In an interview with Larry Wachowsky at Integral Naked (www.integralnaked.com), Wilber (2005) “suggests that it's not until the last twenty minutes of the Matrix Triology’s part 3, Revolutions, that the key to the trilogy is revealed” (¶7).
Discussing about Neo’s awakened vision of the core essential nature of machines, a revelation he confides to Trinity in a legendary statement: ‘If you could see them as I see them, they are all made of Light....’ (¶7) - Wilber (2005) proposes that “the machines represent Spirit, but Spirit as alienated and therefore attacking...” (¶7).
Fast rewinding to almost 50 years ago, a renowned scientist, visionary and Christian Mystic called Teillard de Chardin suggested similar ideas in his book The Future of Man (1959):
"We may be reassured. The vast industrial and social system by which we are enveloped does not threaten to crush us; neither does it seek to rob us of our soul. The energy emanating from it is free not only in the sense that it represents forces that can be used: it is moreover free because, in the whole no less than in the least of elements, it arises in a state that is ever more spiritualized".
(Chardin, 1959, p. 190)
Likewise, his contemporary philosopher and mystic Sri Aurobindo envisioned in The Future Evolution of Men: The Life Divine Upon Earth (Aurobindo, 2003) that “matter will reveal itself as an instrument of the manifestation of Spirit; a new liberated and sovereign acceptance of material nature will then be possible” (p. 35).
Accordingly, the mystical teachings of the Jewish Kabala refer in their sacred scriptures about the interdependent dynamics between Spirit and Matter: “The Sefiroth of God manifest themselves in the structure of the physical world and are a bridge between the world of God and the human world” (Molloy, 2002, p. 292). Being in the leading edge of the evolution of “matter”, I see technology as being one of such instruments and manifestations, allied with some mysterious and still untapped potentials of our human body.
According to Wilber’s (2005) integral interpretation of the Matrix Trilogy, Zion represents body … the Matrix represents mind … and the machines … represent (alienated) spirit” (Integral Naked, ¶8).
In his words: “it is only in the integration of body, mind, and spirit that all three are redeemed and peace returns” (¶9) - an insight that connects with one of my main intentions to incorporate the concept of Integral Life Practice (ILP)into the core structure of video game design, in order to promote an overall AQAL integration.
As a result of this integration – following Kegan’s (1994) subject and object developmental dynamics – players can “use” matter (machines, video games) in more proactive ways to free their spirit (human development), instead of letting their spirit “be used” by them (addictions, developmental arrest, regressions, distractions, escape), even if not totally aware of the process (Trojan Horse approach).
In other words, that overall integration will also allow video game players to “play” more freely and boldly with their own AQAL constellations (e.g.: their various selves and life conditions), without being “played by them”. Any similarity with “real life” - such as moving from the slavery of the Matrix (Samsara) into the freedom resultant of being gradually and finally able to “play” with the Matrix itself (Development, Awakening, and Non-Duality) - may be not mere coincidence… So, would you be ready to take a virtual “red pill”*?
* In the Matrix movie (2000), this enigmatic question relates to a metaphor where the character Neo needs to make a fundamental decision of choosing between either taking the “red pill” (Truth & Awakening) or the “blue pill” (Ignorance & Sleepiness) offered by his mentor Morpheus.
--- Keep the purpose alive!
Moses Silbiger, M.A.
www.integraleye.com
www.pressplaytogrow.com
