The Matrix Movie - Advaita Vedanta - Non Duality by Jithesh Dev"Throw Your Worries to the Wind" Sathyam, Advaitam, AvadhutamThe Movie is Based on the quote "Brahma Sathyam Jagath Mithya - Brahman is real, World is unreal"This is a Sanskrit Verse from Upanishad, and the Matrix Movie is based on Hindu Scientific Findings (Vedas & Upanishad)Asatoma SadgamayaThamaso Maa Jyothir GamayaMrithyor Maa Amrutham GamayaOm Shanti Shanti Shantihi1 Om, Lead us from Unreality (Matrix=Maya) (of Transitory Existence) to the Reality (of Self / Brahman),2 Lead us from the Darkness (of Ignorance) to the Light (of Spiritual Knowledge),3 Lead us from the Fear of Death to the Knowledge of Immortality.4 Om Peace, Peace, Peace.In the first movie Morpheus tells Neo:What if you were to wake up from a dream which was soreal that you found it difficult to differentiatebetween the dream world, and the real world?This is exactly what Maya is, a dream world.The concept of Maya is what that boy is talking about. Maya is deceit, exists at many levels, and at one level it exists as an illusion. It is neither the truth, nor the reality, it is but a dream, from which one hasn't woken up yet. This world that we live in considered to be a dream that Lord Vishnu (one of the gods in the Hindu trinity, also the preserver) sees while sleeping. Maya is what shields us from knowing the Supreme Consciousness -- Bhraman.Maya deceives the atman from seeing the truth, the "real" world, also described as Zion in the movie. The "independent" people in Zion i.e. Morpheus, Trinity, Neo, etc. plug into the Matrix (Maya, computer programme), and out of the Matrix, going back and forth into the real world and that of illusion. In explaining Maya, Sankara (ancient guy) very often refers to the example of the rope and the snake. As long as one mistakes a rope for a snake, he is frightened and reacts to the rope as if it were a real snake. When he realizes that what he sees is only a rope he laughs. Similarly, as long as one is engrossed in the ignorance of relative consciousness, the world is indeed quite "real". But when true knowledge dawns, one becomes aware that the world was a fake.Morpheus after logging into the Matrix with Neo for the first time, says:Your appearance now is what we call residual self-image.It is the mental projection...of your digital selfThe above lines I believe directly refer to what is called Mithya, or imagination. This makes Neo realize that all that he sees is false, and only the Almighty is true.There is another interesting dialogue, between the architect of the Matrix and Neo, where he tells Neo, that five "The One's" came before him, but they failed. Implying that he is the sixth one, also might mean that he is the sixth re-incarnation of Lord Vishnu. In Matrix Revolutions, Sati fits in to be the seventh re-incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The name Sati comes from the woman who lures (if that's an appropriate term to use), Lord Shiva, into the family ways of life. Before her, he used to roam in the wilderness. Sati means love and sacrifice.That dialogue could also turn out to be something to do with the Yugas. In Hinduism it is believed, that the Maya is bound by space, time, and causality. The Yuga we currently live in, also depicted in the Matrix, is Kaliyuga. The seventh Yuga is that of the Satyuga. The Yuga of Truthfulness and Harmony, probably what Neo achieved, by ending the war, saving Zion (real world).Also in the beginning of the first movie, Morpheus explains to Neo what the matrix is, or at least tries to. He says:The Matrix is everywhere. It's all around us, even in thisvery room. You can see it when you look out your window orwhen you turn on your television. You can feel it when yougo to work, when you go to work, when you pay your taxes.The Matrix is the world that has been pulled over your eyes,to blind you from the truth.In my opinion he is explaining the extent of Maya / Matrix. Lord Vishnu, of whose dream is the Maya / Matrix, has no bounds and exists everywhere. Vishnu in Hindi expands to, "Vishva Ke Har Anu Mein". It means, "In all the world's atoms, I exist".The striking similarity between the Matrix and the Gita struck me in the Rescue mission of the first movie. The idea is that Gita is what Lord Krishna is telling Arjuna to do, who is reluctant to battle his own family in the epic Mahabharata. At this point of time, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna, he