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Amazing Grace

© Paul F. McDonald

A lot has happened in that galaxy far, far away since audiences first witnessed the now classic scene in which a young Luke Skywalker flies down a narrow trench in an X-Wing fighter to unleash a proton torpedo capable of destroying the Death Star. In one of the most memorable scenes from the original Star Wars, the heroic pilot deactivates his targetting computer when it comes time to make the pivotal shot. Instead of relying on a series of technical data and information, he chooses to "use the Force," guided on by the disembodied voice of his old Jedi mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi. Allowing the instinctual energy to flow through him, Luke lets go of all his conscious effort, and as a result, succeeds in destroying one of the greatest threats the galaxy has ever known.

As should be obvious, this is not so very different a story as that of Eugen Herrigel, a German professor who studied archery with a renowned Zen master in Japan for twelve years. Though the master spoke very little, when he was once directly confronted by his pupil about the right techniques and so on, he replied, "The right art is purposeless, aimless! The more obstinately you try to learn how to shoot the arrow for the sake of hitting the goal, the less you will succeed in the one and the other will recede. What stands in your way is that you have a much too willful will. You think that what you do not do yourself does not happen." This dialogue is faithfully recorded in the well-known book, "Zen in the Art of Archery," and even when the author does succeed at practice one day, he is unable to describe just how he does so. And this is perhaps the way it has to be. As the master instructs him, one should draw back the string and release the arrow as unself-consciously as a ripe fruit breaks its skin.

In a way, such ideas are heresy from the postmodern point of view. Self-help and do-it-yourself manuals flood bookshelves, and self-improvement gurus are everywhere on cable television. Everyone from teachers to preachers are adamant that one must work hard and apply themselves if they are to achieve their goals. Yet this philosophy is saying striving only works in a very limited way, and sometimes all one needs to do is not work hard. This is a well-kept secret, yet there have been those who have always known forcing life to give one what they want is only one way of doing it, and on a deeper level, they simply point out that the self in need of improvement cannot improve itself since it is the very thing allegedly in need of improvement.

The copyright of the article Amazing Grace in Star Wars is owned by Marla Cartwright. Permission to republish Amazing Grace in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.