I always get goosebumps when “spirituality” intentionally goes mainstream. These days full-featured, high-budget movies with “big” actors and the full Hollywood movie experience with an intentional spiritual message have become commonplace. This morning the Star Wars movies and how it speaks of "the Force,"  came to mind with great propensity. I have not seen one in years as I believed myself to not be a “Star Wars fan.” I asked myself “Why was it coming to mind?”.  It started with one quote. Then a series of quotes jumped out at me. Then in Google, searching the quotes, and came across a Youtube video (link below) that really moved me and helped explain Star Wars and the Force.

Star Wars The Force Explained

These movies offer a clear demonstration of listening to the call, accepting the call, and following guidance instead of fear as outlined in A Course in Miracles. (Preface of ACIM.)

Within the movies, there are distractions of planets exploding, endless universes of languages, and alien beings. This is similar to how the ego will always try to distract us with explosions and activity. But if we stay with the still quiet presence the spirituality will be revealed. 

The creator of Star Wars, George Lucas, had a specific intention regarding spirituality within his films. The Force is an easy and obvious metaphor for God or a higher power. It may be a lot to watch NINE WHOLE movies for this message. But, I feel to highlight the bits that are generally considered to be Buddhist or Taoist and take a look at it with A Course in Miracles Perspective. 

There are indeed many discussions about the spiritual messages behind the Star Wars films and there were even several interviews with George Lucas where he states his spiritual intentions:

"Remember nothing that you taught yourself, for you were badly taught." (ACIM T-28)

When we incorporate A Course in Miracles to help us in perceiving this movie we can find great insights. A Course in Miracles does not aim to teach us anything new. We seek rather to unwind the mind from all the learning and convincing from the ego. By unlearning we have made a choice. A choice for a new teacher and allowed this new teacher or new perception to be clearly heard and learned. The Course is not the lesson itself, it brings us to a place and experience where we are able to start truly learning by bringing us to accept to hear guidance from Truth. 

There is no difference between anything in form. Nothing I see has any meaning except the one I have given it. I need to unlearn the meaning I have given it. 

Right away in the preface of A Course in Miracles we are told;

“It is the Holy Spirit's goal to help us escape from the dream world by teaching us how to reverse our thinking and unlearn our mistakes. Forgiveness is the Holy Spirit's great learning aid in bringing this thought reversal about. “

Later in the text of ACIM, T-28.I.7. Remember nothing that you taught yourself, for you were badly taught. 2 And who would keep a senseless lesson in his mind, when he can learn and can preserve a better one?

Chapter 14 – II. The Happy Learner
T-14.II.6. If you would be a happy learner, you must give everything you have learned to the Holy Spirit, to be unlearned for you. 2 And then begin to learn the joyous lessons that come quickly on the firm foundation that truth is true. 3 For what is builded there is true, and built on truth. 4 The universe of learning will open up before you in all its gracious simplicity. 5 With truth before you, you will not look back.

That "something" is the Holy Spirit, The Christ Mind, the part of the mind that has not forgotten the truth and does not believe the dream.

ACIM T-11.VI.9. You will awaken to your own call, for the Call to awake is within you. 2 If I live in you, you are awake. 3 Yet you must see the works I do through you, or you will not perceive that I have done them unto you. 4 Do not set limits on what you believe I can do through you, or you will not accept what I can do for you. 5 Yet it is done already, and unless you give all that you have received you will not know that your redeemer liveth, and that you have awakened with him. 6 Redemption is recognized only by sharing it.

What is the Force in Star Wars? —The Star Wars movies play out the call to awaken first with Anakin Skywalker who tries to use the force for his own worldly means; for revenge to try to hide his hurt and anger. He becomes a slave to the ego. He becomes Darth Vador. But ultimately his son’s love and forgiveness show him he too can return to the light. 

The call comes to Luke Skywalker who chooses the “light side of the force” but we find years later he himself loses hope and tries to hide away. The universe now calls him a hero to  “save the universe.”  It was in letting the Force work through him that saved the galaxy a long long time ago. Believing in the hero has the side effect of personal individual responsibility. A private little man with limits in time and space.

