Pari's Blog

The Matrix Trilogy

The Matrix Trilogy is a beautiful, almost divinely inspired, film. It is the epic spiritual journey of one individual (that of Neo) all the way to his enlightenment (Self-Realization). The Trilogy borrows a lot from Hinduism, but nevertheless it’s got so much originality, it holds its ground as Purana in its own right, for the newer generation/culture. The first movie, The Matrix, I think is an illustration of the assertions made in the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita; it is about the initial awakening and awareness that there is something beyond to what you perceive as you, and what you perceive as reality. In the third, Matrix Revolutions, one becomes conscious, self-aware, of the spiritual awakening within, the kundalini sakthi, and tantra – putting theory into practise. Below is a review of Matrix Revolutions. For review of The Matrix please see Metaphysics.

Matrix Revolutions

The first time I saw the Matrix Trilogy, I admired the Hindu concepts weaved into it, but it was only in my second viewing (of Matrix Revolutions) that it really opened my eyes to many other details.

If you’re into spirituality, then please watch the film a second time before reading further! You will definitely find it an inspiration and even enlightening to see it as it unfolds before your eyes. Everyone has their own unique perspective. It may even be entertaining to compare notes!

Rather than writing a sort of film review, I’ll just give a narrative of how the next half hour of what I saw (starting at chapter 27, then working backward to chapter 23), unfolded the film into something most beautiful!

#1: Walking the razors edge…

I didn’t feel like watching the whole film from the beginning, so I went directly to my favorite scene – the Agent Smith-Neo fight scene. Chapter 27 (because of its similarity to a scene in Skanda Puruna). No sooner than did the scene commence with Neo walking the thin line, between the rows of Agent Smiths on either side, with Sanskrit mantra embedded in the spectacular accompanying music score!… Whoa! it hit me; it all came together so profoundly! Ramakrishna Paramahansa’s saying flashed across my mind, that as you approach closer to the Truth, the spiritual journey becomes toughest, like walking on a razors edge. Also passed through my mind was Don Juan’s saying, the path of the spiritual seeker (especially one who takes the most direct path) is that of a warrior. That one needs stealth, focus, and perseverance.

You can see Neo’s expression is perfectly that of a person who is determined, detached, and with almost with no ego (because he doesn’t even know what he is seeking – he is just simply seeking; he knows he just has to do what he has to do).

#2: Thought waves restrained…

But in order to walk the razors edge, it requires disciplining the mind…. Which means that these Agent Smiths on either side represent thought waves!! – completely disciplined and controlled by Neo. Whoa! Also simply delightful is the scene where one of the Agent Smiths (this particular Agent Smith I see as the dark blue hued Sri Krishna) standing among the rows of Agent Smiths gives a slight nod and smile to Neo just as he walks down the aisle. A beautiful and simple gesture of grace, acquiescence, encouragement, “yes, keep going, you’re almost there”.

#3: The mantras…

And now the chanting of the mantras in the background as Neo is walking the razors edge, the thin line, between the two rows of disciplined thoughts – now makes complete sense! The very concept of the mantra is to discipline all the thought waves, to steady the mind, to have focus.

It’s difficult to catch the mantras being chanted during the fight scene: asato maa sad gamaya, tamaso maa jyotir gamaya, mrityor maa amritam gamaya (“[lead me] from Untruth to Truth, Darkness to Light, from Death to Bliss”); as well as a host of other messages from the Upanishads. I missed it in my first viewing. It helps to first listen to the same music in the closing credits, then you can see the fight scene. 

Neo is essentially focused and having all his thoughts restraining by chanting the mantra, as he walks the thin line. But where is he chanting… in his head? what head? where are these thought waves (rows of Agent Smiths)?

#4: The rain and lightening,…

The electrical storm represents that this is all inside the brain (the brain being millions of neurons firing flashes of electrical signals). The rain represents how arduous the path is. The spiritual seeker has such focus that he is oblivious to the rain. Siddhars (hard-core yogis; spiritual seekers like Neo) go through such arduous conditions (just like a soldier on his goal, they cannot afford even the slightest distraction; one slight thought can cause ripples). Also, Hindus consider bathing and even a splash of water on the head (as is they do in temples) as sacred and purifying. So, the rain might also represent the last but final darshan/blessing, or in the case of Neo, the final, penultimate grace from God, in the form of a challenge (an initiation to the next level) – the final encounter with the one last thought wave, Agent Smith.

