Star Wars and Sikhi
The religion of the Sikhs is based on the idea of Naam. It is the idea that All Reality Is 1. Sikhi is panentheistic rather than monotheistic as the 1 lives in and through the universe as well as being outside it. In a similar way that the chemical processes of individual humans give rise to a ‘person’, so the universe as a whole gives rise to the Person, Being whose will energises and whose mind shapes life. How does this compare with the concept of ‘the Force’ in Star Wars?
In an early interview about the inspiration for his movie apparently, ‘Star Wars’, George Lucas claimed that he based the concept of the Force on the Sikh religion. However, as the movies developed other influences have become more evident. Therefore, my main source for the comparison is the novel of the first film released in 1977.
On page 166 we find a passage that also appeared in the original script for the film but did not make it to the final cut. “You sense only a part of the force, Darth…as always you perceive its reality as little as a utensil perceives the taste of food.” This is largely a quote from page 522 of the Guru Granth Sahib: “The ladles cruise through the food, but they do not know the taste of it. I long to see the faces of those, O Nanak, who are imbued with the essence of the Lord’s Love.”
There are, of course, lots of parallels between Sikhism and Star
Wars. The Jedi themselves are saint-soldiers just like the Khalsa, and the Jedi are called “an ancient religion” in the ‘Star Wars’ movie and “an ancient mythology” on p.37 of the book. In the same way Guru Nanak claims that the ‘Way’ he is teaching was created with “the first breath” in ‘Siddha Gosht’ — his dialogue with the Siddhas. Certainly there is a similarity in the symbol of the Force found on the helmets of Rebel pilots in ‘Star Wars’ and the Khanda symbol with interlocking swords.
The Force is a Universal Grace, an energy that reaches out to people, like the Naam. Naam is a Punjabi term that corresponds to the ‘Numenon’ or ‘numinous’. It is a term that states that God’s Presence is found in the world, above all as the True Guru or Inner Tutor or intuition inside all hearts. Luke protects himself from the Tusken raider “in a gesture more instinct than calculated” (p.67). Describing Luke’s father, Obi-Wan Kenobi claims that, “the force…the instinct was strong in him” (p.77). He continues, “Lars is not a man to let idealism interfere with business, whereas your father didn’t think the question even worth discussing. His decision on such matters came like his piloting — instinctively” (p.78).
Obi-Wan Kenobi says, “Let us say that the force is something a Jedi must deal with. While it has never been properly explained, scientists have theorised it is the energy field generated by living things. Early man suspected its existence, yet remained in ignorance of its potential for millennia. Only certain individuals could recognise the force for what is was. They were mercilessly labelled: charlatans, fakers, mystics — and worse. Even fewer could make use of it. As it was usually beyond their primitive controls, it frequently was too powerful for them. They were misunderstood by their fellows — and worse…The force surrounds each and every one of us. Some men believe it directs our actions, and not the other way around. Knowledge of the force and how to manipulate it was what gave the Jedi his special power” (p.80–81).
The Sikh ‘religion’ is just a mystical path. It involves relying on the Naam, known through intuition and serendipity, events in life that hold purposes. A Sikh simply clings to the Naam to navigate the ocean of life. This grace is what gives the Sikh their power. This surrendering and saintliness is what gives rise to the breaking ignorance and oppression of the soldier. The double-edge of saint and soldier are reflections of the double-edge of grace and power. The Sikh scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, contains a range of mystical song from the 12th to 17th centuries in South Asia written by Hindu, Muslim and freethinking saints.
A critique of this attitude may be that it is fatalistic. However, that is not so — the mystic does not work righteousness in an empty universe, but one in which the Life of life itself supports, guides and fulfils her/his work. “Not that Ben believed in predestination, but he did believe in heredity — and in the force” (p.82).
