Cool article, thanks for posting. I don't really know that much about eastern philosophy. And though I know the OT was influenced by it, I didn't see much of it (or look for) it's influences in TFA. And this article described in a succinct way how the Jedi are really warrior monks, and how Luke didn't fight agressively, but in a peaceful and defensive way.
And that that in itself can be seen as how far he's come as a person. Not only in how strong he is with the Force, to project himself across the galaxy, but also how far he's come in personal, spiritual development.
Again, cool article.
Slightly off topic, but sometimes I feel about dumb about not picking up on this stuff, and what the mirror scene meant in detail for Rey, even though I've seen the movie three times. Luckily there's articles like this to point it out.
And what good is the force power of projecting yourself to another location if you're just going to die after using it? Like, I can't think of any good reason to use it aside from this very contrived scenario developed by the writer? The imagery was cool, but his death didn't feel earned.
So in conclusion: LUKE SKYWALKER = NEUTERED!!!!!
In the article it talks about astral projection in Eastern philosophy, how hard it is. It also talks about nirvana as an endpoint of enlightenment, and also a 'snuffing out of a candle'. And how helping others can be a way to achieve nirvana. Which apparently happened when Luke did what he did?
If that's what Johnson was going for it was a very specific choice, so far from a contrived scenario. And then it made for a fantastic, though bittersweet, ending.