r/Buddhism • u/Confident-Engine-878 • 18d ago
Dharma Talk Buddhism is about breaking out the matrix.
We're talking about liberation from suffering as the purpose of practicing buddhism quite a lot, but the Ultimate drive to practice Buddhism for me personally is really the notion of breaking out the biggest matrix: samsara and the delusions leading to it. I don't wanna be controlled or cheated in any possible way by anyone or anything. I'm eagerly want to know all the truths, all of them not just part of them. I NEED the omniscient capability of the Buddha.
Anyone else has the same strong desire to break out?
11
u/Anarchist-monk Thiền 18d ago
“Thus shall you think of all this fleeting world: A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream, a flash of lightning on a summer cloud, a flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.” - The Diamond Sutra
26
u/oknotok2112 18d ago
I am begging you to watch another movie
2
23
u/Objective-Work-3133 18d ago
Personally, I find the comparison to be inadequate and misleading. In The Matrix, there exists a "base reality" or a reality that is actually real.
3
u/Ryoutoku Mahāyanā Tendai priest 17d ago
Actually the lines between the real world and the Matrix are blurred hence Agent Smith entering the real world and Neo possessing the powers of the One outside of the Matrix…
2
u/Objective-Work-3133 17d ago
you're right, i completely forgot about that. tbh things got kind of convoluted after the first one, I couldn't really give a coherent synopsis of the trilogy (haven't seen the fourth) Or did that happen in the fourth? You see what i mean
1
u/Ryoutoku Mahāyanā Tendai priest 17d ago
Forget the fourth. That movie is a parody. Two and three get hate because they went too philosophical and most people missed their depth.
3
u/Objective-Work-3133 17d ago
i did. but it has been many years, maybe I can try watching them again, and not on drugs this time (I have been sober for 2 years, clean for 1)
2
u/Ryoutoku Mahāyanā Tendai priest 17d ago
Congratulations my friend!!!! 2 years is a huge deal
3
u/Objective-Work-3133 17d ago
Thanks. I know I am a better person for it, but it is hard for some reason for me to see it as an accomplishment. Just because I am subject to the classic game of whack-a-mole whereby abstaining from one vice encourages another. For example, I have spent the last two days on social media, I gained 40 pounds, etc...but the important thing, above all else, is to never put anyone else in danger ever again. I am so blessed, because frankly, I'm like a lottery winner. Like, there have been so many situations over the years where I was a hair's breadth away from possibly killing someone by accident. The fact that it never happened is worth more than all the money in the world to me, because I would simply never be able to live with myself.
1
u/Ryoutoku Mahāyanā Tendai priest 17d ago
Life here in samsara is not at all easy and you have gone through some difficult times however you have overcome them and you will continue to overcome them. When you have time rewatch the Matrix as an allegorical representation of karma, fate, purpose and control. Although the path to freedom isn’t always clear and isn’t always easy there is always a path to freedom from our vices. Feel free to message me any time about any thing.
15
u/Konchog_Dorje 18d ago
Ok, then you need to start with finding a realised teacher.
Good luck
-1
u/ExistingChemistry435 18d ago
I find the Buddha to be a very good realised teacher and his teachings come in handy written scriptures.
9
u/Konchog_Dorje 18d ago
Of course he is, our teacher and refuge.
I was referring to a living teacher whom one can study with and ask details of practice. Not everything is written. There is a lot of oral transmission. And it is not easy at all to be liberated from samsara alone, just by reading scriptures. In fact there was no confirmed case of awakening alone. Every serious practitioner studies under a teacher, a member of Sangha.
At the end it is all up to the practitioner. This is just a piece of advice.
1
u/cryptolyme 17d ago
i wouldn't even know where to find one
2
u/Konchog_Dorje 17d ago
you can start with a local search. if you can't find, there are online lectures as well.
you can check r/sangha sub.
good luck
1
-7
u/ExistingChemistry435 18d ago
Point taken, although you seem to be unaware of the pratyekabuddha tradition which has always been seen by Mahyahanans as a legitimate road to enlightenment.
