Master Yoda is one the best teachers in all of Star Wars, and there was one particular lesson that Master Windu learned as a very young child that he remembered throughout his life. That lesson was nonattachment. While nonattachment may seem harsh to the outside eye, Jedi's adherence to it was for the practical well-being of everyone in the galaxy. That is the true goal for every Jedi: service and compassion for all.
Yoda was one most powerful Jedi Masters in all of Star Wars, and he was also one of the most beloved among the Jedi. His calm demeanor and love for children made him a perfect candidate for teaching younglings and caring for infants. Over the centuries, Yoda trained many young Jedi and left his mark on them. Because of his age, his master was only a legend even to the oldest and most learned Jedi. He was a fixture at the Temple. So, even the most powerful adult masters recalled their childhoods when Yoda taught them about the Force.
Matthew Stover’s Legends novel Star Wars: Shatterpoint details a time where Master Mace Windu recalls one of his earliest memories at the Jedi Temple when Yoda taught him a very important lesson about attachment. He was not even old enough to stand, but he remembered “shrieking like a wounded glowbat, as Yoda prefers to describe it – as some kind of toy, a rattle, it might have been bobbed in the air just beyond my grasp.” Mace’s temper tantrum, however, did not get him any closer to the toy. Yoda was holding the toy in the air with his mind, and he wanted baby Mace to reach out and feel it with his mind. It was with this exercise that Master Windu consciously felt the Force for the first time.
Even with that success, Yoda was not finished. He wanted to teach baby Mace a second lesson. After letting Mace play with the toy for a while, it was time for Yoda to take it away, but Mace did not like that. He refused to give it up. With all of the might in his little arms and all of his strength in the Force, Mace held onto the toy until it broke.
For baby Mace, the incident was a tragedy that only elicited more tears, but for Master Windu, it became a vivid memory that led him to understand an important principle. As an adult, he understood how Yoda had been teaching him about nonattachment because for Jedi, “holding too tightly to something we love will destroy it. And break our hearts as well.”
Although it may seem harsh, the law of nonattachment, in theory, is very practical. Jedi are supposed to serve the common good and the needs of the masses. If they become too attached to a particular individual or object, it could cause them to lose sight of their broader goal of service and compassion for everyone. Anakin Skywalker is the prime example of this. He became so enamored with Padmé that he lost sight of his role as the Chosen One and abandoned his status of Jedi in trying to save her from death. His attachment led to the deaths of thousands of Jedi and plunged the galaxy into tyranny. Although Anakin's situation is an extreme example, that is the kind of problem the Jedi were trying to avoid by maintaining a policy of nonattachment.
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