“Remember, the force is omnipresent. It envelopes you as it radiates from you. A Jedi warrior can actually feel the force as a physical thing” says Ben Kenobi. “It is an energy field, then?” Luke inquired. “It is an energy field and something more, “ Kenobi went on, almost mystically. “An aura that at once controls and obeys. It is a nothingness that can accomplish miracles.” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “No one, not even the Jedi scientists, were able to truly define the force. Possibly no one ever will. Sometimes there is as much magic as science in the explanations of the force. Yet what is a magician but a practising theorist” (p.120).
This is a very revealing passage as the Sikh scriptures speak of the Naam as a physical presence. Indeed, the whole basis of their description and ‘proof’ of God is the numinous experience. This experience is regarded as more real than our everyday experience of the world, and just as valid as a method of knowledge. Moreover, it is impossible to speak about it without experience of it, and those who experience it are unable to express themselves fully about it, “like a dumb person eating sweets.” What is important in life is not abstract theorising about God, but living the Life of the world. “Highest of all is Truth, but higher still is truthful living.” It is a life with physical feelings. At the critical moment in the attack on the Death Star, “Trust your feelings, Luke,” was all the Kenobi-like voice said (p.207).
Thought is no substitute for living. It is something that can guide our living to make it more effective. “You must try to divorce your actions from conscious control. Try not to focus on anything concrete, visually or mentally. You must let your mind drift, drift; only then can you use the force. You have to enter a state in which you act on what you sense, not on what you sense beforehand. You must cease cognition, relax, stop thinking…let yourself drift…free…free” (p.121). The prison of social rules, conventions, and games blind us to our own intuitions. From the Sikh perspective what blocks us from Reality is a ‘dam’ of our own making. The central issue is how to remove this dam. “One can teach only so much. Now you must learn to admit the force when you want it, so that you can learn to control it consciously” (p.122).
The problem with such an approach to spirituality is that there are no rules for people to guide. They need to trust their own judgement and share their feelings with others with whom they can share. “I can’t do it,” Luke moaned. “I’ll get hit again.” “Not if you let yourself trust you, “Kenobi insisted, none too convincingly for Luke. “This is the only way to be certain that you’re relying wholly on the force” (p.122) Friendship is more important the consequentialism as a basis for fighting and indeed ethics. “Stop predicting and use the rest of your mind…once you start to trust your inner self there’ll be no stopping you” (p.123)
The Lightsaber is a sword to fight injustice like the kirpan, and is constructed individually in the same way as “sarb loh” is not mass-produced ironwork. Obi-Wan Kenobi claims, “This was the formal weapon of a Jedi knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. More skill than simple sight was required for its use. An elegant weapon. A symbol as well.“ (p.79). It is interesting in this connection that Guru Gobind Singh used guns as well as swords, but decided that the symbolic weapon of the Khalsa should be the kirpan, meaning ‘kirpa’ — mercy, ‘aan’ — weapon.
The heroic pose or vir asan is used by the Jedi when they bow with uplifted left knee and right knee placed on ground (the Jedi before the Gungans in ‘The Phantom Menace’ and Darth Vader before the Emperor in ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ ; the vir asan or heroic pose is used in Sikhism when receiving Khande-de-Pahul/amrit.
Jedi knights are cremated like the Khalsa (Qui Gon-Jinn in ‘The Phantom Menace’). The difference between the light side and the dark side is like the difference between Gurmat and manmat, God-oriented or self-oriented which is the only distinction between people in Sikh thought. It is interesting that some Jedi knights are armed women and female knights of the Khalsa are also required to carry a kirpan or sword. The path to the dark side, to ego-centricity is fear, and the path of the Guru is fearlessness. The Khalsa is to be Nirbhao, Nirvair, without fear, without hatred. Yoda in ‘The Phantom Menace’ says that fear leads to hatred and hatred to suffering.
