About this ebook
This book facilitates anyone serious and earnest to come upon that natural perception, which is the foundation of all human relationships and connections. Without it, the world becomes twisted, degenerate, insane, and absurd, full of suffering, as has been taking place almost everywhere.
Those statements made in this introduction cannot possibly and won’t convince you of the tremendous value of this book unless you give your heart to read it and find out the inarguable thing for yourself. This demands tremendous observation, care, and full attention, which are rare in a world dominated by the argumentative, speculative, and trivial mind.
Highlights of this book:
1. Original meaning. It is not a translation-oriented book. It is to present the original meaning of Laozi and convey the pure perception that underlies every aspect of living.
2. Unity. Deep down, Laozi is not the author, and Chonghe is not the translator; they are in a unitary process, which is manifested in the coherence of this book.
3. Rich annotations. Extra words are from Cico’s direct perception to bridge the gap between ancient Chinese and contemporary English
4. Down to Earth. The content of this book seems to be abstract, but it facilitates understanding; when one sees the light, one will find it utterly practical.
5. True meditation. To read this book demands full attention, not getting stuck in words; by observing oneself completely, one makes sense of what is said in the book, which embodies true meditation.
About the author
Cico (Chonghe Zhang, 张冲和) was born in March 1986 in China. In 2014, he moved to Amsterdam superficially for the purpose of doing a PhD, but deeply out of disillusionment with the environment in China and curiosity for the Western world. However, after moving to Amsterdam, curiosity soon turned into a stark reality: egoism, individualism, tribalism, and commercialism, with their utter verbalness, high-profile self-expressions, blatant nonsense, and pettiness in the Western world, keep shocking him.
The deep clash with both the Chinese and Western realities with their irreconcilable contradiction, the narrow and questionable focus in each scientific field he witnessed, and the deep sense of horror for the pervading atmosphere of artificiality and mechanicality in the human world cornered him to inquire into himself deeply and completely. His consciousness went through a mutation, and a simple fact was revealed to him: the self, the “me”, the ego is the root cause of all human issues and man-made disasters; the self, with its numerous destructive patterns, is a physical danger that the vast majority of people fail to see due to their deep-seated self-centered living.
In the face of this physical danger all over the place, he has no choice but to live what he comes upon by being a light to himself. The gathered energy, which is passion and compassion, let him start the lifetime journey of teaching and sharing (in both English and Chinese) to facilitate human beings to observe themselves completely and see the light.
Mindiverse is to safeguard goodness and facilitate the goodness flowering in a society laden with egoism, neuroticism, and tribalism.
Mindiverse Foundation was established in February 2021 to support and protect Cico's teachings, which are also his living – he teaches what he lives so that the teaching can facilitate as many human beings as possible to transform themselves completely.
Mindiverse Foundation is not an organization that is divorced from individuals. In other words, Mindiverse is neither a tribe nor ego, but something pure and total that embodies authentic human beings. Due to the prevalent mental division between organizations and individuals, an organization functions as a cover-up for egoism and tribalism, which is a common unspoken practice; that is to say, such an organization is still an ego thing because it is operated by people who are egocentric and pursuing self-interest, people identify themselves with the organization, forming a tribe; such a way of operating is merely a cunning self-deception, but it is already rampant all through the world.
People take shelter in organizations, either pursuing high ranks, power, and prestige or seeking to be taken care of; the identification and tribalism bring about corruption, numerous conflicts, and politics, as is taking place in every organization.
Mindiverse Foundation does not operate in that deceptive and corrupt way but stays authentic and all-around. It functions upon Cico's total integrity as a human being, and the foundation's activity is Cico's teaching, being good, and doing good. The foundation is not an organization that only breeds tribalism and corruption, which is the continuation of the ego.
