The Defining Moment About The Force

To my mind - the defining moment within the Saga where we can truly understand the nature of the Force is in the brilliant Empire Strikes Back. Luke learns about the ways of the Force from Yoda. I refer to the scene where Yoda requests that Luke go down into the cave.

We all know that the Force consists of the light and dark side. In Taoist philosophy - the balance of the way of life (Tao) is centered within the equilibrium between opposites. To my belief - Tao is akin to the Force if not the very same thing. What is so powerful about this scene is how we come to understand what the light and dark side are and how they relate.

When Luke asks, "What is down there?"
Yoda answers, "Only what you take with you."

What Luke feels is clear enough - fear and confusion -the very facets that Yoda describes as the ways of the dark side. And in his confrontation with the imagined Vader - Luke acts out aggressively and ends up beheading Vader only to see his own face in the cracked helmet.

The point is twofold. Yes - we understand that Vader is Luke's father and Luke is heading towards the same dark destiny yet Luke doesn't understand that at this point in the movie. But looking more closely, the second point is this. Fear, confusion and aggression are not an evil presence out in the world. It exists only within the person. Luke only takes into the cave what he brought with him.

To put it another way - the dark side is in everybody in equal proportions. It is a presence residing within that can be acted upon if a person fears and is confused. What Luke faces in the cave is his own fear and only that. Fear is based on the preoccupation of ego and self. When Luke concentrated on his self and own life too much and not on the present moment, he moves towards fear and attachment to outcomes in the life he was leading. The dark side is purely about self.

Just look at the Sith and the kind of psychotic, self centred, emotional and aggressive relationships that take place between Master and learner. See how all the main Sith characters and even clonetroopers/ storm troopers are locked within their armor - a metaphor for tormented selves locked within their own fear and aggression. Trapped within, they live sick lives twisted by their self preoccupation.

In contrast, the light side is concerned not with self but with selflessness. Yoda trains Luke to become one with his environment and to feel the Force. Only by following what Taoist's refer to as inaction - to act naturally with accordance with one's environment and to feel the connectedness of all things - can Luke develop his skills to move rocks and remove his X Wing from the swamp.

The light side - is concerned with the living presence of all things in a connected whole. What Obi Wan refers to as the "symbiotic circle." In reducing his self to a zero and focusing on the presence of the Force around him in the trees, air and rocks, can Luke overcome his own fear - his own dark side. Learning to let go of his self and to follow the Force externally around him he becomes one with his surroundings and learns to be a part of his environment.

This part of the movie is a masterpiece. We learn the nature of both the dark side and light side. In Tao thought - both are necessary for the middle ground is the way of the enlightened. This explains why Anakin, who is both an exponent of first the light side and later the dark side, is the chosen one. He is the one to bring the balance....

Jedi Hervie