The Tao of the Jedi - Lao Tze, Joseph Campbell and George Lucas:
“For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes.”
— Tao Master Yoda
Tao Master Yoda? Wait a minute! Yoda is a Jedi Master! Well, yes and no. George Lucas was a great student of the Mythologist Joseph Campbell and Dr. Campbell was a great student of Buddhism and Taoism. Lucas a consulted with Campbell as he wrote the original screen play for what became “Star Wars”. He modeled Luke’s progress on the “Heroes Journey” by Campbell and “Jedi” philosophy on a mix of Taoism, Buddhism and the writings of Carlos Castaneda which were in vogue during the mid 1970s.
He modeled the Jedi on the Shaolin warrior monks of China and the Samurai of Japan. Buddhists but deadly warriors without fear. It never ceases to amuse me when I will talk to a young person about the Tao Te Ching and they will say “so, you’re talking about the force”. In an odd round about way Lucas’s perhaps most long lasting and positive influence may be exposing two generations of young people to the wisdom of the Tao.