The Khalsa has no fear since s/he is awake to Universal Grace or Gurmat. Guru itself means “destroyer of darkness” and the Guru-Sikh relationship is paralled by the Master-Apprentice relationship of the Jedi and the Sith. Just like the Sarbat Khalsa, the body of all members of the Order of the Khalsa, the Jedi have a Supreme Council where all sit as equal and decisions are made by consensus. Moreover, the Sikh tradition is fiercely republican, opposed to anyone other than the Guru claiming to rule over the Sikhs and adamant that only laws made with the consent of the people should be enforced. Jedis “served as the guardians and guarantors of peace and justice in the Old Republic” (p.80). The Jedi are not missionary trying to impose their faith on any, and the same is true of the Khalsa.
The main opponents whose ideas are tackled by Guru Nanak are the Sidhs. Is the term ‘Sith’ a spin-off from Sidh? The eighteen powers that the Sidhs were: 1) to assume another form; 2) to enlarge and lessen the body; 3) to make the body minute; 4) the procurement of the objects; 5) to know another’s mind (Darth Vader reading mind of Luke Skywalker in ‘Return of the Jedi’); 6) to persuade all (Obi-Wan Kenobi persuading the weak-minded Stormtroopers in ‘Star Wars’ (p.91–93). “”The force is in the mind, Luke, and can sometimes be used to influence others. It’s a powerful ally. But as you come to know the force, you will discover that it can also be a danger” (p.93.) ; 7) the fulfilment of the mind’s desire; 8) to become heavy; 9) to be immune from hunger and thirst; 10) to hear from afar (Clone Wars); 11) to see from afar (Clone Wars); 12) to go fast like thought (Clone Wars); 13) to assume mind-desired form; 14) to enter into another’s body; 15) to die at one’s own will (in ‘Revenge of the Sith’ Darth Sidious tells Anakin about Darth Sidious, “He had such a knowledge of the dark side he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying’ ); 16) to enjoy meeting with the gods; 17) the fulfilment of desires; 18) to go everywhere unobstructed (Darth Sidious is undetected even by Master Yoda).
Guru Nanak’s critique is that the Sidhs also speak of a relationship with the Naam (Force), but whereas the Sikhs see Grace, abundance and, therefore, inclusion for all, the Sidhs see their own hidden techniques to get closer to a Power that hides itself, and, therefore, exclusion of others as they seek more and more power through being close to the Energy of the universe. This distinction is seen clearly in the character of Darth Pelagius mentioned in ‘Revenge of the Sith’. The name may take inspiration from the English heretic Pelagius who thought that souls could be saved from damnation by their own will alone, rather than relying upon the grace of a deity. This is the view that Sikhism explicitly rejects. This vision of inclusion can be seen in the Jedi. “Kenobi retained values most modern men would have deemed archaic. He would consign no one to the bone-gnawers and gravel-maggots, not even a filthy jawa” (.p.88).
Two major differences stand out: Sikhs also enjoy Guru Granth Sahib
Ji where the Light side of the Force, the Guru, is visible but in some Star Wars spin-off books there was a crystal or other manifestation of the Light side.
Moreover, the Khalsa is, ideally, married with children as part of the sehaj, the spontaneous balance and dynamic harmony with Life. The Jedi knights do not appear to be married but, in fact, Anekin who is destined to bring balance to the Force, did marry and have children. Indeed it is his family that redeems Darth Vader and here Lucas seems to opt unconsciously for a Sikh interpretation of the Jedi, unlike the Christian/Buddhist monk suggested by the brown cloaks and, above all, the persona of Master Yoda. Indeed, Luke Skywalker himself later marries in the spin-off novels that follow the ‘Return of the Jedi’.
