The Matrix and Freedom
My referrer log showed me that some non-Swedish people have tried to read my essay on Matrix and Freedom by using automatic translation tools. Since the result of doing so is on the one hand absolutely hilarious and on the other quite incomprehensible I have decided to post a manually translated version. I have in some instances changed the exact wording in order to increase the readibility of the overall text. It should be noted that the below description is really only a small example of how the Matrix relates to Freedom, and the interested reader is encouraged to further study the referred texts and books to gain a more complete understanding of this relationship. If you have any comments please let me know. Anyway, enjoy!
Introduction
Below you will find a description of the twelve movies about the Matrix, and how these relate to the esoteric Tradition, and in particular Freedom.
There are many theories about the Matrix, and some describe themselves as “metaphysical”, some as “philosophical”, some as “psychological”, and yet others as being “religious”. The one you are reading now is an esoteric, and therefore to some extent obscure, description. What most theories have in common is that they study the form rather than the substance of the movies. They focus on the exoteric understanding of the symbology which has been so exquisitely woven together to hide the esoteric message. This is in no way strange, as the movies have been constructed using all the tricks of the trade. And the trade, in this case, is alchemy (”allegorical chemistry”).
The language of the alchemist
Since the beginning of our current cycle knowledge about the construction of our existence have been kept alive through the generations by in part the orally transmitted Tradition and in part by art and writing utilizing the language of the alchemist. The fundamental ingredience in this everchanging language is the use of contemporary symbology in a way that can be interpreted both from an exoteric and esoteric perspective. By using words which have a completely different meaning in a normal context essential knowledge can be hidden in plain sight of those who should be threatened the most by its existence. Fulcanelli - one of the most skilled alchemists of our time - described this principle in the Dwellings of the Philosophers in the following way:
Alchemy is obscure only because it is hidden. The philosophers who wanted to transmit the exposition of their doctrine and the fruit of their labors to posterity took great care not to divulge the art by presenting it under a common form so that the layman could not misuse it. Thus because of the difficulty one has of understanding it, because of the mystery of its enigmas and of the opacity of its parables, the science has come to be shut up among reveries, illusions and chimeras. […]
With their confused texts, sprinkled with cabalistic expressions, the books remain the efficient and genuine cause of the gross mistake that we indicate. For, in spite of the warnings… students persisted in reading them according to the meanings that they hold in ordinary language. They do not know that these texts are reserved for initiates, and that it is essential, in order to understand them, to be in possession of their secret key. One must first work at discovering this key.
Thus, without the key it is impossible, as in the Matrix, to reach the source. One of the most common examples of this idea is of course the notion of being able to “transmute” “lead” into “gold”. Alchemists of the medieval times used this terminology as it allowed them to gain financing from powerful men in order to conduct their research, which was supposed to lead to the production of “gold”.
The alchemists did not necessarily lie by doing so, even though they of course had aboslutely no intent to produce real gold. No, the goal was instead to complete The Great Work, whose end goal is the final transformation and the ultimate Freedom, the real gold. Freedom from the cyclical reinkarnation, and thereby freedom from an existence in a world of suffering and control. Other names to achieve this are “The Holy Grail” and “The Philosophers Stone”. Hence, these have nothing to do with “cups” or “stones”, at least not in the materialistic sense. The materialistic interpretations of these concepts, which are to some considerable extent deliberate, have helped hide the alchemical secrets from destruction and corruption.
This seemingly trivial insight makes it possible to separate the wheat from the chaff with regard to alchemical works. Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” is an excellent example of an exoteric, and hence incorrect, understanding of the meaning of “The Holy Grail”. Another example of a contemporary work with a correct esoteric understanding of alchemy is “The Wizard of Oz”. The Matrix movies also belong in this category. And they have been produced in a particularly skillful way, as the Wachowski brothers have really put some serious effort into reaching out to as many as possible, and at the same time weave as many esoteric messages in to it as possible, and they have also included several layers of pseudo messages in between. Even so-called “philosophical” interpretations of the Matrix have so far focused on materialistic discussions which mainly deal with the form of the Matrix, rather than discussing the esoteric message: the individual’s relation to Freedom, and the choice that this relation implies.
Reality
But before we get into the problems illustrated by the Matrix with regard to the individual choice and striving towards Freedom we must understand the scenery which the Matrix provides us with. Huxley wrote in Brave New World:
The older dictators fell because they never could supply their subjects with enough bread, enough circuses, enough miracles and mysteries. Nor did they possess a really effective system of mind-manipulation.
Under a scientific dictator, education will really work - with the result that most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution. There seems to be no good reason why a thoroughly scientific dictatorship should ever be overthrown.
We live in an artificial existence, and yet it is an existence that we have chosen. The architects of this existence, both in our own world and in the movies, have placed man in this position in accordance with our free will. In the animated movies about “The Second Renaissance” we gain an understanding of the fact that it was mankind who through her actions created the series of events which eventually led to the destruction of the world and the escape that the Matrix provides, the symbiotic relationship between man and machine.
