A Spiritual Interview with Master Yoda of Star Wars

I went through extraordinary lengths to contact Master Yoda. As you may or may not know he is currently one with the Force with his whereabouts being in a galaxy far, far away. This, as you would have imagined it, certainly hasn’t made my task of contacting him easy, let alone trivial.

After many experiments with cross-galactic messaging and long distance phoning (and by long I actually mean intergalactically long), after many failed attempts and many sleepless nights I’ve finally managed to get to him.

Our first encounter was neither as glamorous nor as impressive as was his with the infamous Skywalker, but I won’t be nitpicking here. After eating his goulash (even though he’s one with the Force he still likes to cook) and talking to him about trivialities of the galactic senate, he finally agreed to do an interview with me.

I tried to pace the interview, but soon I realized that I have no to very little say in this. Yoda was guiding me through questions and answers alike, leaving me in awe admiring his words.

The Interview

It’s a tremendous honor to be talking with you, Master Yoda.

No such thing as honor there is.

Well, I figured that this could be a good introduction; it should shows my appreciation and admiration and get us off to the right foot. But you got my curiosity. Why do you think that there is no honor?

Think that? Hmmm… Jedi thinks not. Jedi knows or knows not. Rarely to something good the thinking leads.

Why is that?

Thinking clouds the mind; it dampens the feelings and keeps you away from yourself and from the Force.

I’m still not following.

Because thinking you are. Clear your mind, only then you’ll be able to understand that it’s the Force that binds us and unites us. Through the Force all equal, all one are we. The honor no place in the mind of illuminated ones has.

Who exactly are the illuminated ones? The Jedi?

Illuminated not only Jedi can be. Many ways of the Force there are. Jedi way only one of these ways is.

Is the other way the Sith way?

Hmm…. yes. One of them.

What about an ordinary man? Let’s say, could I interact with the Force?

The Force connects everything. Everything any one of us does, through the Force it does.

Are you saying that I’m—to a certain extent—versed into the ways of the Force?

To the Force who you are and what you do matters not.

What matters to the Force then?

What matters is the peace. Anyone at peace can feel the Force.

I can’t really believe this.

Not at peace you are.

And what if I would be? I certainly couldn’t feel the Force on a level of the Jedi?

There are no levels. The Force is. This is what one must learn to become with the Force one.

Just as you have, right?

Hmmm… if one with the Force you are, about the Force you think not.

Is there such thing as death?

Life and death both uncertain are. One can be dead in life, and one can live in death. But the Force connects everything. Yes, even life and death.

Can you tell us more about the Force?

No. The Force felt must be. Words can help you understand, but words alone sufficient are not.

Can you help me feel the Force?

No. Too impatient you are.

I’m sorry, Master.

Sorry you should not be.

Why not? I realized I was wrong, hence an apology was in order, wasn’t it?

There is no wrong.

There is no wrong?

There is no wrong.

Peculiar. What about the dark side of the Force?

The universe just the energy is. And energy, just like the Force, good or bad can’t be.

But the Force can be used for bad?

Yes, but to the Force this matters not.

Can you elaborate this? How does the Jedi differentiate itself from the Sith? How do you know that you’re on a good side of the Force? And how can anyone, if there is no right or wrong, talk about concepts of dark or light?

A long time have I thought about this. And realized I have, that I was wrong. The actions of the Sith are the actions of selfishness, and the actions of the Jedi are noble. Jedi protects the peace, to the Sith the peace nothing is.

But the Force cares about any of these notions not. Both bad and good merely products of the Force are. And while Force itself can be used for bad, the Force itself can’t be neither good nor bad. The Force is, that is everything.

The notions of black and white have plagued the civilization, as well as the Jedi, for far too long. The wiser you get the more you realize that there are no differences in the Force. There are no sides, and every conflict essentially a conflict with oneself is.

Does this mean that your work was, strictly speaking, in vain?

No, merely learning have I been.

But most of this was revealed to you only after your earthly passing, only after you were reunited with the Force, right?

To the living this may seem so. But the dead very differently at this are looking.

How differently?

To see this, die you must.

Alright, I guess I can wait a little bit for this revelation.

Valuable your life to you is, hmm?

Of course, isn’t life the most valuable thing we have?

Life, just like the death, just a phase is.

Death is just the phase? And what comes after it?

Unsure of this I am.

Are you really unsure or just unwilling to talk about it?

Is this relevant at all?

Of course not. Can we return to the subject of the Force? I’m certain that the audience would like to learn more. How can one become a Jedi? What are the best steps to take in order to prepare oneself mentally and physically? And is even possible to prepare oneself?

Not one should strive a Jedi to become. Learn and grow every day, this enough is.

Alright, as I see you’re unwilling to talk deeply about the Force, as well as about the concepts of death and life.

Unwilling to talk? Unwilling to listen you are.

Perhaps .Can we move away from this spiritual subjects onto more earthly ones? What is your opinion on upcoming Star Wars movies? Are you going to appear in them? If so, why? If not, why not?

Irrelevant this is.

Rumors say that you’ll appear at least in one of the upcoming movies. Can you say something about that?

Too focused on the future you are. Here and now what matters is.

Can you comment on the original trilogy and prequels? How do you see them fit together? And were you disappointed by the prequels just as a bunch of fans was?

Again. Too focused on the past you are. This moment, where you should be is. Everything else irrelevant is.

I understand, this is a religious, spiritual thing. But you know, most people are more interested in down-to-earth things.

Shouldn’t you as a journalist—and journalist you are—be guiding people towards the things that matter? Is gossip what you think should be written and talked about?

I wouldn’t call myself exactly a journalist, but yes, absolutely, I agree. Media today is far too focused on sensationalism and gossip. As you say, we should be steering away from that, since there’s no real value in it.

Yoda looks me calmly and quietly making his point stick even stronger.

I realize now that I might be a part of the problem, since I haven’t given a lot of thought to this, but I’ll definitely try to change it now that you’ve, so to speak, opened my eyes.

Yoda gives me a very disappointed look making me realize that even though I was so focused on his movies I failed to realize one of the strongest and most important messages from them.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I shouldn’t try, I should do or do not. And that’s an excellent point. I will do so.

Good.

Alright, I feel like we… like I… lost my way through this interview a bit.

This help you see things differently will. Lose your way often, and you will get to where you need to go.

The problem is, though, that I am not sure where I want or need to go. I’m pretty sure that spirituality is not my calling. I like studying it, reading about it, but becoming a monk—since I don’t think I’m exactly a Jedi material—is probably not my thing.

So certain are you of what could and couldn’t be. Let the Force guide you and you will get to wherever you need to go.

That’s a solid advice.

Learned something today, have you?

Indeed I have. Thank you, Master Yoda.

Thank you. May the Force be with you.

Yoda’s Work

Yoda is not very talkative when it comes to his work. Naturally, the work he does in the Jedi order is shrouded with a decently dense cloud of mystery, while he deems the work outside of Jedi order necessary, but not really important.

His movie career ended prematurely, just as his nine-hundred-something life did, but this hasn’t stopped him from becoming one of the most influential figures of cinematography.

What we do defines who we are is one of the strongest Yoda’s principles (although he never revealed this to anyone but me), and it’s no wonder that he became one of the greatest heroes of our time.

He’s not only full of wisdom, but he’s also compassionate, insightful, friendly and always willing to help a galaxy in need.

My encounter with him (even though it was a fictional one) just reinforced these thoughts; he truly is one of the wisest beings of the known and unknown Universe.