STAR WARS: How Taoism Inspired The Force
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- Опубліковано 19 вер 2016
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The Psychology of STAR WARS || Epic Archetypes on POPBOOM
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Film Clips Used:
Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) dir. George Lucas
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) dir. Irvin Kershner
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983) dir. Richard Marquand
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999) dir. George Lucas
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2016) dir. J.J. Abrams
Wall Street (1987) dir. Oliver Stone
Video Sources used:
Qigong Grandmaster Yuanming Zhang - • Grandmaster Yuanming Z...
Stan Lee and Superhumans: Guy Bavli - • STAN LEE SUPERHUMANS -...
George Lucas Interview: Charlie Rose - • George Lucas on the Me...
Star Wars/Flash Gordon Visual Comparison - • Star Flash Gordon Wars
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Piano & Sax by Joakim Karud / joakimkarud
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Fireflies by Muciojad / muciojad
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Music provided by Music for Creators • Video
Tonez&Re-C - Kyoto by @TONEZPRO (OFFICIAL) / tonez-pro
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This is the best explanation of the force. Why? Because it uses the very concept that it was based on: the Dao!!
Its not though, its based on Carl Yung and Joeseph Cambell. According to them religion, myths, and fairtails all come from one place and are so similar because they resonate with how our brains actually work. God/Gods just being an understanding of a metaconsciousness (or collective knowledge/order beyond perception) and the ideas of good an evil really being the ideas of structure vs potential. Cambell took it a step beyond Yung and claimed literally every story ever is a hero's journey but thats more up to debate. The Dao is just fixated on that one concept, the idea of good vs evil, but either its a translation error (what I assume) or its just slightly off from what cambell/Yung claim in that its actually order v chaos. Its not that you can't have good without evil, its just that your means of affecting the world boils down to either creating order or creating chaos, but too much of either is bad. Chaos sounds more evil, as with too much of it and we go back to nature were people die at random from beasts and disease and because the rains didn't come. The natural assumption then would be introduce order, but too much order is bad as well. in a perfectly ordered society every second of your life is planned, you have no choice in what you do, say, eat, or even what you feel. That's not good either. The Prequels are about a society that fears chaos, and rightfully so. There is civil war, death of untold millions, people breed to die at war, and slavery and other evils are so prevalent that a republic with the might of a magic space monk order and the resources of an entire galaxy cant even fix. They come to fear Chaos so much that they destroy their own liberty, try to kill death, and become more machine than man, its order at its height, The OT is about how you have to fight tyranny and introduce chaos into the world in order for you to truly be happy. This isn't just an eastern religion kinda thing, this is something we all relate to for a reason, its based on the same things these myth's are based on, and its amazing because of that. This is why the stories told resonate with WW2, the Korean War, but also Rome, Athens, Sparta, Early America, The Magna Carta, The French Revolution and so much more. These stories will forever be timeless because of this foundation. Except for the sequels because they didn't get the memo.
Edit: This isn't just conjecture either, Lucas avidly studied under Joeseph Cambell and there are plenty of interviews of them talking.
@@BidnessGoose share some interviews with me
🙃
They killed it with medichlorines though. The Dao that can be explained is not the Dao.
The Jedi definitely took some inspiration from Taoism, wich is really good, as you said Star Wars is much closer to reallity then you might think. Great video!
I'm the most critical person in the world. I study philosophy myself and am a huge Star Wars fan. Even I, after this finished, said to myself out loud, 'great video.' You seem to understand the basic concepts of why star wars is the way it is better than most. The force is the single best thing about star wars and encourages people into philosophy. Fantastic work. Please do videos on the other philosophical inspiration such as Buddhism, zoroastrianism etc. Keep it up man.
Thank you very much, Mikey! I'm by no means an expert in philosophy other than my own reading/research (I'm actually a History major), but I'm fascinated by philosophy and how it is explored throughout various pieces of fiction. I'll definitely be working on a follow-up video sometime in the New Year, stay posted!
I appreciate the feedback, thank you for taking the time out of your day to explain that to me!