Why the challenge? how else can one come close to the humility required to fathom the depths of the Source; and merge in Siva? Exams are tough, but by no means cruel nor a torture. Just as a teacher checks to make sure if you’re ready for it. Because, if you’re not ready for it, it’ll be right in front of you, and you’ll miss it. (as one Tamil song lyric goes, ஏன் சோதிக்கவேண்டும்? பரம்பொருள் லீலையை யார் அறிவார்… அவர் பக்தரக்கு சோதனை தான் தருவார்!) Maybe one can easily turn this into a bhakti film for the common Hindus in India, by just introducing some such bhakti hymnodies in each scene!

#5: Murugan – the Final Test

Now… (ok, we’re still at the beginning of the same scene!, chapter 27)… as Neo walks the thin line between the rows of Agent Smiths, one Agent Smith gracefully slowly, smilingly, walks forward out of the line towards the center of the street. Murugan himself, in all his loving radiance and beauty, to offer the final challenge-and-pull to Neo.

Lord Murugan is the guide that will take you to the Source (and he also the Source). He is the one who graces as well as puts obstacles to test and reinforce your resolve (recollect the number of times Agent Smith examines Neo with blunt questions on the pathetic nature of the human condition; the prithvi-narayanan principle). A line from Tamil spiritual literature on Murugan goes through my mind each time I see last Smith-Neo battle scene, something like: ஈர்த்து என்னை ஆட்க்கொண்டு…ஜீவனை சிவன் ஆக்கிடுவார் (it means something like: one who pulls me, the jiva-atman, to the Source/Siva). 

That one Agent Smith represents the one last thought wave. The intellect will be there with you till the very end, like a cobra’s hood safeguarding your meditation from the rain and storm. That one thought wave, will always be there to challenge you, grace you, and help you through in your spiritual journey. Neo knows that he must at the end confront this very last thought wave – the Intellect (with a capital “I”). This single thought wave, Agent Smith, poses him the final challenge – it also represents the last reminiscence of the ego, and the challenge is to make terms with it, to merge with it; it is the one thing that is holding Neo down in The Matrix, the final thread.

Of all the things in The Matrix and Matrix Revolutions together, this 60 second scene from where Neo starts the walk between rows of Agent Smith and the one Agent Smith/Murugan stepping forward from the crowd, is the most beautiful scene of all, to me it was the climax… ending with direct meet with Murugan, with both of them knowing what is to happen is to happen!

In the Skanda Puruna(? – check), Murugan confronts Soorapadma. Soorapadama represents the jiva-atman that has become aware that it is in the Matrix and has attained powers (like Neo did in towards the end of the first movie, The Matrix). The Murugan-Soorapadma battle scene is enacted during the Kandar Shasti festival that occurs in Thirchendoor around every November. In this battle they both slam into each other, fall back, then slam into each other again. The fight between Agent Smith and Neo reminded me of that. Prior to the battle, Murugan/Agent Smith meets his Mother, Sakthi (the Oracle) who imparts Herself to him in the form of the divine sakthi energy – Vel. After a couple of rounds of battle, Murugan succeeds. Using the Vel (Sakthi/Oracle) splits open Soorapadma (who, btw had morphed into a tree, by now, but you can’t hide that from Murugan), and the divine Inner Self comes out with all its radiance and abides in the presence of Murugan ever faithfully (in the form of the peacock and cock). With a difference, in the case of the Matrix, Neo become conscious of the Self, and he understood his reconciliation with Murugan/Agent Smith as his ticket to the Source. Neo was seeking the Source, Soorapadma wasn’t – he was still delusioned in power. 

#6: The Lifting of the Matrix and Enlightenment

In the final moments of battle (in the crater), Smith no longer calls Neo by his “Matrix” name – Mr. Anderson, but calls him by his name “Neo” (and that Neo means new). I think that is the first indication of the lifting of the veil. Notice that the lifting of the Matrix coincides with Neo merging with Agent Smith.

