Movies

The world suffers.  It experiences pain, anguish, grief, disappointment, anger, fear and hatred. Why  Is there a way to get out of this trap  Is it a spider web that traps its prey, to be eaten alive later  This is a question that Wachowskis The Matrix asks its viewers.  It proposes the Buddhist view of sunyatathat the world is simply virtual reality.  It is fakean unreal simulation of the world that controls peoples lives.  However, through bodhisatvas or Enlightened Ones or buddhas, one can attain freedom from this matrix of suffering.  This was practiced in Shaolin, China by Buddhist monks who were also trained in Kung Fu (name after Kung Fu Tzu or Confucius or Master Kung Fu).  They trained themselves to master the elemental matrix that produces great suffering the world, and through discipline, dedication and hard work, they were able to use their skills and abilities to subdue the evil elements in China and unite it as one.  Through Confucius Doctrine of the Mean and Buddhas Middle Way, they were able to subdue the dystopian technological Matrix that controlled them.

Wachowskis Matrix depicts Neo (Keanu Reeves) as a computer programmer, who is asked by his machine What is the Matrix  He then encounters Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), who asks him if he wanted to know the truth about the Matrix.  Like Alice in Wonderland, Neo accepts Morpheus offer and swallows a red pill that transports him to a virtual machine world.  Neo realizes that he is wired to this machine world, but Morpheus crew rescues him from bondage.  Morpheus then explains to Neo that machines have taken over the world and that Morpheus and his team are rebels whose mission is to free mankind from this evil.  Morpheus also tells Neo that Neo is the One, the man prophesied to destroy the Matrix and free everyone from suffering.  He then trains Neo to become a rebel fighter like them through Asian martial arts like Kung Fu and Buddhist mind-control skills.  They also visit the Oracle (Gloria Foster) who advises Neo about his gift as the One.  But Neo is doubtful.

Later, Morpheus is captured by agents of the Matrix because they were betrayed by Cypher (Joe Pantoliano), who used to be with Morpheus.  However, Cypher was eventually defeated.  Neo eventually improves his martial-arts abilities and mind-control skills while battling agents of the Matrix.  As he fights Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), he is ultimately shot dead.  But because of Trinitys (Carrie-Anne Moss) love for him, Neo is revived.  Finally, Neo destroys the agent and subdues the Matrix.  As a rallying call to all humans trapped in the Matrix, he exclaims that anything is possible.

In Illuminati Healing and Developing the Mind, Rodney St.Michael describes Keanu Reaves as being apt for the character of Neo, who is an illuminatus or Enlightened One, since Reaves is a practicing Buddhist.    The experience of Neo is similar to Alice in Alice in Wonderland as she falls into a schizophrenic and bipolar world of suffering.  And to free themselves, they need to follow the Asian philosophies of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.  The Middle-Way approach to the extremes of desire and aversion are suggested.  People who push themselves to the extremes of either side will suffer.  For example, people who overuse technology will suffer, but people who avoid all technology completely will also suffer.  A balanced approach is necessary to free the people from suffering.

St.Michael also describes the Matrix of suffering in Sync My World Thiefs Honor GA SK as the infinite combinations of Yin and Yang.  Yin is 0 and Yang is 1.  This is the binary code used by computers to code everything from documents to pictures, videos, sounds, computer programs, games, simulation software and artificial intelligence.  All numbers and all of these codes are simply combinations of 1s and 0s or Yin and Yang.  It is an artificial world of suffering described by Buddhists as sunyata.   And in order for someone to free himself from suffering, he must follow the Middle Way.

St.Michael describes Buddhas four Noble Truths in this way.  First, life is dukkhathe experience of riding a wooden cart with an uneven wheel on a bumpy road or hearing the squeaking sounds of an uneven potters wheel as it spins unevenly.  As told by Taoists, it is astrophysical phenomena that cause Yin and Yang.  Gravity, space and time create uneven cycles in the Universe.  For example, the earth spins around its tilted axis producing day (Yang) and night (Yin).  It also travels around the sun in an eccentric tilted orbit that cyclically varies over time, creating the Four Seasons (combinations of Yin and Yang).  Then the sun travels up and down around the center of the Milky Way over millions of years that create climate change (ice ages or warm periods which are combinations of Yin and Yang).