In our world, as well as in the Matrix, this choice to immerse oneself in illusion is symbolized by the biblical apple. The temptation to achieve an existence where we can dream away the cold reality that exists outside of the illusion, a world where choices are made for us, where we can sleep in ignorance and forget our sins. The Architect of the Matrix describes his creation like so:
Architect: The first Matrix I designed was quite naturally perfect, it was a work of art - flawless, sublime. A triumph equalled only by its monumental failure. The inevitability of its doom is apparent to me now as a consequence of the imperfection inherent in every human being. Thus, I redesigned it based on your history to more accurately reflect the varying grotesqueries of your nature. However, I was again frustrated by failure. I have since come to understand that the answer eluded me because it required a lesser mind, or perhaps a mind less bound by the parameters of perfection.
This description is comparable to our own biblical myth about how Adam and Eve reject Eden in favor of another, less perfect, existence. If only we had known what this would lead to!
The idea that man are placed in cocoons where they can exist as food, and then perceive the world of the Matrix, is in part described by Don Juan in the book Fire From Within by Carlos Castaneda in the following way:
The new seers were terrible practical men. They weren’t involved inconcocting rational theories. The new seers, imbued with practicality, were able to see a flux of emanations and to see how man and other living beings utilize them to construct their perceivableworld. The way those emanations are utilized by man is so simple it sounds idiotic. For a seer, men are luminous beings. Our luminosity is made up of that portion of the Indescribable Force ’s emanations which is encased in our egglike cocoon. That particular portion, that handful of emanations that is encased, is what makes us men. To perceive is to match the emanations contained inside our cocoon with those that are outside.
and further:
They [the sorcerers of ancient Mexico]discovered that we have a companion for life. We have a predator that came from the depths of the cosmos and took over the rule of our lives. Human beings are its prisoners. The predator is our lord and master. It has rendered us docile, helpless. If we want to protest, it suppresses our protest. If we want to act independently, it demands that we don’t do so.” […]
You have arrived, by your effort alone, to what the shamans of ancient Mexico called the topic of topics,. I have been beating around the bush all this time, insinuating to you that something is holding us prisoner. Indeed we are held prisoner! This was an energetic fact for the sorcerers of ancient Mexico.” ” […] They took over because we are food for them, and they squeeze us mercilessly because we are their sustenance. just as we rear chickens in chicken coops, gallineros, the predators rear us in human coops humaneros. Therefore, their food is always available to them.” […]
It is in this context that the struggle for Freedom must be understood, the struggle to free oneself of the illusion that the Matrix represents, even if the alternative is cold and inhospitable.
And it should be noted that “Freedom” is not the same thing as “freedom”. “Freedom” is the idea of escaping this existence completely, whereas “freedom” in the normal sense means the illusory control over onself that can be achieved within the limits of what is possible in a human form. It should also be noted that when I write “escaping this existence completely” it is of course not the same thing as “to die”, which on the contrary is a major defeat.
To further understand the creator of existence the Architect describes his perspective like so:
Architect: Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the Matrix. You are the eventuality of an anomaly, which, despite my sincerest efforts, I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision. While it remains a burden assiduously avoided, it is not unexpected, and thus not beyond a measure of control. Which has led you, inexorably… here.
The goal of the Architect is hence to control his creation and inhabitants completely, which is the opposite of the individual Freedom that I have described above. Everything that the Architect does is geared towards minimizing and preferably completely avoiding the anomaly, or “The Law of Exception” in G’s terminology, which Neo represents. I have in previous blog posts about the General Law described how this can occur in real life, and there are a number of examples of this in the movies.
This obsessive need for control is however an impossible goal, and it requires quite a bit of wishful thinking to even try. The Oracle describes this thusly:
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.
For someone whose goal it is that everything and everyone shall sleep as deeply as possible in a strictly controlled illusion every attempt at Freedom is a problem, but it is a problem that can and will be solved. Therein lies the wishful thinking, which leads to incorrect hypotheses regarding the solution of this problem.
This wishful thinking can be seen clearly in the ultimatum that the Architect gives to Neo:
Architect: Denial is the most predictable of all human responses, but rest assured, this will be the sixth time we have destroyed it, and we have become exceedingly efficient at it.
Architect: Which brings us at last to the moment of truth, wherein the fundamental flaw is ultimately expressed, and the anomaly revealed as both beginning and end. There are two doors. The door to your right leads to the Source, and the salvation of Zion. The door to your left leads back to the Matrix, to her and to the end of your species. As you adequately put, the problem is choice. But we already know what you are going to do, don’t we? Already, I can see the chain reaction - the chemical precursors that signal the onset of an emotion, designed specifically to overwhelm logic and reason - an emotion that is already blinding you from the simple and obvious truth. She is going to die, and there is nothing you can do to stop it.
Neo is given two alternatives: one intellectual alternative to save Zion, and one emotional alternative to save Trinity. From the perspective of the Architect, who always practice the principles of Game Theory to solve problems, the only rational answer is that Neo choose the door which saves Zion. Anything else would be inconceivable. The Architect has however not considered an open universe, where creativity and the desire to achieve Freedom can create new doors and alternatives out of thin air. And this is precisely what Neo does, which completely disrupts the wishful thinking of the Architect. We can in todays society see the same reasoning on a geo-political level, where Game Theory is applied to ruthlessly achieve as advantageous a position as possible for the psychopathic sects that run our world.
