On Becoming a Jedi Knight©

Jon Snodgrass, Ph. D.

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Background
This essay was written in 1997 and posted on the author’s personal Internet web site. The essay
was later copied by “Arithion Darkwolf” into the web site of the Jedi Academy in July 2001 with
the comment, “Just perhaps the best text on the psychology of the Jedi that I have ever come
across online and is the text that more than likely spurred me towards the study of psychology.”

This essay was written in a few days, an exhilarating experience for the writer. Over the next
several years and with greater difficulty, it was expanded into a 65,000 word book that was
published by Inner Circle Publishing as Peace Knights of the Soul: Wisdom in ‘Star Wars’ (2004,
revised 2012).

This essay and the book illustrate the principles of A Course in Miracles (1976) using selected
science fiction films: K-PAX, The Matrix and Star Wars. “On Becoming a Jedi Knight originally
was used in college lifespan classes in conjunction with showing students the middle segment of
The Empire Strikes Back, when Luke Skywalker meets Yoda, the Sage, for the first time.

The Hero
The Empire Strikes Back (1980) written and directed by George Lucas, is the second film in the
Star Wars trilogy. The hero, Luke Skywalker, is a fighter pilot in the Rebel Alliance, the forces
of light in the universe that are battling the dark forces of the evil enemy empire. Luke is striving
to become a special “Jedi Knight” in order to defeat the commander of darkness, “Lord Darth
Vader.” In Christian iconography, Luke wants to be an Archangel to rid the world of Satan’s rule.

In terms of developmental psychology, like the changing of the seasons and the spinning of the
planet, Luke’s transcendental process has been repeated countless times throughout human his-
tory. The ancient, mythic struggle concerns the passage from the immaturity of childhood to the
maturity of adulthood. In the “Parable of Luke,” knighthood is equivalent to growing-up and
gaining wisdom, a process everyone undergoes to survive the life course.

Star Wars is the first film and the title of the trilogy. It is the highest grossing serial of all time
($460 million). In 1997, for the 20th anniversary of the release of Star Wars, Lucas theatrically
re-released the films as the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition. Four and one-half minutes of visu-
als were added and the entire sound track was enhanced. Plans were announced for the produc-
tion of three new episodes, called “prequels,” precursors in time to the first trilogy.

In The Empire Strikes Back, the rebels are losing the galactic war. Luke is dispatched to a far-
away planet to be trained by Yoda, a Master Jedi Knight. Obi-Wan Kenobe, Luke’s mentor, has
passed to the spirit world and no player remains on the universal field to match Darth Vader. Like
Satan, who once was an angel, Darth Vader is a Jedi Knight who fell from grace. Luke needs
training urgently to save the Rebel Alliance from annihilation by the superior numbers, technol-
ogy and might of the evil empire.

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Amidst the backdrop of the ongoing battle, Luke flies swiftly to his destination, accompanied by
his trusty robot-navigator-assistant, “Artoo Detoo.” The remote location of the training site sug-
gests how far from Luke’s consciousness is the idea that the great war is entirely a psychological
construct. He longs for the peace of mind of an inner place he intuits, but does not yet know how
to attain.

The intrapsychic dimension of the war is suggested by parallel scenes in which Luke’s compatri-
ots, Han Solo and Princess Leia, escape the pursuit of Darth Vader by hiding in a cave that turns
out to be the belly of a giant beast. Entangled in ego their spheres, the chase is rivalrous and
rancorous. It is fascinating how the word “engagement” applies to marriage and to warfare. In
Spanish, casar, “to marry,” is close to cazar, “to hunt” and jokes abound to confound the two.

En route, close-ups of Luke’s face reveal the epic struggle he endures. He has a definite plan:
break from the fighting, be trained quickly and return to the heroic rescue of human kind. Yet
secretly he doubts he possesses the capacity to become a Jedi Knight. He worries he will not find
Yoda, will fail in his mission and, in effect, be tutored by the dark side. Childishly, he thinks he
must hide his doubt, rather than face it, contributing to his weakness.

The contradiction between his solid plan, on the one hand and his lack of confidence on the other
hand, exemplifies the psychic tug of war. In truth, the only obstacle Luke has to overcome is his
self-doubt, but it is too early in the quest and he is too young to know, for then he would rec-
ognize, he already is what he seeks to become. To acknowledge your true identity, can only be
difficult in the imagination.

