Every character serves a purpose in the Matrix and many do with regard to Neo’s life. The Oracle speaks of the ‘origin’ of the purpose of certain elements in the Matrix:
“But look, see those birds? At some point a program was written to govern them. A program was written to watch over the trees, and the wind, the sunrise, and sunset. There are programs running all over the place.”
The programming/purpose of these programs emanates from the world of the Oracle, which corresponds to the world of Beriah as discussed elsewhere in this study. The world of Beriah comes forth from the changeless world of Azilut. With this beginning of Creation, we have the first true separation from the perfectly Divine world of Atzilut. In Beriah, many new realities come into existence such as; dissimilarity, day and night, past and future, male and female.
Along with these come the concepts of imperfection, change, time & space and of course that which the Oracle prides herself on:
Neo: What’s your purpose?
Oracle: To unbalance it.
Beriah contains the essential nature of all those things which are to come into being. It is called “the World of Separate Intelligence,” as it is a world of essences, principles and ideas – and thus the origin of “purpose.”
As she succinctly puts it:
“We’re all here to do what we’re all here to do.”
And as we later hear, this is in precise measure:
Agent Johnson: You are no longer necessary.
Keymaker: We do only what we’re meant to do.
In Torah, everything G-d does has purpose and everything that exists is willed into existence. Agent Smith is another character who understands this, despite lacking sight of the big picture:
There is no escaping reason; no denying purpose. Because as we both know, without purpose, we would not exist.
The idea of “purpose” provokes the question “Why?” And this is the essence of kabbalah – understanding the “Why” behind the “What” of the Torah.
As the Merovingian states (even from his own faulty perspective):
Our only hope, our only peace is to understand it, to understand the why. Why is what separates us from them, you from me. Why is the only real source of power, without it you are powerless.
Some truly know their purpose:
The Keymaker: Only the One can open the door. And only during that window can that door be opened.
Niobe: How do *you* know all this?
The Keymaker: I know because I *must* know. It is my purpose. It is the reason I am here. The same reason we are *all* here.
Others think they do, but ego gets in the way:
Seraph: You know why we are here.
Merovingian: Come, now. What kind of question is this? Of course I know. It’s my business to know.
Some offer unique insight into purpose:
Rama-Kandra: Karma is a word. Like “love.” A way of saying ‘what I am here to do.’ I do not resent my karma – I’m grateful for it. Grateful for my wonderful wife, for my beautiful daughter. They are gifts. And so I do what I must do to honour them.
Others like the Architect, are so singular-minded, that they cannot understand variables and alternatives:
The Architect: The function of the One is now to return to the source, allowing a temporary dissemination of the code you carry, reinserting the prime program. After which you will be required to select from the matrix 23 individuals, 16 female, 7 male, to rebuild Zion. Failure to comply with this process will result in a cataclysmic system crash killing everyone connected to the matrix, which coupled with the extermination of Zion will ultimately result in the extinction of the entire human race.
As such, he does not relate to the idea of change as related in this final dialogue between him and the agent of change:
The Architect: You played a very dangerous game.
The Oracle: Change always is.
One of the more interesting insights regarding ‘purpose’ is the speech Morpheus gives as they embark on perhaps the most critical mission of the movie:
Morpheus: All of our lives, we have fought this war. Tonight I believe we can end it. Tonight is not an accident. There are no accidents. We have not come here by chance. I do not believe in chance. When I see three objectives, three captains, three ships. I do not see coincidence, I see providence. I see purpose. I believe it our fate to be here. It is our destiny. I believe this night holds for each and every one of us, the very meaning of our lives.
But the penultimate speech on ‘purpose’ comes from the agent of delineation, Smith. Just before the famous scene where dozens of Smiths attack Neo in a courtyard, he offers this via his various emanations:
Agent Smith Clone 1: It is purpose that created us.
Agent Smith Clone 2: Purpose that connects us.
Agent Smith Clone 3: Purpose that pulls us.
Agent Smith Clone 4: That guides us.
Agent Smith Clone 5: That drives us.
Agent Smith Clone 6: It is purpose that defines us.
Agent Smith Clone 7: Purpose that binds us.
Agent Smith: We are here because of you, Mr Anderson. We’re here to take from you what you tried to take from us … Purpose.
Returning to the Oracle’s words:
“We’re all here to do, what we’re all here to do.”
The follower of messiah is to be conformed to the Image of the messiah:
Romans 8:29 – For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son
In turn, the image of Mashiach is in the “image of G-d” and the objective of Torah for us:
Colossians 1:15 – He is the image of the invisible God…
Romans 10:4 – For mashiach is the goal of the Torah.
This “Image of G-d” is the B’tzelem Elohim from Genesis 1:27. Kabbalah teaches we understand this Image of G-d via the emanations of G-d that we relate to our existence. These are called the Sefirot. The seven ”lower” Sefirot are mirrored in the human being.
Thus, to find our purpose in life, we look to understand the seven Sefirot:
- The spark of creation emanates from the expansion of chesed on the right side. “The world is built with chesed.” (Psalms 89:3).
- Limitation/definition is effected through the boundaries/restrictions of gevurah.
- Tiferet is the pull of waking consciousness, the yearning of the soul to connect to G-d.
- Netzach and Hod work together as the initiative and guidance to apply these things in life.
- Yesod is the ‘connecting’ Sefirah between below and all above.
- Malkhut is the ruach that connects all of us.
Breaking down Agent Smith’s speech on “purpose” to Neo, we see how it is patterned after these seven Sefirot:
- It is purpose that created us, CHESED
- purpose that connects us, YESOD
- purpose that pulls us, TIFERET
- that guides us, HOD
- that drives us; NETZACH
- it is purpose that defines us, GEVURAH
- purpose that binds us. MALKHUT
You can learn a lot from an agent of the system. This concludes the first group of nine lessons.
“Welcome to the real world Neo.”