This article presents the whole content of the public talk Cico gave on April 25 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)
This world is extremely complicated. There are all kinds of things, all kinds of images, and knowledge, which are incessant.
This human world is based on the known. The mind keeps generating knowledge and keeps chasing its own dream and ambition. The mind is going in different directions, always in conflict with each other.
The mind is functioning merely in the known, therefore the mind is inevitably becoming complicated because the known is divisive, infinitely divisive, the mind always focuses on something unimportant, but that improper focus leads to more issues, more details. So this world of the known keeps enlarging, extending, expanding, and life is trapped in the known.
When the mind is trapped in the known, the mind is always holding on to something for a sense of certainty or security, a mind that is trapped in the known always wants to be confirmed, and assured.
When the mind is only functioning in the known, the mind is depending, always depending on the known, which is the result of thoughts.
The mind is marvellous: it can think so extensively, therefore numerous thoughts are being generated by the mind, and the content of the thoughts becomes very important to this world.
People are worshipping their thoughts in many big ways, but the thoughts are always limited, always fragmented. It is never complete, though the thoughts always want to be complete – it can't be complete.
Thoughts keep extending and expanding. All kinds of self-expansion are for this sense of self-fulfilment. So the known is always extending, and the mind keeps seeking.
To observe oneself is not to analyze via thoughts, but to see the limitation of thoughts. The very seeing the limitation of thoughts is the starting point of this self-inquiry.
Inquiry means the mind is looking, observing, and perceiving. It is not using thoughts to imagine, analyze or speculate.
All kinds of philosophies and theories are rather speculative; to the speaker, they are all nonsense. They are for intellectual stimulation but they have no actual value at all for one to understand oneself.
"Understand" means, observe, look, inquire. It has nothing to do with speculation or analysis. But in this world of the known, the speculation and analysis are so dominating. Look around this world, this speculation creates all kinds of gossip, theories, philosophies -- scientifically, religiously.
Where there are thoughts, there is speculation, but to understand ourselves, there must be no speculation whatsoever, which means that the mind must set aside the thoughts to look. Or else, the speculation only creates illusions.
To look at ourselves as it is is not easy because of vanity and pretentiousness. The mind is trapped in the words. The known is made up of all kinds of words and symbols. Such a mind is seeking verbal positivity, and such a mind is inevitably trapped in the illusion of being positive, which is vanity also pretentiousness.
To look at ourselves as it is requires a humble mind, which means that the mind is free of its vanity -- a mind that stays unknown. In the known, there is only vanity; but in the unknown, the mind is humble and such quality of mind is starting to inquire, to learn, to understand.
So this moment can one set aside one's own vanity or pretentiousness to look with great humility and honesty, to understand actually what is going on the mind?
This also means that you and the speaker have the same intensity to look, to think together, to find out what is really true, what is really false.
Why does one depend psychologically? Physically, One needs shelter, food and clothes, which are the necessities to bring this physical security to the neural system. Psychologically, why does one depend?
When the mind is depending on something psychologically, which means that the mind is depending on some mental images, implying there is an attachment, the mind depends on some thoughts for a sense of security, mental stability or self-fulfilment.
When one looks closely at the psyche, its activities, which are the thought activities, are full of all kinds of dependence.
Physically, we do need the necessities, but mentally, why do we depend? Dependence creates numerous thought processes. When the mind is depending, the mind is generating thoughts and holding on to them, it is a unitary process.
And this mental dependence is so prevalent among human beings. So that mind is conditioned and feels it is normal to depend. The whole society is built on its dependence.
In this individual world, this self-dependence embodies individualism -- depending on oneself to live or to do things whatever one wants.
But we really examine whether it is true or not. When one depends on oneself, what is oneself? Does oneself exist or is it an illusion? When one depends on oneself, it brings a sense of feeling that the self exists.
But what is the self? Physically, we do have this body, including the neural system, which brings about tremendous sensations. Do we mistake the existence of the self for the existence of the body? Physically, the body exists, but does the self exist at all Psychologically?
The self is all the images about me: name, title, position, money, car house, family, child and all the rest of it. They are all images, they are all concepts. And this brings a sense of me; when the mind thinks in that way: "This is my place, this my office, this my whatever", that kind of thinking brings about the sense of me.
The self -- oneself is the product of thoughts. it is an illusion. It comes from the thoughts; in actuality, it doesn't exist at all. So this self-dependence -- depends on what? It is an illusion. When one sees this clearly, it is nonsense.
Self-dependence means the dependence on illusion, and this is the content of this civilization: everyone is living in such an extremely individual way, and everyone is trapped in their own illusions and holds on to that illusion, which is called self-dependence. So the mind must make efforts to earn, prove, seek and achieve. All of those are driven by this illusion of me.
