16. The Matrix and Buddhism

     The Matrix is a film that is set in a dystopian future in which humans are imprisoned and harvested for energy. Humans are not actually aware of what is really happening, because what they see is known as "The Matrix." There is a group of humans who set out to rebel against the machines that imprison the human race, and enlighten humans to what has really happened to them. Neo is our protagonist. He is a hacker whose skills appeal to Morpheus, the leader of the rebellion. And Neo has to completely change his life as he discovers that everything that he had previously thought was real was in fact a lie. He has to acknowledge his suffering in order to help overcome it. And that is where the film seems to intertwine with some concepts of the Buddhist religion. The Four Noble Truths are held as the central doctrine of Buddhism. These truths deal with suffering, and the ending of suffering through the Noble Eightfold Path. In The Matrix, Neo has to acknowledge his suffering. He then has to overcome it. Neo embodies the Four Noble Truths in the course of his journey with the rebellion.

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     The first noble truth is the truth of suffering. Neo has to first realize that he is suffering under the rule of the machines. And Neo realizes the first noble truth as the members of the rebellion show him what reality is really like. He sees the humans being harvested. And he realizes that the matrix is just an illusion. That he has been ignorant to the reality of the world around him. He acknowledges that his world is imperfect, and thus acknowledges his suffering.
     The second noble truth is the origin of suffering. For Neo, the origin of suffering is ignorance. He is living in the matrix, and never questions it. He (as well as most of the other humans) likes the matrix, because it is more pleasing that the world that is run by the machines. One common explanation if this truth explains it in three parts: ignorance, attachment, and aversion. Neo is ignorant because he misunderstands the
way the world really is. He is attached to his life in the matrix. And at first, is probably fearful of the change he would experience by abandoning the matrix.
     The third noble truth is the cessation of suffering. Neo achieves this when he chooses to join the rebels. By doing so, he is choosing to acknowledge his suffering and the roots of the problem. He is then no longer suffering under the rule of the machines, and he has chosen to abandon his ignorance about the world, which is the root of his suffering.
     The fourth noble truth is the path to the cessation of suffering, known as the noble eightfold path. This consists of right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. Neo has to follow these steps in order to cease his suffering. This is the path he takes in order to correct his views of the world and change himself to fit his new life outside of the matrix. Once Neo had completed the path, the matrix could no longer cause him suffering.
     Throughout the movie, we see Neo grow as a character. From his beginnings in the matrix to the end of the movie in the resistance, Neo follows a path. In this path, he chooses to open his eyes. He chooses to acknowledge that he is suffering, and he chooses to acknowledge the root of that suffering: the matrix and all that is behind it. Once he had realized that, Neo could begin his path to cease his suffering. And throughout the events of the film, we see Neo fight against his suffering through enlightenment. There is no more denial of the truth: he realizes that he can only cease his suffering through direct acceptance. Neo is no longer ignorant. He no longer suffers because of the matrix.