Matrix (repost from 2005, with updates)

Susan Kaprov, Puzzle Matrix

This fragile body
Is matrix
For mind and soul.

We cannot afford to neglect our bodies, even if we recognize that we must not identify with them exclusively. Actually, in our search for our true selves, our physical existence is the best place to start. We can alter our lives by how we eat and exercise, and we can expedite our search by keeping ourselves healthy. If we are free of physical blockages and pain, we can identify our inner selves much better.

In the search for the mind and soul, it is wise to understand that the body is not the true self, but it is also wise to maintain the body. There should be neither denial nor mortification of the flesh, but it takes a wise person to both maintain the body and look beyond it.

Deng Ming Tao, 365 Tao

“All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force… We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent Mind. This Mind is the matrix of all matter.” — Max Planck

Neo: What is the Matrix?
Trinity: The answer is out there, Neo, and it’s looking for you, and it will find you if you want it to.

Morpheus: If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then ‘real’ is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.

Spoon boy: Do not try and bend the spoon. That’s impossible. Instead… only try to realize the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Spoon boy: There is no spoon.
Neo: There is no spoon?
Spoon boy: Then you’ll see, that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.

Morpheus: Neo, sooner or later you’re going to realize just as I did that there’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.

Whatever you feel about the reality of this world, or the possibility of there existing any other, we live in the here and now, and we have to deal with where we are here and now. Taking care of yourself is essential. We all know we ought to eat right and exercise, that we need to take good care of ourselves. But we don’t always do it.

American culture is one that praises excess, not restraint. Most of our wealth now goes to the people in the top income group. Everyone wants huge SUVs and big houses that are far more than they need, which led to our financial crisis as people bought homes they could not really afford. Our food portions are huge. It’s not surprising that so many find it hard to restrain themselves. Even those who do exercise often do it to an extreme, and our female icons starve themselves into skeletons. Where is the call to be both fit and to be healthy? Not to excess, but to a level that everyone can do, and to maintain our mental fitness as well? To be moderate in our work but not abandon it entirely?

My husband and I work out with a trainer once a week, and are fortunate to be able to afford ourselves this luxury. But why should it have to be a luxury in our society to be able to afford a place a place to work out and someone to help us achieve our goals? I do pilates and yoga at the gym, and take long walks with friends. My husband and I sometimes take our dogs on long walks in the evening. We could still be more active than we are, but at least we are making the effort to stay healthy. My diet isn’t always perfect, though. I don’t really believe in doing anything to an extreme.

But most of us feel we are more than our bodies, perhaps even more than our minds, that there is something else within us that is separate from these things. And it is important to nourish that part of ourselves as well, whether through religion, art and creativity, or whatever means we find to spiritually enrich ourselves. Some look beyond themselves, but I find it more important to look within, to acknowledge my own spirit in ways that connect me with the all things. That way, I can also acknowledge it within others as well, rather than thinking I alone am “saved” or somehow special to whatever God is out there. And it is important to realize that all of us are a part of this world together, in body, mind — and spirit. We create the matrix, and we decide how to use it — selfishly, or together.

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed” — Mahatma Gandhi

You must be the change you want to see in the world. — Mahatma Gandhi

Neo: I know you’re out there. I can feel you now. I know that you’re afraid… you’re afraid of us. You’re afraid of change. I don’t know the future. I didn’t come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it’s going to begin. I’m going to hang up this phone, and then I’m going to show these people what you don’t want them to see. I’m going to show them a world without you. A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.