I want you to try
something for a second.
Open your right hand.
Now use your left hand
and pinch the index
finger of your right hand
hard enough to sense the pain.
How do you feel?
Do you feel confused?
Do you feel angry?
Do you feel scared?
Do you feel alert?
Do you feel alive?
You know, sometimes all it
takes to shift our focus
from frivolous and ordinary
tasks to something deeper
is some pain.
Before watching this video,
you were most probably occupied
with some other video or activity.
Now, I have your attention.
Pain has mainly two forms.
It can be either the
driver of change
and a reminder that our
life isn’t exactly close
to what we envisioned it to be.
Or it can be a devastating
force that leaves us powerless
and reduces our ability to
objectively evaluate our self-worth.
The former is empowering.
The latter is weakening.
Your interpretation of pain
says a lot about your character
and how much you have invested
in this interpretation.
Regardless of which form
you decide to embrace,
pain will inevitably lead to a
change in your present state.
That change will create an
imbalance in your rationale
and undoubtedly lead to the initiation
of decision-making processes.
Pain is a tool.
It is a tool used consciously
and unconsciously
by many agents in most
facets of your life.
It is a very effective motivator
that can influence specific
choices that you make
and affect areas that you
decide to be part of.
This lucid realization might
elicit mixed feelings within you,
but at the same time it can empower
your sense of self-awareness.
Pain is an omnipresent force.
You can’t avoid it, but you
can definitely manage it.
This management is not
a matter of luck.
 It is a matter of introspection
and making use of one of the most
powerful tools you will ever encounter.
This tool is called monk mode.
The word monk derives from the Greek
word monakhos, which means alone.
A monk is a person who voluntarily
decides to isolate himself
from mainstream society and
embrace an ascetic mode of being.
Asceticism is a lifestyle
characterized by abstinence
from worldly pleasures and the
pursuit of spiritual goals.
It is the abrasion of
an impulse-driven state
and the immersion in a
reality characterized
by self-control and balance.
Monks have been practicing asceticism
mainly for religious purposes.
Their aversion towards
contemporary societal values
led them to asceticism as the
only way to escape human nature
and achieve theosis,
or union with God.
For God is the manifestation of
spirituality and enlightenment.
In our modern epoch,
monk mode has been introduced
as a way to describe our
attempt to hedge ourselves
from ongoing external stimuli.
Our proclivity to exposing ourselves
to a plethora of situations,
opinions, and activities leads
to mental disorientation
and lack of control over
our emotional state.
We are still primal creatures
with a well-defined set of
needs and characteristics.
When those are not met,
we revert to unorthodox behaviors.
That’s why monk mode becomes
imperative nowadays.
Monk mode is a mental state
that allows the individual to assume
control over his mental well-being
and eventually augment his value
in an attempt to revamp
his life conditions.
The monk mode framework
requires inquisitive analysis
and the best way to
execute this analysis
is to divide the framework
into four areas.
Lack of self-delusion is the first
and probably the most defining
characteristic of a person
who has successfully
internalized monk mode.
Self-delusion is defined as the
inability of the individual
to objectively evaluate his or
her strengths and weaknesses
and pursue ambitious
and tangible goals.
It can occur due to many reasons,
but the most relevant one
is the absence of introspection
and self-honesty.
The idea you have about
yourself is affected by biases,
limiting beliefs, and brainwashing.
You are a malleable
entity that can be molded
according to how prone you
are to external influence.
People will throw at you
different life interpretations
and you will unavoidably
espouse some and reject some.
Becoming fixated on outdated patterns
and modes of thinking
will inevitably impede your
attempt to reach monk mode.
That isbecause a
person in monk mode
is capable of readapting
his or her views
and beliefs according to
well-evaluated knowledge.
Self-delusion has two sides.
The one side refers to the
delusion of superiority
and the other side refers to
the delusion of inferiority.
Every one of us has
strengths and weaknesses.
Sadly, most of us
are unaware of them
because we never tried
to identify them.
Study yourself and learn
how to follow your skills.
If you lack skills in a certain area,
have the tenacity to pursue them
for as long as they can serve you.