@Adam A. I agree with the first part, but I disagree that the "darkside" has a yin and yang. I think the "dark" part of the name is unfortunate because it implies a lightside, but it's really just the corruption of it. That's where I agree, that the darkside or the corrupted side is not Yin because the Force isn't balanced by equal amounts harmony and corruption, it's perfectly balanced by a complete lack of corruption.
I don't see how the corrupted side has a yin and yang of its own. It seems to be non-dualistic and outside of that. Unless the creative forces of darkside and lightside together create a yang of harmony as opposed to its yin which would be the corrupted side, but based on how the Force seems to work, I don't think that's the case.
@Adam A. that's why I think naming the corrupted side of the Force "darkside" is confusing, because corruption I think is an absolute. Darkside, like you say, is one half of the creative yin-yang, not the destructive corruption. The Sith are not "darkside" but corruptions of the Force, is more what I'm saying.
Edit: creative darkside would be more like natural processes that we might consider negative, like sickness and death, while corruption would be more like murder.
@Adam A. But this may be the fate of man etched through his DNA. Ancient species come and go but the customs of life still stand to consume with regeneration as an after thought or byproduct.
You have bacteria, and viruses, one living one not, but both have a purpose of bringing balance that will go unchanged forever. The bible said...we chose knowledge, not life.
So maybe we are inherently cancer for the earth and to have true harmony, you truly need no witnesses or life present, like the void in the universe.
In its chaos and its cataclysms- creation is the byproduct, A burning blaze makes a greener forest, to have life you must have death. The cycle of existence. ☯
I also noticed the connection between the force and eastern relegion. taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Zen.
I can see the Zen, as Zen's derived from a blend of daoism and buddhism, but I'm curious as to what Hindu influences there are that are part of the Force?
Bloody useless in Hinduism everything is one.
Okay. Makes sense, anything you can recommend reading about the concept?
in hindu if you become a hermit who has been free from the world, if you die then your body will disappear it is called moksa, just like the masters of jedi
+Theroux deluc Wow, I've not heard anything about moksa before. Thanks.
The force is like a pantheist ‘god’ it’s everything, and could be used on a physics breaking scale.
*This is a REALLY great explanation of the Tao.* Lucas has always said that he is a "Buddhist/Methodist". i became a Buddhist in '93, a 'card-carrying Buddhist' in '05, yet the Tao..Wow. i started reading the Tao te Ching in 2007, and like they say: *"You can read it in a day, yet study it for a lifetime."* It's amazing. i didn't see a lot of it in Luke's character in the last movie, lol. THANK YOU. ~namaste ✌🎋💗
The Tao is exactly what I saw in Luke's character. At the end of the film how does he win? Through inaction. How did he lose his way? Through unnecessary action.
Taosim. It right there. Stronger than ever before in star wars.
If you analyse the film you see Rian has a deep understanding.
@@pseudonymousbeing987 I agree, I totally saw the Tao in Luke's character at the end.
@@pseudonymousbeing987 it wasn't inaction, he put so much strain on himself that he died from it. He displayed inaction by hiding on that island but that was out of shame and cowardice, not wisdom. TLJ did not understand how any of this works.
Edit: inaction doesn't mean doing nothing, it means finding the path of least resistance so that the doing is so natural, it's almost like doing nothing. The task and the doer merge into one so that they are indistinguishable, like the dancer becoming the dance, the fuel becoming the flame. None of that was in TLJ.
@@krieghart5515
What Luke did is inaction in the context of star wars. The path Luke took was the least violent one there. There's only so far that you can portray true inaction in a compelling narrative, particularly a highly violent story, in the context that it's in Luke's action is in all important ways inaction. An act that was selfless, completely calm and peaceful, and held all its power in the letting go of things. All it does physically is act upon Luke.
What greater inaction is there than a phantom being that touches nothing physically but changes everything that is beyond that?
@@pseudonymousbeing987 inaction doesn't mean nonviolent either. It means the most natural path, untainted by the ego's fear and desire, untainted by social convention.