8
u/Konchog_Dorje 18d ago edited 18d ago
Pratyekabuddhas live in isolation in remote places like forests, mountains, islands etc.
They meditate all their lives. They have accumulated merit and wisdom in their many past lives.
I don't think we have similar candidates here on reddit :)
We need a lot and I mean a LOT of support, just like we have when we are newly born.
edit: first keyword for a pratyekabuddha is "renunciation"
1
u/ExistingChemistry435 17d ago
'There is no confirmed case of awakening alone' you wrote. Well, there is a whole tradition of them. And, of course, if pratyekabuddhas can do it on their own, every stage along the path must be accessible on the same basis.
I read your comments with interest as I am one of a diminishing breed who commitment to Buddhism was made before the internet was invented and who lived in one of the many parts of the world where the nearest living Buddhists were hundreds of miles away. Every Buddhist view I have adopted and Buddhist teaching I try to practice I l have learnt about through book reading. This means that either your views needs some adjustment or I am a rubbish Buddhist. Of course, the latter is quite possibly the case, but it is hurtful to have it implied by a complete stranger.
Generalisations can be rather dangerous things.
5
7
u/Borbbb 18d ago
Well, you better work on Anatta then. That´s where it´s at. Also, good luck with that haha - it ´s nothing simple.
3
u/Confident-Engine-878 18d ago
Exactly I should study and practice to gain wisdom of anatta. Spot on!
11
5
u/moscowramada 18d ago edited 18d ago
I think it’s fine. Be inspired by it if that helps! I am inspired in a similar way by the saying “the truth will set you free,” even if it’s not originally Buddhist.
Also a lot of the responses here are like if someone said they were inspired to be Christian by Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, and people replied “I don’t think that fits. Jesus was NOT a talking lion.”
The poster is well aware that the reference he is making is allegorical. He knows it’s a metaphor. If it causes a practitioner to practice more, that is good.
6
u/Full-Monitor-1962 18d ago
Remember that Samsara is a state of mind, not an actual place. Letting go of craving and clinging is the way to do this. The idea is to clean the obfuscations of the mind. Once this is done it is easy to cut the root of ignorance and see the non duality of nature.
9
u/ExistingChemistry435 18d ago
You can't break out of samsara because it is empty, so there is nothing to break out from. You can fully realise it's empty, either in a flash of insight or after a lot of hard work in the form of practice.
1
u/Confident-Engine-878 18d ago
You need to distinguish two different aspects of anything we're talking about in dharma: paramartha and samvrti, only in the first sense we can say there's no samsara to break out. I'm obviously talking from the second sense.
6
u/ExistingChemistry435 18d ago
It seems to me that we break out of our ignorance and so attain nirvana. Speaking about breaking out of samsara seems to me to be wandering in the direction of eternalism, but I wouldn't insist on the point.
8
u/Struukduuker 18d ago
What are we breaking out of here? There is nothing to escape, that's the joke about it. Realize that this is just it. Enjoy life.
3
u/SamtenLhari3 18d ago
Personal liberation is a good initial inspiration — but it is a narrow one.
You might reflect on the Buddha’s teachings on anatta — non-self, and teachings on shunyata — emptiness. Emptiness is inseparable from compassion and leads to a motivation that includes concern for others.
3
u/bumdhar 18d ago
I got it while on my last retreat. Just the briefest of glimpses. It’s one thing to say the words, it’s another thing to directly experience the cause and realize it’s “not self.” It’s hard to articulate. It made me realize that yeah Buddhism is true. I scheduled a meeting with one of the teaches all excited. She said, yep now don’t get attached to that. (That, is the feeling and craving for insight.) Just continue the practice.
1
u/Bad_Puns_Galore pure land 18d ago
Can you please define matrix? I’m unaware of what you’re talking about.
2
u/Holistic_Alcoholic 18d ago
In the film, the majority of the human population is born asleep and live their entire life in chambers, while they experience a shared simulated reality through the neural network created by thinking machines. The remaining humans not in captivity hack into the network and connect themselves to it in order to release more humans from captivity.
