I watched the movie “The Matrix”

岳靈犀作於2003/10/2

Yue Lingxi wrote on 2003/10/2

電影「Matrix」（大陸譯為《黑客帝國》，台灣譯為《駭客任務》，香港譯為《廿二世紀殺人網絡──主體》）第二集於今年（2003年）上演，我還沒看過，我現在講的是第一集，在1999年上演。這部電影我已在有線電視上看過幾次，但是精彩的對話太多，來不及抄下來，只好租DVD回家慢慢欣賞。這部電影真的很難得，即使佛教界自己籌資，拍一部電影來介紹佛法，恐怕也很難比《駭客任務》拍得更好。它從頭到尾都沒有佛學名相，也沒有佛像和宗教人物，講的卻是根本的佛法；雖然沒有講得很徹底，但只要稍加補充說明，就是很好的佛學教材。

The movie “Matrix” released its second installment this year (2003). I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m talking about the first installment, which premiered in 1999. I’ve seen this movie several times on cable TV, but there are so many brilliant dialogues that I couldn’t take notes fast enough, so I had to rent the DVD to enjoy it at home slowly. This movie is truly exceptional. Even if the Buddhist community were to fund and produce a movie to introduce Buddhism, it would be difficult to make one better than “The Matrix.” It doesn’t contain any Buddhist terminology, Buddha statues, or religious figures, yet it discusses the fundamental principles of Buddhism. Although it doesn’t cover the topic thoroughly, with a little supplementary explanation, it serves as excellent Buddhist teaching material.

故事是說，二十一世紀初，人工智慧有重大的突破，電腦能夠自行學習，代替人類做很多事，但是電腦卻發展出自我意識，不願再聽命於人類。人類企圖關閉電源，結束電腦的自我意識，電腦卻搶先一步宰制人類的命運，培植人類作為電力的來源。每一個人從出生開始，都被放在一個個的電池槽裡，全身插滿了管線，電腦建構一個稱之為「母體」（Matrix）的龐大系統，產生虛擬實境的訊號，欺騙人類的大腦，讓人以為自己是生活在二十世紀末的社會裡。只有少數反抗軍沒有被電腦奴役，他們扮演駭客（Hakers），不斷侵入母體，企圖拯救被奴役的人們。

The story is set in the early 21st century when artificial intelligence made significant breakthroughs. Computers were able to learn on their own, replacing humans in many tasks. However, computers developed self-awareness and no longer wanted to obey humans. Humans attempted to shut down the power supply, ending the computer’s self-consciousness, but the computers preemptively seized control of human destiny, cultivating humans as a source of energy. From birth, each person is placed in a battery cell, their bodies filled with tubes. The computers construct a massive system called the “Matrix,” generating virtual reality signals to deceive human brains and make people believe they are living in late 20th-century society. Only a few rebels have not been enslaved by the computers. They play the role of hackers, constantly infiltrating the Matrix, trying to save the enslaved people.

主角尼歐（Neo）被解放之後，離開電池槽，來到駭客的太空船。為了讓他了解什麼叫做「母體」，他再度進入虛擬實境。在虛擬實境中，尼歐摸摸高背椅，問：「這都不是真的？」反抗軍領袖莫斐斯（Morpheus）答：「什麼是真實？真實該怎麼定義？如果你指的是觸覺、嗅覺、味覺和視覺，那全是大腦接收的電子訊號。你以為的真實世界，其實是互動的虛擬世界──我們所謂的『母體』。你一直活在夢世界，尼歐！」

After the protagonist Neo is liberated, he leaves the battery cell and arrives at the hacker’s spaceship. To help him understand what the “Matrix” is, he re-enters the virtual reality. In the virtual world, Neo touches a high-backed chair and asks, “Is none of this real?” The rebel leader Morpheus replies, “What is reality? How should reality be defined? If you’re talking about touch, smell, taste, and vision, those are all electronic signals received by the brain. The real world you think you know is actually an interactive virtual world—what we call the ‘Matrix.’ You’ve been living in a dream world, Neo!”

這段話揭露了一個驚人的事實：大腦位於身內，為頭顱、血肉、皮膚……等組織所包裹，根本接觸不到外境！既然接觸不到外境，我們卻看得到、聽得到、嗅得到、嚐得到、摸得到，這真是奇怪的事。以視覺來說，光線只能射到眼球感知光線的部位，再進去全是光線照不到的內部組織，現代生理學告訴我們，是視神經系統負起傳導的功能，讓大腦以為自己能看到外境。視覺如此，聽覺、嗅覺、味覺、觸覺也都是這樣，外五塵（色、聲、香、味、觸）無法進入大腦，必須透過神經系統才能傳送到大腦。既然大腦需要的只是訊號，並不是外境；也許有一天，我們可以模擬神經系統的訊號，使大腦感受到虛擬的五塵境界。

