The Zen of R2-D2: Ancient Wisdom from a Galaxy Far, Far Away

by Matthew Bortolin

Entertaining and engaging, this new follow-up to Wisdom’s bestseller The Dharma of Star Wars stands on its own and will captivate a broad audience with the Star Wars story from a Buddhist perspective.

Did you ever wonder why R2-D2

Could it be because he’s secretly a Zen master?

Discover your inner R2—and the truth about who you really are!

This delightful and illuminating romp unfolds in the form of a fictional dialogue between the author—a die-hard Star Wars devotee with a deep connection to Zen—and two cosplayers dressed as C-3PO and R2-D2 who insist on being called by their character names. Along the way, you’ll come to see what everyone’s favorite astromech can teach us about peace, happiness, and life’s true meaning.

Genres: Star Wars, Buddhism, Nonfiction, Philosophy

128 pages, Paperback

First published November 12, 2019

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an attempt to do a version of The Tao of Pooh through a Star Wars lens and it is mostly successful but it gets bogged down a bit in concepts and should of just let R2 and 3P0 be themselves and not add the person in costume aspect which takes away the narrative and misses the point of the exercise. Still a good book on Zen Buddhism but like a stormtrooper it just missed being great.

Good and I will probably buy it because you know star wars and zen Buddhism lol but your result may vary.

[Irene Castillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Small read but good stuff that you have to chunk in and marinate. I liked that it was a simple explanation of Zen & it’s numerous connections to the Star Wars universe; exemplified especially in R2.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[· · Rating 3 out of 5]

(5 July, 2025)

A fine addition to any Zen discussion, and an OK Star Wars fan book. The references to any Disney sequel are crap because those movies are crap but that's about my only Star Wars themed objection.

When I think of Zen, awareness (maybe hyper-awareness?) comes to mind – as in mindfulness, being present in the moment, truly in the moment. Zen is ironic, trying be Zen-like is self-defeating, just don’t try too hard, it’s that easy. This book, mostly, gets it right; don’t think, observe; don’t try, do; don’t see thing as you wish, see them as they are; don’t offer advice, listen, et cetera…

The heart of Zen is the imperfect perfection of living, just living, day to day. Bortolin understands this, even with his sometime clumsy Star Wars allusions. Compassion is a big part of it, too:

"The compassionate actor never asks what he gets from helping, he just sees what needs to be done and does it — selflessly."

Being at peace with one’s self is the true home of the Zen adept, or practitioner (labels, always labels!), and again, Bortolin gets it. It's easy to help others when one is free.

The following might be the most important message of 'The Zen Of R2-D2':

"All beings, all things, are empty of a separate self. They are part of the shared, causal flow of existence, the interplay of matter and energy constantly changing, constantly transforming. Nothing is alone. Nothing is independent. We are all in this together. A single act of compassion benefits everyone. An act of evil hurts us all."

It's something that often comes to mind:

... it's not about me.

[Andrew Ives · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author clearly knows his Star Wars inside out, and for all I can tell, his Zen Buddhism too. Although I could quite clearly see the parallels he draws between the two, and I liked how it was presented - well-written as a dialogue in the queue with C3PO and R2D2 at a Star Wars convention - not unlike ancient Greek philosophy works, I just couldn't quite swallow all the Zen/R2D2 stuff, nor most of the Zen teachings on their own. Some of it, such mindfulness, karma, living modestly, makes good sense, albeit somewhat obvious. The chanting, the Indian words for everything, living in a cave, quickly got a little beyond me. Quite a fun read, but I couldn't take much of it onboard, philistine padawan that I am. 3/5

[Will Plunkett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not normally an "and a 1/2 stars" rater, but this deserves 3.5. Content-wise, it is an easy way to introduce or review some of the philosophical concepts. Stylistically, the use of R2 and 3PO as sounding boards for the author is strong at times, and loses out on potential nuance and interest at others. I think it didn't really know its Original Cover before its publisher and author were designed; or to ruin another of the phrases from the book: this painted nice tale didn't satisfy my hunger.

[Katelyn Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid 4 stars. I enjoyed it, I honestly didn't know much about Zen or how to be Zen but as soon as I saw a Star Wars take on this ancient wisdom I had to try it. Even though this concept is new to me, I can understand it a bit better because of the examples it gave me from my favorite fandom. The correlation work vastly well for me. A must read for any Star Wars fan!!!

[Manolo González · Rating 4 out of 5]

I greatly recommend reading "The dharma of Star Wars" before this one (same author), I guess this one is not as I expected, It's not a bad book, but I felt it a little bit vague, a lot of examples are about Luke and Rey (Not R2 as I would believe), It works and always helps to keep in the "Zen way" but not as the first I mentioned.

[Dan Baum · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gift from the holidays, this book brings to mind The Tao of Pooh. It’s similar in its approach by using a familiar story to illustrate a complex Eastern philosophy (but not nearly as strong or entertaining). For those familiar with Star Wars but not Zen, this could be a fun intro. If not a Star Wars fan, it could be unintelligible or even insufferable.

[Cristian Marrero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicely broken down by episodes and memorable scenes and decisions having to be made.
The nice thing about this book is that it is a conversation between 3 people as they are awaiting the conference or ceremony to begin. Many of the teachings here reflect the great buddha or bodhidharma. This is basically another Tao book of lessons in itself. R2-D2 did teach us many lessons.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book gave an introduction of Zen from the perspective of R2D2 and C3PO. I did learn a bit of Zen and it was an interesting spin on it, but the whole book seemed hokey to me and I couldn’t take it seriously. It was really just Zen light, trying to explained by a Star Wars geek.

[Amy H. Sturgis · Rating 5 out of 5]

As long as Matthew Bortolin continues to write deceptively-simple-yet-profound commentaries on Buddhism and Star Wars, I will read and love them. Start with The Dharma of Star Wars. This is a quick read with lasting impact.

[Kenley Neufeld · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun and conversational story that touches on key Buddhist teachings. A 2-hour read.

[Mouse · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very quick read with basic teachings of zen. It’s not bad from a zen angle, but the R2D2 angle is totally hokey! You could use any droid or even Jedi in place of it.

[M]

read

[Elexndra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good. Bought from FOL. Gave to friend

[Jymme Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! Good explanation of Zen. Every person will gain insight.

I recommend to Star War fans who embrace the teaching of a Jedi. I have been studying Zen and found it profound.