BUDDHISM IN THE MATRIX
By Frances Flannery-Dailey, Hendrix College
and
Rachel Wagner, The University of Iowa
When asked by a fan if Buddhist ideas influenced them in the
production of the movie, the Wachowski brothers offered an
unqualified "Yes." Indeed, Buddhist ideas pervade the film and
appear in close proximity with the equally strong Christian
imagery. Almost immediately after Neo is identified as "my own
personal Jesus Christ," this appellation is given a distinctively
Buddhist twist. The same hacker says: "This never happened. You
dont exist." From the stupa-like pods which encase humans in the
horrific mechanistic fields to Cyphers selfish desire for the
sensations and pleasures of the matrix, Buddhist teachings form a
foundation for much of the films plot and imagery.
[23] The Problem of Samsara. Even the title of the film evokes the
Buddhist worldview. The matrix is described by Morpheus as "a
prison for your mind." It is a dependent "construct" made up of the
interlocking digital projections of billions of human beings who
are unaware of the illusory nature of the reality in which they
live and are completely dependent on the hardware attached to their
real bodies and the elaborate software programs created by A.I.
This "construct" resembles the Buddhist idea of samsara, which
teaches that the world in which we live our daily lives is
constructed only from the sensory projections formulated from our
own desires. When Morpheus takes Neo into the "construct" to teach
him about the matrix, Neo learns that the way in which he had
perceived himself in the matrix was nothing more than "the mental
projection of your digital self." The "real" world, which we
associate with what we feel, smell, taste, and see, "is simply
electrical signals interpreted by your brain." The world, Morpheus
explains, exists "now only as part of a neural interactive
simulation that we call the matrix." In Buddhist terms, we could
say that "because it is empty of self or of what belongs to self,
it is therefore said: The world is empty. And what is empty of
self and what belongs to self? The eye, material shapes, visual
consciousness, impression on the eye -- all these are empty of self
and of what belongs to self." According to Buddhism and according
to The Matrix, the conviction of reality based upon sensory
experience, ignorance, and desire keeps humans locked in illusion
until they are able to recognize the false nature of reality and
relinquish their mistaken sense of identity.
[24] Drawing upon the Buddhist doctrine of Dependent
Co-Origination, the film presents reality within the matrix as a
conglomerate of the illusions of all humans caught within its
snare. Similarly, Buddhism teaches that the suffering of human
beings is dependent upon a cycle of ignorance and desire which
locks humans into a repetitive cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.
The principle is stated in a short formula in the
Samyutta-nikaya:
If this is that comes to be;
from the arising of this that arises;
if this is not that does not come to be;
from the stopping of this that is stopped.
[25] The idea of Dependent Co-Origination is illustrated in the
context of the film through the illusion of the matrix. The
viability of the matrixs illusion depends upon the belief by those
enmeshed in it that the matrix itself is reality. A.I.s software
program is, in and of itself, no illusion at all. Only when humans
interact with its programs do they become enmeshed in a
corporately-created illusion, the matrix, or samsara, which
reinforces itself through the interactions of those beings involved
within it. Thus the matrixs reality only exists when actual human
minds subjectively experience its programs.
[26] The problem, then, can be seen in Buddhist terms. Humans are
trapped in a cycle of illusion, and their ignorance of this cycle
keeps them locked in it, fully dependent upon their own
interactions with the program and the illusions of sensory
experience which these provide, and the sensory projections of
others. These projections are strengthened by humans enormous
desire to believe that what they perceive to be real is in fact
real. This desire is so strong that it overcomes Cypher, who can no
longer tolerate the "desert of the real" and asks to be reinserted
into the matrix. As he sits with Agent Smith in an upscale
restaurant smoking a cigar with a large glass of brandy, Cypher
explains his motives:
"You know, I know this steak doesnt exist. I know that when I put
it in my mouth, the matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and
delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize? Ignorance is
bliss."
