Dreams and Matrix

As we have seen in our previous posts on “Dream in Dream” (Lucid Dream) people who experienced dreams with the knowledge of being in dream were able to control the contents and happenings of the dream. When one is 'realized' (of the nature of their world in dream) in one's dream but continues to dream he can control the dream. He can do impossible things in the dream merely by merely 'willing' it to happen.

In normal dreams, the dreamer believes in dream 100% while inside of it. It is only when he wakes out of it realization dawns on him. The above awakening where you know you are in dream while in dream happens few times, not all the times. It is only after you wake out of dream you can decide if it is some delusion or sleep. To dreamer as long as he is in dream his real world is the dream world and his dream experiences are his real experiences. Any sort of realization as to his true state comes to his knowledge only when the dreamer wakes out of his dream.

To explain further the point I made in the first paragraph I would like to draw to attention the movie Matrix. In the movie, Matrix is the program world and not the natural world. It has no physical existence living only in the minds of the people plugged in. However, if you had watched the movie, you'll know that the people (including Neo) wake up on uplugging from Matrix. However, this time whenever they plugin into the matrix they are able to partly control the matrix except for the entry and exit points into the matrix for which they need a physical phone line. The things the 'realised matrix people' do are incredible. They can fly, dodge bullets, jump high and across roof tops etc.

On the other hand, people who have not been unplugged from the Matrix software are in truth lying in a factory floor and being fed through tubes. These people have been dreaming since their birth. They have never experienced true world nor had they made use of any of their limbs. These plugged in humans are used by machines to generate power. The people so plugged in believe 100% in the reality of Matrix world. Very often, the dream state created by Matrix is so overwhelming on the minds of the humans so as to cause them crave for it despite the knowledge of the reality. If you are dreaming something very sensual and wake out of it one experiences lot of disappointment. The cause of this emotion is that the dreamer believed the dream and had rich experience of something which in his wakeful state he knew he would have never done it. This also leaves a wish to stay in the dream and continue feeling the dream despite the realisation that it is only a dream and not the truth. This wish to stay inside the dream state despite the realization of falsity of Matrix is highlighted from the following scene in the Movie.

“In the first film of the trilogy, Cypher is one of the rebels from Morpheus' hovercraft, the Nebuchadnezzar. Cypher has grown tired of the Man/Machine war within the Matrix. Harshly disillusioned by the grim existence living on a hovercraft and tired of following Morpheus and his blind faith of the Prophecy, he soon starts to wish that he never learned the truth and left the Matrix in the first place. This prompts him to strike a deal with the Agents. At the beginning of the movie, he nearly has Trinity killed by Agent Smith in successfully proving to the Agents that he, "the informant", was legitimate.

Cypher secretly meets with Agent Smith once more, agreeing to turn Morpheus over to them if the Agents will return Cypher's body, rich and famous, to the Matrix power plant with no knowledge of the Matrix's true nature. How he is able to contact the Agents is not clear. Cypher helps the Agents mount an ambush at their safe location, where Mouse is killed, and then murders Apoc, Switch, and Dozer, and wounds Tank. Before he can kill Neo or Trinity, Tank recovers and kills Cypher.

One of Cypher's most famous quotes from the movie is "Ignorance is bliss", which he utters while speaking with Agent Smith, referring to the state of people inside the Matrix.”
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So taking the Matrix concept of reality of our living life and then if we apply monist philosophy things would be different. If we all are currently living in dream like state (akin to matrix but not machine controlled but nevertheless living in dream state) where we are bound to accept our limitations because our minds believe the dream is true and not illusion. Once we know true nature of our dream like world (like neo realizes after taking the pill) can we humans do impossible things in the world by mere will? Things like defying rules of physics? This is because you know the laws of physics in dream are not real and they are simply faking your mind by making you believe they are true. Just like you can control your dreams when you are awake in dream without actually awakening you can do the impossible things in physical world because real world is only an illusion and its laws are only true as long as you believe the physical world is true.

Hindu Monism refers to the life of swan to identify the relationship of a realized soul to the physical world. Just as a swan lives in water but its feathers are not soiled by water, similarly a liberated human being lives in this world full of illusion but is untouched by its illusion (Read: what is illusion?).