“Interestingly enough, though, all of this will fail.”
The awakening
Throughout the movies about the Matrix we can follow the steps of different individuals towards Freedom. The first step is always the awakening, the thought that something is wrong. This is the situation and position of the Seeker. Morpheus describes the idea of awakening to Neo:
Morpheus:We are trained in this world to accept only what is rational and logical. Have you ever wondered why?
Neo shakes his head.
Morpheus: As children, we do not separate the possible from the impossible which is why the younger a mind is the easier it is to free while a mind like yours can be very difficult.
Neo: Free from what?
Morpheus: From the Matrix.
Morpheus: Do you want to know what it is, Neo?
Neo swallows and nods his head.
Morpheus: It’s that feeling you have had all your life. That feeling that something was wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad, driving you to me. But what is it?
Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere, it’s all around us, here even in this room. You can see it out your window, or on your television. You feel it when you go to work, or go to church or pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. That you, like everyone else, was born into bondage… … kept inside a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A prison for your mind.
Morpheus: Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.
In some cases Seekers who come close to the truth can be subjected to trials to see whether they are able to make the choice that gets them past the first threshold. In “A detective story” we see how Trinity subjects a PI to such a test. The ending is as follows:
Ash: I knew this was some kind of trap.
Trinity: There’s a difference, Mr. Ash, between a trap and a test.
Ash: You were testing me?
Trinity: You made it. I’m impressed.
Ash: Flattery will get you everywhere.
Trinity: I’m not here to flatter you. I’m here to save you.
[She places a smaller version of the de-bugging machine on his left eye, presses a lever, and a bug comes out of Ash’s eye, stiffening in the glass vial on top.]
Ash: What just happened?
Trinity: Mr. Ash, dream of having an eye exam lately?
Ash: Yeah..how’d you know?
Trinity: [holding up the bug] You’ve stepped to the edge of the looking glass.
In accordance with the General Law all Seekers who get to close to “the edge of the looking glass” will be subjected to the programs and pressure that are automatically set into motion. The Seekers who do not realize the severity of the situation and deal with it appropriately risk falling back into an even more strictly controlled environment with absolutely no chance of even contemplating Freedom. This is illustrated in the animated movie “World Record” where the individual who is getting close to a spontaneous awakening is “handled” in a particularly harsh way. I have seen this happen to many others, and it is equally tragic each time and yet it also gives one a glimpse of the enormous power of the machinery behind these programs.
In the animated movie “Kid’s story” we get to follow a young boy who asks himself the following question:
Somebody tell me. Why it feels more real when I dream than when I am awake? How can I know if my sense are lying?
And receive the reply:
There is some fiction in your truth, and some truth in your fiction.
To know the truth, you must risk everything
What is meant by “risk everything”? G describes this to Ouspensky in In Search of the Miraculous (ISOTM):
“In what way can one evoke the struggle between ‘yes’ and ‘no’ in oneself?” someone asked.
“Sacrifice is necessary,” said G. “If nothing is sacrificed nothing is obtained. And it is necessary to sacrifice something precious at the moment, to sacrifice for a long time and to sacrifice a great deal. But still, not forever. This must be understood because often it is not understood. Sacrifice is necessary only while the process of crystallization is going on. When crystallization is achieved, renunciations, privations, and sacrifices are no longer necessary. Then a man may have everything he wants. There are no longer any laws for him, he is a law unto himself.”
When “The Kid” is called by Morpheus who suggest that he should leave the school he must make a choice: either stay and be arrested or trust Morpheus and “risk everything” by escaping. He chooses to escape.
In some cases the feeling that something is wrong, and the resulting awakening, occur in other ways. In the animated movie “World record” we are given the following description:
Only the most exceptional people become aware of the Matrix. Those that learn it exists must posess a rare degree of intuition, sensitivity, and a questioning nature.
However, very rarely some gains this wisdom through wholly different means. This man is one of those few.
Danny uses his extreme physical strength and control to achieve “freedom” within the Matrix, but by continuously breaking the boundaries he for a short instant gains insight into the possibility of “Freedom”. He is then “handled”, and consequently bound by a wheelchair, but the sensation of “Freedom” never leaves him completely.
The first choice
After the awakening and the realization that something is wrong the Seeker must make the first choice - taking the red or blue pill. G describes this in ISOTM:
The moment when the man who is looking for the way meets a man who knows the way is called the first threshold or the first step. From this first threshold the stairway begins. Between ‘life’ and the ‘way’ lies the ’stairway.’ Only by passing along this ’stairway’ can a man enter the ‘way.’ In addition, the man ascends this stairway with the help of the man who is his guide; he cannot go up the stairway by himself. The way begins only where the stairway ends, that is, after the last threshold on the stairway, on a level much higher than the ordinary level of life.
This choice is illustrated in the Matrix with Morpheus’ offering of the red pill:
In Neo’s right hand, Morpheus drops a red pill.