However, there are many religious influences in ‘Star Wars’ as you can see from this cut-and-paste- article: “First of all, Lucas observes that many people have lost interest in religion, and this is a sad thing to him. As he sees it, religion brings a sense of stability, and people loose out when they loose their religion. With the Star Wars movies Lucas is trying to turn the tide. In his view people need faith. He readily admits the religious overtones in the Star Wars movie, and is quick to say that he has borrowed freely from multiple religions. Secondly, Lucas takes a very postmodern view of religion. He sees religion as beneficial to human beings, even if what they believe is not actually true. To him the stories of the great religions are ‘myths’ that are out of fashion, but whose themes are still very relevant. Third, Lucas explains very well a view of God and religion that I find everywhere I go. The understanding that God is everywhere like a force; the concept that this force that can be accessed through faith, and the notion that we must break free from our rationalist mindset — all these are notions I hear all the time.
Lucas very clearly believes in God, although he has no idea what God is like. The world is complex, and it is difficult to understand how everything relates to each other. Humans are always trying to understand the world, of which God seems to be part, better. Lucas thinks that most people feel a sense of achievement with where we are on the edge of the 21st century. He would like to remind people that reality is far more complex, and that on a scale of one to 1 million, we have only made it to about five. What is also striking to me is that there is a strong influence of Eastern mysticism in this worldview. Lucas correctly calls it a Buddhist way of saying things. Thinking about contemporary culture it is interesting to me that while the Judeo-Christian influence in culture is disappearing fast, the Buddhist or Eastern mystical worldview is in fact gaining ground rapidly.”
Other critics have also observed the Buddhist influence. “So here’s my central observation: this film in particular among the Star Wars movies is an apologetic for Buddhist thought. Palpatine tempts Anakin by suggesting knowledge of the Dark Side could help save Anakin’s secret wife, Padme, from death in childbirth (which Anakin has forseen). When Anakin is wrestling with whether to join Palpatine, Yoda advises him to “let go” of those who are close to him. Yoda here is the quintessental Buddhist: the spirituality he offers to Anakin is one in which enlightenment comes from severing all attachments to that which is temporal and material to become one with the universe (the “force”). Yoda tells Anakin that it is dangerous to maintain emotional attachments to others and that he should not grieve for those who die. Now for my questions: if Yoda really believes what he is telling Anakin, why does Yoda nearly collapse near the end of the film when he senses that most of the Jedi are dying in ambushes set by Palpatine? Has he become improperly attached to the other Jedi? Why does he apparently grieve and respond emotionally if he is a Jedi Master? And why should he or Kenobi care about going into hiding in hopes that they might later defeat the Empire?”
Perhaps Lucas himself is unsure of his Buddhist sympathies. After all, it is not Yoda who finally brings balance to the Force but Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker based on their family bonds. Moreover, the idea of ‘balance’ is a central idea in the movies. In Sikhism evil is at the extremes of the spectrum and good is in the middle of the spectrum. In the East, good = balance or sehaj. Bad = out of balance.
Think of it in terms of courage. On one end of the spectrum, you have cowardice. On the other end of the spectrum, you have recklessness. Courage is a balance — a mid point — between these extremes. That is Eastern philosophy and is the philosophy behind Star Wars. All virtues are in the middle. So is the balance between reason and emotion. Therefore, the Gurus rejected the non-violence and rejection of family life of Buddhism and asserted that anger and lust needed to be controlled, not abandoned. One should be assertive for love. The Jedi were good because they lived balanced, virtuous lives. The various powers balanced each other. The Emperor was bad because there was no longer a balance of powers. The Emperor had all the power.
Does this mean that George Lucas is a Sikh? No and yes. No, if we think of a Sikh as an identity, a tribal claim. Yes, if we think of Sikh as an Inspiration.
Gurbani refers to people like Prahlad, and includes writings from people like Farid and Kabir who do not know the word Sikh or refer to Sikh and Khalsa as universal categories. When Guru Nanak said that “there is no Hindu, no Muslim” he was talking about the end of tribalism. Spirituality is about universal and non-exclusive categories, but with an Inspired and definite discipline. Such is the Khalsa. In the same way, Professor Puran Singh wrote about “Walt Whitman and the Sikh Inspiration” we can talk about George Lucas and the Khalsa Inspiration.