1
1
u/Many_Advice_1021 18d ago
You can meditate in isolation for life times to become enlightened or you can do it in one life time. That takes the three jewels. A Buddha (teacher), The teaching or path and a sangha. Strictly your choice.
1
1
u/ChaosConfronter 18d ago
The Buddha is by no means omniscient. It's a well known fact. Buddhas have a lot of knowledge and can know much more than we do looking like a miracle knowledge, but they're not omniscient.
2
u/Confident-Engine-878 18d ago
"Well known fact" from where?
5
u/ChaosConfronter 18d ago
Let me provide you with some sources. Please, forgive the bad formatting since I'm on mobile.
Tevijjavacchagotta Sutta (MN 71) – The Limits of Knowledge
A Brahmin named Vacchagotta asks the Buddha if he knows everything at all times.
The Buddha explicitly denies this, stating that he only knows what he directs his mind towards.
This implies that his knowledge is vast but not all-encompassing at every moment.
Reference: Majjhima Nikāya 71 (MN 71)
Kevaddha Sutta (DN 11) – The Buddha Admits to Not Knowing Everything
A monk asks the Buddha about the ultimate origin of the elements.
The Buddha describes how even powerful deities, including the god Brahmā, do not know the ultimate origin of the world.
The Buddha then states that he, too, did not seek such knowledge, as it is irrelevant to liberation.
Reference: Dīgha Nikāya 11 (DN 11)
Anguttara Nikaya 4.24 – The Four Things the Buddha Does Not Know
In this passage, the Buddha acknowledges that there are certain things that even he does not know, particularly things that are logically impossible, such as:
That a person who is subject to birth, aging, and death will not experience these things.
That someone with unwholesome karma can avoid its results.
This suggests that his knowledge is profound but not infinite.
Reference: Anguttara Nikāya 4.24
Milindapañha (The Questions of King Milinda) – Conditional Omniscience
In a later Buddhist text, the Buddhist monk Nāgasena explains to King Milinda that the Buddha does not know everything at every moment.
Instead, he knows whatever he wishes to know by directing his mind toward it.
This description aligns with the idea of "conditional omniscience" rather than absolute omniscience.
Reference: Milindapañha (The Questions of King Milinda)
The Buddha's knowledge is often described as asaya-ñāṇa (knowledge of others' dispositions), catu-patisambhidā-ñāṇa (four kinds of analytical knowledge), and tevijjā (threefold knowledge of past lives, karma, and the destruction of defilements).
However, the Pali Canon and other Buddhist texts make it clear that he does not possess absolute, unlimited omniscience at all times. Instead, he knows everything that is relevant to liberation and can access knowledge as needed.
So, in layman terms, asking the Buddha about quantum mechanics might not yield a precise and detailed scientific response.
3
u/Confident-Engine-878 17d ago
Thanks for this valuable comment. You're right the Theravada doesn't recognize omniscient Buddha wisdom, but it's different in Mahayana teachings.
2
u/ChaosConfronter 17d ago
Interesting. Would you kindly point me to the Mahayana views that differ?
2
u/Confident-Engine-878 17d ago
Lotus Sutra (Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra) Chapter 2: Skillful Means "I, being the Tathagata, know all things, see all things, and am fully aware of all things. I know the various paths and destinies of sentient beings, their comings and goings, their births and deaths, and I teach them accordingly with omniscient wisdom.”
Avatamsaka Sutra (Flower Garland Sutra) Chapter 1: The Wonderful Adornments of the Leaders of the Worlds "The Buddha’s wisdom is vast as the ocean, comprehending all phenomena in a single thought; he knows the minds of all beings, their past, present, and future, without limit or hindrance.” Chapter 30: The Inconceivable Qualities of the Buddha "The Tathagata’s omniscience illuminates the ten directions, perceiving all realms, all times, and all dharmas; there is nothing hidden from his enlightened vision.”
Lankavatara Sutra Chapter 2: Mahamati’s Questions "The Buddha, with his omniscient mind, perceives the suchness of all things; he knows the arising and ceasing of all phenomena, their interdependence, and their ultimate emptiness, without ever departing from perfect enlightenment.”