By contrast, Luke is acting from ego, first by hiding away on the island in shame and guilt, overwhelmed by his legacy, whatever that means. He abandoned his friends and students and all responsibility. This whole premise is stupid and not supported by Luke's character development. The writer was too lazy to actually write Luke into this position and just puts him there without earning it. The problem isn't necessarily with Luke's actions and whether it's in line with the Tao but how sloppy the writing is that we need to fill tha gaps with headcanon.
You *definetely* deserve more views, man!
My teacher showed me this video for school since we were learning about ancient china
No way haha, I'm stunned! Hope it helped out
Life is to short to waste your time on things that bring little to no peace and joy . This is very helpful .
Phenomenal breakdown and parralels between Tao and the Force of Star Wars. I came away with a deeper and better understanding of both and how to better live a pathway to heaven and peace within my own life. Thank you.
Great video. 40 years I’ve wondered about this. It also resembles the concepts found in Wallace D Waddles, old book (the science of getting rich). Which is the basis for “ the Secret”. Still it has more to do with nature and being at peace with nature. Some American Indian cultures come close. But you have pin pointed the source. Thank you. The “wanna be” Jedi of Star Wars fiction may be lost but they mean well. Peace.
The Yin-yang at 2:20 is not in complete balance, the black dot ⚫️ is complete black but the white dot ⚪️ has tones of grey. Leans to the dark side this symbol does.
I love how your accent sounds when you say the Force. They should use your voice in one of the series. Also excellent video.
Thank you so much haha!
The whole Yoda training thing was pulled straight from a story at the end of Suzuki's Zen and the Art of Archery. So, off, but not far off.
I've noticed the similarities before but never knew of any video talking about it. Really happy to have discovered yours. Thank you and congrats
My pleasure, I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed the video!
😻 I'm so enjoying your videos, Owen!
Excellent video!!! Explains so well why the force doesn't work in poles.
Great video! However, I would argue that while the Jedi may have been inspired by Taoism, they are in one way far from it. While the original Je'daii embraced both the dark and light side, the later Jedi abolish the dark side, even to the point where even a slight outburst of emotion is seen as a 'path to the dark side'. The 'current' Jedi lack balance.
You make a really good point, the Jedi's switch from embracing both the dark and light sides of the force to just the light does differ from Taoists, but I feel like my overall comparison was based around the Tao and the Force, more so than the actual Jedi Order; like Yin & Yang, the Force needs both Light and Dark to be whole. Thanks for watching!
Fair enough. Still, I thought it worth mentioning.
And no problem, your videos are always really insightful and well thought-through :)
There is no way of accepting the dark side. There is no grays in Tao, the force is not human nor it works in poles. Light is balance that flows, Darkness is disbalance in extremes.
Really what we see is that there was no "sides" in the original concept, before the rewritings. Just balance and disturbance in extremes.
The Last Jedi addresses the point that the Jedi order had become too dogmatic in this view, which I thought was a really great touch to the film. This concept is also addressed in the Ghosts of Mortis arc of the Clone Wars animation, that both dark and light exist together, and should not be favoured.
Interesting! Thanks for posting. I shared it on my FB.
Thank you very much, Stephen!
Amazing video, thank u!
Great video, thank you.
I want to hug owen.... GREAT VIDEO
Thanks a lot man.
True , .... your focus determines your reality.
Great video dude
Thank you!
Awesome video, Owen, always love the the content on the channel! Owen, have you ever considered having your own segment on NerdSync? I ask because, I recall you having a video on Superman on there... anyway, loved the video!
Thanks man, I appreciate that! I've currently got another show running on PopBoom called Development Hell, there's a playlist on the channel for all of the episodes so far. I'm sure you'll see Scott and I working together again at some point though.
OK, cool. I really hope this channel expands, Owen, you make awesome, knowledgeable content!
It's also interesting how while the Jedi embrace the force and harmonize with it, the Jedi do the opposite. They oppose harmony and rely on passion to give them straight and focus. They try and force outcomes that favor them by any means necessary, it's almost as if they are at odds with the Force, they are trying to break it to force out the best outcome.
And that's ultimately what the Dark Side is, is a misuse of power to try and force unnatural outcomes like immortality and ultimate power. The Dark Side is like a disease to the Force and it killed the natural harmony and order of the universe. That is what Star Wars means when it says the Force is out of balance, it's harmony has been thrown out of balance by the Dark Side.
