Monday, October 20, 2003
BUDDHISM IN THE MATRIX
Matrix as Messiah Movie
"Please understand,...I'm not saying that The Matrix is THE Messiah Movie! But it is A Messiah Movie! And remember that The Matrix was released the weekend of Easter 1999 (and if you don't mind a rhetorical question,....What is it that is celebrated at Easter.....?). That release date turns out to be very significant! Please keep that in mind as you consider these points as parallels with the life story of Christ:
Christ's Life Neo's Life
Christ's Virgin Birth:
Matthew 1:24, 25 - And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took her as his wife, and kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
Neo's "Virgin Birth":
Neo is literally born into the real world from the womblike incubator that he's existed in all his life! The imagery in the movie is even symbolic of a birth - from an enclosed sac (complete with several umbilical cords!), down the chute of the birth canal into the world!
What's in a Name?
Matthew 1:23 - "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel", which translated means, "God with us".
Christ was also referred to as:
- the "Son of Man" (see at right and below in "Judas");
- the Christ of God, His Chosen One;
and a host of other names. What's in a Name?
Thomas Anderson - The name "Thomas" can be linked to "Doubting Thomas", in that Neo never really believed that he was The One. "Anderson" is a play on "Son of Man", where the 'Ander-' finds its origins in the New Testament Greek root 'andros' meaning man. Christ was often referred to as the "Son of Man". "Neo" means "new" (And that's exactly WHY Neo was there - to make things "new", to bring about a new world order).
"Neo" Anderson = New Son of Man
Neo is also an anagram: Neo - Eon - "One".
The Disciples
Mark 3:14 - And He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him, and that He might send them out to preach.
The Crew
Neo is brought into a group of people that are excited about his presence; that are willing to believe he is "The One".
Tank: "If you ARE (the One),.....it's a very exciting time!"
John the Baptist
John 1:29, 30, & 34 - The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He on behalf of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me'. And I have seen, and have borne witness that this is the Son of God." Morpheus
Neo's way was prepared by Morpheus who fervently believed and proclaimed to everyone that Neo was "The One". And the Oracle told Morpheus that HE would be the one to find "The One".
Morpheus: "We've done it, Trinity. We found him."
Trinity: "I hope you're right."
Morpheus: "I don't have to hope. I know it!"
Predicted Coming
Isaiah 7:14 - "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel." Predicted Coming
Neo's coming was foretold by the Oracle (And we never saw an instance where she missed a prediction! She always knew what was going on!).
Morpheus: "... the Oracle prophesied his return and that his coming would hail the destruction of the Matrix and the war, bring freedom to our people." More...
Need An Exit
"You are a prisoner, a slave in this present, dying, decaying age.
YET, you were born to live and to have abundant life. You were born to have true life. You are not meant to be a slave, bound to this decaying, fallen world. You are not meant to be a slave to your lustful pursuits and to the futility of your thinking. You are not to be bound by the empty darkness of your heart and understanding—being a slave pushed around by hormones and moods and selfish desires that have enslaved the present age and those who have lived for pleasure.
If that’s you, you are dead even while you live. No matter how nice you are, no matter how talented you are, no matter how intelligent you are, and no matter how accomplished you are in this fallen world. The real issue is this: What are you going to do in the real world, the unseen world, which is eternal? Is that where you will live and will that be where you make your mark?
See Through the Mirage
Satan wants us to be a whole race of slaves that think we are having fun, that think we are free, that think our lives have meaning. Then, Poof! Flush! down into the abyss goes everyone who lived for themselves, religious or not, with nothing left to show for it all.
This world we are living in is not the real world. It shouldn’t be what we live for. It shouldn’t be what we put our energy in or what we care about. The REAL world is a world that is UNSEEN. All the unseen issues of Authority, Love, Grace, Prayer, Worship, Forgiveness, Angels, Freedom, Wisdom, True Relationship, Light—THESE things are the REAL and tangible things from God’s view of planet Earth. And the reality of all of those things is in the unseen world—NOT the seen world." More...
"Who Put These Fingerprints
On My Imagination?"