must do his dharma (duty). He tells him that he has already slain all of them. So it is only right that he performs his duty, as the soul can neither conquer, nor be defeated, the Atman (soul) is the higher self not bound by space, time or causality.The philosophy is to do your dharma. For the warrior it is to battle, for the victim it is to die. Karma-Yuga is what I interpret the Mahabharata to be set in. It is destiny that drives one, which is made by your Karma.Not surprisingly, Matrix Revolutions also touches upon this, very explicitly I might add, as the Indian Rama Kandra, meets Neo at Mobil Ave. (Limbo), and explains why he is taking the train to transport Sati. And then Neo asks if he believes in Karma to which the reply is a subtle explanation of cause and effect.At the end of the trilogy, Neo attains Nirvana, he knows of Brahman - the Supreme Consciousness. He is in what I believe the Golden age of Satyuga.It's been reported that Wachowski brothers were strongly influenced by Hinduism, especially the Gita. If you search about this topic, you'll find claims that Neo is in fact a re-incarnation of Lord Vishnu, or that the Architect is Lord Brahma, Lord Shiva is in fact Agent Smith, who is the balancer of the equation.The Matrix has been an alarmingly hit Hollywood movie that has seeped through the corners of the world, generating billions of dollars of revenue. This action masterpiece created by the Wachowski brothers has produced millions of fans around the world. But the Matrix trilogy has a deeper meaning than just guns and bullets. This is one interpretation of The Matrix. There are many parallels between The Matrix trilogy and Vedic philosophy. The Matrix can even be considered as an example to better understand some of the concepts of Hinduism. Maya, Moksha, the concept of God and the balance of good and bad can all be understood through its well-known story. For those who havent seen the movies, The Matrix is about a computer hacker (Neo) who is given the knowledge by Morpheus that the world he was living in is not real, and just a simulation created by machines of the future. He races to save the city of the real world (Zion), created by others like him, from the machines.Lets start from the beginning of the story. Neo, a computer hacker, is wondering about what The Matrix is, after he hears about it in a chat room. It haunts him for a long time, until he meets Trinity, aide of Morpheus, who tells him how to find out. Neo asks her, "What is the Matrix?", to which Trinity replies, "Twelve years ago I met [Morpheus], a great man, who said that no one could be told the answer to that question. That they had to see it, to believe it." Morpheus here acts as a guru or teacher, a realized one who leads his followers to truth. He tells Neo exactly what Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said to Swami Vivekanandas question, "What is God?" Sanatana Dharma says that God cannot be explainedthe truth can only be experienced.

Then in the story, Morpheus shows and explains to Neo about the Matrix, the world from which he was living in before he got to the real world. Neo asks, "This isn't real?" To which Morpheus replies, "What is real? How do you define real? If you're talking about your senses, what you feel, taste, smell, or see, then all you're talking about are electrical signals interpreted by your brain."In Hinduism, this concept of the "Matrix" is called Maya. It is said that the world we live in is just an illusion, created by our minds. Our senses, feelings and emotions are just illusions we trick ourselves into believing in. In explaining Maya, Adi Shankara very often refers to the example of the rope and the snake. As long as one mistakes a rope for a snake, he is frightened and reacts to the rope as if it were a real snake. When he realizes that what he sees is only a rope, he laughs.The Vedic concept of God is the state in which one realizes that the world is just a Matrix, or Maya, and that everything around him is an illusion. This state is called Moksha, or Nirvana, which Neo attains in the movie after he realizes what the Matrix is.Then, in the second movie, the maker calls Neo "an unbalanced equation". By this he is saying exactly what Hinduism believes. Good cannot be alone in this world. Without Bad, the earth will not spin. There has to be a balance of good and evil, of creation and destruction.