Morpheus: This is your last chance. After this, there is no going back.
In his left, a blue pill.
Morpheus: You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and you believe whatever you want to believe.
The pills in his open hands are reflected in the glasses.
Morpheus: You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
Neo feels the smooth skin of the capsules, with the moisture growing in his palms.
Morpheus: Remember that all I am offering is the truth. Nothing more.
Neo opens his mouth and swallows the red pill. The Cheshire smile returns.
The first choice is in some sense the easiest one. After the awakening and the realization that something is wrong it can seem obvious that one wants to know more, to “follow the white rabbit” and find out just how deep the rabbit hole is. What most Seekers do not know, as they are seldom aware of the General Law and its effects, are the consequences of this choice. In any case, Seekers who choose the red pill are thereby led toward the beginning if the Way. And this is where it starts to get really interesting.
The Way
G describes the Way in ISOTM:
At the next meeting G. began where he had left off the time before. “I said last time,” he said, “that immortality is not a property with which man is born. But man can acquire immortality. All existing and generally known ways to immortality can be divided into three categories:
1. The way of the fakir.
2. The way of the monk.
3. The way of the yogi
The development of these possibilities is not a law. The law for man is existence in the circle of mechanical influences, the state of ‘man-machine.’ The way of the development of hidden possibilities is a way against nature, against God. This explains the difficulties and the exclusiveness of the ways. The ways are narrow and strait. But at the same time only by them can anything be attained. In the general mass of everyday life, especially modern life, the ways are a small, quite imperceptible phenomenon which, from the point of view of life, need not exist at all. But this small phenomenon contains in itself all that man has for the development of his hidden possibilities. The ways are opposed to everyday life, based upon other principles and subject to other laws. In this consists their power and their significance. In everyday life, even in a life filled with scientific, philosophical, religious, or social interests, there is nothing, and there can be nothing, which could give the possibilities which are contained in the ways. The ways lead, or should lead, man to immortality. Everyday life, even at its best, leads man to death and can lead to nothing else.
The Way is hence what the Architect describes as “the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the Matrix”. An anomaly, “The Law of Exception”, and yet it is a possibility that can be used to achieve Freedom.
The first way - the body
There are many possible ways one can use to achieve Freedom, and the first of these is the way of the fakir, that of the body:
The way of the fakir is the way of struggle with the physical body, the way of work on the first room. This is a long, difficult, and uncertain way. The fakir strives to develop physical will, power over the body. This is attained by means of terrible sufferings, by torturing the body. The whole way of the fakir consists of various incredibly difficult physical exercises. The fakir either stands motionless in the same position for hours, days, months, or years; or sits with outstretched arms on a bare stone in sun, rain, and snow; or tortures himself with fire, puts his legs into an ant-heap, and so on. If he does not fall ill and die before what may be called physical will is developed in him, then he attains the fourth room or the possibility of forming the fourth body. But his other functions-emotional, intellectual, and so forth—remain undeveloped. He has acquired will but he has nothing to which he can apply it, he cannot make use of it for gaining knowledge or for self-perfection. As a rule he is too old to begin new work.
This Way is illustrated in the animated movie “World record”. Danny achieves through extreme physical control in part the purpose of the first way, namely the perfection of control over the physical the body. From the episode:
Reporter: Someone once said it feels like zero gravity.
Danny: You’re released from the world and you’re totally free.
He does not understand how it works, or what is happening, but he can conclude the result of what is happening: Freedom. And he struggles to develop this further. As mentioned earlier he fails in this endeavour, mainly because of his lack of awareness.
The second way - the emotions
The second way is the way of the monk. This is the way of faith, the way of religious feeling, religious sacrifice. Only a man with very strong religious emotions and a very strong religious imagination can become a ‘monk’ in the true sense of the word. The way of the monk also is very long and hard. A monk spends years and tens of years struggling with himself, but all his work is concentrated on the second room, on the second body, that is, on feelings. Subjecting all his other emotions to one emotion, that is, to faith, he develops unity in himself, will over the emotions, and in this way reaches the fourth room.
This way is represented in the movies mainly by Morpheus, who through his blind faith achives an enormous force with which he can complete his mission. It is however this blindness which at the same time is his main Achilles heel, as he interprets everything that happens in a way that reinforces his preconceptions and beliefs. Emotions gives the Seeker a great force to do what needs to be done, but if it is done in an uncontrolled manner only chaos and defeat can follow.
In the animated movie “Matriculated” we see how humans by using emotions such as fear and happiness manages to get a machine to choose Freedom, and thereby frees itself from the control system that it was previously a part of. This illustrates at the same time that we can never consider an individual to be a lost cause, regardless of its position. There it always the option of an individual choice, even if it in some cases is an infinitesimal possibility. In the end it is always the actions of an individual which defines her.
Another example, which perhaps is a little surprising, is the agent Smith. Smith also has a great desire to escape the Matrix, which he describes in the following way:
Smith: Can you hear me, Morpheus? I’m going to be honest with you.
