Books Find Spiritual Side of Star Wars

Posted on May 18, 2005

A USA Today article discusses several books that discuss the spiritual side of the blockbuster Star Wars saga. Matthew Bortolin, a practicing Buddhist and author of The Dharma of Star Wars, told USA Today that a lot of the Jedi dialogue is Buddhist jargon.

"A lot of the dialogue of the Jedi, about mindfulness and letting go, is all Buddhist jargon," he says.
In the first Star Wars trilogy, Bortolin says, the story line in which Yoda, the Jedi master, sends young Luke Skywalker into a cave to contemplate his untapped Jedi powers is also very Buddhist in nature -- "the meditation and taking time to confront oneself."

Other authors like Dick Staub, 57, author of Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters, see a Christian message in Star Wars. The article mentions two other books: Star Wars and Philosophy: More Powerful Than You Can Possibly Imagine, edited by Kevin Decker, Jason Eberl and William Irwin and The Tao of Star Wars by John M. Porter.