One may say: “OK, the self is an illusion, so I won't depend on myself. I will depend on others.” What is the entity that depends? It is still the "me", isn't it? The "me" wants to depend, to rely on something. The images about the possessions, the name or whatever bring this sense of me. So the mind relies on those thoughts to perpetuate the sense of me, which is already a form of dependence.
So the "me" is born out of dependence. "One depends on oneself" or "one depends on others" are the same thing because there is mental dependence. Can one see this clearly in one's living?
The mind that is depending is inevitably trapped in illusions -- the illusion of me and numerous illusions because the mind is dependent on thoughts.
When the mind is dependent on thoughts, there is only division, there is only separation. You depend on some thoughts, I depend on something different. so we divide, which embodies this individualism because the mind is depending on something different. so we don't meet, we are separated. There are tremendous conflicts, sufferings, challenges, hatred, anger, aggression, and depression.
Can one see this actually in one’s living without translating it into another idea or thoughts? When the mind is dependent, there is corruption and total corruption, and such a social society is immoral and degenerate as is happening now all over the world.
So we are dependent mentally and psychologically, we are isolated by ourselves because depending creates the illusions of me and all kinds of illusions.
Thoughts are never stable, they are always changing. Therefore this dependence is very vulnerable. A mind that depends doesn't feel secure and craves security and certainty. Do you see this trap, circus that the mind is trapped in?
The mind is dependent on thoughts, but thoughts are never stable. So this dependence creates such instability. The mind is separated and isolated, and the mind is suffering in its own way. This is the actual content of this civilization. The mind is only seeking positivity to run away from the travails -- the tremendous suffering beneath it.
As the mind is seeking more and more positivity, it is becoming more and more difficult to look with humility and honesty.
Can one live without any mental dependence? Can one end any psychological dependence?
When the mind does not depend psychologically. there's no such thing called “me”, the ego, the self. And such a mind is extremely stable because it no longer relies on thoughts.
Dependence on thoughts can bring a sense of certainty temporarily, but thoughts are, in nature, unstable. When the mind sees this trap, can the mind act now? Physically I do depend, but psychologically can I live a life without any dependence? -- which means that there is no “me”, no ego, no self at all.
The mind is observing and learning amongst the dynamics of the thoughts, but it never relies on any thoughts. So the mind is free of any attachment. And such living has no nonsense and can see all the nonsenses clearly in this world because this mental dependence only generates nonsense.
So it is a matter of acting, to act now to really test it out for yourself. You can't figure it out by thinking, by using other thoughts, because that is still the continuation of dependence on thoughts.
What one only needs to do is to sheerly act now to end this dependence, to end this continuation of thoughts, which manifests this continuation of the dependence mentally and such a living is never confusing.
The confusion comes from the thoughts because they are unstable, and dependence on thoughts brings about this utter confusion about living.
When the mind depends on nothing mentally, such a life is clear, totally clear, and very doing so embodies the true meditation, there's no authority to depend on and you are your own light to guide yourself -- that is to end any mental dependence and psychological dependence.
This requires tremendous observation and diligence, and the mind can't be lazy. Being lazy means the mind is depending on some words or some tricks.
This also means that such a life, which is clear, is not easy, because an easy life is always depending on something mentally, but such a life where there is no confusion, it's clear, joyful, and such mind stays unknown. It does not know whether it is easy or not. It doesn't know. And such a mind is clear and sharp. And this can be only done by you in person independently.
And this self-inquiry, this conversation between you and the speaker, is to convey this quality of mind, a man that has no mental dependence at all. And what we can say is only up to here. What is left is up to you to find out by your actual living.
Can one live without any mental dependence? Can one end any psychological dependence?
When the mind does not depend psychologically. there's no such thing called “me”, the ego, the self. And such a mind is extremely stable because it no longer relies on thoughts.
Dependence on thoughts can bring a sense of certainty temporarily, but thoughts are, in nature, unstable. When the mind sees this trap, can the mind act now? Physically I do depend, but psychologically can I live a life without any dependence? -- which means that there is no “me”, no ego, no self at all.
The mind is observing and learning amongst the dynamics of the thoughts, but it never relies on any thoughts. So the mind is free of any attachment. And such living has no nonsense and can see all the nonsenses clearly in this world because this mental dependence only generates nonsense.
So it is a matter of acting, to act now to really test it out for yourself. You can't figure it out by thinking, by using other thoughts, because that is still the continuation of dependence on thoughts.
What one only needs to do is to sheerly act now to end this dependence, to end this continuation of thoughts, which manifests this continuation of the dependence mentally and such a living is never confusing.