In the Matrix, is Neo's character just Sidhartha in a new life? Does the movie have any implication to whether Neo is actually the Buddha? I know the movie is chalk full of notions of being Buddhist or at least explores some of it's foundings but Im asking is anyone in the movie, mainly Neo, seen as The Buddha?
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2Unless the Wachowski brothers are members of this group, your question may be irreparably requiring of an opinion-based answer, so you might see it deleted (since they're not the best for this kind of forum). I've answered nevertheless, cos it looks like you're new :-)– tkpCommented Jan 29, 2015 at 13:51
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2This question seems a better fit for the Science Fiction and Fantasy site.– GreenMattCommented Jan 30, 2015 at 14:51
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thanks i sent alot of my questions in the sci fi, thought id give buddhism a try since it interests me. ironically enough all my sci fi questions are about the matrix ahaha!– Richard Peter TargettCommented Jan 31, 2015 at 6:52
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3 Answers
I don't think Neo is the Buddha in this movie because the Buddha rediscovered the Truth on his own,Neo on the other hand had Morpheus and Trinity reveal it to him.Neo would be similar to someone who realised or awakened to the Truth because he took the red pill which i would liken to an insight pill.The irony is The Buddha was likened to a physician who could prescribe medicine and in the Matrix Neo was given the red pill to wake up and get a dose of reality. :">
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Never saw that movie? Where could I find it? Doubt it'd be on Netflix eh Commented Jan 31, 2015 at 1:39
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I've never understood why people somehow think that the Matrix is somehow a Buddhist movie. It's actually a very thinly veiled allegory for Gnosticism. In Gnosticism, you have the idea that an evil creator god called the Demiurge created the physical world and trapped the souls of people in physical bodies to have dominion over them, and the goal of Gnosticism is to escape physical existence.
Most of the Matrix is a copy and paste of that. The core ideas of Buddhism really aren't in that movie in any real sense.
No, not in the context of the story. It's obviously possible to see the story as an allegory, in which case, sure, Neo is the one who woke up. But nothing in the story suggests that Neo is intended to be a reincarnation of Siddhartha Gautama.