Engaging the Matrix
"With the latest New York Times in one hand and a Bible (NRSV) in the other, we try to explain ourselves to ourselves. What compels me? How did these clichés manage to hijack my consciousness? What does it profit a person to gain all the homeland security in the world and forfeit his soul? What is the Matrix? Or, to borrow a line from Elvis Costello's "Green Shirt": "Who put these fingerprints on my imagination?" What man, mind, or monster did (is doing) this. When and how did our thoughts get to feeling like they're not entirely our own? And when did we agree to it? Who benefits from our sedation? Who colonized my brain space? How hard it is to prefer the pounding headache of looking hard at the world over the blissful, happy-ending incomprehensibility of Technicolor and the easy answer, simple explanation, sound-bite culture of Fox News Network.
As a high school English teacher in America, ever in desperate need of a difficult-to-contest analogy, I've found a very present help in the metaphorical value, maximum applicability, and effective citation afforded by The Matrix. While very few propositions go unchallenged in a good classroom discussion, the intense relevance of this film to the experience of your average American teenager is something of a no-brainer. My students often accuse me of madness, but they find nothing particularly controversial in my observation that The Matrix powerfully names and describes the forms of captivity into which we're born and within which we live and move and, by all appearances, have our being. They know that worlds have been constructed around them, physically and psychologically, as protection against many a perceived threat, and they understand that it is an effort oftentimes well-intentioned and always in progress. They also understand that they are a target market whose buying power sustains the economy and that enormous amounts of money, mind-power, and resources are expended anticipating and manipulating their desires." More...
Beyong the Matrix
The Matrix Plot Summary
"Thomas Anderson is known in the hacker world as Neo. He is pulled from the life he has always known and shown that in actuality it is the year 2199. Freed from his pod, Neo is brought aboard the hovercraft Nebuchadnezzar where he learns the truth of reality.
Mankind has lost a war with their Artificial Intelligence computers. Now humanity is held unconscious, grown in pods by the computers for bio-electrical energy, and the world that Neo has lived in is simply a virtual reality, designed to keep the cultured humans viable.
Neo joins those who woke him and becomes an integral part of the resistance. Through building awareness and choice, Neo awakens his potential and is able to overcome the seemingly invincible enemy. Why build a site around this film? The film is a powerful metaphor expressing universal concepts of Judaism." More...
LivingRoom >> A space for Life
"Here are some links looking at the movies from different perspectives."
The Journal of Religion and Film
Buddhism, Christianity, and The Matrix:
"The Christian messianic parallels are rather obvious. Neo, like Jesus, is the long-expected Messiah who is ultimately killed only to resurrect as a fully "divine" creature. The final scene even evokes the bodily ascent of Jesus to heaven. Also, Morpheus seems every bit the equivalent of John the Baptist, even to the point of baptizing Neo in a graphic scene in the liquid bowels of the human battery chambers. Trinity might be compared to Mary Magdalene and Cypher clearly parallels Judas. But where is God in all this? And what, we might ask, is the fundamental human problem suggested by this epic narrative?" More...
The Matrix and The Gospel
"Now for the similarities between this movie and the Gospel Message.
The Matrix is the world, (not the earth) it is deception.
Morpheus represents John the Baptist who's mission was to proclaim the "Chosen One".
Neo represents the Messiah or any believer who has been born from above by the Spirit of God.
The Oracle represents a Prophet.
The Agents or Sentient Programs "Gatekeepers" represent the demons who hold the keys to this world. They have the ability to jump into people and use them at their will, just like Demons who can enter into people if they are open to them.
Cypher represents Judas Iscariot, but the name may be derived from Caiphus the high priest blamed by history for manipulating Pontious Pilate to kill Christ. It could also be a play on the words Lucifer. In the Matrix, Cypher was one of the group, but chose to go back into the Matrix and betray his friends. He was promised wealth and a measure of fame, instead he was killed. Judas in the Bible did the same thing. He betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, but later committed suicide." More...
The Matrix is a parable of old-fashion religious redemption.
The New Gnostic Gospel
"The Matrix" and Nondual Spirituality
Is the movie "The Matrix" about the Christianity Meme?
