5) The Modern World Isn’t Real
Let’s examine some of the core philosophies of the film. It’s apparent how Neo can be seen as representing a sort of reincarnated Buddha figure, but what about the rest of the film? One of the main teachings that Morpheus imparts to Neo is that the world in which his alter ego Mr. Anderson lives does not actually exist. He tells him that it’s an illusion, in which your mind simply interprets the other signals (touch, smell, etc.) and creates the world as a sort of virtual reality setting.
In the world that we know and live in, there is corruption, anxiety, stress and material desire. In the real world of The Matrix, there is freedom. Albeit it’s not exactly nirvana, but the characters in the film continue to insist that they have been set free by Morpheus. Neo was freed to protect the world, release others from their mind prisons and prevent further suffering (what Buddhism refers to as “Samsara”).
He can also never go back. Much like not being able to un-see something once you’ve witnessed it, a person who is awake can never be “un-awake” again. The scene in which Morpheus tells Neo this is interesting in that he also talks about a man who saw the world as it was; who freed the first people. Sound like someone you know? I’ll give you a hint, his name starts with a ‘B’.