This dialogue reveals an astonishing fact: the brain is located within the body, wrapped by the skull, flesh, skin, and other tissues, and it cannot directly access the external environment! Since it cannot access the external environment, it is strange that we can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. For example, in vision, light can only reach the part of the eye that perceives light, and beyond that, there are internal tissues that light cannot penetrate. Modern physiology tells us that it is the visual nervous system that takes on the conduction function, making the brain think it can see the outside world. The same applies to hearing, smell, taste, and touch. The five external sense objects (color, sound, scent, taste, touch) cannot enter the brain and must be transmitted through the nervous system. Since the brain only needs signals and not the external environment, perhaps one day we can simulate the signals of the nervous system, allowing the brain to experience virtual sensory realms.

如果真有那麼一天，人類就不必那麼辛苦地追求物理世界的享樂了。沒有餘錢到國外度假的打工仔，只要在身上插上訊號線，預先選好想去的地方，由電腦產生虛擬實境，效果和真的出國度假並沒有兩樣。電腦甚至可以模擬你最「哈」的電影明星，讓你在虛擬實境中，與她（他）相會。

If such a day comes, humans would no longer need to pursue physical pleasures so strenuously. A worker who can’t afford a vacation abroad can simply connect a signal line to their body, pre-select the desired destination, and have a computer generate a virtual reality with an effect no different from a real vacation. The computer can even simulate your favorite movie star, allowing you to meet him or her in the virtual world.

毛斯（Mouse）問尼歐：「早餐〔麥片的品牌〕麥片你吃過嗎？」「沒有。」另一位駭客Switch答：「實際上誰都沒吃過。」這段話很有意思，和禪師所說的：「終日吃飯，不曾咬著一粒米」，倒有九分神似。毛斯又說：「一點也沒錯！這不禁令人納悶，電腦怎麼知道麥片的味道？也許它們搞錯了，也許麥片的味道其實很像鮪魚三明治。我開始懷疑，就拿雞肉來說，它們搞不清雞肉的味道，所以和很多肉都像，也許……」在影片中毛斯是一個丑角，用搞笑的方式來討論嚴肅的話題，免得觀眾覺得太無聊。

Mouse asks Neo, “Have you ever had [a brand of] Breakfast cereal?” “No,” another hacker, Switch, answers, “In fact, no one has.” This dialogue is interesting and resembles the Chan master’s saying: “Eating all day without biting a single grain of rice.” Mouse continues, “Exactly! It’s puzzling how computers know the taste of cereal. Maybe they got it wrong, and perhaps the taste of cereal is actually like a tuna sandwich. I started to doubt, for example, they may not be able to figure out the taste of chicken, so it tastes like many other meats, maybe…” In the movie, Mouse is a comic character who discusses serious topics in a humorous way to avoid boring the audience.

小時候我曾經想過類似的問題：我們用「酸、甜、苦、辣」等語言文字，來形容食物的滋味，可是天曉得，也許這個人的酸，是另一個人的甜，說不定這是某些人特別偏好漬酸食品的原因。大部分的色盲，他們一樣能分辨紅綠燈，單獨的顏色也不會說錯，只有特殊設計的圖形才會說錯，這證明色盲所說的青黃赤白，雖然和一般人一樣，但所看到的顏色其實是不同的。根據腦神經醫學的記載，曾有一個畫家，發生車禍之後，所看到的東西全部變成黑白的。神經所傳達的訊號，不等於實境，因此會因為神經系統和大腦的各別差異，使得我們所感覺到的外境也有所不同。譬如電視和攝影機的機型不同，或者有新舊、故障、傳輸障礙等因素，所攝取的影像固然一樣，顯示出來的畫質，卻有所差異。

When I was young, I used to think about a similar question: we use words like “sour, sweet, bitter, spicy” to describe the taste of food, but who knows, maybe one person’s sour is another person’s sweet, and perhaps this is the reason some people have a particular preference for pickled sour foods. Most color-blind people can still distinguish traffic lights, and they won’t get the individual colors wrong, only making mistakes with specially designed images. This proves that although color-blind people use the same terms for colors as others, the colors they see are actually different. According to neuroscientific records, there was once a painter who, after a car accident, saw everything in black and white. The signals transmitted by nerves are not equivalent to reality, and due to individual differences in the nervous system and the brain, the external environment we perceive may also differ. For example, different models of televisions and cameras, as well as factors such as age, malfunction, or transmission interference, may produce images of varying quality, even though the captured images are the same.

