The Matrix Has you!

I'm not confused by the movies at all- i was making a funny about the spelling of "wot" in madmartinez's post.

but i think i was the only one that found it amusing.

does it really matter how peeps spell things as long as im gettin the info i want i dont complain

The matrix movie number one can be seen from a buddhist perspective. If you think the matrix has you and you are accepting of buddhist themes in escaping the matrix, you can read here to help in your quest.

Free Your Mind

To cover all the bases, you should also read a book that was a huge influence on the Brothers when they were writing the script for the first film: Simulacra and Simulation
On the first page of the book, the author uses the phrase "Desert of the real," which should ring a bell to Matrix fans. The book is a difficult read in some parts, but well worth the effort.

It seems to me that the movie is a mix of Xian prophecy with Buddhist philosophy. Oh, and a dash of Hinduism for flavor.

As a side note, you can see Simulacra and Simulation in the first film. When the guy comes to buy the program from Neo, we see that Neo keeps his illegal programs in a false book. The cover of the book (which is visible for a few seconds) is "Simulacra and Simulation." I also heard in an interview with the main actors that the Brothers made them all read the book before they shot the first movie.

[Edited on 27-4-2004 by 23rd_Degree]

[Edited on 27-4-2004 by 23rd_Degree]

These films are complete jems. From a philosophical point of view they are untouched in mainstream media. All three movies pose deep spiritual questions. No insult intended on any of the posters but generally speaking (in my experience) people I meet IRL that love the films are.. how shall I say this, of a higher than average intelligence. These films are NOT average by any means at all.

Originally posted by 23rd_Degree

It seems to me that the movie is a mix of Xian prophecy with Buddhist philosophy. Oh, and a dash of Hinduism for flavor.

Yes. I see this too, although I never thought of the Matrix films from a spiritual perspective before. But yes, I can totally see "Neo" in the Jesus role and it's totally brilliant. This has to be one of the best movies ever made (the first, not the last two...although I DID very much enjoy the rampant sex between Neo and Trinity in the second ).

Before I read this thread, I always thought of the Matrix as having several parallels to real life it isn't even funny. In fact, I've even said so in other forums, only to be ridiculed. But I see them all the same. For instance, the things Morpheus says are just PURE genius.

When he says to Neo "They are inured to the system, they will fight to the death to defend it". Well, isn't this the basic reaction you get whenever you question the status quo to the sheep ?

Or when he's talking about how we are meant to be human batteries. It's like...no # !!!!!!!!!!

I see Morpheus basically as talking about the NWO. There are very few people who really "see" compared to the 'moral majority' which does not. I see these as being "plugged into the Matrix". They are 'happy'. They are complacent, they are blissfully ignorant and Goddess help you when you attempt to awaken them.

Hey, I was just browsing this forum and saw this topic. I'm a big fan of the Matrix trilogy, and I believe I understand it pretty well.

Re: the Matrix trilogy being Hindu, well, actually it is. Just not the Hinduism that everyone's so familiar with: that is, the worship of gods and goddesses.

The Matrix trilogy is actually not as Buddhist as it is Hindu. In fact, Reloaded and Revolutions is basically a point-counterpoint argument about Buddhism and Hinduism. Buddhism is emphasized in Reloaded, Hinduism in Revolutions.

The particular philosophy that's being shown in the Matrix trilogy is Advaita Vedanta, which is similar to Mahayana Buddhism. In essence, All Is One. As Morpheus actually states several times in Reloaded and what actually happens to Neo at the end of Revolutions. Neo and Smith are both one and the same entity. They escape the illusion of reality by merging, and their respective codes, go back to the Source in the Matrix, while Neo's atman goes back to Brahman or whatever you would like to call the Source of all consciousness.

The movies are also very much influenced by Gnostic Christianity, but there isn't that much difference between Gnostic Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism. IMHO, the trilogy does veer more towards Hinduism though.

Smith is not just any antichrist. He's Neo's opposite, but he's ALSO Neo. That's a big difference. He's Neo's ego, while Neo is his Self. The reason why I say the trilogy is less Buddhist than Hindu is because Buddhists don't believe in the Self. They believe in bundles of habits that bind the person to the world, or something to that effect, and are constantly recycled. Yet, the Oracle says to Neo, "Know thy Self" and that's what Neo does.

The trilogy is particularly influenced by the Upanishads, the BhagavadGita (song of the Lord), and the Ramayana (hence the presence of Rama Kandra).

In the first movie, it plays up the Christian angle, but if you look deeper, they're really discussing Hinduism/Buddhism. The Matrix is a virtual representation of maya, the illusory reality that we all live in. The Source is the virtual representation of Brahman, which is the Source of all consciousness.

In the first movie, it presents you with the Christian trinity of Father (Morpheus), Son (Neo), and the Holy Spirit (Trinity). However, Trinity also represents Shakti, the feminine goddess of Hinduism.