Notice the spectacular white explosion of the rain city — which accompanies the golden bright radiance around Neo in the Machine City. The outer world white explosion is the destruction of the illusion/the Matrix ; the inner world golden light is that Neo has Realized his True nature, merged in Siva. The sweeping white destruction of the Matrix city is spectacular; the dazzling sparks of light is as beautiful as the Sri Chakra (the Sri Chakra in Hindu symbolism represents The Matrix itself). Finally… notice that Oracle/Sakthi left lying in the crater after the Matrix is destroyed (in Hinduism, She is the Matrix itself = the Sri Chakra).

Now coming to the scene towards the end of the fight which I appreciated in my first viewing as the all but final stage to Self-Realization, merging with the Source. But what I missed – which I saw in the second viewing, is that the brilliant yellow radiance of light that encompasses what’s left of Neo as he is pulled away by that lobster-like machine is actually in the shape of brilliant radiant golden lotus with many petals. The Thousand Petalled Lotus – the final chakra in the Kundalini. Whoa!

#7: The Three Power Lines… Kundalini Currents

Ok, next I rewind from Chapter 27 to the chapter which starts the journey to the Machine City (that’s around the end of Chapter 23)…When I saw the three power lines and the Logos zipping along the middle power line… towards the power center… it reinforced my previous thought (of the thousand petalled lotus) so clearly – kundalini.

Kundalini is the cosmic energy that lies coiled at the base of your spine, waiting to be unwound. When the time is right, it awakens, as kundalini sakthi, and travels up the spinal axis towards the head, until reaching the destination – the thousand petalled lotus (upon which one attains Self-Realization). In the process of travelling upward, it activates each of seven major chakras (cosmic energy centers) in succession. One’s spiritual journey can be directly mapped/correlated to the level of kundalini awakening.

The kundalini current is composed of three currents that run along the spinal axis right to the brain – the Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna. The middle current is the Sushumna. During spiritual progress of the individual, the Ida and Pingala currents (the left and right currents in the spine) join unified as the Sushumna current, and travel up the spine. There are plenty of studies on kundalini. Google it for more info. 

Also couldn’t help but noticing, that those twisted networks of metal in the Machine City look like ganglia (nerve bundles/junctions along the spinal cord).

#8: Logos

Note also, the name of the ship used to transport them in this final phase is “Logos”, literally meaning “word”. In Hinduism, first was the word (the concept, nama) then came the manifestation of the word (manifestation of the concept, rupa), the dual often referred to as nama-rupa (name & form, or concept/thought & its subsequent manifestation). It can also be primordial sound “Om” (i.e. the cosmic vibration that this first word represents).

Further when one traces any single thread of thought, to the root of the very origin of thought one reaches the Source (as in where does this thought come from? who is doing this questioning? what is this “I” in “I am”?). A powerful metaphysical concept. It is one of the main aims of yoga (Sanskrit, meaning union with [God]). By silencing the subtlest motions of the mind one finds something that pre-dates thought and all of creation, something eternal, infinite, and blissful – Pure Consciousness.

So it is apt, that towards the end of ones spiritual journey, “the word” is the final vehicle of the material world to be let go, before one releases oneself into Pure Consciousness.

In Christianity also you find similar concept: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” – John 1:1

#9: The Sky Experience

As they travel along the kundalini power lines, Neo encounters a barrage of Sentinals/thoughts. He says “there’s too many… I can’t beat them”. When Trinity (who is driving the Logos) asks Neo on what to do, he says to “Go up, over them”… “The sky… it’s the only way”. When you can’t fight such a barrage of thought waves, the easiest way is to approach through the heart to appreciate beauty; bhakti. The thoughts/Sentinels all fall off, die down, then they can return back on their path; in the process they are spiritually evolving ever so closer to the Source.

The amount of ideas they’ve packed into this film is astounding! Their first glimpse of the beautiful bright sky and first glimpse of the Sun, sort of gives us an idea of what darkness we are living in and what we are missing – Siva’s unfathomable beauty (notice also the crescent moon of Siva in the sky :) ).

At the same time I also see it from the kundalini yoga perspective, the sky experience as the experience of awakening of one of the intermediate chakras.

