transmission 035 - the matrix as global myth
The 35th transmission from Starship Commander Miquiel Banks.
Quote
There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A VIRUS.
Agent Smith
Introduction
Back in the late 80s, Joseph Campbell did a powerhouse series with Bill Moyers about comparative mythology and the ongoing role of myth in human society.
In Today’s Lecture, we’ll revisit this interview through the lens of The Matrix.
Q = Question (Bill Moyers)
A = Answer (Joseph Campbell)
R = Relevance of The Matrix
Q: Do these stories vary from culture from culture?
A: It's the degree of illumination or action that differs.
R: The Matrix is a Modern-Day Illumination on the Human Condition, the Monomyth, and our place in the Cosmos.
Q: So the hero evolves over time?
A: He evolves as the culture evolves and we always have the three parts of the myth (departure - fulfillment - return).
R: Our Modern Day Savior, Neo, is the culmination of our fascination with Man, Machine, and our Symbiotic Relationship.
Q: Should we feel pity for the hero instead of admiration?
A: The real problem is of losing SELF and your own self-protection and the trial is losing yourself. All the myths deal with transformation of consciousness. You think in this way and now you have to think in that way. The consciousness is transformed, trials and revelations are what it’s all about.
R: The Matrix deals with Transformation of Consciousness, but it also deals with our place in the world, Slavery, and how we combat Tradition from choking us of our Humanity and Free Will.
Q: Does the movie fill the need for spiritual adventure for the hero?
A: It's not a simple morality play, it has to deal with the powers of life and their inflection through the action of man. The artist should enter a field that is not covered by our own knowledge. He needs an empty space for the imagination to go forth and fight its own war. He also needs a whole new realm for the imagination to open out and live its forms.
R: The Matrix captures the Black Experience in one artistic leap into Cosmic Consciousness.
A: Star Wars has standard mythological figures, the old man as advisor. He gives the hero a physical instrument, psychological commitment, and a psychological center.
R: In The Matrix, this role done by Morpheus, the Voice in the Wilderness.
Q: Does the hero go for something, not just being an adventurer?
A: The hero is ready for the adventure and the adventure is a manifestation of his character. The landscape and conditions of the environment match the readiness of the hero and the adventure he's ready for is the one that he gets.
R: In The Matrix, Neo’s world is torn between computers in the real world and computers for pleasure. It never occurs to him that he is part of a Simulated World and The Matrix, as a Story World, is the apex of Neo’s understanding of being enslaved at work.
Q: What was your favorite scene?
A: The bar scene, it’s where you are - you're on the edge, about to embark on the outline spaces. This is the jumping off place, this is where you meet people, people who've been out there, they run the machines that go out there, and you haven't been there. This is the atmosphere before you start the adventure.
R: There are many favorite scenes in The Matrix (Neo’s Bullet Time Moves, The Oracle and the Spoon, Meeting Trinity, and Trinity running on the wall).
Q: My favorite scene is the garbage compactor scene, isn’t that the belly of the whale?
A: Yes, it's the descent into the dark, just like Jonah and the whale. The whale represents the personification of all that is in the unconscious. Specifically speaking, water is the unconscious and the creature in the water is the dynamism of the unconscious. It is dangerous and powerful and has to be controlled by consciousness.
R: In The Matrix, this scene takes place when Neo takes the Red Pill and enters The Matrix. If we push it out, we can argue the Agents are Virtual Whales, the dynamism of The Hive Mind inside The Matrix.
A: It’s the first stage of the journey, he leaves the realm of light, which he controls and knows about. He moves toward the threshold, and it's at the threshold that he meets the monster. Sometimes, the hero is cut to pieces and descends into the abyss into fragments, only to be resurrected. Other times, when the hero defeats the monster, he has to assimilate this power, he hears the song of nature, and he has transcended his humanity. As a result, He must re-associate himself with the power of nature. However, our mind removes us from this connection because it thinks it's running the shop. Come on, it's a secondary organ, it must NOT put itself in control, and it must submit and serve the humanity of the body.