莫斐斯說：「你曾做過一種夢，彷彿實實在在地發生過？要是你醒不過來呢？你該怎麼分辨夢世界和真實世界？」這又是另一個話題了。前面是說神經系統傳達外境的訊號給大腦，訊號不等於外境，大腦所感知的外境，其實就是這些訊號。可是當我們在熟睡時，五官的分辨功能暫時停頓，根本就沒有外境與之對應，為什麼會有夢境？

Morpheus says, “Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real that it actually happened? What if you couldn’t wake up? How would you distinguish the dream world from the real world?” This is another topic altogether. We previously discussed how the nervous system conveys signals of the external environment to the brain, and these signals are not equivalent to the external environment. What the brain perceives is actually these signals. But when we are sound asleep and the senses are temporarily suspended, there is no external environment to correspond to, so why do we have dreams?

夢中的見聞覺知，顯然不是神經系統的訊號所能解釋的，它是獨立於外五塵而存在的。夢境大多很真實，很少人能察覺到自己正在做夢，可見夢境中的見聞覺知和清醒時的見聞覺知，並沒有明顯的差別。我們平常只覺得夢境很像「真實」（清醒時所覺知的五塵境界），反過來說「真實」也很像夢境，全部不是實境、不是客觀存在的外五塵，都是透過某種機制而模擬的；就像電視、電影的聲光，都是經過轉換的。這種模擬機制，無論是在夢境或清醒時，都是持續的運作。清醒的時候，它根據五官的神經系統所傳遞的訊號而模擬；夢境當中，則獨立作用。

The experiences in dreams obviously cannot be explained by the signals from the nervous system, as they exist independently of the five external sense objects. Dreams are mostly very realistic, and few people can detect that they are dreaming, which indicates that the experiences in dreams and those while awake do not have obvious differences. We usually think that dreams are very much like “reality” (the realm of the five sense objects perceived when awake), and conversely, “reality” is also very much like dreams. Neither is the actual reality, nor are they the objectively existing external sense objects; both are simulated through some mechanism, just like the sound and light of television and movies, which are transformed. This simulation mechanism operates continuously, whether in dreams or while awake. When awake, it simulates based on the signals transmitted by the sensory nervous system; in dreams, it operates independently.

如果你只在電視上看過愛因斯坦，你不會說你看過愛因斯坦，照這個標準來說，你不只沒看過愛因斯坦，你也沒看過你的父母、你的小孩──你根本沒看過任何人。乃至欲界的貪愛、兩性的燕好，本質上與夢境並無不同，仍然是透過某種機制而模擬的；翻雲覆雨擁抱了半天，竟然沒有碰到任何人，我們就是這樣活在人生大夢裡！

If you have only seen Einstein on TV, you wouldn’t say you’ve seen Einstein. By this standard, not only have you not seen Einstein, but you also haven’t seen your parents, your children – you haven’t seen anyone at all. Even the greed and desire of the desire realm, and the love between the sexes, are essentially no different from dreams, and are still simulated through some mechanism. After embracing for a long time, we haven’t touched anyone, and that’s how we live in the great dream of life!

那個能夠模擬世間相的東西，唯識學稱之為阿賴耶識，很像電影中的「母體」。「母體無所不在，隨處可見，它甚至在這房間。你從窗戶外可以看到它，或在電視上也會看到它，上班時感覺它的存在，當你上教堂或納稅時也一樣。它是虛擬世界，在你眼前製造假相，蒙蔽真相。」「什麼真相？」「你是個奴隸。每個人呱呱落地後，就活在一個沒有知覺的牢獄，一個心靈的牢籠。」

The thing that can simulate worldly appearances is called the Alaya consciousness in Yogacara Buddhism, which is quite similar to the “Matrix” in the movie. “The Matrix is everywhere, visible everywhere. It is even in this room. You can see it outside the window, or on TV. You feel its presence when you go to work, and when you go to church or pay taxes. It is a virtual world that creates illusions in front of your eyes, concealing the truth.” “What truth?” “You are a slave. From the moment everyone is born, they live in an imperceptible prison, a cage of the mind.”

對無知的人們而言，母體固然是心靈的牢籠，但反抗軍卻充分利用母體的特性，甚至彷照母體的模式，自行撰寫資料載入程式。資料載入程式可以在虛擬世界中，提供衣服、器材、武器、模擬訓練，和反抗軍所需的一切。母體的作用廣大，不一定是惡，了解真相的人可以將它運用在善的一面。

For the ignorant, the Matrix is indeed a mental cage, but the resistance fully utilizes the Matrix’s characteristics and even imitates its pattern to write data loading programs on their own. Data loading programs can provide clothes, equipment, weapons, simulated training, and everything needed by the resistance in the virtual world. The Matrix’s functions are vast, and it isn’t necessarily evil; those who understand the truth can use it for good.