There's a higher trinity of gods in the Matrix. Neo as Vishnu the preserver (he ends up preserving the Matrix), the Architect as Brahma the creator, and Smith as Shiva the Destroyer (as he's out to destroy everything).

As for Neo representing Jesus Christ, well, he does, but the Gnostic Christ, IMHO. He also represents Parashurama, the 6th incarnation of Vishnu, and Buddha. In fact, it's implied that, at least from my Hindu perspective, Vishnu is Brahman, and he came down to help both machines and mankind. He came down as Neo to help mankind and he came down as Rama Kandra to help the machines. That scene where the two meet in Mobil Avenue is a pivotal scene taken out of the Ramayana. In the Ramayana, Parashurama, the 6th incarnation of Vishnu meets Rama, the 7th incarnation of Vishnu. At that juncture, Parashurama realizes his mission is done on earth and transfers his potency to Rama and then goes to meditate in the mountatins, between heaven and earth. Which is precisely what Mobil avenue is, between the Matrix (heaven in Gnostic Christianity), and Earth (Zion).

Keanu Reeves himself said in an interview that the trilogy's based on the Blink of Vishnu, the idea of worlds within worlds, which Vishnu dreams, and he tries to come down in each world and get mankind to come closer to him. His ultimate pleasure is to see mankind close to him, but mankind chooses to reject him and suffer instead. So Vishnu comes down to try and ease mankind's burden and help them become enlightened.

By the way, the fight between Neo and Smith at the end of Revolutions, there's a song that's played there called Neodammerung. This is actually a song in Sanskrit, taken right out of the Upanishads and pretty much sums up Neo's path to enlightenment. He ultimately transcends karma upon his death.

However, Hindu and Buddhist time scales are cyclical, and all of this is bound to happen again, with Neo incarnating again in the 6th/7th cycle all over again. Revolutions was about the reset of the MAJOR cycle of the Matrix, while Reloaded was about the reset of the minor cycle of the Matrix where they just restart the current age. Revolutions was about the ushering in of Satya Yuga or the Golden Age (which is symbolized by Sati's raising of the sun, and Neo forming a lotus upon his death when being escorted away by the machines). The lotus is a hindu and buddhist flower. It is held in one of the hands of Vishnu and represents the return of Truth (Satya) and that's the return of the golden age.

Neo finally transcends karma upon his death, and in Hindu terms the only reality is that which is merging with the Almighty (or Brahman or whatever you want to call it). Ultimately, although it doesn't say it outright, both the Matrix and Zion are illusory, although the Matrix and Zion are BOTH viable realities for its denizens).

Neo's death is symbolic of Christ's because he allows for at least a time, for people from the Matrix to freely exit and start their paths towards enlightenment. He gave them a choice. But eventually the war will start again, the Matrix will go through re-writes until it's back to the degenerate age that was depicted from the beginning, and the One Cycle and Neo are brought back.

There's much more to the trilogy than this, but that's basically the gist of what I know of the trilogy.

interesting theory, although i do believe the wachowski brothers (the guys who created the matrix) mostly wrote the matrix from a gnostic perspective. in case your not familliar with gnosticism, its the belief that our world is an illusion and was created by an opressive force posing to be the true god. meanwhile we have people like jesus, budda, and kristnia (however the hell you spell it) that represent the true infinite god of the universe and came here to set us free from the opressive illusion we are currently living in.

although the matrix is not just about gnosticism though, there are elements from all sorts of religions that can be found within the matrix.

[edit on 29-7-2004 by mutehalo]

A couple others that I didn't see mentioned in here:
www.matrix-explained.com...

Neo means "New" (Greek)
N-E-O is an anagram of O-N-E

Thomas A. Anderson
Ander = "Man" (Greek)
Son = "Son"
Anderson = "Son of man". An attribute also given to Jesus.
Moreover "Neo Anderson" would mean "New son of man".

One I didn't see on that site is the reference about the Ship (other than the Nebuchadnezzar) called the 'Logos'

Logos
Christianity: In Saint John's Gospel, especially in the prologue (1:1-14), the creative word of God, which is itself God and incarnate in Jesus. Also called The Word.
the divine word of God; the second person in the Trinity.
(I believe the Logos was the ship used at the end which Neo and Trinity used.)

reply to post by junglejake


The MATRIX, Was All About The International Right Of Self-Determination. "The Movie Told You Everything!" Just Like Zion In The MATRIX TRILOGY...It's Your Turn To Get Free From The Chains That Bind You...In Case You Missed It, Zion Was Able To Co-Exist With The System Due To The Peace Accord That Was Established!

This Is A Battle Of The Mind...
...The Rich And Powerful Use A Mathematical Control Grid That Puzzles Together All Aspects Of The Economy...And Your Life!

AND YES, These are THE REAL PEOPLE in power and THEY are the OWNERS...

