The Dharma of Star Wars

By Matthew Bortolin and Matthew Bortolin

Book Overview

Is Yoda a Zen Master? What might Jedi training be like? Are the adventures of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader part of a spiritual epic? The answers-as well as humor, excitement, and much more-are here. The Dharma of Star Wars' cover promises a fresh and fun take on the films that have so captured the public's imagination, and its pages do not disappoint. Author Matthew Bortolin is a self-professed Star Wars geek (and, proud of it!), as well as a member of the Buddhist community of the teacher and bestselling author, Thich Nhat Hanh. Here, Bortolin casts a light on the timeless qualities and the wisdom to be found in George Lucas' already-classic film series. The result is a rollicking and eye-opening read sure toedify, and most of all, entertain-just like Star Wars itself.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0861714970
• ISBN13: 9780861714971
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: Wisdom Publications
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

May the Tatagatha be with you.

A dedicated Buddhist practitioner won't be offput by the news that author Matthew Bortolin owns a set of Jedi robes. It's hardly unusual for a Buddhist to own ritual attire anyway. Bortolin is a Jedihead. He's also a member of Thich Nhat Hanh's Buddhist community. At first it seems like THE DHARMA OF STAR WARS is short on Dharma and long on STAR WARS. There are 150 or so direct references to STAR WARS in the first thirty pages (count them!). Some of them are gratuitous ("Your mind, like an out-of-control podracer..."). By the end of the first chapter---Okay! We get it! This book uses the STAR WARS universe as a paradigm! It's clear that Mr. Bortolin must have written Chapter One last. A college student swigging caffeine drinks trying to stay awake all night to write a term paper will be as tweaked as Bortolin is seemingly tweaked on STAR WARS. It's understandable. Matthew Bortolin must have watched each STAR WARS movie scores of times and spent countless hours in study, in rewriting, and in meditation to create this book, which is clearly a labor of love. Fortunately, Mr. Bortolin must have been drinking decaf throughout most of the writing process. His ability to tie sometimes unfamiliar Buddhist ideas to sometimes obscure incidents in the STAR WARS scripts is quite an accomplishment. Getting past the first chapter, we discover that THE DHARMA OF STAR WARS is a thoughtful, intelligent, well-written generalist explanation of basic Buddhist concepts. Bortolin uses well-chosen incidents from the STAR WARS films (and books) to colorfully illustrate and explain such Buddhist core concepts as Karma, Nirvana, meditation, Dharma, and the Five Aggregates (also known as the Five Conditions or Five Skandhas). Mr. Bortolin avoids using much "foreign" Buddhist terminology and doesn't reference the Heart Sutra or any of the other thousands of Buddhist writings. Far more importantly, he refuses to get lost in windy theoretical discussions. Sitting meditation (zazen) is referred to throughout as "sitting meditation." "Monkey Mind" becomes "Jar Jar Mind" (very appropriately!). Let us thank the Maker that Bortolin isn't interested in being a Buddhist recruiter. Rather, he wants the reader unfamiliar with Buddhism to use its concepts and precepts in a practical fashion to live mindfully. If references to Luke, Leia, Darth, and The Force do it, that's just fine by him. The end of THE DHARMA OF STAR WARS has a section called "The Padawan's Handbook." A collection of aphorisms, thoughts, affirmations, and Buddhist (and other) commentaries rewritten in the STAR WARS idiom, "The Padawan's Handbook" is an intelligent guidebook to issues confronting us all as human beings. Each line in "The Padawan's Handbook" is a meditation in and of itself. Perhaps Mr. Bortolin should consider expanding this section into an independent volume. And why hasn't George Lucas endorsed this project? Gassho, Mr. Bortolin, and I look forward to hearing from you again. FOUR AND A

Wonderful book on Buddhism

This book was so easy to read, and was entertaining with the way Star Wars characters and scenes were used as examples. The Buddhist concepts explained were the clearest and most easy to understand yet, even on the topic of emptiness. I highly recommend this book if you want to learn about Buddhism, whether you're interested in Star Wars or not. For those who do love Star Wars, you'll really enjoy the Jedi Order compared in Buddhist terms. Just a great book all the way around. A few typos, but a very good read.

The Force is strong with this one!