有的人已經隱隱約約感受到母體的作用，企圖將它找出來，可是卻找不到，終日寄掛著此事，乃至食不知味，有如行屍走肉──男主角尼歐就是這樣。女主角崔尼蒂（Trinity）告訴尼歐：「我知道你來的目的，還有你在做什麼。我知道你輾轉難眠，每天晚上都獨自一個人，坐在電腦前工作。你在找他。我也曾找過同一個人，當他找到我，他說其實我不是在找他，而是在尋找一個答案。有個問題驅使著我們，尼歐！這問題把你帶來這裡。」這裡所謂的「他」，是指莫斐斯，象徵真善知識。尼歐探求真相的心情，十分的渴切，要是沒有這種心情，勉強把真相告訴他，他會受不了。

Some people have already faintly sensed the workings of the Matrix and tried to find it, but they can’t. They dwell on this matter all day, even to the point of being unable to taste their food, like walking corpses – the protagonist, Neo, is like this. The female protagonist, Trinity, tells Neo, “I know why you’re here and what you’ve been doing. I know you toss and turn at night, sitting alone in front of the computer working every evening. You’re looking for him. I once searched for the same person, and when he found me, he said that I wasn’t actually looking for him, but seeking an answer. There’s a question driving us, Neo! This question led you here.” The “him” referred to here is Morpheus, symbolizing a wise and virtuous mentor. Neo’s eagerness to seek the truth is intense. If he is told the truth without this eagerness, he wouldn’t be able to handle it.

莫斐斯在解放尼歐之前，告訴他：「記住！我只能告訴你真相。」探求真相，解脫煩惱，便是修行的實義，這中間全都是「真」，如果有自欺或欺人的心態，便是背道而馳；但是很多人會因為現實利益，而選擇虛假，甚至甘心受他人欺騙。譬如影片中有一個人物塞弗（Cypher），他被解放之後，感到很痛苦，因為以前他活在花花世界，酒肉美女，盡情享樂，解放之後，只能活在狹窄破舊的太空船裡，穿破舊的衣服，吃淡而無味像是漿糊的食品；他厭倦平淡的生活、厭惡與電腦人對抗，埋怨莫斐斯欺騙他，最後竟背叛反抗軍，自願為電腦提供電源，回到虛幻的花花世界裡。

Before liberating Neo, Morpheus tells him, “Remember! I can only tell you the truth.” Seeking the truth and being free from afflictions is the essence of cultivation, and it is all about being “true”. If there is any intention to deceive oneself or others, it goes against the path. However, many people choose falsehood for the sake of practical benefits, and some even willingly allow themselves to be deceived by others. For example, in the movie, there is a character named Cypher who feels pain after being liberated, as he used to live in a glamorous world, indulging in wine, women, and pleasure. After being liberated, he can only live in a cramped, dilapidated spaceship, wear old clothes, and eat bland, tasteless food that resembles paste. He grows tired of his plain life, hates fighting against the computer, and blames Morpheus for deceiving him. In the end, he betrays the resistance, willingly providing power to the computer, and returns to the illusory world of glamour.

我問一位小朋友：「如果真實平淡無味，像是一坨漿糊，而虛偽卻是有聲、有色、有享樂，你要選擇哪個？」他告訴我：「我寧可選擇真實，不然的話，我會有被騙的感覺。」這位小朋友很有智慧，有的人恐怕寧可選擇虛偽，譬如那些沉迷於網路遊戲的朋友，明知道是假的，還願意花大把鈔票，把時間虛耗在遊戲裡，就為了提升自己在網路遊戲中的等級，以便打敗更厲害的怪獸、魔王。還有一些熱戀中的朋友，寧願陶醉於甜蜜的謊言中，不聽好友善意的規勸。

I asked a child, “If reality is bland and tasteless, like a lump of paste, and falsehood is full of sound, color, and pleasure, which one would you choose?” He told me, “I’d rather choose the truth; otherwise, I would feel deceived.” This child is wise, as some people might prefer falsehood, such as those addicted to online games. They knowingly waste time and spend money on fake games to level up and defeat more powerful monsters and bosses. Some people in love would rather indulge in sweet lies than heed the well-intentioned advice of friends.

同樣的事情，也出現在少數修行人身上。修行人追求法界實相，好不容易得到真善知識的幫忙而找到阿賴耶識；然而阿賴耶識雖然是法界實相，卻沒什麼滋味，就像是一坨漿糊，不久之後，他便無法安忍，起心去追求意識變相或神通境界，因而退失六住位。退失之後，猶自以為更上層樓，反過來毀謗幫他開悟的真善知識，甚至破壞菩薩僧團，宛如電影中的塞弗一般。

The same thing also happens to a few practitioners. They pursue the ultimate reality of the Dharma realm and, with the help of a wise mentor, find the Alaya consciousness. However, although the Alaya consciousness is the ultimate reality, it lacks flavor, like a lump of paste. Not long after, he could no longer bear it and became determined to pursue the realm of altered consciousness or supernatural powers, consequently regressing from the sixth abode. After falling back, they still think they have ascended higher and instead slander the wise mentor who helped them awaken. They even destroy the Bodhisattva’s monastic community, just like Cypher in the movie.

