For this whole world,
Thoughts have become so important,
Extremely important to the living.
The way of life is based on thoughts.
The mental construct of the society,
The whole establishment,
Is all kinds of mental construct,
All kinds of thought construct.
To living in such a society,
In such a world,
If we are not aware of that,
Aware of all the mental dynamics,
It's easy to fall trap into this game.
In that game,
The mind keeps seeking security,
Keeps seeking certainty,
Keeps seeking stability,
All kinds of emotional stability.
The whole humanity,
The whole human being is trapped in the illusion of seeking security from thoughts.
But if the thoughts can really give people this kind of permanent security or whatever,
The society would not have been so chaotic,
So full of conflict,
So full of conflict,
Issues,
Problems.
When one begins to seek,
Seek a fame,
Seek a position,
In all kinds of outward forms,
It can't hide that one is seeking security.
When the mind begins to seek,
The mind can't stay at present.
It simply can't.
The mind who stays at present never seeks.
Only a mind which is trapped by an illusion seeks pleasure from all kinds of things,
Seeks security from all kinds of things.
In that very seeking,
The mind has become very violent.
All kinds of exclusions,
All kinds of self-interest,
Self-indoubtance.
So to live at present fully requires a mind who can recognize the fact that a seeking mind is a mind trapped in illusions.
To live present,
To live at this moment fully,
It requires the mind to see the truth.
That is,
The mind only belongs to this moment,
Physically,
Mentally,
Emotionally.
Anything that moves away from this moment can appear as thoughts,
As the activities of neurons,
Which can bring some kind of feeling that it is there.
So most people are cheated,
Are deceived by this kind of feeling arising from thoughts.
And all kinds of feelings together create a reality which is based on thoughts.
That's most people's life.
Such a reality is merely some illusions,
Imaginations,
All kinds of thought activities.
To live present is to differentiate these kind of thought-based realities and actualities.
To see these actualities clearly,
Sharply,
Immediately,
It requires a mind which is not trapped by thoughts.
A mind free from the distortion from the mind.
Or else the mind which is trapped in thoughts has its perceptions distorted and can't see this actuality.
Can we say that?
Because this fact will only belong to this moment.
It is a hard fact.
Very,
Very hard fact.
There's no space to argue.
But why can't we see it?
Why can't we see this fact as facts?
This question propels me to understand it deeper.
Why it is a fact there,
But why can't I see it?
Why is my perception distorted by thought?
Those theories questions will push one to look into it,
Investigate the whole mental processes,
Find out what's the actual blockage that make people stay away from the present.
This investigation is both personal and impersonal.
This is meditation.
To live at present fully requires a mind which can resist to any kind of distortion.
Such a mind is full of holiness because the mind is making sure its perception is free from distortion.
Such an innocent perception,
A perception free from pollution,
Can perceive the truth,
The fact as fact.
Because the perception is distorted by thoughts,
By all kinds of subtle thoughts.
In that distorted perception or misperception,
The mind simply cannot recognize the fact as fact,
And the mind recognizes many illusions as fact.
That is what is taking place on almost every one of these planets.
It is a horrible sight,
Isn't it?
Many teaching,
Many kind of mindfulness courses teach people to be present.
But is that really something teachable or not?
It requires a mind who can free itself from all kinds of influences and illusions to see the totality of the mind clearly.
I can't force myself to be present.
When the self is there,
I can't be present because the self is always seeking,
Is always becoming.
Right now,
At this moment,
I can't seek,
I can't become.
The mind can be irritating.
So it's not possible to force one to be present unless one understands the essence of being present.
To live present,
To live at present fully,
Is not to live at present only for one or few minutes,
Then the mind goes back to thoughts and go trapped there,
And then after a few hours,
The mind is back for another two or three minutes.
Can I live a life which is at present at each moment while still putting thoughts in the right place?
I'm asking myself a very practical question.
It's not a theoretical question that wastes a lot of papers to explain.
I'm asking myself a very practical question.
I can't say yes or no at this moment.
I have to live through it,
To explore,
To understand whether it is possible to live a life fully at present while living in this very chaotic,
Dangerous world which is full of influences,
Problems,
All kinds of egos,
And self-reactions.
That's the meaning of living present.
That's the meaning of living present fully at this moment.
It is easy for people to think how.
Can you tell me how can I live at this moment?
But when the mind is seeking how,
Which is another trap.
Look at the older human beings.
People have been so used to asking how.
People want to know a method,
Know a path,
Know a solution.
But the real life has no method.
The mind changes at each moment.
There are so many subtle dynamics in the brain at each moment.
If one asks how,
One still seeks the solution.
So,
To live present,
To live at this moment,
Is to stop seeking immediately.
Can I stop seeking immediately?
Also stop seeking how?
In that very moment,
When one really stops seeking without any choice,
Then the mind is really at present.
However,
It is never easy for many people to live at present.
Because the mind is trapped in the reactions.
The mind is trapped in some patterns,
In some habits.
So the mind keeps seeking,
Keeps becoming.
It's not you seeks,
You seek,
But the mind seeks.
This requires the mind has to be aware of all kinds of mental activities,
All kinds of patterns the mind is caught up,
The patterns of seeking,
The patterns of becoming.
Then,
There's a possibility for the mind to stop seeking.
Do you notice that?
The mind stops seeking,
The mind lives at present.
They are not actions,
But a state one has to find a way to be.
This means that the mind has to learn at this moment,
To observe,
To look at things around it as it is.
Which means that the mind just looks at the mind without triggering any new mental activities,
Just observes the mind itself.
It's not you observes the mind,
Because when you observe the mind,
Who are you?
You are the self,
You are the ego.
That's not observance,
But the mind looks at it.
That's why we meditate.
We need to get a picture,
Get a feel of how to look at the mind without a look,
How to observe the mind without observing.
We are all trained,
No matter which society I'm in,
You are in.
People are trained in all kinds of ways,
By the families,
By the societies,
By the schools,
To look at everything through such a center,
Which is called the self.
People thought that's the way to look,
But actually it isn't at all.
Through the center of the self,
Everything is distorted for the convenience of the self.
I guess you probably also encountered this in your life,
Millions of times,
In all kinds of self projections for other people,
In all kinds of subtleties.
That has nothing to do with observance at all.
To observe only when the ego is not there,
The self is not there,
Or else everything which is looking through why the self is purely distorted by the self.
When everybody is running a self on themselves,
Everybody is isolated by the illusions created by the self.
That is what is taking place now,
On each moment.
So to live at the present,
To live peacefully at each moment,
Is to ask and find out whether I can live on this planet without this ugly stuff called the self,
The ego.
Can I?
I can't imagine it.
I can't figure it out by thinking about it.
I can only be selfless now,
At each moment,
To live through this life,
To test out.
Any imagination is easily subjected to the self projection,
Self distortion,
Because the imagination revolves around the center,
Which is the self.
To live at this moment is to live a life without the self.
It's to live a life,
I can see clearly how the mischief is created by the self,
Not only on me,
But on everyone around me.
In that very clarity,
One gets,
One knows how to live a life.
At present,
No matter which life one is living,
Which institution one is living,
One will always find out the solution,
Without asking how.
He can find out all by himself.