He says, ‘I can’t walk out with a laser sword and face the whole first order.” He needs to drop his personal responsibility as the hero and rejoin his mighty companions. He needs his mighty companion Rey to appear and remind him there are no limits. Rey reflects the clear mind and never takes responsibility for her achievements as she is always as surprised as everyone else. We now watch Rey answer the call and step into her magnitude as the untrained, unskilled but strongly in touch with the Force, “the one”

Let go of the control and put your Mind into auto-pilot with Spirit. Or as the song says, “ Let Jesus take the wheel.” In this video, David Hoffmeister tells us we can relax because Jesus is in charge. When we tune in to our inner awareness we can experience Christ Consciousness.  

Under Christ Control

"You place pathetic faith in what your eyes and ears report."

We have been trained from day one on earth that our five senses are our reality. We receive input from them and analyse and make conclusions from them. Hot, cold, good, bad. We base our lives on this input with constant reaction to it. "I feel cold, therefore I must have a jacket or I will not be happy. I don’t like the way you looked at me. I can’t be happy if you disapprove of me. That smells good. I want that. I can’t be happy unless I have that…" We are even told, “What you see is what you get” or “I will believe it when I can see it.”   

ACIM W-pI.151.3. How can you judge? 2 Your judgment rests upon the witness that your senses offer you. 3 Yet witness never falser was than this. 4 But how else do you judge the world you see? 5 You place pathetic faith in what your eyes and ears report. 6 You think your fingers touch reality, and close upon the truth. 7 This is awareness that you understand, and think more real than what is witnessed to by the eternal Voice for God Himself.

What we fear is God.

All anger, suffering, and hate come from this fear. We have dreamed up the whole world to hide from God. We create the gap between ourselves and everyone else to make us seem a separate being so we can hate and be angry at ‘someone else’  here-in lies the suffering. Luckily, we can choose Love instead. We can choose the “light side of the Force.” When we choose to nurture and follow our hurt and anger instead we end up in Darth Vader's predicament of suffering and attacking.  

ACIM T-29.I.2. Here is the fear of God most plainly seen. 2 For love is treacherous to those who fear, since fear and hate can never be apart. 3 No one who hates but is afraid of love, and therefore must he be afraid of God. 4 Certain it is he knows not what love means. 5 He fears to love and loves to hate, and so he thinks that love is fearful; hate is love. 6 This is the consequence the little gap must bring to those who cherish it, and think that it is their salvation and their hope.

"The correction of fear is your responsibility." (ACIM T-2.VI.4.)

We must allow the darkness to rise so that we may choose again. We have created the fear with our powerful mind and can shine it away in an instant with that same mind. The Empire, the Emperor, the clones, Darth Vader, The Order, the stormtroopers…. They will continue to rise up in our dream until we realize Darth Vader is in our own mind and must be forgiven there. Our belief in them makes them real to us.

Luke was able to see Darth Vader differently and forgive the monster he had been seeing instead of love. Removing the shiny black mask from his father’s head was removing the veil of darkness to see the truth. We can see only love even in the darkest reflections. But we need correction. We need the vision of the One who now sees clearly. We can’t do it on our own! 

“My ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us, binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force flow around you. Here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, yes, even between the land and the ship.” ~ Yoda, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Herein lies the recognition we are not the body or the activity and form appearing within an empty space. We are the space the form and activity play in. We are both the movie projector and the screen. There is no separation between anything. All is one. In stillness, we can feel this. To experience this is to know thyself. 

"The Holy Spirit is the radiance that you must let banish the idea of darkness"

ACIM T-5.II.4. You are the Kingdom of Heaven, but you have let the belief in darkness enter your mind and so you need a new light. 2 The Holy Spirit is the radiance that you must let banish the idea of darkness. 3 His is the glory before which dissociation falls away, and the Kingdom of Heaven breaks through into its own. 4 Before the separation you did not need guidance. 5 You knew as you will know again, but as you do not know now.

Watch this clip like a mini-movie compilation of the spiritual quotes and the meaning of the Force in Star Wars throughout the 9 films:

 

Visit our Movie Watcher's Guide to Enlightenment at MWGE.org, and discover many more mind-blowing movie-write-ups!

I also found this beautiful article on the message of the Force in Star Wars by Dylan Love on his website https://onesilentmind.com/movies/star-wars/.