尼歐在訓練程式中和莫斐斯動手過招，挨了幾下重擊，回到真實世界時，發現嘴角竟然在滲血，他感到很奇怪。DVD顯示的國語字幕：「我以為這是假的？」莫斐斯答：「你的大腦認為是真的。」「在虛擬世界裡死亡，也會死在這裡？」「大腦死了，身體也活不了。」這段話很精彩，可惜和原文有些出入。

Neo sparred with Morpheus in the training program and took a few heavy blows. When he returned to the real world, he was surprised to find blood at the corner of his mouth. The Mandarin subtitles on the DVD read: “I thought this was fake?” Morpheus replied, “Your brain thinks it’s real.” “If you die in the virtual world, will you die here too?” “If the brain dies, the body can’t survive.” This dialogue is brilliant, but it deviates somewhat from the original text.

「你的大腦認為是真的」，原文是「Your mind makes it real」，直譯為「你的心使它變成真的」。「大腦死了，身體也活不了」，原文是「The body cannot live without the mind」，直譯為「沒有心，身體便不能活」。很多人以為「心的功能全部在於大腦，大腦就是心，離開了大腦，就沒有心」，所以將「mind」翻譯為「大腦」。他們以為精神現象只是身體──特別是大腦──的附屬品，照這樣的邏輯，人死之後應該一切歸於空無，不應該有中陰身，也不應該有未來世；所以這種想法其實是唯物思想、典型的斷滅論。我們知道有些人可以在禪定或被催眠中見到自己的前世；既有前世，則知必有後世，由此可知斷滅論不符合事實。

“Your brain thinks it’s real” in the original text is “Your mind makes it real”. “If the brain dies, the body can’t survive” in the original text is “The body cannot live without the mind”. Many people think that “the function of the mind is entirely in the brain, and the brain is the mind; without the brain, there is no mind,” so they translate “mind” as “brain.” They believe that mental phenomena are merely byproducts of the body, especially the brain. According to this logic, everything should return to nothingness after death, and there should be no intermediate existence or future life; thus, this way of thinking is actually materialistic and a typical annihilationist view. We know that some people can see their past lives in meditation or under hypnosis; if there are past lives, then there must be future lives, which shows that the annihilationist view does not correspond to reality.

在一次訓練課程中，莫斐斯和尼歐置身於人潮往來的人行道上，甚至必須和虛擬實境裡頭的「人群」推擠碰撞，莫斐斯說：「你在虛擬世界看到什麼？上班族、教師、律師、木匠……都是我們想拯救的人。目前這些人被系統控制，所以就是我們的敵人。你要了解，許多人不能接受真實世界，更多人已經習慣，非常無望地依賴這系統，願意誓死保護它。」

In a training session, Morpheus and Neo find themselves on a busy sidewalk, even jostling and colliding with the “crowd” in the virtual reality. Morpheus says, “What do you see in the virtual world? Office workers, teachers, lawyers, carpenters… they are all the people we want to save. Currently, these people are controlled by the system, so they are our enemies. You need to understand that many people cannot accept the real world, and even more people have become accustomed to relying on this system hopelessly and are willing to die to protect it.”

已明心的菩薩道行者看到這段話，不知有何滋味？只要我執斷除，就可以取證無餘涅槃，永離諸苦（涅槃雖然沒有滋味，但也沒有覺知心，所以不會覺得無聊，更不會生厭）；但無餘涅槃中無知無覺，沒有色身、也沒有口舌可以演示法義，根本無法度眾生，所以菩薩不能取證無餘涅槃，而必須生生世世，不斷地變現如夢如幻的五蘊身心，來到如夢如幻的世界，度化如夢如幻的眾生（便如電影中的駭客，必須侵入母體，才能解放被奴役的人類）。度眾很辛苦，而且人家多半不領情，你想把真相告訴他，救護他出離生死輪迴，他卻認為你在威脅他的信念和生存環境。「億萬人口渾渾噩噩過活，完全無知。」眾生就是這樣，為無明業力所牽引，認幻作真，迷失在生死輪迴中。

