12th
Another Great Teacher from a Movie Not About Classroom Teaching
Part Two in a Series of Five: Yoda (The Empire Strikes Back)
This one’s obvious, but it’s worth noting: For all of the Dooku-butt-whipping he dishes out in the prequels, Yoda is more than anything a teacher. He was Lao-Tzu and Sun-Tzu together in one. Winning wars without violence, like Hopha said in Slam.
Luke is a nice archetypal student, like Daniel-San – too impatient to sit down and think about what he already knows. Yoda’s all about the dance between student and the knowledge. His greatest achievement, we might say, comes when he dies and literally gets out of Luke’s way. But not before showing him the door. (This is as good a place as any to mention Morpheus, since he’s not in this series of five. He gets Honorable Mention.)
Yoda teaches us about looking within. Walking the path. The force which has a name is not the true force. Get rid of your attachments. Sounds like Lao-Tzu to me. Hail Yoda.
