Customer Reviews

The Dharma of Star Wars

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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!

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 companion to "Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters" and "The Tao of Star Wars"...as all three books pick up on the ideas, scenes and characters of the greatest film series in the history of humanity and present the spiritual concepts in an easy to understand manner. But I think this one is the best of the three...because its closer to "The Force" than the others.

The Dharma of Star Wars is, simply put, many of life's little lessons wrapped up in Jedi robes. You don't have to be a believer in the Buddhist way of life to appreciate some of the wisdom that emanates from these pages. Author, Matthew Bortolin, seems quite qualified to write the piece and it shows in the writing and the examples he uses, pulled straight from the Star Wars films.

This book, much like The Tao of Star Wars, was a learning experience for me. I enjoy reading about the parallels between different religions and Star Wars. George Lucas went to great lengths to make sure that his films were not religion-specific, meaning that they didn't cater to any one belief system outright. You can watch the films and find elements of Buddhism, Catholicism, Judaism, and more. Therefore, just about any belief system could be the basis for countless books comparing it to Star Wars, and I feel that this book won't be the last.

Bortolin never fails to impress you with his knowledge of Buddhism and of Star Wars. He colors each page with many phrases from the film or replaces the more cliche every day words you might use with some kind of Star Wars reference or term. That's where Star Wars fans will have the most fun here - relating the important lessons learned within the pages to their favorite films. Sometimes it's easier to teach something to someone by using familiar examples. Jesus did this with the parables he told and likewise, Buddha told many similar stories, some of which you'll read in this book.

This book definitely caters to fans but I feel anyone can read this work and learn a thing or two. There's a lovely section near the end called "The Padawan Handbook" that contains "Zen Contemplations for the Would-Be Jedi." In that section you'll find short one-liners that you might hear Obi-Wan Kenobi telling his young apprentice, Anakin, on any given day during his training, ("Ambition and desire lead to the Dark Side. Be wise, my determined apprentice, there is no happiness like the happiness of having few desires.")

Bortolin not only does a good job of tying Buddhism to Star Wars, he also gives you some background into the faith and does a wonderful job of explaining all its concepts like Dharma itself, nirvana, and meditation. I know that I personally took a few of the concepts in this book and tried to adapt them to my personal life. When I feel my kids are getting on my nerves, I stop and try to breathe before exploding into an angered rage. If the book can help you in little ways like that, then this is a good thing. It's by no means a book that's trying to convert anyone to the Buddhist faith, and I certainly won't be doing that, but that does not mean there aren't concepts and lessons inside which can help you in your daily lives.

For those who aren't aware of all the Eastern philosophies and concepts that are embedded within the subtext of the Star Wars films, you'll be pleasantly surprised when reading this book. You'll look a the films in a different light, especially The Phantom Menace which is loaded with Buddhist references, ("...hate leads to suffering.") In fact, there's a lot of talk about "suffering" in this book but, like Luke, you have to unlearn what you have learned and not take suffering literally, or at face value. There are many forms of suffering described in this book and it's supposed to be a part of life, not something you get rid of. Learn about it, accept it and deal with it, are the things you must do. This is wonderful and insightful advice.

The Dharma of Star Wars is definitely a book worthy of your attention if you're interested in learning more about both Star Wars and one of the belief systems the films are based on. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised...and hopefully enlightened.

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..

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.

This little gem of a book captures what many of us enjoyed most about the eastern spiritual subtext to the Star Wars Series.
This was a long overdue addition to other published insights into the deeper levels of the Star Wars Series.
It has also been used in several colleges in Philosophy 101 as an introduction to eastern thought and meditation.
One need not be Buddhist to appreciate the author's keen grasp of esoterica mixed with jovial delivery.
Katherine Rosengren

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 HALF STARS

I purchased this book as a gift for my mother, a chaplain of many years, with twice that many devoted to the study of world religions. I am a Star Wars fan first and foremost, but this book touchs on so many levels that I felt compelled to get it for her. This book gets to the micro-makeup of our favorite Star Wars characters, why Darth Vader was following his path, why Obi-wan was found wanting. A true joy to read and an important book to those that want to learn why Star Wars is seen as the "myth" of the 21st Century.

A three and a half star book - good, but not spectacular. This book is very readable, written in accessible prose, and making (for the most part) defensible arguments about the connection between Star Wars and aspects of the Buddhist faith. Those people already familiar with Buddhism and Star Wars will feel Bortolin's argument and analogies click into place, for the most part. Those familiar with Star Wars, but not Buddhism, may not exactly realize where the Star Wars ideas leave off and the Buddhism picks up. Though some of his arguments and characterizations may seem flawed, overall Bortolin does a convincing jobs of showing the connections between the dharma or discipline of Buddhism, and the religious philosophy of the Jedi knights. Since it is very readable, and fairly informative, I guess I will lump it towards the 4 star category.

I'm not new to Buddhism, and also I'm quite a fan of the Star Wars saga, but anyway I found this book fun and easy to read. It's not a deep analysis of Buddhism, and doesn't say anything new about the Star Wars universe, however the analogies are interesting and the author's style is refreshing. A pleasant experience!