This process is what will
eventually efface self-delusion
and give rise to self-mastery.
Wikipedia, in this article, suggests
an exhaustive list of cognitive biases
we all suffer from to some extent.
Biases can also be
considered mental noise
since they contribute to the oftentimes
cacophonous mumbling of society.
A person in monk mode is capable
of performing regular self-checks
with regards to his or her
ability to observe and evaluate.
Observer state is the
detachment from ego
and the adoption of a
bias-free mindset.
Think of it as a form of
“awake” lucid dreaming.
You become aware of your “dream”
and you are able to assume
partial control over it.
I like to refer to that state as a
delicate mixture of pure emotional
and social awareness.
Another important point to consider
when assuming observer mode is that
there is no such thing as one
acceptable universal moral truth.
There are just perceptions
and different interpretations
of reality and morality.
Jonathan Haidt, explains that
argument in “The Righteous Mind":
“If you think that moral reasoning is
something we do to figure out the truth,
you’ll be constantly frustrated
by how foolish, biased,
and illogical people become
when they disagree with you.”
Robert Greene reinforces
that point in "Mastery":
“People around you, constantly
under the pull of their emotions,
change their ideas by
the day or by the hour,
depending on their mood.
You must never assume that
what people say or do
in a particular moment is a statement
of their permanent desires.”
This is what it is, ok?
 I said, empty your mind,
be formless,
shapeless,
like water.
Now, you put water into a cup,
it becomes the cup.
You put water into a bottle,
it becomes the bottle.
You put it in a teapot,
it becomes the teapot.
Now, water can flow,
or it can crash.
Be water my friend.
Formlessness is nothing
more than adaptation.
It is the natural state of man
since the Darwinian evolutionary
theory suggests that
evolution favors the
survival of the fittest –
species adaptable to change.
In a world headed towards more
diversity and multiculturalism,
formlessness becomes imperative.
With monk mode, a person neither seeks
to follow the ways of the ancients
nor establishes any fixed
standard for all times
but examines the things of his age
and then prepares to deal
with them in a strategic way.
Life is strategy after all.
Monk mode, although it requires
a certain amount of isolation
in order to allow space for
introspection to flourish,
thrives with exposure.
When you spend the majority
of your time isolated
within the barriers
of your comfort zone,
you become self-conscious and frail.
Interaction with the “real
world” is inevitable
and isolation just makes
this interaction more rigid.
As Aristotle famously put it:
“Man is by nature a social animal;
an individual who is unsocial
naturally and not accidentally
is either beneath our
notice or more than human.
Society is something that
precedes the individual.
Anyone who either cannot
lead the common life
or is so self-sufficient
as not to need to,
and therefore does not
partake of society,
is either a beast or a god.”
Instead of aspiring to an
idealistic view of the world,
monk mode aims towards absolute
acceptance of human nature.
Relationships are hard,
but it is this hardship that allows us
to improve our ability to co-exist.
Become better at evaluating who you
are and who is a good match for you.
Harness your social intelligence,
partake in social activities
and use observer mode to evaluate
people’s responses and intentions.
Monk mode is, without doubt, one
of the most challenging pursuits.
Many want to reach it
but few are ready to espouse the
mandatory pain and practice required.
Stepping out of your comfort
zone, suppressing your ego,
becoming an observer
and adapting your behavior
might feel agonizing at first.
The thing is that remaining stagnant
and perpetuating harmful
habits and practices
is equally agonizing and shows
lack of self-ownership.
Learn to own the idea of yourself
and use monk mode as a tool to
manifest that idea into reality.
Hi everyone,
I wanted to do this
video for a while now.
Not only because I consider monk mode
a very interesting mental state,
but also because I wanted to explain
that monk mode isn’t synonymous
with isolation as some people think.
Yes, isolation is critical when it
comes to re-engaging with our self,
but monk mode is more about
adopting characteristics of a monk
that will allow you to
become more antifragile
while navigating
yourself through life.
If you enjoyed it this
video please like,
subscribe, and comment
below something cool
so that it can
gain more traction
and I can keep creating
thought-provoking video essays.
Stay awesome.
See you soon.
Adrian out.
