It can't be ruled out entirely but there are other works that contain some of those basic ideas. <PERSON> says that a lot of his ideas about the Force come from a book called Tales of Power by <PERSON> published in 1974 the same year <PERSON> wrote the rough draft of Star Wars.
In the outline <PERSON> refers to the old man’s mystical powers as being like those of “Don Juan”—a reference to The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge by <PERSON>, which was first published in 1968, with sequels in 1971 and 1972, followed by Tales of Power in 1975. <PERSON>’s fictional <PERSON> is like a shaman, with the ability to shape-shift, who teaches the mastery of awareness—to the point where one may keep it beyond death. His mystical influence seems to have been key in transforming <PERSON>’s concept of the Jedi from a samurai warrior into a more mystical warrior. The Making of Star Wars (2007) by <PERSON>
<PERSON> also told <PERSON> during their story conferences:
I may bring back <PERSON> eventually; I’ll have to bring back his voice. May also bring back the ghost of <PERSON>, not the person of <PERSON>. <PERSON> is learning the Force through a combination of things, rituals. Some of the Force came from <PERSON> book Tales of Power [1974]. The Making of The Empire Strikes Back by <PERSON>
Among the sorcerer's many teachings is the idea that we are all "luminous beings".
"Today I have to pound the nail that <PERSON> put in, the fact that we are luminous beings. We are perceivers. We are an awareness; we are not objects; we have no solidity. We are boundless. The world of objects and so- lidity is a way of making our passage on earth convenient. It is only a description that was created to help us. 605
We, or rather our reason, forget that the description is only a description and thus we entrap the totality of ourselves in a vicious circle from which we rarely emerge in our lifetime. Tales of Power (1974) by <PERSON>
Those words are put into <PERSON>'s mouth in The Empire Strikes Back.
<PERSON>: And well you shouldn’t. For my ally is The Force. And a powerful ally it is. All of life feeds it and makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we… (<PERSON> pinches <PERSON>’s skin) … not this crude matter. The Empire Strikes Back Fourth Draft (October 24, 1978) by <PERSON>
That he chose to name his version of what <PERSON>’s sorceror was teaching as something that rhymed with <PERSON>'s "The Source" is a coincidence. "Force," as a word for a kind of supreme being is said in <PERSON> 1964 film 21-87. The film is on YouTube and the quote begins at around 3:32.
Many people feel that in the contemplation of nature and in communication with other living things, they become aware of some kind of force, or something, behind this apparent mask which we see in front of us, and they call it God...
<PERSON> was a huge fan of 21-87.
<PERSON>'s favorite films remained the shorts made by the National Film Board of Canada, particularly 2187, an abstract film made up of news footage with image and sound juxtaposed out of context. Halfway through the film, a man wakes up and says, "You're 2187, aren't you?" and smiles, the only dialogue in the film. <PERSON> loved it: "I said, 'That's the kind of movie I want to make — a very off-the-wall, abstract kind of film.' It was really where I was at, and I think that's one reason I started calling most of my [college] movies by numbers. I saw that film twenty or thirty times." Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas (1983) by <PERSON>
<PERSON> would later reference 21-87 in Star Wars.
THREEPIO Level five, Detention block A-23, cell 2187… He’s still alive… but his condition is reported as critical. Adventures of the Starkiller (episode one) “The Star Wars” Second Draft (January 28, 1975) by <PERSON>
<PERSON> first tried writing the Force into his first feature, 3 years before the debut of New Gods.
"There must be something independent,” said THX 1138. “A Force. 378