<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:taxo="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/taxonomy/" version="2.0">
<channel>
<title>Latest posts for the topic &quot;Party Like it&apos;s 1999?&quot;</title>
<ttl>10</ttl>
<link>http://forums.station.sony.com/mxo/</link>
<description>Latest messages posted in the topic &quot;Party Like it&apos;s 1999?&quot;</description>
<generator>Station Forums</generator>
<item>
<title>Party Like it&apos;s 1999?</title>
<description>&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#39;d like to add my own spin on the &quot;is it always 1999 in the Matrix?&quot; debate. &amp;nbsp;Personally, I think the &quot;always 1999&quot; idea is an interesting interpretation, but it does not present a complete picture. &amp;nbsp;My interpretation? &amp;nbsp;In terms of the films, it is always the year it is when one is watching the films, because the Matrix &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;is&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;the everyday world as we, the audience, experience it. &amp;nbsp;The Matrix is not some hypothetical alternate reality that may exist in the distant future. &amp;nbsp;The Matrix is now. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Let&amp;#39;s look at the philosopher commentary on the Ultimate Matrix Collection. &amp;nbsp;Ken Wilber and Cornel West propose that the &quot;green&quot; world of the Matrix represents the Mind, the &quot;blue&quot; world of Zion and its hovercrafts represents the Body, and the &quot;gold&quot; world of the Machines represents the Spirit. &amp;nbsp;I generally agree with this assertion, but I&amp;#39;d like to make a small&amp;nbsp;addendum. &amp;nbsp;These things are not merely representative of Body, Mind, and Spirit, they actually are Body, Mind, and Spirit. &amp;nbsp;It isn&amp;#39;t the case that when we see blue, we&amp;#39;re dealing with Body, when we see green, we&amp;#39;re dealing with Mind, and when we see gold we&amp;#39;re dealing with Spirit. &amp;nbsp;In actuality, we&amp;#39;re dealing with all of them all the time. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The complex system of the Matrix is the world of Mind. &amp;nbsp;It does not only exist when we are plugged in, it exists, and exerts its influence, whenever we are thinking beings able to imagine hypothetical&amp;nbsp;scenarios&amp;nbsp;of past and future. &amp;nbsp;In short, if we are perceiving a linear flow of time, we&amp;#39;re in the Matrix. &amp;nbsp;Linear time and narrative is essential to the human being&amp;#39;s intellectual conception of his or her self, so anywhere there is a narrative (and thus, some conception of time), we are in the Mind, and thus we are in the Matrix.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The tactile world of skin, metal, earth, and stone we awake to after exiting a place where we are trapped in the Matrix (and thus the Mind), is indeed the Body. &amp;nbsp;But The Desert of the Real does not exclusively represent the Body. &amp;nbsp;This would imply that only the Body is truly real. &amp;nbsp;Actually, reality consists of Body, Mind, and Spirit. &amp;nbsp;So the real awakening that occurs upon being unplugged from the Matrix is an awakening into being able to perceive Body, Mind, and Spirit&amp;nbsp;simultaneously, rather than looking at all reality through the purely representative lens of the mind.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Once we are awakened, we can see Spirit, as well, but because there is disharmony in the human condition, because the Matrix (which we are always a part of as human beings whether we are plugged in or not) is &amp;nbsp;world of suffering, we see Spirit, our own experience of the totality of being, as a cruel attacker, a monster, a demon. &amp;nbsp;We are trapped in Hell only because we imagine that Spirit is malevolent. &amp;nbsp;It is our imagination, the world of Mind, that creates the relationship between Man and Machine. &amp;nbsp;Essentially, Mind is responsible for the conditions of the relationship between Body and Spirit. &amp;nbsp;As Morpheus says, &quot;the Mind makes it real.&quot; &amp;nbsp;And thus the Matrix, the individual and collective world of Mind common to all human beings, is responsible for how we relate to the Machines, our greater Spirit, our conscious, our higher being, our totality, our ultimate. &amp;nbsp;Because we are at war in our minds, we are at war with Spirit.