Astrophysics, as St.Michael and the Taoists claim, also produces Yin and Yang among genders, races, classes, political divisions and so forth.  For example, there are two basic gendersmale (Yang) and female (Yin).  Using Yin-Yang combinations, one can produce five gendersmale, female, gay, lesbian and bisexual.  These all clash and create suffering.  There are also five corresponding races or what St.Michael calls gender breedsYellows, Small Browns, Whites, Blacks and Big Browns.  The creation of the genders stems from the ovum-polarity cycle as it corresponds to astrophysical events that control a womans hormones, neurotransmitters and organs.  Menstruation and ovulation for instance correspond to the 29.5-day lunar cycle.  The creation of races involves mutations from astrophysical phenomena over the 26,000 wobble cycle of the earth.  The existence of various races creates conflict and consequently, suffering.  These people will also develop various personalities which are described by the Wu Xing as Wood, Water, Earth, Fire and Metal.  These five elements not only describe the five genders, the five races, but also the five genders minds or personalities that clash and fight with each other, producing suffering.  The Wu Xing also corresponds to five classes in societythe Scholars, Shamans, Business Class, Militants and Working Class that again clash to create suffering.  Political organizations also follow the Wu Xing.  For example, Democrats are Yang or male (wood) and gay (fire), while Republicans are Yin or female (water), lesbian (earth) and bisexual (metal).  Again their division creates disharmony and suffering.  Nations and international organizations also follow the Wu Xing and Yin and Yang, producing national and international conflict, war and suffering.

So Buddhas second Noble Truth, as told by St.Michael, claims that suffering is caused by the existence of Yang and Yin or in politics, Left and Right.  The Far Left and Far Right produce pendulum swinging that makes them almost similar to each other, creating insanity.  For example, while Stalins communist government is traditionally called the Far left and Hitlers Nazi government is the Far Right they have similar characteristics of desire and aversion that creates a terrible world.

Thus, Buddhas third Noble Truth, suggests that to manage suffering, one must extinguish the existence of the Matrix of Yang and Yin, Left and Right or desire and aversion.  And Buddhas fourth Noble Truth continues to say that in order to extinguish this Matrix, one must follow the Middle Way or Noble Eightfold Path.
The Middle Way then is a balanced path.  In terms of government, it is administration from the Center, instead of the extremes of Left and Right, which produces suffering.  Ultra-conservative Republicans or Liberal Democrats, for instance, have extreme views that create suffering.  But moderates are more peaceful and harmonious.

In terms of technology, St.Michael calls the middle-way approach as parallelism.  Continuously improving technology leads to destruction.  However, people inevitably are tempted toward it because the five elements compete with each other.  They develop an edge only temporarily and deteriorate as the technology spreads.  For example, before the age of computers, it took hours to type a report, search for information, correct mistakes and send the information across the globe.  If a student had computer technology and everyone else did not, then that student would have an edge.  But nowadays, everyone has it, so the advantage is lost.  Instead, expectations are higher.  Deadlines are shorter.  And presentation, information and substance are more demanding.  The same thing is true for other technologies such as cell phones.  People are now more demanding because of it.  So that is why countries like China are moving toward parallelism.  They will try to match the most dangerous technology to protect itself, but it will refrain from moving forward if it can avoid it.  For instance, in missile-defense technology, China will not develop it unless the United States pushes it.  If everyone disarmed themselves, that would produce peace, but nations cannot trust each other, so they try to balance their approach.

In Conclusion, Wachowskis The Matrix mimics Asian philosophy in an artistic way.  While it may be dystopian, the Middle-Way solution is promising.  It may not be perfect, as nothing is, but at least people have a principle from Asia to work with.  This gives people some hope for the future.