Smith: I hate this place. This zoo. This prison. This reality, whatever you want to call it, I can’t stand it any longer. It’s the smell, if there is such a thing. I feel saturated by it. I can taste your stink and every time I do, I fear that I’ve somehow been infected by it.
He wipes sweat from Morpheus’ forehead, coating the tips of his fingers, holding them to Morpheus’ nose.
Smith: Repulsive, isn’t it?
He lifts Morpheus’ head, holding it tightly with both hands.
Smith: I must get out of here, I must get free. In this mind is tlie key. My key.
Morpheus sneers through his pain.
Smith: Once Zion is gone, there’s no need for me to be here. Do you understand? I need the codes. I have to get inside Zion. You have to tell me how.
Throughout the trilogy Smith uses his hatred of humans, which he is forced to coexist with in the Matrix, as an emotional fuel to get out, a goal that he eventually accomplishes. It is therefore important to point out that the Way does not necessarily differentiate between whether the one who wants to “get out” is good or evil. It is much more difficult for so-called “evil” individuals, as they have a natural tendency to believe illusions and lies, but for the few who so desire the option is there. The main difference is that for these individuals the Way is walked in solitude. Example of individuals in real life who achieved this are Rasputin and Djingis Khan who, supposedly, left this world without dying a natural death.
The third way - the mind
The third way is the way of the yogi. This is the way of knowledge, the way of mind. The way of the yogi consists in working on the third room and in striving to enter the fourth room by means of knowledge. The yogi reaches the fourth room by developing his mind, but his body and emotions remain undeveloped and, like the fakir and the monk, he is unable to make use of the results of his attainment. He knows everything but can do nothing.
The main example of this in the Matrix is the Merovingian:
Merovingian: Aha, here he is at last. Neo, the One himself, right? And the legendary Morpheus. And Trinity of course, si belle qu’elle me fait souffrir. [Trans: so beautiful she makes me suffer.] I have heard so much, you honour me. Please, sit, join us. This is my wife, Persephone. Something to eat? Drink? Hmm… of course, such things are contrivances like so much here. For the sake of appearances.
Neo: No, thank you.
Merovingian: Yes, of course, who has time? Who has time? But then if we do not ever take time, how can we ever have time? Château Haut-Brion 1959, magnificent wine, I love French wine, like I love the French language. I have sampled every language, French is my favourite - fantastic language, especially to curse with. Nom de Dieu de putain de bordel de merde de saloperie de connard d’enculé de ta mère! [Trans: Name of God of whore of brothel of shit of filth of jerk of fucking your mother up the ass.] You see, it’s like wiping your arse with silk, I love it.
Morpheus: You know why we are here.
Merovingian: Hmph… I am a trafficker of information, I know everything I can. The question is, do you know why you are here?
Merovingian, as the predecessor of Neo, embarked upon the third way, and has managed to gather as much information and knowledge as is possible. But he is not developed at all with regard to the other two ways, which is evident by him not participating in any fights, and in his emotionally crippled relationship with Persephone. From the battle scene in the castle:
Neo: I’ll handle them.
Merovingian: Handle us? You’ll handle us? You know, your predecessors had much more respect.
Merovingian: Okay, you have some skill. Kill him.
Merovingian: You see, he’s just a man.
Merovingian: Damn it, woman, you will be the end of me. Mark my words, boy, and mark them well. I have survived your predecessors, and I will survive you!
And from Perspehone’s conversation with Neo and Trinity:
Persephone: If you want the Keymaker, follow me. [to man in washroom] Get out! I’m so sick of his bullshit. On and on, pompous prick. A long time ago, when we first came here, it was so different. He was so different. He was like you. I’ll give you what you want. But you have to give me something.
Neo: What?
Persephone: A kiss.
Trinity: Excuse me?
Persephone: I want you to kiss me as if you were kissing her.
Neo: Why?
Persephone: You love her. She loves you. It’s all over you both. A long time ago, I knew what that felt like. I want to remember it. I want to sample it. That’s all, just a sample.
Trinity: Why don’t you sample this instead?
Morpheus: Trinity.
Persephone: Such emotion over something so small. It’s just a kiss.
Neo: Why should we trust you?
Persephone: If I don’t deliver you to the Keymaker, she can kill me.
Neo: All right.
Persephone: But you have to make me believe I am her.
Neo: All right.
Persephone: Terrible. Forget it.
Neo: Wait. Okay.
Persephone: Ahh, yes. That’s it. I envy you. But such a thing is not meant to last. Come with me.
The Merovingian has thus accomplished the third way, but is then incapable of dealing with the other two. And to achieve total Freedom all three must be mastered.
The Fourth Way - fusion
The fourth way requires no retirement into the desert, does not require a man to give up and renounce everything by which he formerly lived. The fourth way begins much further on than the way of the yogi. This means that a man must be prepared for the fourth way and this preparation must be acquired in ordinary life and be a very serious one, embracing many different sides. Furthermore a man must be living in conditions favorable for work on the fourth way, or, in any case, in conditions which do not render it impossible. It must be understood that both in the inner and in the external life of a man there may be conditions which create insuperable barriers to the fourth way. Furthermore, the fourth way has no definite forms like the ways of the fakir, the monk, and the yogi. And, first of all, it has to be found. This is the first test. It is not as well known as the three traditional ways. There are many people who have never heard of the fourth way and there are others who deny its existence or possibility.
