This entire week we will continue to watch Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back! While watching this flick, we are answering the following Q's:
Christianity:
- How does the film portray Luke and/or Darth Vader as a “Jesus-like figure”?
- The storm troopers (guys in white armor) who follow Darth Vader can be compared to what group of people who are also “followers”?
Buddhism
- How are some Buddhist teachings/beliefs illustrated in the film?
- What is “The Force” and how can it relate to Buddhism?
- Anatma: The self is always changing. Buddhism assumes there is no permanent "self” and that a person is always changing. How does Luke experience Anatma in the film?
- Siddhartha Buddha sat day and night for weeks on end in meditation. One night after meditation he felt a force awaken inside of him. From that day forward he was known as Buddha -- the Awakened One. Who is a character in the movie that experiences something similar to this and how does he become “awakened” like the Buddha?
- The Jedi live in a simple world where they “want” nothing like those of Buddhist monks. They wear a simple robe, have a simple weapon - a lightsaber - and their only objective is to protect the galaxy from evil. Who is a character in the film who best represents this kind of figure and how is this the case and what else makes him similar to a follower of Buddhism?
- Dukkha: Life is painful and causes suffering. As we know Siddhartha (the Buddha) wanted to end his suffering. He tried to end his suffering through meditation. The heart of the Buddha’s way is the teaching of the Four Noble Truths as we’ve already examined. In order to achieve the fourth noble truth: the end of suffering, one must follow the Eightfold-Path. What in the film is something similar to what was just explained above?
- Buddhists believe, much like Hindus, that our body is not permanent. Buddhism asserts that everything is impermanent, but that the soul follows a cycle. Samsara, meaning wandering or world, refers to a theory of rebirth and the cyclicality of all life, matter, existence. What scene illustrates this belief?
***What other Christian/Buddhist/Hindu symbolism did you find in the film?***