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The key to all of this is that, although we see Body, Mind, and Spirit presented in the Matrix films, we see it all, ultimately, through the lens of Mind, because the only way to watch a film is through that lens. &amp;nbsp;Watching a film involves the conceptualization of time and narrative, and thus when we are watching &quot;The Matrix,&quot; we are in the Matrix. &amp;nbsp;So for us, as viewers, the Matrix exists at whatever year we watch the film in, if you want to designate a year to its architecture. &amp;nbsp;Now, literally, the year of the Matrix is stated in the first film is 1999, and the next two films take place six months later, so still, probably 1999, but my point is that the Matrix is not a system that can only contain the year 1999, because the Matrix contains the entirety of time itself. &amp;nbsp;When people are unplugged from the Matrix, they awaken into the timeless world of the Real, but the grasping mind (still very much trapped in the Matrix) has to assign time and narrative to this experience, and thus, the mind experiences the Real as existing in the very distant future of the world they knew. &amp;nbsp;But it is no more 2199 in the Real than it is 1999 in the Matrix. &amp;nbsp;The human&amp;#39;s entire perception of time is manipulated by the Machines, who see manipulation as the only modicum of interaction with humans because this is the only modicum that the humans have presented via the world of the Mind, the Matrix.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In short, while the events of all three films occur in 1999, this does not mean the events of the Matrix are limited to 1999. &amp;nbsp;Things can change, narratives will occur, because that is intrinsic to the condition of existing in time. &amp;nbsp;The Mind alone perceives time as a relevant factor. &amp;nbsp;The Body cannot perceive it, at least not in any conceptual way, and the Spirit is so far beyond it that it no longer matters. &amp;nbsp;The Body perceives only the present, the Mind perceives a conceptual past and future, a linear flow of time, and the Spirit perceives a timeless Now that transcends and includes all sensation of present and conception of past and future. &amp;nbsp;The Matrix includes all times because the Matrix is the Mind, and thus the Matrix is time itself. &amp;nbsp;However, from the perspective of the Real, which includes Body, Mind, and Spirit, this time does not have to unfold in a linear fashion. &amp;nbsp;It will merely appear linear from the perspective of the Matrix.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;How does all this relate to Matrix Online? &amp;nbsp;Well, for the majority of our time here, we seem to have been stuck in 1999, trapped in one specific instance of the Matrix. &amp;nbsp;In certain glorious moments, though, I think we&amp;#39;ve found ourselves awakened into the world of the Real, transcending and including all time and space, which ultimately exist only as concepts. &amp;nbsp;I think the Matrix still has stories to tell that go far beyond 1999. &amp;nbsp;The only question is, are you ready to see how deep the rabbit hole goes?&lt;/p&gt;</description>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://forums.station.sony.com/mxo/posts/list.m?topic_id=36300029041&amp;post_id=36300565737#36300565737</guid>
<link>http://forums.station.sony.com/mxo/posts/list.m?topic_id=36300029041&amp;post_id=36300565737#36300565737</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 9 Jun 2009 15:46:03 GMT</pubDate>
<author>Signs</author>
</item>
<item>
<title>Re:Party Like it&apos;s 1999?</title>
<description>&lt;p&gt;&quot;[The Matrix is] a historic effort to fuse the philosophical, the mythic, the religious and the political in a new kind of cinematic form of expression. That kind of fusion has a synoptic vision and an analysis of so many levels of lived experience and contemporary market-driven life and yet at the same time still [has] a preoccupation with the old big questions: why is there something rather than nothing?&amp;nbsp; What is the meaning of life?&amp;nbsp; How do we talk about hope?&amp;nbsp; How ought we to treat each other?&amp;nbsp; These are the perennial questions that every human being who makes the move from womb to tomb has to come to terms with.&amp;nbsp; In the end, it comes down fundamentally to the choices we human beings can make, whatever circumstances we find ourselves in.&quot; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Cornel_West&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Dr. Cornel West&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;The Sixth Zen Patriarch, thought to be the real originator of Zen, and we don&amp;#39;t have a lot sayings from him, but one of the first things that we have is when he was asked – somebody was watching a flag in the courtyard waving – and they said, &quot;what is it that waves?