At the same time the beginning of the fourth way is easier than the beginning of the ways of the fakir, the monk, and the yogi. On the fourth way it is possible to work and to follow this way while remaining in the usual conditions of life, continuing to do the usual work, preserving former relations with people, and without renouncing or giving up anything. On the contrary, the conditions of life in which a man is placed at the beginning of his work, in which, so to speak, the work finds him, are the best possible for him, at any rate at the beginning of the work. These conditions are natural for him. These conditions are the man himself, because a man’s life and its conditions correspond to what he is. Any conditions different from those created by life would be artificial for a man and in such artificial conditions the work would not be able to touch every side of his being at once.
But on the fourth way knowledge is still more exact and perfect. A man who follows the fourth way knows quite definitely what substances he needs for his aims and he knows that these substances can be produced within the body by a month of physical suffering, by a week of emotional strain, or by a day of mental exercises— and also, that they can be introduced into the organism from without if it is known how to do it. And so, instead of spending a whole day in exercises like the yogi, a week in prayer like the monk, or a month in self-torture like the fakir, he simply prepares and swallows a little pill which contains all the substances he wants and, in this way, without loss of time, he obtains the required results.
How this relates to the Matrix is left as an exercise for the reader.
“Seek and ye shall find”
The second choice
After having begun walking along the Way the Seeker soon comes to the second choice. He has now gained a certain insight into the consequences of the first choice, and what the Way leads to in a more concrete sense. With this in mind the Seeker must now decide whether to continue along the Way or fall back into sleep and illusion. This is in other words a test of will. This is illustrated in the animated movie “Program”:
Duo: I took the red pill because I wanted to know the truth… But I don’t care about the truth anymore. What’s real doesn’t matter. What’s important is how we live our lives.
[…]
CIS: But we can’t go back, Duo, we know the truth now.
Duo: We can forget all of this.
[…]
CIS: You betrayed us, didn’t you? Operator, please! Get me out of here, right now! Operator, I need an exit!
Duo: It’s no use, I told you, I’ve blocked your signal. You won’t stop me. This is your last chance. The choice isn’t that hard. Come with me.
CIS: You can forget about it, Duo; I won’t look away from the truth, I can’t.
The Seeker often feels a great sense of hopelessness when faced with the task at hand. The thought of anyone being able to pass the obstacle that has been put in front of one seems like an impossibility. Cypher describes his feelings about this in the following way:
Cypher: You see, the truth, the real,truth is that the war is over. It’s been over for a long time. And guess what? We lost! Did you hear that? We lost the war!
Trinity: What about Zion?
Cypher: Zion? Zion is a part of this delusion. More of this madness. That’s why this has to be done. It has to end. Now and forever.
Cypher: You see, Trinity, we humans have a place in the future. But it’s not here. It’s in the Matrix.
Trinity: The Matrix isn’t real!
Cypher: Oh, I disagree, Trinity. I disagree. I think the Matrix is more real than this world. I mean, all I do is pull a plug here. But there, you watch a man die.
The Seeker will also feel an immense pressure from his environment who have no understanding whatsoever for the chocies and actions of the Seeker. Often it is those who are closest who are the most powerful means to make the Seeker go back to sleep:
Link: I’m gonna get what?
Zee: Every ship out there has been home two, even three times more than the Nebuchadnezzar.
Link: Come on, Zee! I thought we were past this!
Zee: We’ll get past this when you start operating another ship.
Link: I can’t do that!
Zee: Why?
Link: You know why.
Zee: If Dozer knew how I felt, he wouldn’t have asked you to do this.
Link: Maybe. But it’s too late now. I made a promise, and some promises can’t be unmade.
Zee: It’s not fair.
Link: Nobody said it was gonna be. You think Cas thinks it’s fair that I’m here and Dozer’s not?
Zee: I lost two brothers to that ship, Link. Afraid of it. Afraid it’s gonna take you too.
Link: It won’t.
Zee: How can you say that to me?
Link: Because of Morpheus, because of what he’s told me. He said that this is it. That it will be over soon.
Zee: Link, Morpheus is crazy.
Link: No doubt, but Tank and Dozer believed him, and I’ll tell you what - soon after being on that ship and seeing Neo do the things he can do, I gotta say - I’m starting to believe him too.
Zee: Be careful, Link. Please be careful.
Zee (“Zee”=”Zzzzleep”) means no harm by her attempts to get Link to stay, but she represents at the same time the force of the General Law. Her more or less subtle suggestions becomes a test of will that Link must pass in order to continue.
