview before
 Episode I: "I see 'Star Wars' as taking all the issues that religion
 represents and trying to distil them down into a more modern and easily
 accessible construct, that there is a greater mystery out there." Nodding
 'Star Wars' fans say this mystical side taken to mythical proportion gives
 the films their "soul".
 
Although Lucas borrowed freely from many myths and several religions -
 Anakin's virgin birth and the larger theme of the fall, wandering, return
 and redemption are unmistakably Biblical - there is a strong Buddhist
 flavour to it that has been called by one critic "the second coming of the
 Beatles and their Maharishi Yogi, a conspiracy to lead our youngsters away
 from Christianity into Zen Buddhism . . . or worse." Talk about paranoia!
 
Like any good myth, "Star Wars" can be interpreted in many ways and on more
 than one level. The theme of the battle between the forces of good and evil
 is as old as civilisation itself. It can be traced back 2,500 years ago to
 Iran, where the Zoroastrians believed that Earth was the field where the war
 between good and evil was played out. On this level, the movie "borrows"
 much from Japan. Lucas' Jedi are obviously modelled on samurai - watch how
 they hold their light sabres - whose Bushido philosophy combines Zen
 Buddhism and Taoism. Another give-away are many of Amidala's outfits and
 hair-dos, which are obviously Japanese rip-offs.
 
The movie also gives a veiled "Free Tibet" message. It suggests the planet
 Naboo as Tibet, threatened by the vaguely Chinese-looking Trade Federation
 bad guys to the point that its leader (read Dalai lama) had to flee.
 "Amidala" is a resemblance of Amitabha, a future Buddha, just like the Dalai
 Lama. And her other name "Padme", meaning lotus, is taken from the Tibetan
 chant, "Om mani padme hum" ("The jewel is in the lotus").

However, like the Indian epics "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana", "Star Wars" can
 also be read on another level. The common thread among these sagas is the
 notion, more in line with Theravada Buddhism as practised in Thailand, that
 the real battle is an internal one. The spiritual journey is often described
 in Buddhism as a war against Mara and his army, the personification of all
 defilement. (One of the Buddha's epithets says "one who has won the most
 difficult of wars".)
 
In Episode II, Anakin, now 19 years old, is shown to be gradually swerving
 away from the Jedi order and veering to the "dark side." In one scene he is
 told to practise compassion and turn away from attachments and possessions,
 for they lead to the fear of loss. But the request is to no avail. Anakin
 will fall in love with Amidala and slaughter those who killed his mother.
 Besides, he's seen to become arrogant with his abilities, swearing at his
 teacher Obi-wan. These are easily identifiable as the Buddhist concept of
 the three roots of evil: desire, anger and ego.
 
In Yothajivasutta, in the Buddhist cannon, Buddha compares a monk to a
 warrior. He says there are those warriors who give up a battle for three
 reasons: seeing the dust from the enemy camp, seeing the enemy flag, and
 hearing the thundering sound of the enemy army, while others engage with the
 enemy and fight all the way to victory.
 
Likewise, a monk's battle is against the temptation of sex. He says there
 are monks who give up celibacy at 1) hearing about a woman, 2) seeing a
 woman, 3) being talked to by a woman and 4) being touched by a woman. Then
 there are those monks who do not yield to such temptations. By this
 standard, it is obvious that Anakin's resistance fails at the very first
 round. (He was already a goner when he learned that he would see Amidala
 again).

Seen in that sense, the real "Star Wars" are the ones in our minds, and each
 of us is, like Anakin, an apprentice Jedi who struggles against the
 temptations of the "dark side", not necessarily to the same end. Perhaps on
 the occasion of Visakha Bucha (Buddha's Birthday) this year it may be
 appropriate to say to each other: "May the Force be with you."
 
Paisarn Likhitpreechakul

 
THE NATION
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