I immediately bought this book when I saw it on display in the bookstore, without needing to flip through and read passages. I believe that the "Star Wars" films are the most spiritual films ever made, as the story is soaked in classic mythological motifs with heavy borrowing from Buddhist ideas about how our universe works. This book is written by a "Star Wars" fan, so he knows his material, and because he's also a Buddhist, he is able to write the main tenets of Buddhism in easy to understand concepts for anyone familiar with the Star Wars characters. When I saw "The Phantom Menace" in 1999, I was baffled by the amount of backlash that film inspired in fans. The film expanded our knowledge of "the Force" and I remember getting chills when Qui-Gon Jinn told Anakin: "remember, your focus determines your reality." That line sums up my spiritual beliefs in a perfect phrase and I'm glad to read that the author of this book mentioned that several times as well. Another thing that the author brilliantly picked up on was the character of Jar Jar Binks, which so many fans HATED with an unbelievable passion. I happened to love Jar Jar Binks and I don't think it was accidental that Lucas made him as annoying as he was. The name "Jar Jar" should clue anyone in to Lucas' point...being so close to the word "jarring". This book will have you seeing Jar Jar Binks in a totally new light and I'm glad someone pointed it out so Lucas doesn't have to spell it out for everyone. In "Attack of the Clones", my favorite of the new trilogy, I got chills when I saw the ethereal glowing blue in the Jedi library and the scene where Obi-Wan tries to find Kamino with his three dimensional galaxy map. Those scenes are some of the most spiritual-intuitive scenes I've ever seen in ANY movie. For one thing, I believe the library in heaven looks similar to the Jedi library and I look forward to perusing its database someday. This book makes a great introduction to Buddhism and I certainly will refer back to highlighted passages because I believe in the Eightfold Path, especially being mindful of our present and calming the mind before we panic or jump to hasty conclusions. Anyone who thinks Buddhism is a false religion simply hasn't investigated it and tried it. The world would be a vastly improved place if people attempted to live its principles and practiced mindfulness. I also appreciated the author writing a chapter on the Jedi's tendency to kill...as that isn't a spiritual principle but I think for the sake of the movies, Lucas had little choice but to use that for his story. The good thing is that he doesn't show the violence. The author is correct, though, about how a spiritual person simply cannot take another human life, no matter how compassionate we may think we are in the act. Killing is still depriving a person of changing...thus makes Luke Skywalker's decision not to kill the Emperor or Darth Vader all the more profound. This book will make an excellent companio

The Dharma of Star Wars

I'm a Star Wars fan. Not a crazy, angry, I know more about STarWars then anyone you ever met, I spend 18 hours a day on Fanboy message boards Star Wars fan, but a fan. SO when I saw Bortolins book "The Dharma of STar Wars" I had to flip through it. AT first I thought "this guys just yanking us into his hokey Religeon with the everpowerfull starwars tractor beam". But the first lines of the book "Snaphiss! the red-bladed lightsaber arches through the air toward its target. At the last instant green-blade rises to meet it, locking the two into static tension. The battle of the Jedi and the SIth is rejoined" made me keep reading, and reading and reading. My first instinct about the book was right. BOrtolin does use Star wars to talk about Buddhism, and I'm glad he did, because I probably wouldn't have read a Buddhist book otherwise. SOmehow using jar jar binks to describe how my mind is always running off in a million directions rather than being "concentrated on the here and now where it belongs" made perfect sense to me and I started to appreciate that I could get to know Buddhist practice and enjoy myself at the same time..

entertaining and wise

I really enjoyed this book. Matthew Bortolin uses the story of Star Wars (across all six movies) to illustrate Buddhist concepts and uses Buddhist concepts to highlight deeper themes in the Star Wars saga. The result makes Star Wars more profound and moving and Buddhism more accessible. Avid fans of Star Wars will appreciate all the detailed references provided by a true fan devoted to the series, while more casual Star Wars viewers will find the movies much more compelling after reading this book. Those new to Buddhism will learn a lot from Bortolin's accessible, human way of presenting these ideas, while those with more familiarity will likely experience new insights from Bortolin's novel approach. It's nice to read something that is funny and entertaining yet also contains real wisdom and insight. I find myself thinking about things mentioned in the book as I'm dealing with various situations in my life. And now I'm really looking forward to seeing Episode 3!