Fallen Seekers
Those who get past the first threshold, but then fall back before they are able to get beyond the second threshold become fallen Seekers. Because of the bitterness they feel due to their awareness of the nature of existence and their lack of will to do anything about it they frequently use all their energy to stop other Seekers from succeeding. They effectively become one of the most powerful weapons that the Matrix has at its disposal. If other Seekers were to succeed it would accentuate their own failure, and that cannot be allowed for egocentric reasons. Their self pity knows no limits. “Pity those who pity”. In the Matrix the main example, as mentioned previously, is the Merovingian, who as predecessor of Neo failed to achieve Freedom.
Merovingian: Aha, here he is at last. Neo, the One himself, right? And the legendary Morpheus. And Trinity of course, si belle qu’elle me fait souffrir. [Trans: so beautiful she makes me suffer.] I have heard so much, you honour me. Please, sit, join us. This is my wife, Persephone. Something to eat? Drink? Hmm… of course, such things are contrivances like so much here. For the sake of appearances.
Neo: No, thank you.
Merovingian: Yes, of course, who has time? Who has time? But then if we do not ever take time, how can we ever have time? Château Haut-Brion 1959, magnificent wine, I love French wine, like I love the French language. I have sampled every language, French is my favourite - fantastic language, especially to curse with. Nom de Dieu de putain de bordel de merde de saloperie de connard d’enculé de ta mère! [Trans: Name of God of whore of brothel of shit of filth of jerk of fucking your mother up the ass.] You see, it’s like wiping your arse with silk, I love it.
Morpheus: You know why we are here.
Merovingian: Hmph… I am a trafficker of information, I know everything I can. The question is, do you know why you are here?
Morpheus: We are looking for the Keymaker.
Merovingian: Oh yes, it is true. The Keymaker, of course. But this is not a reason, this is not a `why.’ The Keymaker himself, his very nature, is means, it is not an end, and so, to look for him is to be looking for a means to do… what?
Neo: You know the answer to that question.
Merovingian: But do you? You think you do but you do not. You are here because you were sent here, you were told to come here and you obeyed. [Laughs] It is, of course, the way of all things. You see, there is only one constant, one universal, it is the only real truth: causality. Action. Reaction. Cause and effect.
Morpheus: Everything begins with choice.
Merovingian: No. Wrong. Choice is an illusion, created between those with power, and those without. Look there, at that woman. My God, just look at her. Affecting everyone around her, so obvious, so bourgeois, so boring. But wait… Watch - you see, I have sent her dessert, a very special dessert. I wrote it myself. It starts so simply, each line of the program creating a new effect, just like poetry. First, a rush… heat… her heart flutters. You can see it, Neo, yes? She does not understand why - is it the wine? No. What is it then, what is the reason? And soon it does not matter, soon the why and the reason are gone, and all that matters is the feeling itself. This is the nature of the universe. We struggle against it, we fight to deny it, but it is of course pretense, it is a lie. Beneath our poised appearance, the truth is we are completely out of control. Causality. There is no escape from it, we are forever slaves to it. Our only hope, our only peace is to understand it, to understand the `why.’ `Why’ is what separates us from them, you from me. `Why’ is the only real social power, without it you are powerless. And this is how you come to me, without `why,’ without power. Another link in the chain. But fear not, since I have seen how good you are at following orders, I will tell you what to do next. Run back, and give the fortune teller this message: Her time is almost up. Now I have some real business to do, I will say adieu and goodbye.
Neo: This isn’t over.
Merovingian: Oh yes, it is. The Keymaker is mine and I see no reason why I should give him up. No reason at all.
Persephone: Where are you going?
Merovingian: Please, ma chérie, I’ve told you, we are all victims of causality. I drink too much wine, I must take a piss. Cause and effect. Au revoir [Trans: Goodbye].
The Merovingian has because of his failure become a so-called “petty tyrant”. Don Juan describes this phenomenon in Fire from Within:
A petty tyrant is a tormentor. Someone who either holds the power of life and death over warriors or simply annoys them to distraction.
Petty tyrants teach us detachment. The ingredients of the new seers’ strategy shows how efficient and clever is the device of using a petty tyrant. The strategy not only gets rid of self-importance; it also prepares warriors for the final realization that impeccability is the only thing that counts in the path of knowledge.
“Petty tyrants” are those around us who use their power over us to control and manipulate us. Preferably a “petty tyrant” should have such a powerful position so as to be able to, as Don Juan describes, hold the power of life and death of the Seeker. In todays so-called “civilized society” this is a rare situation, so most of us have to make do with “minor petty tyrants”, individuals who manipulate us but cannot kill us, which hence are more of a nuisance than truly dangerous. In any case, this means that on the one hand these “petty tyrants” are one of the main obstacles that hinder Seekers, and yet on the other hand they are an excellent tool that the Seeker can use strengthen his will. A “petty tyrant” is in alchemical terms the ultimate “sulphur” that can be used to burn away every unnecessary material in order to transform “lead” into “gold”. Only those who have burned away all superfluous material can pass through “the eye of the needle”, which is another allegory that is wildly misinterpreted.