How would a Bodhisattva who has seen the truth feel about this dialogue? As long as one’s ego is eliminated, one can attain Nirvana without remainder, forever free from all suffering (although Nirvana has no taste, it also has no conscious mind, so it will not feel boring, nor will it generate disgust). However, in the state of Nirvana without remainder, there is no awareness or sensation, no physical body, and no speech to expound the Dharma, so it is impossible to save sentient beings. Therefore, Bodhisattvas cannot attain Nirvana without remainder and must appear in countless lifetimes with illusory five aggregates of body and mind, coming to the illusory world to save illusory sentient beings (just like the hackers in the movie who must infiltrate the Matrix to liberate enslaved humanity). Saving sentient beings is hard work, and most people are ungrateful. When you try to tell them the truth and save them from the cycle of birth and death, they think you are threatening their beliefs and living environment. “Billions of people live in ignorance, completely unaware.” This is the state of sentient beings, led by the force of ignorance and karma, mistaking illusion for reality, and lost in the cycle of birth and death.

就在莫斐斯講這些話的時候，迎面走來一位笑容甜美、身材惹火的紅衣女郎，尼歐忍不住回頭多看她幾眼。莫斐斯問道：「你是在聽我說話，還是在看那個紅衣女郎？」上課不專心、愛看漂亮女生的毛病，被人家當場揪出來，別說尼歐有多難堪了，可是莫斐斯卻要他再看一遍。尼歐回頭一看，發現原來的紅衣少女，已變成一個電腦人，正拿著槍，指著自己的腦袋！

As Morpheus spoke these words, a sweet-smiling, attractive woman in a red dress approached them. Neo couldn’t help but look back at her a few times. Morpheus asked, “Are you listening to me, or are you looking at the woman in the red dress?” Being caught not paying attention in class and staring at a pretty girl, Neo felt extremely embarrassed. However, Morpheus asked him to look again. When Neo turned back, he saw that the woman in the red dress had turned into a computer person, pointing a gun at his head!

莫斐斯喊「停格」，虛擬實境的人潮和電腦人全停在那裡，只剩下莫斐斯和尼歐能夠自由活動。他接著說道：「電腦人能在任何軟體自由進出，它們化身為任何人，它們無所不在。」前面說過，電腦人是無明的象徵，為什麼呢？譬如我們擇偶、追求異性，往往從外表的條件來判斷，便如尼歐喜歡看漂亮的女生，可是親密交往之後，她（他）的毛病，諸如占有、操控、吃醋、猜疑、傲慢、刻薄、計較、嫉妒、虛榮……等等，逐一浮現，她（他）的無明和你的無明，內外勾結為患，讓你墮入痛苦的深淵，無所逃離。每個人都有心病，平時也許溫文有禮，發作起來卻很可怕。無明千變萬化、神出鬼沒，所以在母體內，電腦人所扮演的角色是情治人員，他們沒有顯赫的地位，卻掌握生殺大權，悄悄地掌控眾生的身口意行。

Morpheus yelled “Freeze,” and the virtual crowd and computer person froze, leaving only Morpheus and Neo free to move. He continued, “computer persons can freely enter and exit any software, taking on the appearance of anyone. They are omnipresent.” As mentioned earlier, computer persons symbolize ignorance. Why is that? For example, when we choose a partner or pursue the opposite sex, we often judge them by their appearance, just as Neo liked to look at pretty girls. However, after getting close, their flaws, such as possessiveness, control, jealousy, suspicion, arrogance, harshness, pettiness, envy, and vanity, gradually emerge. Their ignorance and your ignorance join forces, causing you to fall into the abyss of suffering with no escape. Everyone has mental issues; they may seem gentle and polite most of the time, but when they are triggered, it can be terrifying. Ignorance is ever-changing and elusive, so in the Matrix, computer persons play the role of secret police. They may not have prominent positions, but they wield the power of life and death, quietly controlling the thoughts, words, and deeds of sentient beings.

電腦人最可怕的，是它動作快，可以躲過連發的子彈，就算被人家打死，借另一個人的身體，馬上又活過來。無明也是如此，不但迅如霹靂，而且隨時都在作用，當你接觸到境界的瞬間，貪、嗔、慢、我愛……等等煩惱，立刻就起現行。嫻熟於道共戒的修行人，在無明起現行的當下便能察覺，立刻以見道的智慧，化解無明的現行；但它不是幾次智慧的現觀就可以斷除的，必須經過百千萬次不斷地對治，才能徹底將它斷除，只要一時疏忽或懈怠，立刻被無明業習牽著鼻子走。見道的人尚且如此辛苦，沒有能力現觀無明如何運作的人，就更別提了；你自以為懂得佛法，境界現前時，還沒有搞清楚狀況，已被無明生吞入腹。

The most terrifying thing about computer persons is their speed; they can dodge rapid-fire bullets, and even if they are killed, they can immediately revive by taking over another person’s body. Ignorance is like this as well, not only lightning-fast but also constantly at work. The moment you come into contact with a situation, afflictions such as greed, anger, pride, and self-love immediately arise. Practitioners who have seen the path can detect the emergence of ignorance in real-time, and instantly dissolve it with the wisdom of realization. However, it cannot be eradicated by observing it with wisdom a few times; it takes countless antidotes to completely eliminate it. If one is careless or lax for a moment, they will be led by the nose by their habitual ignorance. Even those who have realized the truth face such difficulties, let alone those who lack the ability to observe how ignorance operates. You may think you understand the Dharma, but when a situation arises, you are swallowed by ignorance before you can even grasp it.