As Luke and R2D2 approach landing, flight instruments indicate that no technology or civiliza-
tion lie below, only animal and plant life-forms. This signals that the education he is about to un-
dergo is “organic,” not technical or technological. In his rush to arrive, to be trained quickly and
to determine the outcome, Luke crash lands his spacecraft in a swamp. At the start, he is stuck in
the quagmire of primordial self-doubt.

Extricating himself, R2D2 falls overboard and is swallowed by an underwater monster. This
subaqueous episode suggests, again, that the larger conflict remains entirely hidden from Luke’s
consciousness. R2D2 is suddenly spit out, however, because the demon, an alternate form of
Darth Vader, seeks to devour the human spirit, not the metallic body of the robot. Relieved that it
was not he who slipped and fell, Luke says to him, “You’re lucky you don’t taste good.”

On terra firma, spared consumption by the evil serpent at the genesis of his quest, Luke does not
know what a Jedi Master looks like. Whenever you begin an adventure, you know little about
the world you enter or the nature of your quest. You must be shocked initially and afraid at first,
for the new way seems to threaten an old frame of reference. This “resistance” is inherent in any
new undertaking.

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Finding the Master
Recovering on a bank, Luke has a recollection, “like a dream” he says; he has been in this pre-
dicament before, but then dismisses the idea. A faded memory suggests he already has been
trained as a Jedi Knight, but he does not remember the experience. Luke senses being watched
and is surprised to hear the voice of a little green creature behind him. The sequence of the
events confirms his intuition, but his acuity also frightens him. So, he blames the creature and
threatens to blast him away.

Luke is told patiently to put down his weapon for no harm is meant to him. “I am wondering why
you are here,” asks the little green gnome. Revealing his preconception about the appearance of
Jedi Knights, Luke replies that he is looking for “a great warrior.” Just as he has great expecta-
tions about training, Luke anticipates Yoda must appear to be physically superior to Darth Vader.
Luke is afraid he is going to end up looking like Yoda: little, ugly and harmless.

Yoda is old and small, and carries a cane, instead of a weapon. It does not occur to Luke that
the little frogman of the swamp is the Master, because Yoda does not conform to his awesome
expectations. Luke believes the power needed to defeat Darth Vader is overt strength. Precisely
because the Rebel Alliance relies on mighty might, their cause is being defeated. Yoda replies in
his cryptic style, “War not make one great.”

The power in which Luke is about to be trained takes an altogether new form and arises from an-
other dimension—the depth of his true-self within his mind. At this point, the idea still is beyond
Luke’s comprehension because the physical world is all he remembers having known. The truth
first appears in unexpected form. Unimaginable, real power must overcome preconceptions to be
credible, viable and visible.

Yoda, who is still not Yoda to Luke, rummages through Luke’s equipment bag until he finds a
flashlight. Luke is annoyed, not realizing Yoda is looking for an instrument to shine away the
clutter of Luke’s thinking. When Luke finds out that Yoda’s hideout is known, Luke turns ami-
able, expediently seeing a guide to the Master. Luke goes with Yoda to his cabin to eat, rest and
recover from the ordeal of relocation and to prepare to encounter “Yoda the Great.”

Luke cannot settle his mind and incessantly asks where to find Yoda and how to get there. He is
being told to relax and to calm down, when he urgently believes he needs to be trained. You do
not get knighthood as a reward for patience, because it already is given, but you learn it is yours
through partaking of this attitude. Your relaxed mind allows into consciousness what already is
established unconsciously.

Luke’s racing mind is filled with preoccupations about the nature of the task. His training as a
Jedi Knight has begun by learning willingness and patience to open to a new dimension in think-
ing. Yoda tells Luke, “Only a calm mind knows the difference between good and evil” (or the
difference between a good and bad joke). Star wars or star peace is a decision that you make;
laughter is a bonus feature.

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Yoda finally loses patience with Luke and says he is “too old to learn,” meaning his mind
is fixed by previous education in time. Yoda threatens to ship him back to the outer battle,
where both still are mentally. Yoda’s annoyance indicates that Masters and even the Mas-
ter Order, are not always rational. In this respect, Yoda takes on human frailties, letting us
know the capacity to access higher consciousness is within mortal reach.

When Luke realizes that Yoda is Yoda the Master, he begs for tutoring and promises to re-
form and be good. He fears being expelled from training, failing even to become a novice
knight and ultimately to lose the galactic civil war. Still acting egotistically human, Yoda
shakes his head dolefully, but agrees to give the young man a second chance.