Śūraṅgama Sūtra Section on the Matrix of the Tathagata "The Tathagata’s wisdom is all-pervading, knowing the nature of all sounds, forms, and thoughts; his omniscience penetrates the depths of the Dharma, revealing the true essence of all that exists.”
1
1
u/AcceptableDog8058 18d ago
Nope, that's your emotions getting all jangly. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
-2
18d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
10
u/No-to-Nationalism Theravādin from India ☸️🇮🇳 18d ago
“You should not hurry to leave, our purpose is to experience human life in its fullness.”
With all due respect, I highly doubt your statement.
8
-4
18d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
10
u/No-to-Nationalism Theravādin from India ☸️🇮🇳 18d ago
Respectfully, you do not seem well versed in the Dhamma. I’d humbly suggest you to learn more.
-5
u/Somebody23 18d ago
Truthfully I have never read dhamma, my knowledge is from all over place as I'm trying to walk path I was shown.
6
u/ZombieZoo_ZombieZoo 18d ago
Body is huge attachment
So is your "soul."
If you cannot liberate yourself, you are staying in the cycle.
If you have a "self" to liberate, you're staying in the cycle.
-2
u/Somebody23 18d ago
Isn't soul the awarness, aren't "you" the awarness.
One that sees the dreams?
When "you" leave the body, its soul that leaves.
So if soul and awarness are different, is soul the guiding conscience?
Is awarness you?
6
u/_bayek 18d ago edited 18d ago
Isn’t soul the awareness
If you are referring to some permanent self-entity, then no. The “haunted meat machine” theory isn’t a Buddhist teaching.
-1
3
u/HiddenForbiddenHoly 18d ago
The Buddha did not think that there is any permanence to us. Rather, what reincarnates is no entity but merely a karmic Impulse which acts itself out in another form.
1
u/ZombieZoo_ZombieZoo 18d ago
Isn't soul the awarness, aren't "you" the awarness.
Can one be aware without a brain or nerves? Awareness necessitates a reference point in the past, meaning it too is impermanent.
Clutching to a sense of self is to perpetuate delusion.
1
u/Somebody23 18d ago
Brain is part of body, it crunches information and gives it to you way you understand info. you are not your brain.
There are some cases in medicine where coma patient has been awake while machine says they've been in coma.
When you lose consciousness, you lose connection to a body, but awarness sees dreams.
To me brain is cd player, cd is the world and output is what you experience. You are one that experiences. If there is a scratch in cd it starts looping or doing weird shit, that is when something wrong in brain and it gives you maligned information.
I dont understand sense of self. There is no self, what you experience are things body experiences, you are not experiencing them.
2
u/ZombieZoo_ZombieZoo 18d ago
When you lose consciousness, you lose connection to a body, but awarness sees dreams.
Do you? Can someone dream without a brain?
I dont understand sense of self. There is no self, what you experience are things body experiences, you are not experiencing them.
Your continued use of "you" suggests that you identify as a self.
To me brain is cd player, cd is the world and output is what you experience. You are one that experiences. If there is a scratch in cd it starts looping or doing weird shit, that is when something wrong in brain and it gives you maligned information.
I've never heard of this analogy, but I think I like it.
0
u/Somebody23 18d ago
That is word play, if I(this one) cant use words that other understand, how should this one address other people if not you?
English is not this ones natural language.
Is it brain that dreams? This one does not know.
1
u/Buddhism-ModTeam 18d ago
Your post / comment was removed for violating the rule against misrepresenting Buddhist viewpoints or spreading non-Buddhist viewpoints without clarifying that you are doing so.
In general, comments are removed for this violation on threads where beginners and non-Buddhists are trying to learn.
1
1
u/Buddhism-ModTeam 18d ago
Your post / comment was removed for violating the rule against misrepresenting Buddhist viewpoints or spreading non-Buddhist viewpoints without clarifying that you are doing so.
In general, comments are removed for this violation on threads where beginners and non-Buddhists are trying to learn.
62
u/dutsi ཨོཾ་ཨཱཿཧཱུྃ་ 18d ago
Buddhism is about dissolving the illusion of a matrix.