&amp;nbsp; The wind, or the flag?&quot; And he said, &quot;neither the wind nor the flag but your mind is waving.&quot;&amp;nbsp; And again that whole notion is that mind, consciousness can create entire worlds and when you master your mind, you have mastered the entire universe in that very special sense. The awakening that has to occur is an awakening in your own mind, in your own spirit, in your own interiority.&amp;nbsp; It&amp;#39;s not that when you master your mind you can make spoons bend (that&amp;#39;s sort of a gross oversimplification) but it&amp;#39;s when you master your mind you are one with everything that is arising, so that you are the spoon, you are the sun, you are the entire universe in the deepest part of your own being, which is spirit itself.&amp;nbsp; Zen has always been one of the many ways of awakening where you realize a supreme identity with spirit and therefore with the entire world moment to moment as it is arising.&quot; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Wilber&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Ken Wilber&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was recently reminded what can be accomplished when body, mind and spirit work together, and this led to insight on why so many human endeavors fail.&amp;nbsp; Alone or even dually, those parts of the soul are lacking in efficacy for the same reason that someone needs two juxtapositions to triangulate location.&amp;nbsp; Polar dualism can be a blind if one stubbornly sticks to one diametric point of view or the other, but those extreme poles are necessary landmarks if one is to find their own position somewhere between them.&amp;nbsp; Being able to turn one&amp;#39;s thoughts first one way and then the other, perhaps back again, like before crossing the street, gives us the information we need to proceed with success.&amp;nbsp; Ignore your body at the peril of your life; ignore your spirit at the cost of your success.&amp;nbsp; When the mind considers both, thoughts become dynamic and inspired and need not be limited by conventional dogma or commonly accepted boundaries of the possible.&amp;nbsp; Barkley said, &quot;to be is to be perceived.&quot;&amp;nbsp; Reality is a cooperative construct of external forces &amp;amp; forms AND the mind which perceives them, a projection we can edit with every choice made, merely by changing the focus of our thoughts.&amp;nbsp; Emerson said, &quot;to find the miraculous in the common is the invariable mark of wisdom.&quot;&amp;nbsp; Wisdom is one pole, understanding is the other, and considered together, they yield the knowledge to overcome any situation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Within Christianity, the concept of a Trinity is a doctrinal and dogmatic one, having no direct scriptural reference, but rather it was conceived to explain elements of scripture.&amp;nbsp; Within Buddism, the Trinity lies within the realized individual, who has become Brahma in the sense of his mastery.&amp;nbsp; The Trinity in this meaning is Mind, Body and Spirit, which, when acting as One, make all things possible.&amp;nbsp; Read that again: every realized master is a Trinity unto him or herself.&amp;nbsp; How does this point of view change the symbolism of Neo crying, &quot;Trinity, help!&quot; when faced with a dire situation?&amp;nbsp; Remember to consider that symbolically throughout the films, the bond between the characters Trinity and Neo shows again and again that they are parts of the same being, externalized so that they may seek to become one.&amp;nbsp; When faced with a situation that puts you in danger or need, remember that this trinity of powerful forces lies within, that it can be called upon and that it is the true source of efficacy of word and action, the essential tool set which we are all born with but so few put forth the belief and effort necessary to master them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Memento mori et carpe diem,&lt;br /&gt;PS10N&lt;/p&gt;</description>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://forums.station.sony.com/mxo/posts/list.m?topic_id=36300029041&amp;post_id=36300565740#36300565740</guid>
<link>http://forums.station.sony.com/mxo/posts/list.m?topic_id=36300029041&amp;post_id=36300565740#36300565740</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 9 Jun 2009 15:56:25 GMT</pubDate>
<author>PS10N</author>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>