Yoda's Advice on Creativity

Reflection: #28

Yoda said many things as he trained Luke in the jungle on Degobah, and one could do far worse in creative endeavors than to take his words to heart and consider them as truth.

I used to think, however, that Yoda was wrong about one thing: Luke wanted to use the Force to levitate his X-wing out of the swamp, but his ship was far larger and heavier than anything he had previously moved using the Force. He turned to Yoda and said, "I'll try." And Yoda said, "No. Either do, or do not. There is no try."

“Either do. Or do not. There is no try.” - Yoda

For years, decades really, I've joked that Yoda was incorrect on this one point. That there is value in trying. For, how can anyone ever master anything without trying, and failing, and improving, at least at first? Anything worth doing, is worth doing poorly…until you can do it well. You must deal with the frustration of being a beginner, and keep on trying until you finally achieve some competence in any given field, from painting, to guitar playing, to writing, to any endeavor that takes time and practice to master. So, yes, there is "try."

But, I recently re-watched The Empire Strikes Back, now with the benefit of having meditated and embraced more spiritual and creative things over the past several years, and it dawned on me that Yoda was correct.

Like a virtuoso who has mastered his technique, Luke had, already done the grunt work of strengthening his body, and, to some degree, his mental state, and could already lift rocks with the Force, all while doing a handstand with Yoda balanced on his feet! For Luke to progress further, to be a true master, required, what all great art requires: opening one’s self up to the creative force of the universe and moving beyond the rational, beyond logic, beyond words, and beyond technique. Luke needed to get himself, his false doubts out of the way, and simply channel the Force.

This happens all the time in real life, and it's something you feel, not something you "work harder" to achieve. Yoda, in this scene, was trying (pun intended) to get Luke “beyond thought” so that he could receive and channel the full power of the Force, to channel the creativity energy of the universe.

A full Jedi is perhaps the Star Wars galaxy's equivalent to achieving "enlightenment" here in our reality. And any good Zen master will tell you that you can’t "think" your way to enlightenment, you can’t "try" to achieve it.  In fact, if you've ever meditated, you've experienced this frustration. The harder you "try" to achieve the blissful calm state that happens deep in meditation, the more it eludes you. The very act of "trying" involves striving and thinking and you can't think your way to grasp something that is beyond thinking. You already have it.

You simply allow yourself to see it. You must get yourself out of the way. You must completely remove your self. It is not in what you add, but in what you remove.

In other words, either do.  Or do not.  There is no try.

And, once again Yoda was correct, and only now, decades later, do I truly understand.

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