All you need to know is that you don't "own" it because "the system" owns it....and the system owns you.

Are You Able To Think...

The "system" ...much like as spoken of in THE MATRIX (in number 1 of the trilogy) ....is a program to get someone else to "think for you". As Agent Smith told Morpheus.... "I only say (in words) that its your world...because once we started thinking for you it became our world".

If this is a "battle of the mind", are you going to allow yours to be "seized or captured" by someone else's "capitol idea"?

What If...

What if the United States did not exist....what would you do? Would you come together in community with others and build a society? Would you set up system of governance?

What would you do?

Would you "self-govern"? Would you establish a culture, a nation, a state? Would you work with others of like-mind? Would you establish protocols for Peace within the State and for treaty with others "states"? What would you do for "yourself and your Posterity"???

There is a very large freight train coming down the path for those that are not "prepared for self-government" and are not looking for and supporting a solution to "come-out" of their debtor-servitude-citizen condition.

Since THE MATRIX movie release in 1999, the word Matrix has come to mean a trap or web …a technological program of slavery and control. Although you may sense this is true, most people don’t know “what it is”. The reason you don’t know is because you have never been shown the Real-World matrix. For instance, the Movies are (most likely) named after a Mathematical Program created in 1958 by Wassily Leontief.

Who was Wassily Leontief?

Leontief was born in Munich, Germany in the year 1905.

He was a mathematician who used an 81x81matrix of quadratic equations to solve for every variable of input and output data in the United States economy. For this he won a Nobel Prize. Since that time…a basis software program was created and runs inside the IRS and global banking computers.

That program is called the LEONTIEF MATRIX.

This Mathematical Matrix is about an energy transfer using current-See and your Account-ability. Therefore; banking becomes the primary [accounting] business on the Planet and involves regulation by treaties and global agreements.

These agreements create the rules that control most of the details of your life…where/when you work; how you get food, water and energy to use.

Remember--Neo was told he was born a slave and most people when shown the Real Matrix; they do the same thing that Neo did….they either reject it or want to revolt.

But, THE MATRIX was not about remaining a slave and Revolution was/is not the Solution. THE MATRIX movies were about changing the agreement and then separating from THE MATRIX in peace.
And that is what people must do, CHANGE.

Neo could “see” his condition because he saw the Matrix for exactly what it is. Agent Smith was the dark side of Neo…the egotistical-selfish side…with a massive “look at me; it’s my world” attitude. In the end, Neo had to destroy that ego. He had to destroy his own anger and the “me” attitude that threatened to tear down the World.

Neo had to accept his “Smith” and overcome himself (Smith) for the greater good of Zion. Neo opted for peaceful co-existence so that both peoples; Zion and the Machine-World would survive and not be destroyed.

And….This is what you must do. The real-world controls come from your own agreements, and contracts/treaties, which form the rules and laws. As Morpheus told Neo, the Matrix is governed by rules, and being “plugged-in” you are bound by those rules.

Originally posted by junglejake
All I can say is, oy carumba!

I was watching the matrix tonight. I've seen the other two. The second was crap. The third? Well, the third was pretty much a cross of every religion on the planet. Kinda funny like that

I had a revelation tonight. Any mods readling, and the rest of you reading, are probably thinking this belongs in BTS. But I have a twist for y'all.

The next time you watch the matrix trilogy, look at it from a hindu perspective. My contention is that whoever wrote and directed (I don't keep up on these things, don't really care) the Martix trilogy was a hindu. Not only were they hindu, but they were trying to express their beliefs through the movie.

Throughout the movies there are numerous religios references. The first movie is veryvague, but as the trilogy goes on, it gets more specific. Look at the train scene with Neo, with they guy explaining hinduistic beilefs along with bhudist beilefs. The first one is vague, however, but the plan is there. It's exactly how I would go about bringing people to my beliefs without knowing. I would start with a hook and a worm, and then reel them in. Ask most movie buffs, the first MAtrix was phenominal, the second two were a joke. However, there are references in the first movie which reference the second two. There was a conscious plan there.

If you watch the movies through a hindu perspective, you'll understand where I'm coming from. They contend, in a way, that every religion is right, yet they're really being led by another something that none of us can see. Every religion is right........or wrong.

Obviously, I disagree with this, which may be why I saw that. My only request to y'all, especially TheNeo, just beause of his name, is that you watch the trilogy with this mentality. You might be shocked.

The Rabbit hole goes deeper my friend...Welcome to the matrix

The first movie is considered so "good" because it was FIRST.

It had some great, never before seen visual tricks, had an engaging story, and made you think.

The second movie actually had more of an intricacy to the plot, but it was more of what we'd seen before, so not as impressive.

The third movie was a very basic plot really (save the city, save the humans), and much more action that a thinking man's movie. Still, I enjoyed it, but again, more of what we had seen....