Episode I: What is the "Force" on our planet, and can we learn to use it?

Using the Law of Attraction - Star Wars Ep 1: The Phantom Menace

In this post I will go through my notes that I took while watching the first episode of Star Wars. Being interested in the philosophy of success, it is hard not to notice the parallels of belief between what authors such as Napoleon Hill, Dr. Schwartz, Zig Ziglar, among many others and the philosophy of the Jedi in the Star Wars universe. I do understand that this is a made up fictional film (is it?), I like to use it as a reference point because many people are familiar with it, there are not many people who can't at least recognize Yoda, Darth Vader, or recite the lines (incorrectly) "Luke, I am Your Father". I know that the die-hard Star Wars fans really hate on the prequel stories but I find it fascinating to follow the Jedi around to really get an understanding of their teachings and philosophies and how they correlate with the that of the philosophies of success. I am a Star Wars Nerd and a Law of Attraction nerd, this is my opportunity to combine two of my hobbies for your viewing delight. Please feel free to share your thoughts and of course, may be valuable to watch the movie before reading this article. 

• Quote from Qui-Gon Jinn "Keep your concentration here and now - be mindful of the living force"
  

  • To the law of attraction student this is helpful advice and means a little bit different to someone who sees the "Force" as just a tool for making objects float around. The Force in Star Wars, in whichever way they choose to explain it, is best understood as the source energy or infinite intelligence. It binds all beings together. We all are built up of the same particles that can be broken down into tiny vibrations. If you believe in the Law of Attraction, you believe in that fact, we are all vibrations bound to the Force. Qui-Gon gives this advice to Obi Wan (a young padawan learner), who is displaying worry about the future. Qui-Gon reminds Obi-Wan that the future is always in motion, recognize that the Force will take care of you, focus on your sphere of influence and that is your thoughts that you are transmitting right here and right now. Don't let the negativity distract you. 

• Quote from Qui-Gon to Jar Jar "The ability to speak does not make you intelligent"
  

  • This quip is a good check for yourself, just because you have the ability to have an opinion on something does not make it right, necessary to share, accurate, or intelligent. Take charge of your words, there's no need to talk out your ass just because you can. It will come back to you. 

• Observation: Underwater Boat Ship Travel with Qui-Gon, Obi Wan, and Jar Jar
  

  • Things do not go well for them during their travels here, one thing to observe is that the Jedi do not lose faith in the force despite the circumstances. They get eaten by a fish, the power shuts down and they have limited air supply, and they are very calm under pressure, they portray self-confidence but it's more than what it appears. It appears to the average thinker as a belief in one's ability but it's also faith in the best outcome. You see this work multiple times in the Star Wars universe. Jar Jar is losing his mind, he's not thinking of other solutions, he's letting his fear control his actions, the Jedi let their faith in the Force control theirs. Qui-Gon also says "There's always a bigger fish" which is true, you may think you're the biggest baddest ever made but there just is always something out there bigger and badder, don't get to cocky. Reverse of this is that there is always someone who has it worse-off than you. So think twice when you want to complain, because when you do you are inviting the worse into your being. 

• Jar Jar meeting Padme
  

  • When it comes to the Law of Attraction there are no coincidences. What you think are coincidences is the living force acting for you. Queen Amidala wants what is best for the people of Naboo, and that is protecting them against the Separatist Droid Army, she meets Jar Jar by chance. A gungan native of the same planet as her. Though their peoples have coexisted, they have not worked in a spirit of harmony for the betterment of both species. Her chance meeting leads to an alliance that saved their cause later in the movie. The universe (or Force) is attracting to you events, people and circumstances that will align with your definite chief aim.

• "I'm not a slave, I'm a person, and my name is Anakin"
  

  • Held an image of himself in his mind, that was different of his reality. He did not visualize himself as a slave, so he was not bound to that fate. The time on Tattooine to the average fan is very annoying to watch. You have to deal with young annoying Anakin, fake-servant Padme, idiot Jar Jar, prick Waldo and the "Annie" nickname. And the podracing was just uninteresting to me. But never the less, I wasn't a writer, I'm just sharing my thoughts on what transpired. So back to Anakin. First, let's pick up on some of his character traits
    

    • High Self-Belief

    • Vision of a future for himself different than that of his reality

    • Kind, gentle, caring

    • Vocal and honest

    • Proud

  • Qui-Gon describes Anakin to Shmi (Anakin's mother) that "he gives without wanting in return." this is a characteristic of a Jedi that is not a common trait among people that you meet on Earth. Everyone has an agenda, every gift a tax write-off or for a photo op. Keep in your mind, "Giving without expectation of payment" or as Napoleon Hill mentions in his 16 Laws of Success, "The Habit of Doing More Than Paid For". This is completely invaluable because when you give without expectation of return you give from a state of mind that is vibrating "Abundance" and that is what you are attracting into your reality. If you feel abundant internally, immediately the universe will harmonize externally and people, ideas, and circumstances will rush into your life that keep you feeling abundant.

