This article presents the whole content of the public talk Cico gave on December 13 2021.
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 whole world, no matter where you live or which society you are in, is generally based on the concept of “me”. This entity, called “me”, is so deep-seated in each corner of living. And around that concept, that entity, we accumulate too many things about “me”, the stories about me, the experiences of me, the life of me, the hurt, the money, the house, everything about me. And such a life is a storehouse of the past, which is the content of “me”.
Where there is accumulation, the accumulation of thoughts about me, life is stuck in the past. Such a life is dead and has lost its vitality because this world is totally trapped in the past, which is the “me”, which is the thought -- all kinds of cunning absurdities are there. And this is the life most people are living.
That way of living brings about a society that is totally immoral, totally degenerate, and meaningless, as it is. To meditate, one must see all these issues deeply -- the futility of this egocentric world, the hopelessness created by the isolation of “me”, which is a sense of despair. One must see this actually not through the words but via the direct perception of the fact.
To really change the society for the better, to really change means “put into action”, not a slogan. There are too many slogans nowadays, all over the place.
Putting aside all the slogans, if society really changes for the better, there must be a radical change in this ugly egocentric life.
I see it clearly. I see I am fully responsible for such a society; we are all responsible. Therefore, I am eager to change radically, to transform myself.
The world is me, me the world. Such a world brings about such a collectively degenerate society. To change, I must change from here. From the bottom of my heart; I don't need to wait for anybody else to change, which is only self-deception. I must change now first.
I must be a light to myself. If it can enlighten other people, that's good. If not, at least I am a light to myself.
So, this inquiry into this inner world to radically eradicate the “me” and all kinds of ugliness around it is meditation. No matter which life you are living, can this psychological mutation take place?
That's why we inquire into the self to really examine the self, whether this mutation can really take place in actuality. I'm no longer interested in another theory, another smart-talking. I'm eager to find out whether I can really change. The very doing so is meditation.
Or else meditation is only a method, a toy. The “me” regards meditation as a method or tool to better oneself, to promote individual development, which is mere self-deception. I want to change. I don't want to deceive myself. That's why I need to observe myself clearly and objectively, with no illusion or deception.
I'd like to observe myself, my fear. What do I fear in the face of this change?
You see, this eagerness brings the urgency to change. The mind sees clearly the issues, which are very urgent. See the danger of living in such a world where pollution of consciousness abounds.
The intelligence of the mind points out that it is a danger. To stay away from danger, the mind must change – change radically and totally to really live an authentic life.
Can't you do that? Obviously, you can. When you put all your energy into this transformation, you are eager to find out for yourself and by standing alone, you will see what will happen.
This radical change of mind is not to become something, be something, according to an image, an idea. In opposite, this radical change comes from a mind that sees clearly the limitation of thoughts and the futility of thoughts and drops all the thoughts to meet this moment.
Thoughts have their place. In this technological world, we have made a lot of progress, and knowledge has a place, but inwardly, psychologically, why does the knowledge stay there?
Why does knowledge overflow into the psyche? Thoughts keep accumulating more and more. Psychologically, thoughts are easy to add and store up, but it's counter-intuitive to let go, to do minus.
Thoughts keep growing and accumulating, and the mind becomes a warehouse to store all the old things, all the dead things, all kinds of burdens -- your own burdens, other people’s burdens.
Can one live life without being burdened by the past? Without carrying any burdens? This way of life points to this radical change: a life fully at this moment. And only in a life which is full at this moment can place the knowledge in the right place. Or else knowledge merely takes over life, dominates and distorts life, trapping one in the past forever.
Looking around this world, looking around people around one, when one really pays attention to how people behave, it is not so difficult to notice people are living in their own patterns, their own thoughts, their own illusions.
They always project according to their own image in their own mind and impose that image on another. They do not see this moment at all. They always translate and interpret through their own ideas, their own thoughts. And one cannot really talk to them. They are isolated by themselves in their own loops. And if one plays with their loops, it is dangerous because one can be trapped in their loops.
When the mind is running in that loop, the mind is trying as much as possible to drag others into the loop. That is the danger and the destructive power of a mind isolated by the self.
To live a life with such a radical change is to live life without being trapped in any loops, which means that can one stand alone?
Being alone means that the mind is never trapped in any loops.
This society is extremely individual, but this individual is a fragment. Nobody stands alone. Everybody is trapped in their own loops. And their own loops are trying to make other people into those loops, so there is competition, there is aggression, there is conflict, but nobody stands alone. Everybody is trapped in the fragment, which is the “me”, the self, the ego.
If one can't stand alone, one must be lost in such a society, being struck by different loops, and forming different egos. To stand alone means the mind is totally out of this degenerate and immoral society, which also means that the mind goes through a radical change -- mutation. The “me”, ego is totally absent. One still lives in society physically, but one doesn't belong to it.
So, this journey of meditation -- this very serious enquiry into the self is to find out in person how to stand alone. A mind that stands alone is very rich. It never depends. Such a mind is alive, very energetic, and very down to earth.
And only in that state is it immovable. All kinds of influences from different loops of different egos can't carry the mind away because in that aloneness, the mind is very clear and is able to differentiate different loops, different patterns, and different disorders. In that very seeing clearly, the mind -- the life is immovable.
All of those that we have inquired into together, in which the speaker has made a lot of statements, are not a theory. It's something everyone needs to test out seriously.
Life is too short to waste. To live life authentically, one must find out what life is and what an authentic life is.
Can I live life without any hypocrisy? Hypocrisy implies self-deception. What is the point of deceiving myself, when the mind can see clearly the absurdities created by the thoughts, the nonsense created by thoughts?
What's the point of deceiving myself when the mind can stand alone? In that aloneness, the mind is fully connected with this moment. Such a mind is open and compassionate.
And such a life is like a flower. Without seeking any attention, it just flowers. In that aloneness, the mind is silent. It is not the silence between two noises but the abiding silence when the mind has seen its limitation and the futility of thoughts psychologically.
That deep silence is clarity. Of course, that monkey mind is already gone. In that silence, nobody talks about the monkey mind. It's no longer relevant.
This deep level of silence is the mutation, which can't be induced by anything, by being drunk, or by the mantra – keeping repeating something. All of those can't induce silence, the mind may be quiet for a moment, but that dullness has nothing to do with silence.
The real silence can't be induced. It can only come through this deep, thorough and total understanding of life with great humility.
In that silence, no matter what one does, it is always beautiful, always right, always moral. Nobody talks about morality. Nobody talks about law. In that silence, the mind has its own order. That order is virtue.
Meditation is to find out how to live life properly, how to stand alone in this monstrous society. It is to come upon the truth, which is the deep level of silence, where life is totally in order. And such a life is flowering without knowing it is flowering, which is the virtue and the beauty of living – the timeless quality of life and existence.