4) Martial Arts
The Matrix is a rare treat in that it successfully blends Western attributes with Eastern ones. Take the famous lobby scene for example, in which Neo and Trinity gun down a room of security guards. An interesting point to make at this stage is how Trinity’s name could easily relate to The Holy Trinity in the Christian faith. She obviously represents Western philosophies while Neo represents the East.
Taking Buddhism into account though, we see Neo being trained by Morpheus in various forms of martial arts, a traditionally Eastern self defence technique. While this doesn’t relate entirely to its teachings, there are a sect of Buddhists who do practice the art. Martial arts is not only about learning to fight, but also about mastering one’s own mind and body. Both mind and body are a key aspect to the teachings of Buddha.
There is also a very Eastern feel about the training dojo sequence. Morpheus takes on the role of master and engages Neo in combat, asking him to show how much he has learned. The entire sequence is reminiscent of one of many martial arts films and is a huge step away from the ‘guns blazing’ methodology that many action films prefer (though we do see this later on).
3) Impermanence
Now, the idea of someone dying and being dead for the rest of the film is not something you can link to Buddhism. Death is final. You don’t need teachings or philosophies to be able to know that. What can be linked, however, is the idea of dying in an imaginary world.
During Neo’s training, he is taken to the top of a skyscraper and asked to leap from one roof to another. Failing the first time and plunging to the ground, he is extracted from the matrix world and re-emerges in the real world. Noticing his mouth is bleeding (despite the training occurring in a virtual realm), he questions Morpheus.
“I thought it wasn’t real,” he states.
“Your mind makes it real,” Morpheus says.
He then informs Neo that were he to die in the fake world, he would die in real life, saying that “the body cannot live without the mind.” This again brings to light the Buddhist ideas of how important the mind is. By training it, resting it (via meditation) and basically not dying in the matrix, a person can master it.
In fact, we even see this put to the test in one scene where several of the other characters (all of whom have been inserted into the matrix program) have their outside life support plugs removed. Dropping like flies, this shows that Morpheus was indeed right; that dying in the fake world is the same as dying in the real one.