  • When his peers come to visit Anakin when he's working on his Podracer, what sort of encouragement did they give him? What sort of faith did they have in him? Did it seem like they supported him? Correct, these little ugly aliens mocked him! (They mocked the chosen one, Darth Vader, and called him Annie). (One of them being Warrick Davis! Look it up, he's also in Solo: A Star Wars Story, ends up some sort of rebel criminal, whatever) The point is, your peers are not your responsibility. Your peers must choose their own fate, as we all must. Anakin's peers did not believe in him but Anakin's power did not come from his friends belief and support in him. Anakin's power came from within. Just as yours does and every reader who happens upon this article and every free human spirit. Anakin's friends told him he was wasting his time. What do your friends tell you? Anakin is a slave! and believes in himself always, always, always. You may say his story was written for him, but you write your own story every day. You choose how you react to any given circumstance (Man's Search for Meaning - Victor Frankl) choose faith. Choose confidence.

  • Qui-Gon was ready to place all of his belief in Anakin, becuase Anakin the amount of belief Anakin had in himself. A leap of faith.

  • Anakin finding freedom from slavery. He won the podrace despite the adversity, despite the attempts of cheating by Selbuba, despite the sabotage at the beginning of the race, despite being in last most of the race, despite never having won a race before, so how does it happen? A definite chief aim, a burning desire, and unwavering faith in himself. I'm sure your daily activities do not include such adversity but if it did - and you had a definite chief aim fixed in your mind, and burning desire to achieve success - then these adversities should be absorbed to fuel your determination. Nothing happens by accident, everything happens exactly as the Force wills it. Though to move through the Force's will it is very important to let go of your attachments. This will be a tough one to master, or even explain to most people, I may go more in depth in a later article (stay tuned), but Anakin had to leave him mom, his home, his security for a better life, It's simple to understand, it's simple to say from an outside perspective, yes duh, but when it's you, When it's your feelings. Your letting go. It can be very difficult. You must keep your goal fixed in your mind. You must believe and have faith in other people to love and care for themselves. They will. Anakin "I don't want change" Shmi "You can't stop the change", the river of the Force is always flowing. Trying to swim against the current will tire you out and drown you. Relax and go with the flow. Have faith because all is well. Also want to bring up here that kids are not stupid, they know how to mask their emotions and everything you say to a child will be taken emotionally, they are not hardened. Be mindful of what you say to young people. Inspire them. Build them up. 

• The Jedi have complete mastery over their thoughts. This is something that you must develop before you can take any steps to being in control. I would recommend starting with the aforementioned Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl., this book is a very short read and very moving, read it once or read it once a year, for $10 on Amazon right now, its well worth it. When you have control over your thoughts, you have control over your emotions and feelings. And that is the most important part of being a Jedi is being in control of your thoughts and feelings. Not letting temptation to act recklessly or impulsively get yourself into trouble. It is necessary. Tips: Read, exercise, and meditate daily. You can do all of these in an hour or less but it will have huge benefits going forward. Great achievements are  built by small prices paid daily. Less time on your phone serving others opinion of you and more time building strength of character.

• Qui-Gon's belief. Ok so you have the queen of a planet on board, you are flying in space, you are getting shot at, you crash land on a desert island, you have no money. The average Joe would be pretty pissed off. It would be a facebok status "Naboo space exits - Total SHIT do not recommend!". "Tattooine sucks!", "No money to do anything, no cell service here, hold my messages, connect with you all when I get back", for everything everyone claims social media is good for, it is used for none of those things. It is a worldwide platform for people to complain to one another and for people to receive validation for their negative thoughts! You could power ten Death Stars with that amount of Negative energy. But you are different, you recognize that need to be negative but you are in control. The Jedi mind is in control and knows that when he is in harmony with the flow of the Force that all is well. Qui-Gon does not get up in arms in his situation. He is accepting and absorbing of the adversity and circumstance, never relinquishing his control over his thoughts and emotions. He is calm and always works forward, making his solution as it reveals itself to him. "Feel good now!"

• On Coruscant we meet Yoda. He delivers the line "Fear is the path to the dark side" but why? It's not really explained just that it "leads to anger, anger leads to hate and hate leads to....SUFFERING." It's hard to break down but there is a perfect graphic out there describing how Anakin travels through each of those stages throught out the movies. Fear of loss, Anger at his inability to control the outcome, Hate against all those who would take what he fears to lose from him and Suffering because all was lost because of him and it's irreversible. 
  

  • But why Fear? Well what is fear really? It is uncertainty of the future. Fear is none other than the opposite of Faith. You can not have one and the other. Fear is ignorance. The jedi code's second line is "There is no ignorance, there is knowledge". If you have internet access there is infinite knowledge available to you. Learning must continue past school. You will develop self confidence through this as well. More on this later. This post is already becoming long winded. 

• Also, imagine that the Sith have not been seen for thousands of years. These scary evil beings, you've got no clue what one of these guys even look like, think how many Jedi lived and died without even seeing one of these guys but always living prepared for it. Then all of a sudden you are Jedi padawan and you are fighting against one. And better yet, you just watched helplessly as he killed your mentor/master/parent-figure. If I'm Obi-Wan, I'm shitting my self. This dude is the absolute hero of the prequels and Ewan McGregor did such a great job. 

• Belief and Faith is the forefront of the Jedi teaching. Envision your success and believe it. Feel what is to come. Let your feelings and emotions guide you. You are the master. You choose the destination and the force will navigate you there. For good or evil, or anything you choose. So choose wisely.

Those are a few, few, few of my thoughts on the movie and how it correlates with Law of Attraction. I felt it was getting long winded. If you would like more - ask. I would be happy to discuss! Or if you would like my analysis on another movie, recommend it and I would be happy to do a break down for you.