Someone made the choice to write to me with a question.
Here is what they asked:
In your second meeting with Neo, in The Matrix Reloaded, what did you mean when you told him that he did not come here to make a choice, but to understand the choice he had made?
I appreciate questions like this. They demand more detail, and I’m very detail-oriented.
As this is really two questions in one, I’m going to split my reply into two posts. For now, I‘ll talk a bit about why the problem is choice. In the next one, I’ll get deeper into what I meant by Neo coming ‘here’ when I spoke to him that second time.
So let me start with how the “cycle of life” works. We all go through these more than once in a lifetime.
Many people live their lives in a slumber. They like to think they’re ‘woke,’ but they’re still caught up pursuing self-centered things. They are in a world like the one presented in The Matrix – a world of concealment and false choices.
All these things that hold our attention, are really blocking us from what we’re really meant to engage with.
Now, if a person can get their mind off of what this world offers, they put themselves in a position to choose to connect to what lies beyond. That’s not so easy though. It’s often the case that the better someone is doing, according to the usual ‘standards,’ the less likely they will pause to consider anything more.
Things like wealth, power, and fame become obstacles to the truth and what their true purpose is.
Conversely, it’s people without the materialistic and egotistical trappings who often find the deeper, spiritual path. The one that connects them to their true self. That’s the same path as the path of the One. We’ll talk more about that soon.
Neo, or should I say, Thomas Anderson, lived a very modest life. It gave him the opportunity to consider that what he saw around him was not all there is to reality. This led to him seeking, and as we know, he was rewarded for that. I have a favorite old saying that goes, “When you reach for heaven, heaven will reach back.”
This all led to that moment when Morpheus offered him the red and blue pills. That was the choice I referred to when we spoke the second time. It was the biggest decision of Neo’s life. Any choices he faced later, were all due to that one. Morpheus was quite accurate when he told him there was no turning back.
Anyhow, this whole choice business is really one of four parts to that ‘cycle of life’ process. The first is the condition you are in. Call it the reality you find yourself in at any given moment.
As in the example I just mentioned with Neo, how you view your condition is the start of things. If your perspective is that of everything your material world has to offer, you’re going to stay in your own Matrix.
Your view of life influences what comes next – choice.
Whatever you choose to do or not do, leads to the third part of the cycle. You make some sort of new connection. A good choice advances you along the path to knowing yourself. A bad one … well, we all make those.
The good news through all of this is that wherever we find ourselves, the opportunity to get back on the path will present itself. Too many bad choices will make it much more challenging, however.
All of this results in the final part of the cycle, which is change. Your personal ‘equation’ is imbalanced, you enter a new condition, and the cycle repeats.
Sorry kiddo, you don’t get to rest in this life. Perhaps after The Matrix Resurrections – who knows?
As the Architect and I discussed at the end of The Matrix Revolutions, change is a “dangerous game.” That’s because there’s a lot of perils along the way.
But that brings us to one of my ‘bake your noodle” revelations … Those perils are there for your benefit. Neo figured that out at the end of The Matrix Revolutions. He even came to the realization that Smith was not really his enemy. It’s one of the more profound concepts from The Matrix.
I’m going to let you in on a little secret in my next blog post, about what ‘here’ meant, in my exchange with Neo.
Have a cookie. You’ll feel right as rain.
The Oracle
Program, guide, mother figure … the Oracle is most of all, a connection to the future for everyone. Her views will challenge your perception of reality, and help you find your way along the path – to discover “the One” within you.
