No.2 – Yes me, me me me, me too
Smith, Neo's shadow self, the virus bent on unbridled destruction, utters these words once he learns how to replicate himself and creates innumerable versions of himself. A virus is a virus precisely because it is a virus; which means that there is little difference in essence between a computer virus and one that uses human beings as hosts. Essentially they are insidious particles of information and their only purpose is to survive by taking over another system and appropriating its resources.
A virus takes.
In the case of viruses that infect humans, the most successful of them are those that keep the host alive while being particularly contagious. They are powerful because they make very little fanfare while their numbers increase. In the world of systems (especially parasitic ones) numbers are power; the more there are, the stronger the network of domination. Under our noses, for thousands of years, a very peculiar virus has been solidifying its kingdom and dominion. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that it's not physically detectable (like Polio or Covid-19), and it's not to be found (as of this writing) using man-built computing machines as hosts. This doesn't make it less toxic.
This virus, affectionately known as 'the little me' and a bit less affectionately as 'the egoic mind', has learnt through aeons that its survival depends on keeping a large population of humans in the 'machine-state'.
In the machine-state consciousness is blocked, deprived from feeling and knowing itself. This means that the master is absent, and that human beings live, work, feel, think and die automatically, as if they were someone else's dream. Glimpses of their essence are quickly neutralized and hidden in the basement. Instead, we live as slaves to the multiple alienations of our confused ego. The egoic mind does not care 'what' you do, 'which' illusion you are obsessing about... it only cares that you obsess and alienate yourself. As soon as the essence is denied there is no more connection to Being, and therefore you are left with 'something' that does not really exist, but desperately wants to. This is what we call 'myself'.
Myself is nothing. It keeps repeating itself, in the process fragmenting the organism, wasting untold amounts of energetic resources. Yes me, me me me, me too.
One has to confront his nemesis, even though it looks like a legion. That is why we rarely keep the promises we make to ourselves, see a project through... this is why we hate – even if just for a brief moment – those we love most, regret half of the things we say, fall into traps that we were sure we have gone way past. As long as there is self there is fragmentation. For as long as there is fragmentation there is the desire that brings suffering and confusion. There is waste, lots of it.
Stilling the mind brings us into One. Me is not there, and we can then train ourselves to let it go in an increasingly permanent way.
Then, and only then, we have a fighting chance to sculpt our destiny.
The One gives.
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