Great video, thankyou
Great video. You are the Brian Cox of Star Wars.
This is a very good video, and I liked it.
Glad you liked it!
nice video!!!
Starwars and Taoism has a lot of similarities
“Do or do not there is no try” with this line and Taoism being about the art of not trying and let nature rule your course…
Luminous beings are we - Yoda Episode 2 - Its about consciousness and how souls are eternal - daoist stuff is just based on this Universal belief Lucas modeled this after Yogic/All Spiritual teachings
I hope the force can unbind me too, 3 enemas and I still can't pass this pork loin
do or do not, there is no try
HAHAHAHAHA
I am glad people do see mainly the relationship of the starwars philosophy and taoism...aldo budhism...chan budhism which is a blend of taoism and buddhism in places like the shaolin temple and migrating to others like japan and called zen buddhism..the real jedis are those like shaolin monks..samurais...spiritual warriors..martial monks..i think this idea dawned on me by reading a little passage on the tao of health sex and longevity by Reid...
05:42 as I sat to momentarily Meditate. : )
The non-dualist Advaita philosophy of ancient India might interest you.
You definitely deserve more views than that
I appreciate that, Victor. Thank you!
Yoda=Lao Tzu, Obi Wan=Zhuang Tzu, Qui-Gonn Jinn=Lu Dong Bin.
I love Daoism and I've been reading stuff about it for years. I believe I read somewhere that Billy Dee Williams had been doing Zen meditation for ten years before working with Lucas and that he persuaded Lucas to include things from Zen in his concept for Star Wars. Have you heard anything about this?
The Force is basically the Tao and the philosophy of Zen Buddhism, which is appropriate since the Jedi are samurai wizards on space.
Jedi are monks
I have been subscribed to this channel almost since its inception and the content has increasingly gotten better! I recommend to anyone interested to subscribe for great content, you won't be disappointed.
yoda is lao tzu the immortal
light and dark yin and yang balance great philosophy
Thank you, this was a lot of fun to research.
Owen Likes Comics anytime man :)
The ancients called it “life force”
Just Wow....
I wonder if chi is the same as the force
It is. The Force is spiritual. Everything is energy n has an opposite, happy/sad..masculine/feminine..light n dark! The concept of just 'being' in the moment n not resisting to what is. Clearing the mind n feeling, not giving in to temptation n there is a 'living' Earthly aspect n a more 'unifying', 'cosmic' n more spiritual aspect! N even though everything has it's opposite ultimately it n we r all one n come from the same source! I look at it as like 'chi' energy which comes from God n can be used for greater awareness or for selfish reasons such as to gain more power! It's also like the 'light' side is for spiritual advancement n the 'dark' side represent's the ego like power, fear n even attachment like when Anakin opposes the natural order of things n wants the power to keep Padme' alive when he fears her death! Unlike the old Jedi you have to accept both sides though like Luke does in 'Jedi' he accepts he has a 'dark' side n even uses it n his anger to beat Vader. He rejects the Emperor n resists the dark sides pull, he goes against Yoda's n Obi-Wan's wish to kill his father, he doesn't give in to his ego fear based self n by refusing to fight he transcends it! Even the Emperor knew you had to accept n go into all aspects of the Force but it's just that the dark side corrupts, it's like a drug n it get's to the point where you just want more n more of it until it takes over!
Greg Thackray There is no possibility of accepting two sides in that original concept of Star Wars. The force is not human nor something that works in poles.
DavGP1208
The Unifying Force
Balance in Star Wars is elimination of the dark side
Please distinguish the "spiritual" and the "supernatural". I'm just a bit confused by your meaning.
BurnestThe4th i guess it’s just a matter of perspective. Theres not that many differences really, people just use them differently with context. Spirituality is usually seen as ultra-consciousness, a deeper connection to the universe, while supernatural is seen as unexplainable phenomena and powers. Supernatural is seen as more of magic, while spirituality is perception and connection. You find spirituality within but the supernatural from outside yourself. Basically 1st person point of view versus 3rd person
Do nothing.. sounds like Bumi's philisophy :)
Bumi and indeed Iroh are evidently advocates of the dao. Some of my favourite depictions in western fiction. Alongside Master Oogway from Kung Fu Panda, that is.
