Originally posted by hodgie723
All right Omega. If indeed you did read the site that Nick provided us.. did you take in anything from it and say "NOPE! That's completly wrong." Can you say that Neo in a Christian Jesus sence and the buddist sence are being applied in the movie in different ways, but not one more than the other? Or are you just completly fixated on what you beleive is true in your mind and not willing to have an open mind.
Actually, I would ask YOU the same question.
why do i always show up to these threads after something's been edited? man. i mean, props for the quick trigger finger on ush, but i didn't even get to see what the brouhaha was about.
blue angel: just click on my link.
i for one think there are a ton of religions vested into the matrix trilogy. christianity, being a popular one, probably just tends to get spotted by us more.
i think the matrix is connected to the bible by dots. a complex weaving of dots, if placed in the proper numerical order, will lead you to the book of charley... the lost bible story thats hidden under the vatican. the wakowski bros. know about this lost book of charley and wanted to reveal it only those smart (or high) enough to grasp these concepts. its very subtle indeed but after close and careful examination of the matrix i found this to be true.. just notice certian angles in the movie... when they are measured and divided by pi the sum is equal that of the numbers in the book of charley.
Here, a handful of OTHER connections 😄
Neo is akin to a Buddha.
Buddha means the Enlightened One or the Awakened One. Buddha is not a proper name, but a generic term or appellative, referring one who has attained supreme enlightenment and who is regarded as superior to all other beings, human or divine, by virtue of his knowledge of the Truth (Dhamma).
As the buddhist kid in M1 says ”Instead, only try to realise the truth,” when Neo has to try and bend the spoon.
Blind faith is anathema to Buddhism, which clearly urges us to think freely and not to accept things blindly. That is, not to accept what we see and hear without questions.
Buddhists believe in the cycle of birth and death, called Samsara. Again, this is linked to the loops of the Matrix. The belief is based on the recognition of the continuity of a series of lives from the past to the present and from the present to the future. The present life is not the only one, and it does not dissolve into nothingness at death. Samsara means that there existed lives prior to this one, and other existences will continue after its termination. The process and the continuity of life are sustained by the force of kamma, willful action based on desire, attachment and ignorance. This instinctive clinging to life, which is a universal attribute, is a determining factor for the continuation of existence.
The ultimate goal in Buddhist practice is to be free from this cycle of birth and death. In The Matrix it means freeing yourself from the world that is not real. Samsara is considered undesirable as it lacks security and is liable to the vicissitudes and uncertainties of existence, such as old age, disease, death, pain, and suffering. Freedom from Samsara is called Nibbana (Sanskrit: nirvana), metaphorically described as the other shore, or the transcendental state beyond the confusion of worldly existence. It is the state which is completely free from conditionalities and limitations and is therefore not subject to all the conditions in mundane existence. Nibbana is a transcendent state, unconditioned and absolute.
Blind faith in the system, is what keeps humanity enslaved. Believing in something that isn’t real. Samsara in this interpretation is the continuing loops of the Matrix-program, that mankind cannot escape by clinging to the belief that it is real. Escaping Samsara is like escaping from the Matrix, realising that it is NOT real.
The Greek connections:
To cite a few: Neo is Ancient Greek for "new"; Morpheus is the name for the "god of dreams (and sleep)" in Greek Mythology; and the whole Matrix storyline is a thinly veiled rearticulation of the myth of Prometheus, the half-god (i.e. Neo) who stole fire (i.e godly powers) from the gods (i.e. the makers and keepers of the Matrix) and who pays dearly for doing so.
Persephone, who in Greek mythology is the wife of Hades, the god of the Underworld. Hades actually took her against her will, so she has mixed feelings about him. She also intercedes with him on behalf of mortals -e.g. Orpheus and Euridyce- to help them achieve their goals. This parallels Reloaded.
The evil twins seem to be an intriguingly corrupted subversion of classic mythology's Gemini-twins: Castor and Pollux -- Castor and Polydeuces in Greek myth, unless they are a transposition of Cerberus, the three-headed, snake-tailed dog viciously guarding the access to the Underworld. The latter seems more likely as it is far closer to the actual role of the twins in the movie.
Morpheus speech to the people of Zion is evocative of well-know classic orations, in particular Demosthenes' world-famous Philippics, a series of orations rallying the Athenians against the bold ambitions of Philip the Macedonian. Demosthenes is most probably the world's greatest orator ever.
One or two sentences of Morpheus speech were also dripping with referential winking, pointing to a classic Roman expression and style-figure, best know in the version "Hannibal ad portas (Romanas ipsas est)!" The enemy / barbarians are at the gates (of Rome/Zion).
Ok. Then I would say that what I have implied to be true. The Wachowski Bros. want to work all possible angles to include all possible crowds and fans across the world. People with different religins. I'm sorry Omega, but it jsut seems that you are leaning too far towards your own point of view on the matter. Just because to you Neo represents more of a budda character in your mind, doesn't mean that Neo could represent Jesus in another mind. All I'm saying is to keep an open mind and not get to caguht up with your pride.
hodgie:
Originally posted by The Omega
Morpheus> The Matrix movies are connected to the Bible in the same way they’re connected to countless other religious texts and stories.
Neo can be seen as a Christian Messiah or a Hindi/Buddhist boddhisathva . . .
i think you're acting a bit more close-minded here.
all right. but it seems that Omega is being in consistant with his views here. he says that quote yes but, it seems like every time he writes an opinion about this he seeminly goes right towards the buddha= neo. yes, he did write that quote.. but it doesn't mean that i am a little closed minded. just becuase i didnt read that one quote from omega, doesnt't mean i am closed minded. i was just using the information that i got from Omega in this thread. Thats all.
Oh, and on 2nd note, why are you defending Omega? I think he has the intelligence to reply to what i ahve said to him.