Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 6, episode 11 “Visions” is an episode centered around the Jedi spiritual connection with the Force and finds Yoda using a particular method to enter a deep state of meditation. After briefly being contacted from the beyond by the disembodied voice of Qui-Gon Jinn, Yoda makes several attempts to reestablish contact with him through the Force to attain further elaboration on the cryptic message he received. To this end, Yoda chooses to enter into a medically induced state of meditation through the usage of a dangerous method.
Yoda achieves his goal of contacting Qui-Gon through this method, however, the moment he does, Qui-Gon tells him that this is not the way to do it. The insight Yoda gains into his destination of Dagobah nearly costs him his life before he’s pulled out of his meditation by a concerned Obi-Wan. Although Yoda continues on with his quest as if it were nothing, this state of consciousness within the Force that is only accessible on the razor-thin edge between life and death holds staggering implications.
Jedi Use Sensory Depravation To Meditate Deeply Into The Force
While Yoda’s case of using a sensory deprivation tank is an extreme example, the use of sensory deprivation to strengthen a connection to the Force is not at all uncommon for Jedi. Luke Skywalker utilized multiple methods, between the simple blinder helmet used in his initial lightsaber training aboard the Millennium Falcon and his use of the Force over an automated guidance system to destroy the Death Star. Another example, albeit irreversible, was how Kanan Jarrus became remarkably stronger in his connection to the Force after being blinded by Darth Maul.
In the real world, modern science presents countless examples of human brain functionality being elevated to extraordinary limits by the use of sensory depravation tanks, heightening one’s senses while simultaneously robbing them of them. With what is known of midi-chlorians, the usage of this technology in Star Wars could insinuate that a connection to the Force is part of a Jedi’s nervous system, akin to a sixth sense. However, Yoda’s example presents a fascinating and frightening dichotomy in the Force as both an innate sense and a conscious entity.
Meditation In Sensory Depravation Tanks Was Considered Dangerous
With obvious implications, it would come as no surprise that the Jedi Order took issue with Yoda’s deadly methods of depriving his senses, as trifling with death is not something a Jedi would typically approve of. As viewers are taught many times throughout Star Wars, the Force is a gateway to many things, and placing oneself in a state of spiritual openness and incomparable vulnerability through the Force is undoubtedly very dangerous, but present an interesting possibility. Before the end of his life, Yoda eventually learns to maintain his connection to the living world after death through the Force, but his experience in the tank shows he may have also discovered means for the living to effectively commune with the realm of the dead.
