Charles: that was terrific. Love the accompanying pictorial explanations when you do them!
Q: After—or, rather despite—several years of using Insight Timer, I am *still* struggling to find and understand a workable, cogent definition of “the ego.” I am curious to know not just from the learned psychological perspective, but from the mindfulness traditions over millennia. Is there a descriptive model that’s perhaps a hybrid of those approaches?
I hear you describe it here in your video as “judgments and interpretations of reality.” Additionally, in another recent video talk, I recall you describing ego as comprised of one’s stories (about ourselves and others and the world, I believe you implied), our desires, and our anxieties. (Begging your pardon if I am misstating your words.)
It’s all just kinda swirling around, murkily and vaguely, as a core concept for me. I feel that if I could just get a more concrete and discrete explanation of what, precisely, this ego thing is, then I might be better able to mentally “manage” it—or ignore it(?)—or, are we instead supposed to simply recognize it, acknowledge it without judgment(!), and then (ideally) allow the intrusion of it to pass on its own, so as to rest the ever-busy monkey-mind?
• Still Somewhat Confused in Connecticut