The Matrix and Buddhism 16

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The Matrix and Buddhism

           One of Buddha’s greatest teachings was the Four Noble Truths. The Four noble truths all related to suffering. According to Buddha, the first noble truth is that all life suffers. The next noble truth states that the cause of suffering is ignorance and clinging. Buddha’s next noble truth is that there does exist a way to end suffering. To conclude, the Four the noble truth, Buddha presented the eightfold path which was the answer to end suffering. After watching the movie "The matrix," we learn that the matrix is a made up world that the humans lived in. Neo, the main character escapes from the matrix and join Morpheus and his team in the underworld city of Zion. These characters work together to defeat the machines that try to control this fake world. The connection between Buddhism and the matrix is that Neo could be related to Buddha himself. Both Buddha and Neo were enlightened and were able to escape from their sufferings using the principles of the eightfold path.  

            In the movie when Neo meets Morpheus, we come to realization that while in the matrix Neo has had this feeling of dismay. Neo always had a weird feeling about the way he was living and wondered what was wrong with the world. He just always had this feeling that drove him mad. Thus, he was suffering. This feeling eventually, led him to meet Morpheus, who believed he was the “one.” What Morpheus meant by this was that neo was that one who was going to help destroy the machines (agents) and destroy the Matrix. Before Neo could do this, he needed to believe in the truth and recognize that the matrix was a false world. The first principle of the eightfold path is that you must face reality and seek the truth.  By taking the red pill Neo was going to let Morpheus show him the real world and that meant he finally believed in the truth.

 Another principle of Buddha’s teachings of the eightfold path is that you must have the right effort. When Neo enters the loading program, he asks Morpheus if he can go back into the matrix. After, Morpheus replies no Neo knows that now he has to prepare for a fight. That is when he started learning fighting moves such as, taekwondo. It is clear is that Neo did not give up even though he was afraid. He definitely, had the right effort.

     Lastly, Neo possessed right mindfulness just as Buddha had done to escape suffering. When Morpheus and Neo are having a duel against each other, Morpheus reminds Neo that he has to let go of fear, doubt, and disbelief. Neo was able to get to this point in his life when he was able to dodge the bullet shots from Agent smith. It was amazing that he was able to move faster than the bullets and see where they were going.  

At the end of the movie, Neo was able to defeat agent Smith. He was able to do this because he followed the Buddhism ways. He escaped the suffocating world of the matrix and became enlightened. Just as Morpheus suspected Neo was the one who was going to save the humans from the matrix and the machines. Because Neo chose the right path and escaped suffering he helps others escape from a deceiving world.