CWBorne said:

That particular description points to how the Force in the OT acted as a mythic phenomenon, but in some ways, like something akin to a science of sorts in that it was neither inherently good or inherently evil, only the actual users determined that. While it did have a power one had to respect (as it would have a physical effect eventually as Palpatine's form demonstrated) it seemed very much like a tool. A natural part of life that one chose to utilize for good (the Jedi using it to protect the Republic) or ill (Palpatine using it take over the Republic) but still in many ways a tool.

I also came out of the OT with a very nondualist interpretation of the Force (similar to yours, and I still prefer it).

However, it does seem like Lucas intended the Force to be split into actual dark and light parts, even during the OT. I can't remember the exact quotes right now, but I'll have to go through the Making Ofs and Annotated Screenplays, etc., because I'm fairly sure I remember them being there. This seems to be a place where a lot of viewers made reasonable inferences about what they were being shown when the intention behind it might have been different. I think this comes from a combination of vagueness and assumptions based on Yoda's very eastern teachings.

Of course, the metaphysics of SW do seem to have really changed between the OT and PT, just not in that way (dual vs. nondual). In the OT (and related background materials) there isn't any suggestion of balance or imbalance in the Force, or any Chosen One(s), or anything like that.