I bet Bruce Lee would’ve liked Star Wars
It still sounds weird to me when people call "Star Wars" - 'A New Hope'
As I don't think it was until much later in the home Video era that anyone payed any notice to the addition of the subtitle at all. I don't think people referred to them as Iv,V & VI much either until Phantom Menace was released - so I'm wondering if the combination of Home Video releases at a more manageable price in the 1990's & Episode one in 1999 is what is what slowly started to see some notice taken on the New Hope subtitle and numbering - as for most of it's early days - EVERYONE just called it Star Wars and people knew you were talking about the '1st movie' *(now known at the 4th).
I guess that was because it continued to be Marketed as plain Star Wars for a long time.
I think the Internet age also helped the slow adoption of the 'A New Hope' tag.
I'd never call it that though - just seems wrong to me.
Great point. I have to agree with you here, the only reason I referred to it on the video as 'A New Hope' was just to avoid any confusion by using the singular term 'Star Wars'. Thanks for watching!
12-22-21 I play &listen to super subliminal s starwars have the force subliminal.
The Jedi and the Big Lebowski...both influenced by Taoism.
"a long time ago in a galaxy far far away" never states the name of the Galaxy, or how long ago. Only that it is relatively very far from the current space occupied by the milky way, entertain the idea, galaxy's as we know are constantly moving through space at literally astronomical speed, the preamble to the title sequence does not rule out the milky way Galaxy as the location of star wars.
Chi
....tanx ....
So the true question is- why do Jedi fight? Is there code separate from the force or in sync with it? I believe this is why they failed. It was once said you cannot serve 2 masters. The Greybeards of the throat of the world were a much better handler of this "power of understanding" in my opinion.
Still they let death and civil war ravage the land. Was it because the scrolls deemed it so? Im Foggy on the quest, but in the end, circumstances had them bring the 2 warring sides together for compromise although a temporary one.
Like bob marley and the 2 politicians, understanding sees both sides of the coin passed the image and inscription and see they are equal, though they never acknowledge each other.
Understanding is the key to the universe, not penetration and force.
But society today forces us away from the natural struggles of life, and gives us monotonous stresses to take us away from true knowledge and understanding.
You must unlearn what you have learned, for most of us are children who were lead astray.The true force is within YOU, if you believe in something greater than crude matter
But you still understand it 😉.
Learn about the conflict between plato and aristotle.
The Force are The Aether......and the evil mathematic theorist Darth Sidious are Einstein.
Yoda: You must unlearn what you have learned. The Force are all around us. Life greets it makes it grow, Its energy sorround us, binds us. Its between you and me, the trees, the rock. Yes and even between the land and the ship.
Tesla:“Long ago he (mankind) recognized that all perceptible matter comes from a primary substance, of a tenuity beyond conception, filling all space, the Ākāśa or luminiferous ether, which is acted upon by the life-giving Prana or creative force, calling into existence, in never ending cycles, all things and phenomena. The primary substance, thrown into infinitesimal whirls of prodigious velocity, becomes gross matter; the force subsiding, the motion ceases and matter disappears, reverting to the primary substance.” We will now investigate as to what exactly this was supposed to mean.
i actually believe in the force
Why don't you talk about Carl Yung or Joeseph Cambell? the view that its just Taoism is actually kinda narrow and ignores the larger point, its just that Taoism is the closest religion that still exists that represents the idea of the monomyth's main struggle.
True
You forgot to mention male and female. When referring to yin and yang
And African spirituality
Daoism, Celtic Druidry, Islamic Mysticism (Sufism, Christian) or Jewish Mysticism (Gnosticism, Kabbalah) or Buddhistic Mysticism (Zen) are all one, because we are all one. There are no separate entities called Good or Evil. If we do believe that, we are fighting against ourselves.
Sufisim absolutely believes in an objective good and evil.
The force= the holy spirit
Not really. On a superficial level? Yes. Essentially it is just Sci-Fi Christianity.
Nope.