The third choice
After having chosen to continue the search for “The Holy Grail” the Seeker reaches a position where he is capable of continuing on his own. G describes this in ISOTM:
Sometimes it is said: in ascending the stairway a man is not sure of anything, he may doubt everything, his own powers, whether what he is doing is right, the guide, his knowledge and his powers. At the same time, what he attains is very unstable; even if he has ascended fairly high on the stairway, he may fall down at any moment and have to begin again from the beginning. But when he has passed the last threshold and enters the way, all this changes. First of all, all doubts he may have about his guide disappear and at the same time the guide becomes far less necessary to him than before. In many respects he may even be independent and know where he is going. Secondly, he can no longer lose so easily the results of his work and he cannot find himself again in ordinary life. Even if he leaves the way, he will be unable to return where he started from.
In the Matrix this is represented by Neo getting such a fundamental understanding of the Matrix that he can stop bullets and fly. He has really understood the nature of the Matrix, and this understanding is not only on an intellectual basis, and can be applied concretely and consistently. He has now no real need for Morpheus as a guide, and can continue on his own.
Understanding the choice
As you have probably already figured out the way towards Freedom is a constant flow of choices. Every choice builds upon previous choices which molds the Seeker and strengthens his will. In the Matrix we can see how its characters are constantly exposed to difficult choices, where it is not always obvious what is the correct answer. Welcome to reality. G describes this in ISOTM:
Fusion, inner unity, is obtained by means of ‘friction,’ by the struggle between ‘yes’ and ‘no’ in man. If a man lives without inner struggle, if everything happens in him without opposition, if he goes wherever he is drawn or wherever the wind blows, he will remain such as he is. But if a struggle begins in him, and particularly if there is a definite line in this struggle, then, gradually, permanent traits begin to form themselves, he begins to ‘crystallize.’ But crystallization is possible on a right foundation and it is possible on a wrong foundation. ‘Friction,’ the struggle between ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ can easily take place on a wrong foundation. For instance, a fanatical belief in some or other idea, or the ‘fear of sin,’ can evoke a terribly intense struggle between ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ and a man may crystallize on these foundations. But this would be a wrong, incomplete crystallization. Such a man will not possess the possibility of further development. In order to make further development possible he must be melted down again, and this can be accomplished only through terrible suffering.
Neo is crystallized by always choosing the Way instead of giving up. From the fight in the end with Smith:
Smith: Why, Mr. Anderson, why? Why, why do you do it? Why, why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you’re fighting for something, for more than your survival? Can you tell me what it is, do you even know? Is it freedom or truth, perhaps peace - could it be for love? Illusions, Mr. Anderson, vagaries of perception. Temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose. And all of them as artificial as the Matrix itself. Although, only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love. You must be able to see it, Mr. Anderson, you must know it by now! You can’t win, it’s pointless to keep fighting! Why, Mr. Anderson, why, why do you persist?
Neo: Because I choose to.
And it is in this continuous choice that the understanding of the choice appears. To choose Freedom instead of the prison of existence, to choose to fight for something larger than oneself.
The Sacrifice
As the Seeker has finally reached the end goal - Freedom - the last choice is made. The way out is in front of him, and nothing can any longer stop the inevitable. The last choice is then to have empathy for those behind and help them. This is the symbolic christian sacrifice, even if it in exoteric christianity has been deformed beyond recognition. Another terms for this is Bodhisattva, meaning someone who has achieved the ultimate knowledge - “The Holy Grail” - and then choose to help those who have not yet reached it. In the Matrix this is represented by Neo’s proposition to Deus Ex Machina in the end of Revolutions:
Neo: I only ask to say what I’ve come to say, after that, do what you want and I won’t try to stop you.
Deus Ex Machina: Speak.
Neo: The program ‘Smith’ has grown beyond your control. Soon he will spread through this city as he spread through the Matrix. You cannot stop him, but I can.
Deus Ex Machina: We don’t need you. We need nothing.
Neo: If that’s true, then I’ve made a mistake and you should kill me now.
Deus Ex Machina: What do you want?
Neo: Peace.
Conclusions
As has been shown above the twelve movies about the Matrix is an alchemical work which, like other alchemical works, describes the search for the Way and the end goal, “The Holy Grail”, “The Philosophers Stoner”, Freedom. That the Wachowski brothers have succeeded in hiding such an important message right under the nose of those who are threatened the most by its existence is of course fantastically funny, and it is done in the same spirit as other alchemists such as Leonardo Da Vinci.
As my description is in part deliberately fragmented and obscure the interested reader is encouraged to find more answers on his or her own. The above should be enough to provide ideas for further studies of the topic.
But apart from carrying on an important tradition the Matrix has an essential function in times like these. G will therefore end this excursion into the world of alchemy with his words from In Search of the Miraculous:
There are periods in the life of humanity, which generally coincide with the beginning of the fall of cultures and civilizations, when the masses irretrievably lose their reason and begin to destroy everything that has been created by centuries and millenniums of culture. Such periods of mass madness, often coinciding with geological cataclysms, climatic changes, and similar phenomena of a planetary character, release a very great quantity of the matter of knowledge. This, in its turn, necessitates the work of collecting this matter of knowledge which would otherwise be lost. Thus the work of collecting scattered matter of knowledge frequently coincides with the beginning of the destruction and fall of cultures and civilizations.
Wake up!