The Matrix and Quantum Consciousness
The Matrix and Buddhism
The Matrix: Religion vs. Philosophy
The Matrix & Skepticism
An examination of postmodernism, Cyberpunk, and technology's role in future societies
The Matrix Metaphor
A Christian Perspective on the Matrix Trilogy
Matrix as Messiah Movie
"Please understand,...I'm not saying that The Matrix is THE Messiah Movie! But it is A Messiah Movie! And remember that The Matrix was released the weekend of Easter 1999 (and if you don't mind a rhetorical question,....What is it that is celebrated at Easter.....?). That release date turns out to be very significant! Please keep that in mind as you consider these points as parallels with the life story of Christ:
Christ's Life Neo's Life
Christ's Virgin Birth:
Matthew 1:24, 25 - And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took her as his wife, and kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
Neo's "Virgin Birth":
Neo is literally born into the real world from the womblike incubator that he's existed in all his life! The imagery in the movie is even symbolic of a birth - from an enclosed sac (complete with several umbilical cords!), down the chute of the birth canal into the world!
What's in a Name?
Matthew 1:23 - "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel", which translated means, "God with us".
Christ was also referred to as:
- the "Son of Man" (see at right and below in "Judas");
- the Christ of God, His Chosen One;
and a host of other names. What's in a Name?
Thomas Anderson - The name "Thomas" can be linked to "Doubting Thomas", in that Neo never really believed that he was The One. "Anderson" is a play on "Son of Man", where the 'Ander-' finds its origins in the New Testament Greek root 'andros' meaning man. Christ was often referred to as the "Son of Man". "Neo" means "new" (And that's exactly WHY Neo was there - to make things "new", to bring about a new world order).
"Neo" Anderson = New Son of Man
Neo is also an anagram: Neo - Eon - "One".
The Disciples
Mark 3:14 - And He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him, and that He might send them out to preach.
The Crew
Neo is brought into a group of people that are excited about his presence; that are willing to believe he is "The One".
Tank: "If you ARE (the One),.....it's a very exciting time!"
John the Baptist
John 1:29, 30, & 34 - The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He on behalf of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me'. And I have seen, and have borne witness that this is the Son of God." Morpheus
Neo's way was prepared by Morpheus who fervently believed and proclaimed to everyone that Neo was "The One". And the Oracle told Morpheus that HE would be the one to find "The One".
Morpheus: "We've done it, Trinity. We found him."
Trinity: "I hope you're right."
Morpheus: "I don't have to hope. I know it!"
Predicted Coming
Isaiah 7:14 - "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel." Predicted Coming
Neo's coming was foretold by the Oracle (And we never saw an instance where she missed a prediction! She always knew what was going on!).
Morpheus: "... the Oracle prophesied his return and that his coming would hail the destruction of the Matrix and the war, bring freedom to our people." More...
Need An Exit
"You are a prisoner, a slave in this present, dying, decaying age.
YET, you were born to live and to have abundant life. You were born to have true life. You are not meant to be a slave, bound to this decaying, fallen world. You are not meant to be a slave to your lustful pursuits and to the futility of your thinking. You are not to be bound by the empty darkness of your heart and understanding—being a slave pushed around by hormones and moods and selfish desires that have enslaved the present age and those who have lived for pleasure.
If that’s you, you are dead even while you live. No matter how nice you are, no matter how talented you are, no matter how intelligent you are, and no matter how accomplished you are in this fallen world. The real issue is this: What are you going to do in the real world, the unseen world, which is eternal? Is that where you will live and will that be where you make your mark?
See Through the Mirage
Satan wants us to be a whole race of slaves that think we are having fun, that think we are free, that think our lives have meaning. Then, Poof! Flush! down into the abyss goes everyone who lived for themselves, religious or not, with nothing left to show for it all.
This world we are living in is not the real world. It shouldn’t be what we live for. It shouldn’t be what we put our energy in or what we care about. The REAL world is a world that is UNSEEN. All the unseen issues of Authority, Love, Grace, Prayer, Worship, Forgiveness, Angels, Freedom, Wisdom, True Relationship, Light—THESE things are the REAL and tangible things from God’s view of planet Earth. And the reality of all of those things is in the unseen world—NOT the seen world." More...
"Who Put These Fingerprints
On My Imagination?"
