there never really was a spoon…

Neo: Have you ever had that feeling where you’re not sure you’re awake or still dreaming?

Morpheus: Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?

Morpheus: You’ve been living in a dream world, Neo.

Neo: This… this isn’t real?

Morpheus: What is real? How do you define real?

. . . .

The Matrix is one of my favorite all-time movies, simply because 1) it’s about computers, hacking, software and code, and 2) there are a lot of ideas that connect to the spiritual and philosophical.

The first time I saw the movie in the theaters I was pretty much blown away by the special effects and the story and plot. Then upon repeated viewings (once I got the DVD) I really started to pick up on all the philosophical stuff within the movie, and its connections to religion and spirituality.

The whole concept of just hacking into The Matrix is pretty mindblowing in itself. And the technology involved in making the film (bullet time, cgi) plus the dedication by the main actors to learn martial arts, it all makes for a thoroughly amazing movie. At the time of its release, The Matrix was pretty groundbreaking stuff, and it has influenced a lot of later movies in regards to the martial arts, special effects and conceptual ideas.

But, I mainly wanted to write about the philosophical and spiritual aspects of the movie, which I think abounds in this movie.

You could look at the connections to Christianity, for instance. Like the character “Trinity”, named after the Holy Trinity in Christianity (the father, son and holy spirit). Even the hacker alias Neo, him being “The One” as if he were the Savior. Neo meaning new, like the second coming of Jesus Christ, Neo had been a previous savior who was coming back to once again save the human world from the tyranny of the machines and the matrix program that had enslaved the humans.

Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work… when you go to church… when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.

Neo: What truth?

Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind.

There are also many analogies to Buddhism. Like the idea of the matrix being unreal, an illusion, a computer program that makes humans live their lives digitally within the matrix, when in reality they are slaves.

Morpheus: You’ve been living in a dream world, Neo.

And like the humans not knowing they are slaves to the matrix, Buddhist thought believes that we are living in ignorance of the truth, and that we must awaken or become enlightened from our ignorance. Like in the matrix, humans would need to be awakened or freed from the confines of their capsule.

Also, there seem to be little hints of teacher and student, mentor and protege. Similar to Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, that of a spiritual teacher or guru who must teach the ways of the matrix in order to realize the ultimate reality and conquer the evils of the illusory, unreal world.

But the one thought that stands out the most is the idea that “there is no spoon”. As the young bald disciple explains as the spoon bends….

Spoon boy: Do not try and bend the spoon. That’s impossible. Instead… only try to realize the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Spoon boy: There is no spoon.
Neo: There is no spoon?
Spoon boy: Then you’ll see, that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.

The concept of “no spoon” can be rather difficult to grasp. But, that is because in our world we have learned to separate things when in reality all things are one, and interconnected. Duality arises in which there is the subject (you) the object (things around us) and the individualness of each. And in Buddhism everything is one, that we are not one individual but simply a part of a greater whole.

The best analogy in nature would be the drop of water in an ocean.

Now what’s really so cool about The Matrix is how it ties in this philosophy, the battle between the machines against the humans, and that whole concept of hacking via computers into the matrix. Sort of a combination of technology and philosophy or spirituality, another duality.

The Matrix is just filled with little gems of dialogue that can relate to Buddhism and Christianity….

Attachment…

Neo: I thought it wasn’t real
Morpheus: Your mind makes it real

Faith…

Morpheus: Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.

The concept of “emptiness” in Buddhism…

Agent Smith: You’re empty.
Neo: So are you.

The need to know the truth, or to reach enlightenment, nirvana…

Morpheus: Free your mind.

Basically, the story and screenplay were cleverly written to seemingly contain little nuggets of wisdom that really makes the movie more than just a movie… a movie to make one think… that perhaps we are actually living in our own Matrix, and somehow it is up to us to become freed from whatever bonds of slavery we aren’t award of…..

“Wake up, Neo…”

. . . .

Trinity: I know why you’re here, Neo. I know what you’ve been doing… why you hardly sleep, why you live alone, and why night after night, you sit by your computer. You’re looking for him. I know because I was once looking for the same thing. And when he found me, he told me I wasn’t really looking for him. I was looking for an answer. It’s the question that drives us, Neo. It’s the question that brought you here. You know the question, just as I did.

Neo: What is the Matrix?

Trinity: The answer is out there, Neo, and it’s looking for you, and it will find you if you want it to.

a very intriguing tibetan yoga practice

I confess I’ve never seen anything like it before. It’s definitely unlike hatha yoga and it’s various schools, yet is more than 1,000 years old. The lotus posture is the only asana I recognize, and some of the movements appear pretty “wild” compared to Hatha Yoga traditions.

the ten things to be done

This is an excerpt from Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines:

III. THE TEN THINGS TO BE DONE

(1) Attach thyself to a religious preceptor endowed with
spiritual power and complete knowledge.

(2) Seek a delightful solitude endowed with psychic influences
as a hermitage.

(3) Seek friends who have beliefs and habits like thine own
and in whom thou canst place thy trust.

(4) Keeping in mind the evils of gluttony, use just enough
food to keep thee fit during the period of thy retreat.

(5) Study the teachings of the Great Sages of all sects
impartially.

(6) Study the beneficent sciences of medicine and astrology,
and the profound art of omens.

(7) Adopt such regimen and manner of living as will keep
thee in good health.

(8) Adopt such devotional practices as will conduce to thy
spiritual development.

(9) Retain such disciples as are firm in faith, meek in spirit,
and who appear to be favoured by karma in their quest for
Divine Wisdom.

(10) Constantly maintain alertness of consciousness in walking,
in sitting, in eating, and in sleeping.

These are The Ten Things To Be Done.

the himalayas…

[ this little entry is dedicated to danette... thank you for inspiring me to continue writing here, as I have been on hiatus and was beginning to lose my focus ]

. . . .

I’ve recently written an entry over here about a dream I have always had, of traveling to The Himalayas.

But, the above entry was more for the collaboration project and not-so-much my innermost feelings about it.

I’ve always had this dream since I was a child, of traveling to the snowy peaks of the Himalayan mountain range. The dream or vision affected me enough that I had gotten into Eastern Philosophy as a teenager. And I sort of became obsessed with all things related to the mysticism and spirituality of the East.

As a teen I was already meditating. I studied the Bhagavad Gita, after obtaining a free copy from a Hari Krishna devotee at an airport. This was a long time ago, of course, as the Hari Krishnas are prohibited from preaching their religion at airports.

Anyway, the dream or vision still remains to this day. Well, more of this desire to travel to that distant land more than anything else.

But it causes me to question…

Do I really need to travel somewhere to attain some sense of spiritual closure, or completeness?

Does traveling anywhere really benefit the person experiencing the journey?

Myself, I don’t really have the financial means to become a world traveler. And I’m sure I’m not alone in saying this, but perhaps there is some energy or feeling that can be acquired by traveling to certain places. And being that many places in the Himalayas are considered holy, they presumably can benefit the traveler seeking a means to go on a pilgrimage.

I’ve always thought early in my life that I would be able to somehow travel to India, Nepal, and Tibet. Maybe I shouldn’t dismiss the possiblity just yet, even as I am older now and have family obligations and such.

But, in my mind I am traveling there. Getting some kind of sense or vibe of the region, through my visualizations, through reading and study, through pictures and photos… and from others who’ve traveled there.

So, in a sense I have been there in spirit, perhaps….

Buddhist Philosophy would say that it’s all in your mind, anyway. And places one has traveled are only but memories of those past experiences.

Either way, the true path to any spiritual or contemplative destination, is always an inner journey of devotion and self-discovery….