"Found someone you have, hmm....Heh heh heh!"

One of my favorite scenes watching Empire as a kid. It is to me probably one of the most "real" interactions in our beloved saga. Who couldn't love the mischievous Yoda. Long isolated on his swamp covered planet acting like a crazy old coot towards the young impetuous Luke. We can long speculate whether or not he was in full control of his faculties. It is sure that he was testing Luke, but can we truly say that it was ALL an act. He is an enigmatic character even with the background of the events in the PT.

The quote above was a response to Luke telling Yoda he was looking for someone. Luke was trying to brush off this creature he thought of as an annoying pest. It is the same kind of curt answer I find myself giving to my daughter at times I am busy and don't feel like answering the never ending question loop she is prone to. Luke did not know who he was but he couldn't be a jedi "master" and being stuck with very little hope he wanted to find this person and get it all over with. It wasn't "his day" up till then.

Luke should have listened to the message in the strange little green creatures words. Yoda, like many of the eastern philosophers & masters of our corner of the universe, knew how to give gems of wisdom without saying it outright. The student needs to learn on their own. The teacher only guides them enough that they may find the truths when they find them. I think many here on the blogs would contend that this practice had a big part in the fall of Anakin and the Jedi.

Now lets get back to the quote presented. The meaning behind it can be broken down into multiples as would be the case with most wisdom sayings.
1)Yoda knew precisely who Luke was and who this "someone" was he was looking for. He basically turned Luke's own vernacular around on him telling him that the person he is looking for (himself) is standing right in front of him. Luke of course couldn't see past his own indignation of the situation he found himself in. Also his preconceived notions about what a master would look like was the nail in the coffin to Luke's first test in Jedi training. Who among us can say that they would have fared better in his stead. I catch myself on a regular basis having the same moments of impatience and prejudices.
2) Another possible way to look at the Yoda's statement is that we should learn to phrase our words better. Miscommunication is inevitable and others can use that as an opening against us. Though this is not absolutely implied (since Yoda is not the best in proper speech himself), it is something I get out of it.
3) Lastly it goes back to the teaching Yoda kept trying to smack into the Skywalker's collective heads. "Look to the moment" see what opportunities are presented right then and there. The person or event with you presently may be exactly what you are looking for even if it is "not" who or what you were looking for. Embrace the now and see where it takes you. Otherwise you are a slave to the past and the future. A person can become too attached to the past or the future and miss the opportunities presented in the here and now.

On an aside, I even have a theory that he (Yoda) was responsible for the X-wing losing navigation and crashing right where he could run across the last of Jedi Masters. Luke just happens to lose navigation and emergency lands within walking distance of Yoda's home. Out of anywhere he could have landed on Dagobah, since he didn't know where on the whole planet Yoda was, the likelihood that he and Yoda would cross paths was a long shot. The Force may have caused it all, but I personally think Yoda's prints were all over that one.

Just as all Yoda said had teachings within them. All of the events on that first meeting were orchestrated by our little green friend to test and to teach Luke to overcome the Skywalker tendency towards shortsightedness. Luke's crash course (pardon the pun) into Jedi teachings began the moment he entered the atmosphere of the bog planet. Luckily for the GFFA it all sank in (albeit the hard way) into his head and Luke overcame the sins of the father and took his place in the hall of masters.

I invite you to take a relook at this scene and see how every line Yoda utters is telling Luke a truth about who he (Yoda) was and about Luke's situation. I would say from a point of view he was being nothing but upfront to someone not ready to hear.