The Matrix and the Jungle
“The truth is, the Matrix was a documentary.”
— Keanu Reeves
The Matrix has bright lights. It is structured. It offers comfort. Stability.
It is refined. Ordered. Controlled. Civilized.
Programmed. Connected. Conformist.
There are rules. Standards. Narratives.
Emphasis on the artificial. Materialism. Machines.
Highly Intelligent.
The Jungle is different in almost every way.
It is dark. Unstructured. Uncomfortable. Risky. Dangerous.
Unrefined. Unordered. Uncivilized. Unpredictable. Messy. Volatile.
Uncontrolled. Chaotic. Wild. Raw. Free. Independent.
Natural. Physical. Primal. Spiritual.
Wise.
In the Matrix, people do, think and believe (or argue about) similar things.
It’s hard not to.
We’re born into it. We grow up in it. We’re all fed the same information (programming).
(The Matrix’s on-boarding and indoctrination is second to none).
There is some agency, but from the same, limited set of choices available to everyone.
There is some freedom, but only as much as allowed or in polite alignment with everyone else.
It provides some needed structure, rules, order. It also provides comfort, stability, opportunity.
But in return it demands your compliance, your time, your power, your mind, and ultimately your sovereignty.
Sages, hermits, gurus, enlightened masters (like Buddha, etc.) often retreated to the jungle/wilderness.
To disconnect from the Matrix. To shed the programming and rediscover their true self. To regain their freedom, power and align with their true purpose.
If this calls out to you…
Find your Jungle.
Within and without.
The mind is linked up to the Matrix. Your heart, the Jungle. This is the only way out. This is the OG red pill. It can be dark, scary and full of uncertainty, especially when the bright lights of the mind Matrix are all you know/remember.
(See link for more - what it means to live from the heart).
Spending time in nature helps. Even if it’s just a patch of grass.
As more do this, the Matrix as we know it will crumble (already in progress - hence the external chaos).
As more do this, a new world will emerge. A new Matrix, a more balanced marriage of mind and heart, urban and wilderness, planned and unplanned, civil and wild, technology and nature, unity and sovereignty, community and freedom.
We will build this one person at a time, as each leaves behind the bright lights and steps into the dark unknown.
Your Jungle awaits.
Have a wonderful weekend,
-Amit