As I said, empty filler to bind the crap together. The film would be the same without it.
I disagree. In my opinion, Luke Skywalker vanishing in a self-imposed exile was sheer brilliance on the part of J. J. Abrams. It was one of the few creative decisions that I liked in The Force Awakens.
It would be brilliant if it was actually a focus of the story and properly explored/utilised, rather than being an empty filler.
Anyway what makes you think it was JJ’s idea in the first place?