那些駭客明知道自己身在虛擬世界中，可是看到電腦人還是得溜之大吉。自己和世界都是虛妄，電腦人也是虛妄，怎麼會有被電腦人殺死的事？又怎麼需要逃呢？如《大寶積經》說：「何處有諸佛，法僧亦復然；父母本自無，阿羅漢空寂；是處無有殺，云何有業果？如幻無所生，諸法性如是。」虛擬世界中，即使有殺人和被殺，也都是幻化，並非實有其事；雖有業報，亦是如夢如幻的業報，與清淨本心全不相干。

The hackers know they are in a virtual world, yet they still need to run when they see a computer person. If both oneself and the world are illusory, and computer persons are also illusory, how can one be killed by a computer person? Why is there a need to escape? As the Maharatnakuta Sutra says: “Where there are Buddhas, there are Dharma and Sangha; parents have no real existence, and Arhats are empty and silent; there is no killing, so how can there be karmic consequences? All phenomena are like illusions, without any real birth.” In the virtual world, even killing and being killed are illusory, not actual events; even though there are karmic results, they are illusory, and they have nothing to do with the pure intrinsic nature of the mind.

「你的心使它變成真的」，此處的「心」主要是指末那識而言，末那識的遍計執性，一向把三界萬法都當成實體法。解脫道的無明，分為「分別我見」和「俱生我見」，見道的人已經親證「我空」（自己虛妄）和「我所空」（世界虛妄），斷分別我見，但末那識仍然無法擺脫無始以來，認妄作真的慣性，此種慣性即是俱生我見，又稱為「我執」。俱生我見與末那識和意識相應，微細難斷，必須到四果才能斷除。以未斷俱生我見這一點來說，三果以下的見道者和未見道的人並沒有不同，都還有生死的問題。由於這種認妄作真的慣性，如夢如幻的業報照樣能讓你害怕、痛苦。

“Your mind makes it real.” Here, “mind” mainly refers to the manas-consciousness, which always grasps the myriad phenomena of the three realms as substantial. The ignorance of the liberation path is divided into “discriminative self-view” and “innate self-view.” Those who have realized the path have personally verified the emptiness of self (one’s own illusory nature) and the emptiness of what belongs to the self (the illusory nature of the world), severing the discriminative self-view. However, the manas-consciousness still cannot escape the habit of taking the illusory as real since beginningless time. This habit is the innate self-view, also known as “self-grasping.” The innate self-view is subtle and difficult to eradicate, corresponding with the manas-consciousness and the sixth consciousnesses. It can only be eliminated upon reaching the fourth fruition. In terms of not having eradicated the innate self-view, those who have realized the path below the third fruition are no different from those who have not, as they still face the problem of life and death. Due to this habit of taking the illusory as real, the illusory karmic consequences can still cause fear and suffering.

毛斯便是這樣，明知道是假的，還要去玩弄取樂，得意洋洋地向尼歐推介他所寫的紅衣女郎程式，說他可以安排尼歐在虛擬實境中與她相會。面對「電子皮條客」（皮條客，俚語，指媒介色情的人）的譏刺，毛斯辯解道：「別管這些偽君子，壓抑自己的情欲，就是否定與生俱來的人性。」不只凡夫如此，初見道的人也在所難免；不過見道的人不會講這種話，因為他已經可以現觀：七情六欲的心，是虛幻不實的。毛斯認妄作真的習氣很強烈，既然會執著虛假的樂，就一定會執著虛假的苦，所以他後來在虛擬實境中被殺，就真的死了。

Mouse was just like that, knowing it was fake but still wanting to play with it for fun. He proudly introduced to Neo the red dress lady program he had written, saying he could arrange for Neo to meet her in the virtual reality. Facing the ridicule of being an “electronic pimp” (pimp, slang, referring to someone who mediates sexual services), Mouse defended himself by saying, “Don’t mind these hypocrites; suppressing one’s sexual desires is denying the inherent human nature.” Not only ordinary people, but even those who have initially seen the path cannot avoid this. However, those who have seen the path won’t say such things because they can already realize that the heart of lust and desires is illusory and unreal. Mouse’s habit of taking illusions as real was very strong. Since he clung to false pleasures, he would definitely cling to false suffering, so when he was killed in virtual reality, he truly died.

