This article presents the whole content of the public talk Cico gave on February 28 2022.
If the mind is quite busy, it might be good to stay silent for a while to empty the mind first. (Silent audio guides)
It is absolutely necessary to stop receiving any influence or incitation and inwardly empty everything immediately to let the clarity return.
In face of the violence, what one can do is stop being violent now, not perpetuate it in one way or another.
This moment let's meet truly together to inquire, to understand this world -- not the outward, not the inner world, but the world, to really understand what is really going on in this world, not from the media propaganda, not from the politics, not from all kinds of inferences.
Can one inquire independently? Can one understand without any influence? Can one go through all the superficialities to be deeply aware of what is actually going on in this world – chaotic, turbulent, confusing?
Without understanding this world, there's no meaning to meditate. For most people on this planet, they are only interested in themselves, in their own corners, which are built up from thoughts. Their purpose is to make self-isolation practical. They don't care about anything else at all.
They accept what they are being told. Accepting what is being told is the easiest way to live, isn't it? Just accept, accept, accept. The purpose is that I don't want to be disturbed.
If one looks closely at life, this mere acceptance, this mere conformity and imitation is a form of violence.
The mere acceptance without any thinking, any reasoning, any observation is totally irresponsible. And we are collectively irresponsible, creating such a monstrous and ugly world. That traps you and me.
To meditate is not to continue this self-isolation, self-deception, but to be deeply aware of the violence in ourselves.
Violence is much subtler than one thinks. To be able to observe this subtle level of violence, one must be very diligent to observe, to understand (A lazy mind cannot do this!).
Understand hatred, aggression, all kinds of nonsensical self-assertion. See the consequence of being violent.
Then it is possible for one to touch upon something in a new dimension, but one must cease to be a violent being first.
If one doesn't really observe one is violent, it means that one is violent, but most people think they are not violent instead -- they are deceiving themselves, at the same time, they continue to be violent.
That is what is going on in this world, in this super divided and hypocritical world.
What is your reaction to the war?
In this world, every few years, more or less, there's a war breaking out somewhere on this planet.
What is your reaction to it? How do you feel about it?
Are you condemning the war because you are influenced by the media?
Are you only concerned about the war because you are told by the media?
Are you really concerned about the war?
Or you are still concerned about your own benefit, your own pocket.
And you are wondering whether this war can affect your benefit or not, or you are really concerned about war?
If you are really concerned about war, you must be really concerned about human beings.
If you are truly concerned about human beings, you won't be surprised at a war that is breaking out every few years.
Oh, you are just being concerned about it as a reaction to the media, the mind is bombarded by the media with all kinds of information, all kinds of gossip about the war.
Because of that bombardment -- that influence, the mind is confused.
That's why the mind begins to show a symptom of concern -- being concerned about something, but actually, it's being confused about it.
Do you feel surprised at war? If you are really surprised at it, you must be confused about it.
For most of our life, we do not care about anything else. We always care about ourselves. And we feel that this war comes out of the blue. Is that really so?
When the media is telling you one country is invading the other country, do you agree with that or not?
Does your agreement come from your deep thinking, reasoning or are you being influenced by the media to agree?
Just like you are voting in your country, you are being influenced by the media to vote for some parties. Have you ever noticed this is the same trick, the same circus in different forms?
If you really think deeply, reason sanely, observe diligently, the speaker is wondering how one can agree with the saying that one country is invading the other.
If one agrees with this, one is accepting nationalism, the country as a concept. And in that acceptance, one loses the sense of humanity, human beings.
When the media says one country is invading the other, have you ever noticed your reaction to that saying or are you trapped in the reaction to that saying?
When the mind is trapped in that reaction, the mind has a sense of condemnation, blaming, criticizing, judging (due to the influence)
And some stupid political leaders even promise to send weapons to the country that is called being invaded, for what? To perpetuate the war? To have more people being killed?
If one looks closely at the ideology in this civilization, which is based on egoism, individualism, commercialism, consumerism, in that condemnation at the war, the ego is distancing itself from this chaos.
