Similarities Between The Matrix And Buddhism

The Matrix is an icon of popular culture, with phrases referring to it permeating our day to day language. With idioms like “Glitch in the matrix” and ”take the red pill” many people make reference to this (at the time) groundbreaking work of fiction in their everyday lives. However, most are ignorant to some of the biggest influences on the franchise as a whole. India, and more specifically Buddhism have a large influence on the background and story of The Matrix trilogy. The inspiration for the films is comes from a place of enlightenment. I will discuss the instances of potential inspiration from buddhism. Throughout the film there are several direct parallels to the story of the buddha as well as some of the supporting elements drawn …show more content…
The Buddha, began his life as royalty, he was a prince whose father wished nothing but the best for him. He was however not called the Buddha yet, his name was Siddhartha. In order to protect his son, He kept him locked in a perfect world inside the castle gates. This perfect little world sounds an awful lot like The Matrix. Although it was not perfect, having been set in the early 2000’s, the life provided proved to be more of a deception than reality. The Matrix provided a distraction from the threat and enslavement of the human race. Because although the buddha was surrounded by a lack of aging, death, and suffering those concepts still existed in the world around him. Much like how although Thomas Anderson was oblvious to the war with the machines and the Machines’s use of mankind as a battery those were still what was actually happening. (Buddhism …show more content…
The most obvious supporting element that demonstrates this the scene where the little boy states the famous line, “There is no spoon.” After his awakening, Neo is sent back into the matrix to seek out the Oracle. Once Neo arrives he is brought into a room with several potential “The Ones” The Screenplay describes the room as, “at once like a Buddhist temple and a kindergarten class.” (Journal of Religion) In this waiting room Neo meets a boy who is dressed in clothing similar to a buddhist monk, he begins to explain the truth about reality. He holds up a spoon and states, “There is no spoon.” This is the ultimate truth of reality, there is no spoon. Everything is indistinguishable from everything else, it is just through our viewpoints that we differentiate objects. This text is printed with ink on this paper but the ink and the paper are not there as separate things, they are the same thing. They lack an endless identity. Reality is in fact almost an illusion. Begging the question of what is real? This example while very meta, explains the nature of the matrix, as well as the set up for the move. When the boy states, “Do not try to bend the spoon. There is no spoon. Instead, only try to realize the truth, that there is no spoon. Then you would see that is not the spoon that bends- it is only yourself.” He is teaching about the oneness