I think it was more along the lines that Lucas didn't/doesn't understand the eastern philosophies he was trying to emulate, only copying the trappings (wearing

I think it was more along the lines that Lucas didn't/doesn't understand the eastern philosophies he was trying to emulate, only copying the trappings (wearing robes, taking on apprentices, practicing asceticism). I think he needed a white knight and a premise, and the rest of what we know about Jedis just snowballed from that.