Hopefully, Luke understands the first lesson; the importance of being patient, realizing
that knowledge appears initially in unexpected form from a hidden source in your mind.
Patience and self-trust are prerequisites in acquiring a new conception concerning the
psychological source of Jedi Knight power.

Looking Inward
Yoda rides about on Luke’s shoulders, like his conscience, as the two explore the surface
of the swamp planet. Here Yoda warns Luke, “If you enter it, the dark path will consume
you it will.” “Resist not evil” means not to join and not to fight, because both lend it cred-
ibility. While the two rest, the message sinks in, but Luke suddenly feels a chill, a premo-
nition about being alone in a dangerous place.

Predictably, Luke acts impulsively and disregards Yoda’s explicit principle. Caught still
in a reactive old way, Luke decides to accept the challenge conveyed by the sensation of
being cold and to penetrate the jungle. To conquer danger by confrontation, he enters the
“forbidden dark side” and unwittingly chooses to have another loss of control, which will
provide empirical proof that Yoda is right about an inner passage.

You are controlled by the “dark side,” whether you fight or join it, because you enter
its domain and engage on its terms at a superficial level. Luke acts like a young surfer
in outer space. As a child, you think adulthood involves being big and strong and rebel
against parents, who are seen as bigger and stronger.

When you fight, whether you win or lose the battle, Darth Vader wins the war, because
you give your mind to opposition within the boundaries he defines. Yoda informs Luke
as he departs, where he is going, “Your weapons, you will not need them.” Dismissive
of the principle of mind power, Luke must be fearful because he believes weaponry (i.e.,
physical control) is superior to mental control in providing safety and as a strategy.

In defiant self-protectiveness, Luke maintains a power struggle with himself and Yoda,
buckling on his weapons belt anyway. Luke does knows not that Yoda, as he calmly sits
there, projects the next sequence of scenes. Yoda makes the lesson happen in the external

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world, but he encourages Luke to explore mind power. Yoda must allow Luke to think his
way is right, before he will consider an alternate point of view.

In the second lesson, Luke seems to descend into a cave, but actually it enters his own
unconscious mind. Snakes and lizards portend the danger he thinks he will encounter in
this primitive place. Actually he is destined to discover true mental capacities. Suddenly,
a giant Darth Vader, with a great light saber, appears to Luke’s immediate left.

“Lord Vader” arises from the imaginative side of Luke’s right brain. The holographic
quality of the image tells us that the figure is Yoda’s (and Luke’s) projection. Matching
blow for blow with his own laser sword, Luke decapitates the archetype of the devil with
the first swipe. Luke again is tricked by his ego, for you cannot overpower Darth Vader
when he exists nowhere outside your mind.

Darth Vader’s signature black helmet falls to the ground. Luke is stunned by the sight of
his own face and wide-open eyes staring back at him. A frivolous sound and light show
is Yoda’s magical huff and puff. The shocking second lesson is realizing the enemy you
fight outwardly is in your imagination. This means Luke must trust himself—outer and
inner enemies are not real. He must also accept Yoda as the part of his mind that can
teach him the difference between fabrications and creations of the Force.

Mind Power
In the next sequence of scenes, Luke is standing on his hands attempting to levitate
several objects that surround him: Yoda, a rock and his spacecraft. To the uninitiated in
knighthood, this scene of upside-down juggling may suggest doing the impossible, but
Luke is asked by Yoda to assume this posture to illustrate the nature of the task.

Still locked in physical reality, Luke can only focus on the size of the ship and therefore,
he is not able to concentrate the power of his mind. When Luke gives up, to demonstrate
mind power, Yoda extracts the sunken spacecraft from the swampy mire. An incredulous
Luke says, “I don’t believe it” and Yoda replies testily, “That’s why you fail.”

Luke wants to control the movement of objects because it shows-off his talent as a spe-
cial warrior. He wants the new way for personal glory, instead of spiritual development,
trying to usurp the force for his own ends. He has not reversed his perspective and cannot
imagine that thinking is the way to knighthood that is already fully granted.

Luke wants to fight, disclosing that he still thinks like a little boy, believing that both the
conflict and the power are outside. When he does grasp the third lesson, he make the in-
ner contact that eliminates conflict and the need for control. The only place in the galaxy
the problem exists is in his mind. Once the struggle is resolved by the acceptance of the
power of your mind, you accede to peace knight.

