When Buddha Meets "the Matrix"

Some major topics we discussed in our "Buddhism in the Movies" workshop:

1. Awakening from the world of illusion

• What is illusion? What is reality? Do you feel something is missing in your life?
• What choices have you made to take your life to this point?
• What choices will you make, and where will they take you in the future?
• How to wake up from this all-enveloping illusion?
• Humans were used as batteries by the "sentient machines" in the movie. A commentary on how we treat our farm animals only as product and energy source?
• Residual self-image: what a great term. How we view ourselves is but a shadow, projection, a residual image of what we truly are. This false self image is a composite of our life experiences.

2. Free your mind

• How we limit ourselves by thinking "I can't"
• If we are willing to let go of our fear, doubts, and disbelief, how much can we accomplish?

3. Levels of faith and levels of reality

• How much faith do we have in ourselves, in our beliefs, and in our teachers?
• How much are we willing to believe in illusions, even when we know they are illusions?
  
  (e.g. in the movie, "Mouse" is willing to have a date with the "woman in red dress" which is a simulation he created; Cypher goes a step further, betraying the crew so he can return to the illusion of Matrix. We do that all the time, e.g. eating the cheesecake or steak or drinking alcohol that we know we shouldn't)
  
  Do we really want to know the truth?
• Is faith necessary in enlightenment?
  

4. "There is no spoon"

• To what degree is the physical reality created by our mind?

5. Oracle, omniscience, knowing the future

• In times of uncertainty, we want to turn to some authority to tell us what to do.
• In the movie, the Oracle actually doesn't tell you what to do. What does she do? How is her method similar to that of a Buddhist Master?
• The future is shaped by the past, but not fixed in cement. Instead it is a ever-unfolding process that changes as we make decisions each moment.
• What then is omniscience?

6. Death and rebirth

• Did Neo have to die in order to complete his transformation as the One? What is this significance? Compare with Christianity and Zen (where many Zen masters describe their enlightenment experiences as having the old self died.)
• How is it possible that Neo came back to life? How is it logical in the movie? Do you die if you believe you will die?

7. Concept of a Savior/Bodhisattva

• What qualities did Neo have to become The One?
• What did his transformation/training involve?
• Can only certain special being beTthe One (Christianity, in the movie) or can anyone become The One (Buddhism)?

8. Duality of Good and Evil

• In the first Matrix movie, Good and Evil, reality and illusion are very clear and disctinct. In the second and third movie, both boundaries become blurred until .... (we didn't discuss this as this is an important topic in the subsequent movies)