[27] Cypher knows that the matrix is not real and that any
pleasures he experiences there are illusory. Yet for him, the
"ignorance" of samsara is preferable to enlightenment. Denying the
reality that he now experiences beyond the matrix, he uses the
double negative: "I dont want to remember nothing. Nothing. And I
want to be rich. Someone important. Like an actor." Not only does
Cypher want to forget the "nothing" of true reality, but he also
wants to be an "actor," to add another level of illusion to the
illusion of the matrix that he is choosing to re-enter. The draw of
samsara is so strong that not only does Cypher give in to his
cravings, but Mouse also may be said to have been overwhelmed by
the lures of samsara, since his death is at least in part due to
distractions brought on by his sexual fantasies about the "woman in
the red dress" which occupy him when he is supposed to be standing
alert.
[28] Whereas Cypher and Mouse represent what happens when one gives
in to samsara, the rest of the crew epitomize the restraint and
composure praised by the Buddha. The scene shifts abruptly from the
restaurant to the mess hall of the Nebuchadnezzar, where instead of
being offered brandy, cigars and steak, Neo is given the "bowl of
snot" which is to be his regular meal from that point forward. In
contrast to the pleasures which for Cypher can only be fulfilled in
the matrix, Neo and the crew must be content with the
"single-celled protein combined with synthetic aminos, vitamins,
and minerals" which Dozer claims is "everything the body needs."
Clad in threadbare clothes, subsisting on gruel, and sleeping in
bare cells, the crew is depicted enacting the Middle Way taught by
the Buddha, allowing neither absolute asceticism nor indulgence to
distract them from their work.
[29] The Solution of Knowledge/Enlightenment. This duality between
the matrix and the reality beyond it sets up the ultimate goal of
the rebels, which is to free all minds from the matrix and allow
humans to live out their lives in the real world beyond. In making
this point, the film-makers draw on both Theravada and Mahayana
Buddhist ideas. Alluding to the Theravada ideal of the arhat, the
film suggests that enlightenment is achieved through individual
effort. As his initial guide, Morpheus makes it clear that Neo
cannot depend upon him for enlightenment. Morpheus explains, "no
one can be told what the matrix is. You have to see it for
yourself." Morpheus tells Neo he must make the final shift in
perception entirely on his own. He says: "Im trying to free your
mind, Neo. But I can only show you the door. Youre the one that
has to walk through it." For Theravada Buddhists, "mans
emancipation depends on his own realization of the Truth, and not
on the benevolent grace of a god or any external power as a reward
for his obedient good behavior." The Dhammapada urges the one
seeking enlightenment to "Free thyself from the past, free thyself
from the future, free thyself from the present. Crossing to the
farther shore of existence, with mind released everywhere, no more
shalt thou come to birth and decay." As Morpheus says to Neo,
"Theres a difference between knowing the path and walking the
path." And as the Buddha taught his followers, "You yourselves
should make the effort; the Awakened Ones are only teachers." As
one already on the path to enlightenment, Morpheus is only a guide;
ultimately Neo must recognize the truth for himself.
[30] Yet The Matrix also embraces ideas found in Mahayana Buddhism,
especially in its particular concern for liberation for all people
through the guidance of those who remain in samsara and postpone
their own final enlightenment in order to help others as
bodhisattvas. The crew members of the Nebuchadnezzar epitomize this
compassion. Rather than remain outside of the matrix where they are
safer, they choose to re-enter it repeatedly as ambassadors of
knowledge with the ultimate goal of freeing the minds and
eventually also the bodies of those who are trapped within the
Matrixs digital web. The film attempts to blend the Theravada
ideal of the arhat with the Mahayana ideal of the bodhisattva,
presenting the crew as concerned for those still stuck in the
matrix and willing to re-enter the matrix to help them, while
simultaneously arguing that final realization is an individual
process.
By Rachel Wagner, The University of Iowa
and
Frances Flannery-Dailey, Hendrix College
