The Autistic Buddhist - Brain, Mind & Ego

In this session, a definition of the Brain, the Mind and the Ego are provided to help us understand these terms in later sessions. These often used terms need to be defined in the context of Buddhism so all can operate from the same framework

Transcript

Hello everyone,

This is another session of the Autistic Buddhist.

In this session I would like to talk to you about the brain,

The mind and the ego.

As I am a very visual thinker,

I need to actually see concepts in my head before I can understand them fully.

No doubt a product of my autism.

So to understand concepts like the brain,

The mind and the ego,

I've had to search for something comparable in the real world that will demonstrate to me what these concepts actually mean and what they do.

The one comparison that I found which was the most useful was in the world of technology.

Simply,

The brain is a computer.

It is hardware.

It is something that physically exists.

It stores information and it can do many many things,

But not necessarily by itself.

It needs information and it also needs to communicate with the outside world.

How does it do that?

How does a computer or a brain gather information and communicate and interact with the outside world?

Or in the world of technology,

How does it interact with the user?

The answer to that is something called an operating system.

Within computers,

An operating system allows the computer to interact with its user and allows the user to interact with the computer in a very simple and easily digestible way.

The operating system is very similar to the mind.

A computer without an operating system can't really do much and a brain without a mind can't do really much either.

The brain uses the mind to interact with the outside world,

To understand it,

To assess it and to receive information from it.

Going with our example of technology,

Lastly we come to the ego.

The ego is the equivalent of a program.

The operating system has several programs within it that do very different things,

As I'm sure many of you are familiar with.

One of these programs you may have on your computer is called an antivirus program.

Most of you know that the purpose of an antivirus program is to protect your computer and your operating system from threats that could cause it damage and cause it to work irregularly or dysfunctionally.

Does the mind have programs as well?

Of course it does.

It has several programs which sometimes I refer to as scripts or ways of how to behave and how to interact with others and the environment around us.

If you have a computer then you will know that you can purchase or sometimes the computer comes with something called an antivirus program.

The antivirus program protects the computer and the operating system from harm and damage caused by outside influences.

Does the mind have an antivirus program designed to protect it and the brain from harm and outside damaging influences?

Of course it does.

That program is called the ego.

Now,

Initially the ego was a very useful script or program and continues to be so in many ways.

For example,

If you are walking through a forest and you hear some growling behind a bush,

The ego will tell you in the form of thoughts that perhaps you shouldn't go near that bush.

Perhaps it is safer to stay away from it.

Perhaps it is even better to walk away from it.

In that regard,

The ego has performed its function very well.

It's kept you from a potential harmful situation.

However,

There's a problem with the ego.

I can't put it in any simpler terms other than to tell you that the ego is broken.

It is an antivirus program that is corrupted.

Why is that?

Why doesn't it function properly?

Well,

The reason for that is twofold.

First of all,

The ego was never really designed and never really evolved to deal with constant unending stimulation.

We live in a society where we are consistently bombarded with information,

Facts,

Figures,

Visuals,

Pictures,

Graphs.

The list is endless.

And our ego just does not have the capacity to sort through,

Analyze,

Assess every single bit of information it comes across and tell you through thoughts whether it's safe or not.

It has become overwhelmed and there are ways to manage that so that you are not essentially a victim of the ego.

The other reason that the ego does not function very well is because of all the information it has to process.

So it defaults.

It defaults to a better safe than sorry strategy and therefore it generates what's called false positives.

That is,

It identifies threats where threats really don't exist.

One other thing I should mention that the ego does is that it likes to take past scenarios and project them into the future.

The ego is not happy in the present moment.

It doesn't like the present moment.

What it likes is to take past experiences,

Mostly negative,

And project them into future situations.

The ego is operating from what caused me harm before and will it cause me harm again?

And when you take that process and you layer it with consistent stimulation,

You get a dysfunctional ego.

There are many other aspects of the ego that cause us pain and suffering and I will review them in greater detail in another session.

But for now,

Be aware of that your ego is not always telling you the truth and that there is a reality beyond it which it fails to recognize.

Fundamentally,

The ego is a damaged and ultimately broken part of our mind.

It is a program that has failed to live up to its true potential.

It also thrives on conflict,

Separation,

And division,

Causing it to generate thoughts of distrust,

Antagonism,

And overall dissatisfaction.

I will speak to you more about the ego and my challenges with it throughout my life in a future session.

For now,

I would just like to leave you with this.

Try to remember that the thoughts that the ego produce are not real.

Thank you very much for listening.

I appreciate the gift of your time and as you go throughout your day or night,

Please remember to be kind.

Reviews

Ahhh. Thank you.

Very clear and visually helpful. I’m also wondering though - what if my ego thinks of mostly positive things and projects them into the future…but then they don’t come to fruition?

Interesting, and helpful insight. I appreciate this analogy. 🙏🏽 🧠

A really unusual & thought provoking perspective. Very useful to get away from the emotional baggage that generally surrounds the concept of ego. Thank you

That hit home for me! Wonderful description and comparison of the brain, mind and the ego.

Thank you for an interesting and informative talk 🙏🤩🦋🌈🙏

Mind blown!!! I've read lots about these concepts before, but the way The Autistic Buddha puts it is profound and logical. It connects many dots. (I'm a gifted autistic, for context)

Thanks you for ‘translating’ the brain, ego, mind into well defined terms. I have struggled to understand these things in other spiritual circles. Now I can observe my thoughts and practice canceling out false narratives; leaving the fears & anxiety aside as best I can.

This is really great!
Clear and helpful, thank you
🙏🏼

Thank you for breaking these concepts down into concise visual forms. Very helpful in the ongoing dem-mystification ;). Namaste.

Oh my gosh this was so simple and easily understood thank you for your wonderful explanation! I will be listening to more of your talks for sure

well done.

Such vivid illustrations to concepts I couldn’t understand. Thank you.