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The Influence Of Buddhism In George Lucas's Star Wars?

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George Lucas' Star Wars has been an "unprecedented commercial success in the history of cinema and has made a huge cultural impact" (Feichtinger 28). It is a popular franchise and is widely known all over the world. Star Wars plays a major role in influencing the youth and sending a message to everyone, especially the fans. George Lucas said that he wanted to do more than entertain the masses; he wanted to "introduce young Americans to spiritual teachings through 'new myths' for our globalized, pluralistic millennium" (Burke). These spiritual teachings and motifs are seen throughout the Star Wars movies and they "promote values and worldviews", which are adopted from Buddhism (Feichtinger 34). These Buddhist motifs are expressed through symbols and the actions of the Jedi and can also be noticed through the lines and dialogues of the characters. According to Christian Feichtinger, there are five basic contents of Buddhism that Lucas has adopted for the Jedi: mindfulness, compassion, the interdependence of all being, letting go of all things, and illusion (34). Star Wars promotes various Buddhist elements which can be seen throughout its movies. …show more content…

This Buddhist theme can also be seen throughout the Star Wars movies (39). Buddhists believe that illusion is bad, because Buddhism is all about having control of your mind, and illusion disrupts that control. "For the Buddha, the subjective perception of an individual was creating the world for him, so one does not conceive the world as it is but shaped by the medium of perception, including also one's own consciousness and subjectivity" (Feichtinger 39). Feichtinger mentions that "in Episode IV, Obi-Wan Kenobi warns his young apprentice Luke" that "[His] eyes can deceive [him]" and that "[he] should not trust them" (39). 'Illusion' is an important Buddhist element, but more so in the Mahayana tradition than in Theravada and in

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