What is the Matrix? Within the prison of your world appears a man who tells you that the world of painful contradictions, which you have created, is neither continuous nor permanent and is based on a misapprehension. He pleads with you to get out of it, by the same way by which you got into it. You got into it by forgetting what you are and you will get out of it by knowing yourself as you are.I'm sure many have noticed the similarity between Eastern Sprituality, particularly "Advaita" (nonduality) and the movie Matrix.In Sanskrit language Advaita means "not two." For example, the above quote by the Advaita Vedanta Master Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj could have easily been used in the script by Neo's mentor Morpheus.According to an interpretation of Advaita, the mind whether awake or dreaming moves through the illusion (maya=matrix?). Only consciousness is real. You are consciousness.Nisargadatta's student Ramesh Balsekar explains the core of his Guru's teachings as "the knowledge of one's identity."Then how do you find out who you are?The seeker is he who is in search of himself.

Give up all questions except one: "Who am I?" After all, the only fact you are sure of is that you are. The "I am" is certain. The "I am this" is not. Struggle to find out what you are in reality. To know what you are, you must first investigate and know what you are not. Discover all that you are not--body, feelings, thoughts, time, space, this or that--nothing, concrete or abstract, which you perceive can be you. The very act of perceiving shows that you are not what you perceive. The clearer you understand that on the level of mind you can be described in negative terms only, the quicker will you come to the end of your search and realize that you are the limitless being.When I met my Guru, he told me: "You are not what you take yourself to be. Find out what you are. Watch the sense 'I am', find youre real Self." I obeyed him, because I trusted him. I did as he told me. All my spare time I would spend looking at myself in silence. And what a difference it made, and how soon! My teacher told me to hold on to the sense 'I am' tenaciously and not to swerve from it even for a moment. I did my best to follow his advice and in a comparatively short time I realized within myself the truth of his teaching. All I did was to remember his teaching, his face, his words constantly. This brought an end to the mind; in the stillness of the mind I saw myself as I am -- unbound. I simply followed (my teacher's) instruction which was to focus the mind on pure being 'I am', and stay in it. I used to sit for hours together, with nothing but the 'I am' in my mind and soon peace and joy and a deep all-embracing love became my normal state. In it all disappeared -- myself, my Guru, the life I lived, the world around me. Only peace remained and unfathomable silence. My Guru ordered me to attend to the sense 'I am' and to give attention to nothing else. I just obeyed. I did not follow any particular course of breathing, or meditation, or study of scriptures. Whatever happened, I would turn away my attention from it and remain with the sense 'I am', it may look too simple, even crude. My only reason for doing it was that my Guru told me so. Yet it worked! Obedience is a powerful solvent of all desires and fears...I find that somehow, by shifting the focus of attention, I become the very thing I look at, and experience the kind of consciousness it has; I become the inner witness of the thing. I call this capacity of entering other focal points of consciousness, love; you may give it any name you like. Love says "I am everything". Wisdom says "I am nothing". Between the two, my life flows. Since at any point of time and space I can be both the subject and the object of experience, I express it by saying that I am both, and neither, and beyond both. --Nisargadatta MaharajVedanta admits that its philosophy is a part of the illusory world. A portion of this long dream. But vedantic philosophy has one distinction which all other parts of the illusion lack. Its character, its excellence is unique. And that is summarised in one potent Sanskrit phase swapna simha vath. Swapna means dream, simha means lion and vath means like. The philosophy of vedanta is said to be like a dream lion. Imagine a lion appears in a dream. The lion in the dream is a part of the dream world experienced by the dreamer. But the lion in the dream has one pecularity. One distinctive character which none of the other objects of the dream possess. And that is its capacity to catapult the dreamer from the dreaming state of consciosness to the waking state of consciousness. When the lion appears in the dream the dreamer experiences a kind of nightmare. He is startled. His horrified. The lion wakes him up as it were. The dream lion no doubt is a part of the dream but it swallows up the entire dream. In doing so the dream lion also vanishes. That is the charecterstic of this dream lion. Similarly Vedanta plays the role dream lion in this world. Vedantic knowledge is part of this illusory world. But then it dissolves the entire illusion of this world. Reveals reality. It inveils your inner Self. It transports you from the plane of world consciousness to a plane of god consciousness. That is the beauty of this knowledge. Pursue it till the end. You will reach the ultimate Reality.