Engaging the Matrix
"With the latest New York Times in one hand and a Bible (NRSV) in the other, we try to explain ourselves to ourselves. What compels me? How did these clichés manage to hijack my consciousness? What does it profit a person to gain all the homeland security in the world and forfeit his soul? What is the Matrix? Or, to borrow a line from Elvis Costello's "Green Shirt": "Who put these fingerprints on my imagination?" What man, mind, or monster did (is doing) this. When and how did our thoughts get to feeling like they're not entirely our own? And when did we agree to it? Who benefits from our sedation? Who colonized my brain space? How hard it is to prefer the pounding headache of looking hard at the world over the blissful, happy-ending incomprehensibility of Technicolor and the easy answer, simple explanation, sound-bite culture of Fox News Network.
As a high school English teacher in America, ever in desperate need of a difficult-to-contest analogy, I've found a very present help in the metaphorical value, maximum applicability, and effective citation afforded by The Matrix. While very few propositions go unchallenged in a good classroom discussion, the intense relevance of this film to the experience of your average American teenager is something of a no-brainer. My students often accuse me of madness, but they find nothing particularly controversial in my observation that The Matrix powerfully names and describes the forms of captivity into which we're born and within which we live and move and, by all appearances, have our being. They know that worlds have been constructed around them, physically and psychologically, as protection against many a perceived threat, and they understand that it is an effort oftentimes well-intentioned and always in progress. They also understand that they are a target market whose buying power sustains the economy and that enormous amounts of money, mind-power, and resources are expended anticipating and manipulating their desires." More...
Beyong the Matrix
The Matrix Plot Summary
"Thomas Anderson is known in the hacker world as Neo. He is pulled from the life he has always known and shown that in actuality it is the year 2199. Freed from his pod, Neo is brought aboard the hovercraft Nebuchadnezzar where he learns the truth of reality.
Mankind has lost a war with their Artificial Intelligence computers. Now humanity is held unconscious, grown in pods by the computers for bio-electrical energy, and the world that Neo has lived in is simply a virtual reality, designed to keep the cultured humans viable.
Neo joins those who woke him and becomes an integral part of the resistance. Through building awareness and choice, Neo awakens his potential and is able to overcome the seemingly invincible enemy. Why build a site around this film? The film is a powerful metaphor expressing universal concepts of Judaism." More...
LivingRoom >> A space for Life
"Here are some links looking at the movies from different perspectives."
The Journal of Religion and Film
Buddhism, Christianity, and The Matrix:
"The Christian messianic parallels are rather obvious. Neo, like Jesus, is the long-expected Messiah who is ultimately killed only to resurrect as a fully "divine" creature. The final scene even evokes the bodily ascent of Jesus to heaven. Also, Morpheus seems every bit the equivalent of John the Baptist, even to the point of baptizing Neo in a graphic scene in the liquid bowels of the human battery chambers. Trinity might be compared to Mary Magdalene and Cypher clearly parallels Judas. But where is God in all this? And what, we might ask, is the fundamental human problem suggested by this epic narrative?" More...
The Matrix and The Gospel
"Now for the similarities between this movie and the Gospel Message.
The Matrix is the world, (not the earth) it is deception.
Morpheus represents John the Baptist who's mission was to proclaim the "Chosen One".
Neo represents the Messiah or any believer who has been born from above by the Spirit of God.
The Oracle represents a Prophet.
The Agents or Sentient Programs "Gatekeepers" represent the demons who hold the keys to this world. They have the ability to jump into people and use them at their will, just like Demons who can enter into people if they are open to them.
Cypher represents Judas Iscariot, but the name may be derived from Caiphus the high priest blamed by history for manipulating Pontious Pilate to kill Christ. It could also be a play on the words Lucifer. In the Matrix, Cypher was one of the group, but chose to go back into the Matrix and betray his friends. He was promised wealth and a measure of fame, instead he was killed. Judas in the Bible did the same thing. He betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, but later committed suicide." More...
The Matrix is a parable of old-fashion religious redemption.
The New Gnostic Gospel
"The Matrix" and Nondual Spirituality
Is the movie "The Matrix" about the Christianity Meme?
The Matrix and Quantum Consciousness
The Matrix and Buddhism
The Matrix: Religion vs. Philosophy
The Matrix & Skepticism
An examination of postmodernism, Cyberpunk, and technology's role in future societies
The Matrix Metaphor
A Christian Perspective on the Matrix Trilogy
Saturday, October 18, 2003
Plots, Characters & Commentary to follow...
