Beyond the stunning special effects and kinetic direction of The Matrix, the underlying message is pure Dharma. The world of illusion that is the Matrix, and the journey towards meaning and truth that Neo (Keanu Reeves) embarks on is the essence of the bodhisattva path. Similarly, Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) is a lama archetype who introduces Neo to the reality of the Four Noble Truths.
The world Morpheus reveals to Neo is full of suffering (The First Noble Truth). Nurtured by the machines that have enslaved them, humanity in this alternate future live in an illusion created by their own minds. The people are blind to the truth because they are in a state of unconsciousness and ignorance - The Second Noble Truth, which is all suffering originates from our own minds influenced by the law of impermanence, karma and mental defilements.
The karma created by humanity portrayed in the film is their enslavement is the result of their ignorance in bowing to the false gods of materialism and technology. Our mental defilements are represented by the Joe Pantoliano character, who betrays his comrades by following his selfishness, greed and pride. Like many of us, he would rather live in denial and the false comfort of the Matrix rather than accept the pain of a reality where sickness, old age and death are ever present.
In contrast, Neo represents the everyman living within the conventions of society. He senses there is something missing in his life but is unable to express it. When he is first introduced in the film, there is a sense that Neo is alone and out of odds with the world around him. He appears lonely and depressed, taking little solace in his clandestine double life as a hacker. Like all human beings he wants happiness, the cessation of suffering (The Third Noble Truth). But it is not enough to merely have a wish to be happy, we need to have a way, a path out of our misery (The Fourth Noble Truth), and a Lama, a spiritual friend, who has crossed the oceans of samsara to guide us to freedom, the goal of enlightenment.
He meets Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), a beautiful woman who seduces him to follow the truth like a leather clad dakini, seductive, wrathful, passionate and completely devoted to the Dharma. Leaving aside the obvious Christian/Hindu references to her name, the significance of the archetype Trinity represents, is in Vajrayana Buddhism, our heart is seen as female. She is what Neo is secretly searching for and what is missing in his life.
The feminine aspect within all of us is our passion, creativity and devotion. These qualities, and their expressions through art and loving relationships, are what makes life worth living and dying for; and as long as resist her nurturing embrace and surrender to her wisdom and seductive devotion, we will never be truly happy.
Trinity takes Neo to meet Morpheous, the divine male aspect within all of us - compassionate, courageous, protective, charismatic, intelligent and visionary. Like a Lama who recognises one's Buddha potential, he tells Neo that he has been searching for him. Without the acknowlegment of the Lama in the tantric path, the student is unable to recognise his own true nature. Similarly, without Morpheus, Neo would still be in ignorance and doubt in his divine power. Interestingly the name “Morpheous” implies change, which is a fundamental cause to suffering in Buddhism.
The law of impermanence is everything in the universe changes; nothing remains the same. Therefore it is futile to grasp for happiness and security in material possessions, power, prestige, and even love or sexual relationships since the only surety in life is death. Therefore, to become a bodhisattva, the warrior of compassion of Lord Buddha, the primary goal in life is to serve others, seek happiness and causes of happiness. It is to learn to lose gracefully (let go) from a right understanding that our whole existence is about losing. We lose our babyhood, to become toddlers, then childhood to become teenagers, then teens to become adults until finally we lose the preciousness of our lives. What Morpheus and Trinity teach Neo, is to embrace the truth of of suffering, and to seek happiness based on truth, freedom and love.
The greatest happiness is to to follow one's heart, which is the heart of the Buddha. Morpheus gives Neo the tools to embrace his full Buddha potential, which is enlightenment coupled with the ability to free others from samsara.
The essence of the Buddhist practice is to realise that our true mind is our heart - pure and unstained from the beginningless of time, and has always been inseparable from the divine, like the sun's rays are inseparable from the sun. Only our ignorance blinds us to our true sky-like nature. In a sense the twin influences of Morpheous and Trinity are what is essential in embarking on the spiritual path - the marriage of the divine male and female aspects within all of us, compassion, wisdom, emptiness and emptiness of perception.
The essence of the Buddhist practice is to realise that our true mind is our heart - pure and unstained from the beginningless of time, and has always been inseparable from the divine, like the sun's rays are inseparable from the sun. Only our ignorance blinds us to our true sky-like nature. In a sense the twin influences of Morpheous and Trinity are what is essential in embarking on the spiritual path - the marriage of the divine male and female aspects within all of us, compassion, wisdom, emptiness and emptiness of perception.
It is sometimes easy to dismiss the miracles that Neo performs in the film as mere dramatic embellishments to the storytelling process. However, in all great religious traditions stories abound of spiritual practitioners performing miracles; Christ himself walked on water and turned water into wine. When Neo realises that the Matrix is an illusion, he can stop bullets and soar through the air. Everything suddenly becomes possible. My teacher, Ratu, once said, "If enlightenment is possible in one lifetime, then anything is possible!"
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." - Nelson Mandela
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