The Matrix and Buddhism

[Konchog1]

We've all heard about how deep and Buddhist the movie The Matrix is. I didn't believe it either until I was reading Lama Yeshe's Introduction to Tantra today (I highly recommend you read it too), and remembered a line from the Matrix that fit in with Lama Yeshe's teachings on Self-Visualization, Emptiness, and to a lesser extent, Clear Light.

There's a quote from The Matrix that is wonderfully profound. With Self-Visualization, as Lama Yeshe points out, it can feel like a game. After all, when you open your eyes you are still in your 'real' body. But:

"What is real? How do you define real? If what you're talking about is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGZiLMGdCE0&t=0m44s

We can get angry or scared from movies and dreams because from the point of view of the brain, it is all 'real'. Your brain can't tell the difference between something imagined and something in the material world. They are both just electric signals.

If you imagine you are the deity, you are.

Pretty cool stuff.

[DarwidHalim]

I always wonder with television.



Television projects thousands of images at all times.
Our mind projects thousands of images at all times.

But, the difference is clear.

Television is never distorted and got confused by thousands of images projected by it.
Why?
Because television knows all are just the play of light - electric signals. Television sit still nicely in front of the table, never ever shake even for a second, extreme still in the middle of tornado images.
Without any intention to remove the images, the television is extremely still because it knows the images are just not real.

But, we always get agitated by the images in our head.
Why?
Because we do not know the nature of those images, which is actually just an electric signals as well. In case we can just know the nature of the thoughts, we will be still in the middle of tornado images (thoughts).
Without any intention to remove the thoughts (images), the perfect meditators is extremely still, because they know the thoughts (images) are just not real.

[Nothing]

The Matrix film series has many issues that teaches about buddhism if only one can understand.....it is one of the best films available.
The movie is an analogy, it must not be taken at face value but there are hidden meanings under them.....if one can see.
It is a great teaching but few understands.....it is difficult as it is deep.

[oushi]

Cypher: You know, I know this steak doesn't exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize?
[Takes a bite of steak]
Cypher: Ignorance is bliss.
----
Morpheus: You have to let it all go, Neo. Fear, doubt, and disbelief. Free your mind.
----
Morpheus: Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.
---
Agent Smith: You're empty.
Neo: So are you.
---
Neo: What are you trying to tell me? That I can dodge bullets?
Morpheus: No, Neo. I'm trying to tell you that when you're ready, you won't have to.
---
Mouse: To deny our own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human.
---
Morpheus: Welcome to the desert of the real.

[Nothing]

Oushi, these quotes are great but without the meaning behind them, it would be useless to anyone reading it....agree?

[oushi]

Actually, they are better without the context.
You can take Wachowski brothers are your teachers, but they just gathered interesting philosophies from around the world, and implemented them in the movie. In other words, one will find what one is looking for.

[Skywalker]

"Don't try to bend the spoon, realize that there is no spoon."

[Karma Dondrup Tashi]

Dodge this.

[Steveyboy]

Cypher: You know, I know this steak doesn't exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize?
[Takes a bite of steak]
Cypher: Ignorance is bliss.
----
Morpheus: You have to let it all go, Neo. Fear, doubt, and disbelief. Free your mind.
----
Morpheus: Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.
---
Agent Smith: You're empty.
Neo: So are you.
---
Neo: What are you trying to tell me? That I can dodge bullets?
Morpheus: No, Neo. I'm trying to tell you that when you're ready, you won't have to.
---
Mouse: To deny our own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human.
---
Morpheus: Welcome to the desert of the real.

------------

That's so neat! Matrix is probably one of those cutting edge movies that would be forever relevant. I loved it for its subject matter and how close it is to Buddhism. The way the movie was scripted and filmed makes it one of the best sci-fi movie of all times. I relate so much with the steak scene because thats what all of us are deluding ourselves all the time. We eat meat and we think that it is alright because the cow was slaughtered in a humane way and we go about reciting mantras and pujas, and talk about compassion and the Dharma. That's a lot of crap!

Where's the compassion for the slaughtered cow. I saw in the news once that a teacher took some school kids on a field trip to the local slaughterhouse. The kids were horrified at what they saw and all of them needed counseling and therapy after that. Because of the supermarkets and meat packaging, we are desensitized to the fact that the meat comes from a living, breathing animal that can feel pain. That's the real deal. Sorry, I don't mean to go off tangent here but I thought it was very relevant here.