When the ego condemns the war, the ego can feel righteous, feeling that it is in the right place and this war has nothing to do with him or her.
That's why the self, the ego condemns and blames, and the ego, the self flourishes upon blaming.
And this kind of nonsense (biased report with hatred, condemnation) is repeated by the media to influence more people in this world.
And most people don't examine it, but merely accept it. And this is the real violence taking place over the world. Not only the war, which is the extreme physical violence.
This war is not the starting point of violence; it is merely the continuation of the violence of each human being on this planet.
When one feels this war has nothing to do with one, one is being violent, because one doesn't really observe oneself, doesn't really see the violence in oneself.
In this egocentric world, the ego is in its own deception and illusion that it is in peace, but it's not.
The ego itself is violence -- aggression, avarice, jealousy, self-assertion, comparing, imitating, conforming, excluding, competing. This egocentric mind is always violent, always creating conflicts.
In the past century, there was the First World War, Second World War, and many other wars on this planet. There are so many killings in the name of all kinds of nonsensical ideologies.
And up to now, have you really changed? Or this kind of violence is being hidden by the pleasure-seeking.
This world, this civilization is trapped in pleasure to make the violent mind happy. And in daily living, there is endless conflict, clashes between egos, between selves, between different people and within oneself. There is a constant struggle, utter isolation.
And we are totally disconnected and pleasure becomes the common interest. So we can do things together for pleasure. We can be violent together for pleasure.
Look at this global capitalism, look at this commercial life which is based on exploitation to sustain this pleasure-seeking.
This economic global expansion is a form of violence, isn't it? The mind is craving, the mind is desiring, the mind is wanting, and this way of life in this civilization is conditioned deeply to this commercialism. And this conditioning is violence.
And this egoism is very influential because this self-centred view is convenient. If the mind does not really think carefully, the mind can easily accept this nonsense. And this kind of western way of living is so influential for the same reason.
This capitalism sweeps off the entire world, and via monetizing and profiting, the mind sustains this loop of pleasure-seeking.
And the self, the ego is unaware of this, and this is the violence taking place all over the world.
It is so important to observe oneself, to see this utter irresponsibility. The mind is always depending on other authorities to take care of one, but the other authorities are also egoism -- the self, the ego isolated in its own world.
Via depending, we are all irresponsible. We are totally unaware of the violence in ourselves.
And this media is bombarding you with all kinds of news about war, and this media bombardment has its own interest. It won't help you to understand the war. What it can do is to continue this manipulation, this deception.
And it is only up to oneself to really look, observe to understand oneself, understand the thoughts, understand how is the self built up. This requires diligent and tremendous observation to be deeply aware of the violence in oneself. Or else this world continues to be violent all the time.
So you see, this world is me, me is the world. There is no inner or outer world, there is only the world, which is this neuron system, the whole body -- the reactions to these things from different sources
Can one really stand alone? Which means that “can this neural system function without any influence?” Can this neural system function without any conflict, without any illusion or deception?
And only then is this neural system really in a harmonious mode, which also means that one really ceases to be a violent being.
And this is a journey of this authentic, true meditation.
To really understand ourselves, the mind must be silent, it is not something that is induced by other things, not the silence between the two words, between two thoughts, but this inner silence when the mind sees everything clearly.
Clarity means there's no me, no you, there's only humanity. There's only consciousness, not your consciousness, not mine, but the consciousness. It is not your life, my life but life.
This wholeness, this oneness brings this total understanding of life. Without totality, the mind is trapped in numerous divisions -- there are numerous me, there are numerous you. And it can be divided infinitely, endlessly.
Without totality, one is trapped in fragments. When one is trapped in fragments, the combination of all the fragments is still a fragment. It can't be whole -- impossible.
Only when one is living totally, can this world be whole, total and sane. (the world is me, me is the world)
Me is the world, the world is me. Can this world be total?
Can one live a life totally without any division, without any dualities inwardly?
When the psyche is whole and total, this life is full of meaning.