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You reverse your previous point of view. You learn that both the conflict and the power are
psychological and not in reality. Luke believes using his senses that both are external and social,
while Yoda knows in his mind that both are illusion. Because the task is mental, the goal is to
invert your old perspective, causing the size of objects to matter not at all.

Luke must open his mind to the possibility of reverse perspective and the effect will confirm the
psychic premise in time and space. As Luke entertains the hypothesis, he grasps the third princi-
ple and becomes a disciple of the Force. You quit being stubborn, learned childhood and become
mentally flexible, the way you were once physically flexible as a baby.

Frightened by the prospect of real power, however, Luke decides he must return to the outer war.
On the threshold of learning mind power, he imagines his friends, Han Solo and Princess Leia,
are trapped far away by Darth Vader. This justifies escape from mind training and he forfeits
graduation. Luke is not much help rescuing his friends and should have stayed in school.

Luke is afraid to give up physical power, believing he will lose, rather than gain control over
life. He regards lesson three as a trap, blamed on Darth Vader, who captures and tortures his best
friends. Fearful of doing something wrong and being punished, guilt impels the abandonment of
training. Luke escapes to rescue of Han and Leia, who represent his romantic interests that will
be diminished if he adopts the third principle.

Becoming a moral sentinel is thought to be boring and unexciting, for you give up life of the
senses. Becoming alive in the mind means the body is forsaken. Young people like Luke, want
to forgo training and go for the gusto of sensation. Yoda’s celibacy is conveyed in his gentle,
genderless appearance, living far away and all alone, apparently cause of the “extinction” of the
order.

Willingness
To be ready for knighthood requires no special equipment, outfits or headgear. You need not a
deep commitment, or to demonstrate readiness by undertaking an ordeal of fire. It is not a matter
of physical ability, intelligence, privilege, class, race, gender, or any external attribute. To learn
anything you need first to be willing to learn.

You must want to be a Jedi Knight—to be the master of your mind. When you mean it, knight-
hood begins to happen immediately and you need to want it only once. You speed up, or slow
down the process, wanting to remember; by not forgetting again and again that Jedi Knighthood
is what you want.

You can always change your mind, go back to not wanting development and impede the process.
You cannot stop the transformation, however, once it initiates, because the Force now works
within your mind, on your behalf, to help you recognize your true-self. You will know in your
heart, being honest with yourself, when you are ready to transition. The beginning is the only
step that is up to you and thereafter, the Force does all the work.

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Becoming a Jedi Knight may seem hard, but not being willing to become one is harder. You may
continue to dispute the idea, however, insisting that you are incorrigible or that the fear is unde-
featable. This only means that consciousness contradicts all the ideas you ave learned heretofore
about your identity and destiny.

The difference between willing and becoming is no fine point, it is the point and it is the only
point. It is plainly true; you must only want to evolve, to accept what is given. You are the one,
whether you realize it or not. Your will awakens you, but striving to achieve control puts you to
sleep in the dream world. When you recognize this truth, you acknowledge you are a Jedi Knight
and practice then becomes an occupational objective.

You do not all of sudden become a Jedi Knight, though theoretically it is possible. It is self-de-
feating to exaggerate the magnitude of the undertaking and to distort it out of range by going to
extremes. You do not have to believe at the beginning that the end-result of knighthood will end
all the wars in your mind and in the world.

Because the Force works through you, once you are willing to be led, the process operates in
reverse: A Jedi Knight Becomes You. You may think you must discharge all self-doubt, which
prevents you from getting started by having a tiny bit of self-trust. You do not need to possess
anything but willingness because the Force is all-powerful.

Be willing to start—to allow the process to unfold in your heart-mind. An individual is ready to
become a Jedi Knight whenever he or she wants to remember the pre-established protocol that
begins with willingness. No further effort or action is required and willing to learn is just an atti-
tude. A willing mind is the only step you take by yourself and the only power you need or actu-
ally possess.

The prerequisite of willingness is overstated by students who think the challenge is to become
somebody rich, famous and important as quickly as possible. Even Yoda is mistaken when he
tells Luke it takes the “deepest commitment” and a “serious mind.” These are traits of accom-
plished Jedi Knights, not a novice. Just be willing to be willing?