R: Neo leaves a virtual world and enters the Real World. The first thing he meets is a Monster, who unplugs his body and flushes him down into the Trash. When he is saved by Morpheus and his team, he is fragmented and needs to be resurrected. The Team repairs Neo’s body because he’s never used his eyes before. After facing Agent Smith, Neo now has ascended into his FULL BEING, but he is unable to stand up on his own. With the Divine Kiss of Trinity, the “Holy Spirit” descends on him and enables him to transcend his humanity and become the Savior - The One.
Q: What happens when the mind is in control?
A: When the mind is in control, you get a character like Darth Vader. A father figure who has gone over to the intellectual side. He's not living for humanity, he's living for the SYSTEM and this is the constant threat to our lives. We operate in our society in relation to a system and we have one question. Is the system going to eat you up and relieve you of your humanity or are you going to use the system to human purposes?
R: Having The Matrix run by humans would exemplify having the mind in control. It would also be considered THE NEGATION (in Screenwriting). However, in The Matrix, using the Machines takes this concept beyond rational thought - it is the Height of using the Negation of the Negation. We are now using an inhumane and organic mind, far worse than anything in a human mind.
Q: Can the hero show us how to change the system?
A: I don't think it would help you to change the system, it would help you to live in the system as a human being. You do this by resisting and not going over.
R: Neo’s life as a Hacker provides us with his resistance of The Matrix and Control.
Q: People say that it's good for you, but it doesn't happen in my life, what is your response?
A: You bet it does. If the person doesn't listen to the demands of his own spiritual and heart life and he insists on a certain program, you're going to have a schizophrenic crackup. The person has put himself off-center, he has aligned himself with a programmatic life, and the body is NOT interested in this at all. The world is full of people who have stopped listening to themselves.
R: The Matrix is the Blueprint of how we overcome Limitations placed on us and truly become Free from Control. This is same thing as saying, We all wish to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Q: You think the creative spirit ranges on his own beyond the boundaries.
A: Our life evokes our character and you find out more about yourself as you go on. It's very nice to put yourself in situations that will evoke your higher nature rather than your lower self. You elevate yourself out of local fields and put yourself in a field of higher powers and higher dangers, but can you handle it? If you are NOT ready, it's going to be a demon marriage. If you are ready, it will be a glory.
R: In The Matrix, we can see Neo’s growth on several layers. The first layer, Psychological, shows Neo as a Computer Genius. He grows from this into the one - the Savior Figure. The second layer, Intimacy, shows Neo as a lonely and distant person. He grows from this into being love by Divine Love itself (Trinity). The third layer, Community, shows Neo as a Hacker. He grows from this into an Organic Hacker of the Matrix, the first of our kind to crack the Codes and achieve true freedom in REALITY.
Q: So these stories of mythology are trying to express a truth that can't be grasped.
A: It's the edge and interface between what can be known and what is never to be discovered. It is a mystery transcendent of all human research, the source of life.
R: The Matrix is on the edge of the Story World in The Third Eye. It shows us our part to do here on Earth to overcome the Machines.
Q: Why are stories important for getting at that?
A: It's important to live life with a knowledge of its mystery and your own mystery. It gives life a new zest, a new balance, a new harmony, it's psychological therapy. When people find out what it is that's ticking in them, they get straightened out. Thinking in mythological terms helps people.
R: The Matrix showcases the battles we face as humans, living in a virtual word of illusions. No matter where you are in life, you always have the same choice (Truth or the Illusion).
Q: How does mythological thinking help?
A: It erases anxieties, puts them in accord with the inevitables of their life that they can see. You can see the positive values of what is negative and/or the negative aspects of what is positive. Will you say NO to the serpent or YES to the serpent?
R: As we watch Neo grow from Hacker to the Savior, all of our chakras “LIGHT UP” as the Story touches in instinctive parts of our Psyche. And we are left to answer one question, will you JOIN The Matrix or FIGHT The Matrix?
Q: Myths ask us to respond to the adventure?
A: Yes, the adventure of being alive.
R: And the purpose of life is to reach our apex, which is become FREE of the Machines and Control and Illusion. The path to freedom is two-fold. On one side, we battle slavery. On another side, we seek freedom. Together, we achieve TRUE FREEDOM, which can be called ENLIGHTENMENT.
