In the tradition of sci-fi masters Philip K. Dick, J.G. Ballard, and William Gibson, "The Matrix" is one of the most intelligent, provocative, and imaginative sci fi movies ever.

At its heart, it’s an allegory of self-empowerment. You can accomplish anything is the subtext — if you engage your will, your mind and your heart. Question your reality, and you’re on the path of self-transcendence.

Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) is a computer programmer by day — and a hacker by night called Neo. His seemingly mundane routine is troubled by his dreams, his nightmares, and the recurring riddle — what is the Matrix?

Neo’s mind-bending and reality-stretching quest begins when Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), a leather clad warrior-babe, makes contact. She leads him along the path, "As you can see, we’ve been watching you for some time. You have two lives. One of these lives has a future. The other does not."

Neo’s had a nightmare. An implant, a biomechanical spider thing, has burrowed into his body. "Think you’re bugged?" they ask him. A gadget retrieves the thing and his nightmares merge with his waking life.

Trinity leads him to Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), the leader of the cyber-age freedom-fighters. "You’ve been living in a dream world," Morpheus tells him. "All I’m offering is the truth. Nothing more," he continues enigmatically. "There’s something wrong with the world. It’s like a splinter in your mind."

Neo knows it’s true, but he’s totally unprepared for the paradigm shift in his reality that comes next. He’s shown the high-tech nightmare of tyranny where humans are no longer born, but grown. It’s a post AI — Artificial Intelligence — world where humans are farmed by machines and kept alive for their bioenergy.

Finally convinced that he must join Morpheus and the others to awaken the rest of humanity, Neo begins training for combat. Plugged into "programs" with a headjack at the base of the skull a la "Neuromancer," he quickly masters all the basics of Kung Fu fighting.

Is ignorance really bliss? And what is the Matrix? "A computer generated dream world to keep us under control," says Morpheus, whose name ironically means "Lord of Sleep." Neo learns all too well that he "lives" in a multi-dimensional prison, a virtual prison of the mind. Without the ability to tap into his higher powers, it’s a fitting metaphor for the abject state of humanity on Earth.

Morpheus taunts him, "How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?" Neo goes face to face with Maya, the Big Illusion of Duality and the Material Universe itself in terms of Buddhism.

In fact, Neo’s transformation from mind-controlled slave into warrior is at once Christic and Buddhic. Being "aware" as a Christ figure, he becomes empowered to set the captives free. Being "awake" as a Buddha figure, he returns from his Enlightenment to teach humanity the Path.

As projections of the unreality and fear that grips the soul, The Men in Black are AI-agents of the System. With their sinister appearance — earjacks, black hats and skinny black ties and suits — they explain to Neo that "millions of people live out their lives. Oblivious."

There’s another metaphysical concept implied in the movie. Is Neo "The One" — a messiah figure who will lead humanity out of their cyberslavery? When he arrives, they even mock him saying "So you’re here to save the world?"

At the same time Keanu Reeves plays the avatar, as in computer lingo, and the Avatar, as in theological jargon.

"The Matrix" is a powerful metaphor about transcending mind control. By using the power of mind over matter, anyone can go beyond the consensus reality which mega-corporations use to ensnare mankind with the cult of materialism and the obsession/addictions of modern life.

Written and directed by the Wachowski brothers, Larry and Andy, "The Matrix" is a dazzling vision of biomorphic/computer- generated realities as the harbinger of future tyranny — which is really now.

And speaking of alternative realities... David Icke’s book The Biggest Secret (1999; Bridge of Love, http://www.davidicke.com) presents an idea so mind-bending and paradigm-shifting that it sounds like a grade-Z sci-fi movie itself — until you read the evidence.

Here’s Icke’s premise. What if Planet Earth is ostensibly run by a race of shapeshifting reptilians? What if the Royal Family itself and the Global Power Elite are a part of these alien bloodlines?

Serpents and flying dragons have, of course, been a staple of ancient myth and legends around the world. The assumption has been, however, that this is a metaphor, an allegory, and not a literal description of actual beings.

But what about the admonition of Jesus and John the Baptist when they chided the "generation of vipers" and "serpents"? What if they saw these beings with their spiritual vision? How would they commun-icate this vision to others — the overshadowing of humans by astral creatures from another dimension, the so-called "serpent people"?

And what about the stories from the Book of Enoch and the other Forbidden Books of the Bible which refer to the Nephilim (literally "Those Who Were Cast Down") and the Watchers, the Fallen Angels in physical embodiment?

In The Earth Chronicles series, from The Twelfth Planet to The Cosmic Code, Sumerian scholar Zechariah Sitchin has described in great detail the crossbreeding program of the "gods" through sex and genetic manipulation.

"These bloodlines," writes Icke in his book, "became the British and European aristocracy and royal families and thanks to the ‘Great’ British Empire, they were exported across the world to rule the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and so on. These genetic lines are manipulated into the positions of political, military, media, banking and business power and thus these positions are held by lower fourth dimensional reptilians hiding behind a human form or by mindpuppets of these same creatures."

"These same reptilians have been occupying the bodies of all the main players in the conspiracy going back to ancient times," continues Icke. "The obsession with interbreeding within the [Babylonian] Brotherhood bloodstreams comes from the need to hold the reptilian genetic inheritance and therefore maintain the vibrational connection between the human body on the third dimension and its controlling force on the lower fourth. It was to hide this truth that they arranged the destruction of ancient historical records, texts, and accounts over the centuries as they ravaged and raped the native societies of the world. The reptilians wanted to destroy all memory and records of their earlier open existence and control in the past. If they could do that humanity would have no idea that they were being controlled through physical bodies that look human by a fourth dimensional force that is not human."

Icke’s description of mind control and its connection with satanic ritual abuse is chilling. "The reptilians and their crossbreed drink blood because they are drinking the person’s life force," he maintains, "and because they need it to exist in this dimension. They will often shape- shift into reptilians when drinking human blood and eating human flesh, I am told, by those who have seen this happen. Blood drinking is in their genes and an elite high priestess or ‘mother goddess’ in their hierarchy who performed rituals for the Brotherhood at the highest levels told me that without human blood the reptilians cannot survive in this dimension."

Icke even describes their control technology. "The reptilians manipulate [mankind] from the lower fourth dimension, the so-called lower astral frequency range," he writes. "To control this planet they have to keep the mass of humanity at or below that level and disconnect them from anything higher. Crucial to maintaining the human psyche in disconnected ignorance is the manipulation of low vibrational emotion, fear, guilt, resentment, dislike of self and condemnation of others which in the end are all expressions of fear. These are the very emotions which resonate to the frequency range of the lower fourth dimension and once we succumb to domination by these emotions, we succumb to the control of the reptilian consciousness."

So what’s the way out of this miasma? "When we open our hearts to love," writes Icke, "the heart chakra spins with tremendous speed and power whipping up the frequency of our incarnate consciousness to the highest vibrational expression of life, pure love. As our soul is pure love, we reconnect with the awesome power of our multidimensional self."

Courageous and thought provoking, both The Biggest Secret and "The Matrix" are engrossing meditations on the power of an unquestioned Belief Structure. That’s BS for short. They explore the power of faith and self-transcendence, as well as the possibility of alternative realities and multidimensional existence. Both succeed on all levels — from the cerebral to the sublime.

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Uri Dowbenko is CEO of New Improved Entertainment Corp. He can be reached by e-mail at u.dowbenko@mailcitycom