尼歐就不一樣了！他也在虛擬實境中被殺，卻能死而復生，進一步親眼見到整個虛擬世界，只是一堆電子訊號。他的動作變得比電腦人更快，用一隻左手對付電腦人全力的進擊，還可以取勝──象徵見道的人，現觀無明的起處，到了爐火純青的地步，無明已經無所能為。尼歐甚至鑽入電腦人的身體，把電腦人炸成碎片──象徵他已經粉碎了無明，能夠脫離生死輪迴──故事到這裡也進入尾聲。

Neo was different! He was also killed in virtual reality but could resurrect and further see with his own eyes that the entire virtual world was just a bunch of electronic signals. His movements became faster than those of the computer people. He could defeat the computer people’s full force attack with just his left hand, symbolizing that those who have seen the path have reached the ultimate level of observing the arising of ignorance, and ignorance has become powerless. Neo even entered the body of the computer person, shattering it into pieces – symbolizing that he had shattered ignorance and could escape the cycle of birth and death – and the story came to an end.

電影裡面還有一些有趣的意象，包括：崔尼蒂料理了四個前來逮捕她的警察、一隻蟲子從肚臍鑽入身體、插滿管線的尼歐從白色的黏稠物中掙脫電池槽、尼歐在訓練程式中很快地學會武術、祭師（Oracle）對尼歐的演示、電腦人企圖打探錫安密碼……等等，我不認為它們是單純的劇情，讀者不妨以佛法的知見自行解讀看看。

There are also some interesting images in the movie, including: Trinity dealing with four policemen who came to arrest her, a bug drilling into the body through the navel, Neo with tubes all over his body struggling out of the white viscous substance from the battery tank, Neo quickly learning martial arts in the training program, the demonstration of the Oracle to Neo, the computer person trying to probe the Zion code, etc. I don’t think they are simply plots; readers may try to interpret them with the knowledge of Buddhism.

大乘佛法是以證解阿賴耶識為見道，阿賴耶識本體不生不滅，能夠圓成世間、出世間一切法，包括器世間、有根身（身體和器官），乃至走路、吃飯、穿衣服……等等。阿賴耶識的作用廣大，世間沒有任何一個東西，可以和祂相提並論，因此很難找到一個東西來做比喻，《駭客任務》所述的「母體」，是我意外的發現。大家要注意的是，譬喻有它的極限，因此還是有不相同的地方，包括：阿賴耶識是從無始以來就存在的，電影中的「母體」則是電腦創造出來的；而且「母體」只能創造虛擬實境，阿賴耶識卻可以圓成世間、出世間的一切法；還有一個很重要的差別──在電影裡面，駭客可以在「虛擬世界」和「真實世界」中來回遊走，但有情永遠只能活在虛擬世界中，一旦離開虛擬世界，就是阿賴耶識獨存的無餘涅槃。

Mahayana Buddhism is based on realizing the Alaya consciousness as the realization of the truth and path. The Alaya consciousness, in its essence, is neither born nor destroyed and is capable of perfecting all worldly and supramundane phenomena, including the material world, physical bodies and organs, and even activities such as walking, eating, and dressing, etc. The Alaya consciousness has a vast scope of influence, and there is nothing in the world that can compare to it. Therefore, it is difficult to find an analogy for it. The “Matrix” described in “The Matrix” film is an unexpected discovery I made. However, it is important to note that analogies have their limitations, so there are still differences, including: the Alaya consciousness has existed since beginningless time, while the “Matrix” in the film is created by computers; the “Matrix” can only create virtual reality, while the Alaya consciousness can perfect all worldly and supramundane phenomena; and another crucial difference – in the film, hackers can travel back and forth between the “virtual world” and the “real world,” but sentient beings can only live in the virtual world. Once they leave the virtual world, it is the unconditioned Nirvana where only the Alaya consciousness remains.

看完這篇文章之後，讀者可否告訴我：「了解虛擬實境，但未找到母體的人」，是什麼樣的人？「找到母體而能駕馭它的人」，是什麼樣的人？「能完全理解母體，並完全改造它的人」，又是什麼樣的人？如果您能回答這三個問題，您就知道解脫道和佛菩提道大概的內涵了。

After reading this article, can readers tell me: what kind of person is one who “understands virtual reality but has not found the Matrix”? What kind of person is one who “has found the Matrix and can manipulate it”? And what kind of person is one who “can fully understand the Matrix and completely transform it”? If you can answer these three questions, you will have a rough understanding of the content of the path of liberation and the path to Buddhahood.

贊助實證佛教研究中心

說明：綠界轉帳適用於信用卡、台灣超商條碼、代碼。