To start, you need not have finished training. If you expect to be accomplished before you are ini-
tiated, you are trying to graduate prior to enrollment. At the start of learning anything, you make
unreasonable demands when you must be extraordinary before comprehension takes hold. With
an attitude of perfectionism, you scare yourself away from just wanting to get started.

Willingness is a prerequisite because it initiates the unfolding of the set of procedures that are
located in your mind. There is a natural progression that takes place in learning the lessons, once
you surrender to the Force by being ready to learn. Other words for willingness are: to want, to
invite, to log on, to desire and to accept the challenge.

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Again, the Force does the work to transform consciousness teaching you that you are the being
you seek to become. Do not rush ahead to the next, or last task, but stick with willingness. The
only decision to make is to start, or not to start. You make a deliberate choice, but this does not
mean you instantly illuminate, though it is possible theoretically.

Development takes but one step, an instant of willingness, to hypothesize that you have the op-
portunity. Willingness means you trust you and your teacher, who are one and the same Self. If
an individual feels coerced, or obligated to carry out a duty to become a Jedi Knight, he or she
seeks to be what others want, reinforcing a false-self.

A sense of moral obligation darkens the spark of willingness on the light side that is free to main-
tain that a dark side confines you. You do not yet understand willingness, or you would be will-
ing. You do not know what you really want because you are too stubborn to give up the illusion
of physical might of the ego-body. You make it harder, so you can perceive it is impossible, quit
training and have it your way.

The idea of deep commitment and serious responsibility are burdens. Under duress, you do not
believe your mind is autonomous and that the universal power of the Force is your heritage. A
Jedi Knight is never led by, nor the leader of might and manipulation as the means to solving any
problem. The sole purpose of becoming a Jedi Knight is freedom from the illusion of any and all
constraint in life.

Becoming a mature individual requires understanding that the enemy we perceive and the physi-
cal power we seek, do not exist and, therefore, are irrelevant. We have created enemies in our
minds and they appear to be real in being rooted in fear and doubt. In becoming a Jedi Knight,
you only lose battle fatigue and the agony of defeat.

Escape to Reality
Because Luke is mixed up about the source of power, he confuses Yoda with Darth Vader.
He thinks Yoda’s principle of consciousness tricks him into to taking away his source of real
strength. So, he must break training and get away; achieve liberation on his own terms without
the help of the Force. Still, the power is in his mind and he cannot leave home, or the planet,
without it, yet he does not know where to find it, or how to use it.

The “dark side” of the split mind derives its influence from concealment. In being hidden, it ap-
pears to be smart and powerful. Its foremost trick is to tell you it does not exist. In the light of
consciousness, however, the dark side is rendered hapless and helpless. Dracula withers in the
daylight, Mr. Hyde is undone in public and Lord Darth Vader is kept at bay by an adolescent boy
with a “glowstick.”

The reclusive Yoda watches Luke depart, knowing he will return because the journey to knight-
hood has begun. Luke needs a reminder, losing more battles in the great war, since he continues

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to believe it “out there.” The “dark side” exists nowhere, but in the imagination and you choose
war or peace, wherever you are in “reality.”

You can always change your mind and go back to fighting. You are not trapped, because your
mind is always yours to use as you like. Your opposition to authority is the unseen fight with
you, however, and intended to block, rather than to liberate, love in the form of forgiveness. You
mistrust you, thinking it is the hate of others that assails you.

Your mind is potentially under your control and you abolish or establish the struggle by being
willing to become, or not to become, the one in charge of your life-course. Fighting with author-
ity is hard, because unknowingly, it is always you, disguised as your opponent, with whom you
fight and you always are losing.

You will not know willingness until you are willing and you will recognize it only by the peace
of mind that ensues. Grievances will never be as deep and long lasting as they once were, which
will reinforce becoming mature. You may never know exactly when the Force took hold of you
and all that really matters is that you capitulated to the Light.

Relax and entertain the notion that physical location means absolutely nothing and that mental
location means absolutely everything in life and death. Where you are in your mind is always
where you are, for reality is entirely a mental projection. You think either with your capable
mind, or react with desolate feelings, fearful that death of the body is the end.

In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke does not return to becoming a Jedi Knight. He gave up too
soon, was not patient, was too scared, could not face inner demons and recognize illusions. He
never changed his basic assumption, never left the dark side to grasp the Light in his mind. All of
us know Luke, who represents us. We can change our likeness, our Lukeness, when we are ready
to side with the Jedi Knights.

©1997, revised 2007, 11-2011

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