#10: Trinity – the Kundalini Sakthi

I got this idea upon observing that Trinity is the one who drives the Logos along the kundalini currents (power lines), while Neo directs her. After she reaches the destination, the penultimate chakra, at the top of the spinal axis, her job is done – to transport the Neo, the jiva-atman, to its destination, now it is for Neo to take the last step – to merge in Siva, the Divine Consciousness.

That is why she cannot go any further. The Logos crashes into the power center after the sky experience, and she dies in the crash. Just before she dies she tells Neo, “I can’t come with you, Neo. I’ve gone as far as I can”, and “It’s all right. It’s time. I’ve done all that I could do. Now you have to do the rest. You have to finish it.”

Just some thoughts: Maybe there is a physiological correlation, because physically the spinal cord does not connect to the brain. It stops barely short of connecting to the brain, at the base of the brain in a sort of bulb-like junction filled with fluid, a giant electrical synapse, where millions of electrical/neural signals are exchanged with the brain. Maybe the leap of the cosmic-self, the jiva-atman, in the microcosm takes place here, and that the sky experience in the film is the jump across the synaptic junction.

#11: Pushing Away the Machines

That scene when Neo and Trinity are heading toward the Machine City, where Neo literally pushes away (destroys) the approaching sentinels with his hands is beautiful in its simplicity. Those machines represent thought waves. As you progress in your spiritual evolution, you are encountered by zillions of thought waves created by years of conditioning, some of them age old calcified thought patterns – those big giant beast of a machines bordering the Machine City which shoot forth zillions of smaller thought waves (much like Mahishasura that Kali fights). Neo just pushes them away – with his hands, destroys them. I like to see this gesture as Ganesha, the Remover of Obstacles, paving way through the attack of all these thought-waves, clearing the path for Neo. Reminds me of a verse in Sri Lalita Sahsranama where Ganesha, does the same against the onslaught of demons. That gesture is so powerful, that I’ve started doing it to silence my mind of spurious thoughts!!

#12: The Siva Linga

Did any of you spot the Siva Lingam? And if you look close enough, you’ll see it even has the cobras hood. If you really want to know, drop me an email :-)

The Purunas

The Matrix Trilogy borrows a lot of its main characters from the Purunas.

Morpheus – Krishna
Throughout the The Matrix, Morpheus plays the role of Krishna, and all his instructions are literally quoting from the Bhagavad Gita every time, as in Krishna engaging Arjuna/Neo on questions of what is real and not real. See Metaphysics. Morpheus possesses the same disinterested but loving calm nature of Krishna as you would read in the purana stories. Towards the very end when Neo leaves for the Machine City, Morpheus/Krishna says to him – “No, the honor is mine”. Basically, His job is done (successfully!, for Neo now knows what to do).

Agent Smith – Murugan
See above, “Murugan – the Final Test”

Neo – Spiritual Seeker
Neo is the spiritual seeker in various phases. For example: In The Matrix, he plays the role of Arjuna, receiving his instructions from Morpheus/Krishna. In the end of the first The Matrix, when Neo realizes his full potential, he abuses it (starting with when he flies from phone booth). In that context Neo is Soorapadma. In the meet with Oracle, he is the humble receiver, and She gently addresses his confusion.

Trinity – the Kundalini Sakthi
See above, “Trinity – the Kundalini Sakthi”

Oracle – Sakthi
Sakthi, when placed with her consort Siva, represents the feminine principle, the kinetic, Manifested aspect of the universe. In that regard She is the Matrix itself. She is also the Source (i.e. to know the Matrix, is to know the Source).

BTW, what’s with the cookie thing? she’s always baking and giving away cookies; some sort of prasaadam?

(Oracle’s kitchen)
Oracle: That’s it. That’s the secret. You’ve got to use your hands.
Sati: Why?
Oracle: Cookies need love like everything does. 

Beautiful concept here. She means love, with realization that everything is One, as in Being One with the Whole. That is, as in Wholesome. At the same time she also means exactly what she means… food prepared with love.

Architect – Siva
Siva, when placed with his consort Sakthi, represents the masculine principle, the potential, Absolute/Transcendent aspect of the universe. In his most popular image, He is depicted as the Yogi, sitting cross-legged in meditation, omniscient, omnipresent. He is also the Source (and to know the Absolute/Transcendent state, is to know the Source).

Siva-Sakthi together form the Cosmic Dance of the Universe, through their play everything comes and goes. Siva as the Architect and Sakthi as the Oracle is pretty clear, when Oracle says to Neo:

Oracle: *rolls eyes* Please… You and I may not be able to see beyond our own choices, but that man can’t see past any choices.

Neo: Why not?

Oracle: He doesn’t understand them – he can’t. To him they are variables in an equation. One at a time each variable must be solved and countered. That’s his purpose: to balance an equation.

Neo: What’s your purpose?

Oracle: To unbalance it. 

Trainman – Yama
Trainman: “You don’t get it. I built this place. Down here I make the rules. Down here I make the threats. Down here, I’m God.”. Yama is the Lord of Death, and rules over the yama kandam, which is the lower world where people end up in in proportion to how badly blinded by ignorance, attachments, etc. They remain there until Yama decides their karma is sufficiently loosened up to give them their next try, next life. The train in the film is used to transport people in and out of the yama kandam. As Rama-Kandra explains to Neo, both Sati and Neo end up there because of the choices they made, enamoured by love. In the story of Sati (in the Siva Purana), she self-combusts in a fit of rage over not being able to bear the barrage insults by her father over her husband Siva. For that decision (due to a fit of passion, anger), she ends up in exile in yama kanda – to learn her mistake (well at least they seem to imply that in Matrix Revolutions). Incidentally the scene where Neo runs along the track, and finds himself returning to the same spot – is like the nature of our universe (in current cosmology theory); if we start to go on a straight line all the way to the “edge” of the universe, we’ll find ourself returning right back where we started.

The Frenchman – Indra
The Frenchman (the Merovingian), like Indra, decides who goes and doesn’t go to the deva loka (or conversely to the yama kandam). Just like Indra he is surrounded by a court of entertainers. Notice, he seems to represent everything that is sensory stimulation (the word indriya means sense organs), material pleasures (a connoisseur of sorts; seems like a friendly pun on French people!). In purana films Indra is always shown seated on a throne with his consort, just like in the Matrix whenever you see the Frenchman he is seated with Persephanie at his side.

Agent Smiths (plural) – Devas
Vritti (thought-waves) that take you to the Source, your true nature (as the Matrix itself), your fullest potential.

Sentinels/Machines – Asuras
Vritti (thought-waves) that keep you in the Matrix, bound in maya and suffering.

Zion People – Manas
Note the spectrum of characters in the Zion people – each one is a unique personality. It represents the mind (not intellect) but the heart; feelings, emotions, etc. It’s typical in any film to have distinct characters, but just a note as it reflects the real world. Zion, the Machine City, Sentinels, Power Lines, etc. all represent the inner world – the body spiritual – the microcosm as a reflection of the macrocosm. Thus following the same architecture as the Puranas – i.e. using metaphors like Devas, Asuras, Indira, Siva, Sakthi,… to represent scientific concepts such as – manas, buddhi, indriya, ahamkara, kundalini, etc. Am I saying Siva and Sakthi are just metaphors? No, no more than you would think you are a metaphor. These “metaphors” are as real as you consider yourself to be… which leads us back to the question what is the real you? or what is real?

In Conclusion

In conclusion, it is as if the Cosmic Conscious, itself is speaking out to us. As if the final word from the Machine Head (after Neos self-realization) – “It is done”, was meant to mean this movie. That is, the Cosmic Conscious saying “the message has been delivered”. It is for us to use it and enlighten ourselves or go about our ways trapped in the maya of this world.

There’s a good sprinkling of Hindu technical terms in this article. Google it!

Coincidentaly, just less than a week after writing this article, I received a circular from The Murugan Temple of Washington, D.C. I was happy to read in it of the connection between Murugan and Kundalini Yoga, since the two were central in my viewing of the Matrix! In it was the question and answer:

“What is the Nature of Lord Karttikeya? Lord Karttikeya, Murugan, first guru and Pleiadean master of kundalini yoga, was born of God Siva’s mind. His dynamic power awakens spiritual cognition to propel souls onward in their evolution to Siva’s feet. Om Namah Sivaya.” 

Further Reading

• Lyrics behind the final fight scene are from the Upanishads. You can find them at: Don Davis
• Asatoma Sadgamaya