The brain, the ego and the mind
Do you know how intimate we are with our body and mind? The energy that keeps us alive, where does it come from? When it leaves the body, the body dies. Where does this energy go?
Most of us are involved in our daily routine of living and surviving on this planet earth. Despite all the technical knowledge and advances we have made through science, we have plenty of evidence that our mental health is deteriorating. It’s because most people have no idea how the mind works. Here I will try to help you understand my understanding of mind. You don’t have to believe what I say, but please try to disprove it in your mind and see if what I write makes sense.
Clearly there is greater intelligence beyond our thought process at work. If we look at our body, we think that it is in our brain where all our brilliance resides. It is because the brain is the physical part that we use to think and reason. If we can’t use our brain for some reason, we would feel disabled. The brain protects us from our environment and helps us take evasive action if danger threatens us. Without the brain, we would not survive or understand our world and our mind. Life would become challenging if we couldn’t use our brains.
Thus, the brain plays a crucial role in our perception of reality. It is the organ we use to understand our mind. It is the organ that helps us perceive reality. If we do not use it properly, it is the organ that can lead to poor physical and mental health. It is the organ that the mind uses to express our talents and personality. Without the brain, the mind cannot function fully. So what is the mind? As I see it, the mind is the source of energy (current) that keeps us alive.
For convenience, we can divide it into two parts, the conscious and the subconscious. But actually, we have a mind. The self or ego operates in the conscious part of the mind. It is a concentration of our desire to survive on this planet. He is territorial and possessive and wants to control everything. It builds itself (ego drive) on knowledge and life experiences to become a well-defined entity and hides behind beliefs. He wants to go on living forever and is tied to time. He has an immense capacity to deceive himself. We need the ego to interpret the reality in front of us. We also need the brain to develop our egos. Without the ego, we cannot function as individuals. The brain allows the ego to experience consciousness and awareness, which are the property of the mind. So one can see how intimately the brain and the ego are connected.
However, our subconscious mind is also connected to the brain. It controls all our vital functions and systems in our body such as the cardiovascular system, respiratory system, digestive system, etc. People take the subconscious mind for granted and show very little understanding of how the ego influences the subconscious mind. It is the subconscious mind that makes us happy or sad, depending on how we stimulate it. It has no power of discrimination. It does not recognize good from evil, good from evil. No matter what we do in life, we are always trying to pacify our subconscious mind. For example, when we pray to God or some other entity, we try to quiet our subconscious mind. We do the same when we play music, dance, sing, etc. Our subconscious mind is the piano we use to play the tune we want. Piano keys are the words we use to produce a specific sound. We can play a happy tune or a sad tune, depending on how we use words. Therefore, shouldn’t we try to understand how our subconscious mind works?
If we look at our body, intelligence runs through it, from the central level (the brain) to the individual cellular level. Yes, there is perception that takes place even at the cellular level. Every cell in our body knows its function and how to replace itself. Skin cells know their function of protecting us from the outside environment, lung cells know how to transfer oxygen from the air, kidney cells know how to purify our blood, digestive cells in the gastrointestinal system know how to digest food, etc. . , And so it goes on. All of this is under subconscious control. Even our immune system, which involves the healing process, is under subconscious control. The conscious mind, where the ego operates, has very little control but indirectly influences all of these areas. Therefore, to ignore the subconscious mind and take it for granted would be foolish. However, it is what we have been doing and are doing today.
So what happens when we suffer some damage to our brain? One can have a stroke or a head injury from a fall. One may suffer from some degenerative brain disease like Alzheimer’s or motor neuron disease etc. The symptoms and signs that we will suffer will depend on the area of the brain affected. We can lose consciousness, lose our memory, or we can become paralyzed, etc. When this happens, our ego or self cannot function properly. We will feel handicapped. When a person is brain dead, the conscious mind or ego cannot function at all. However, the subconscious mind can keep vital functions going and the person can continue to live. When we turn off the life support system, the body dies as the mind separates from the body. Yes, our brain is like the hardware of the computer system. If it fails for any reason, the software (the mind) will fail.
A perfect example of a mind trapped in a crippled body is the case of Dr. Stephen Hawkins. He was a British scientist who suffered for 55 years from a motor neuron disease, which only affected the motor areas of his brain. Since other areas of his brain were not affected, his ego (conscious mind) was able to function normally; that is, he could think and reason. Therefore, it is clear that specific areas of our brain are involved in maintaining our consciousness, without which the ego cannot operate.
In the Brisbane Courier-Mail Qweekend magazine of 24/4/2021, there was a story about three young adults aged 20, 21 and 22 from different backgrounds who died in their sleep. They went to sleep and never woke up. They suffered from epilepsy and died from SUDEP (Sudden and Unexpected Death in Epilepsy). This tragedy shows that any defect in our brain can cause it to malfunction and our lives can be at risk.
Our mental and physical health depends on our ability to use our brain not only for ego development exercise, but also to understand how our mind works. We should learn how the ego influences the subconscious mind. We must be aware of how our perceptions influence our thinking and how our thinking affects our actions. Our perception of time that we have created makes us time travelers. We are caught in this web of time and always traveling between the past, the present and the future. But in reality, there is no such thing as time.
There is a timeless dimension around us. It is as real as the temporal dimension of our creation. The only thing that separates the two is our perception. Everyone experiences this timeless dimension from time to time when the observer in mind and what is observed become a phenomenon. But because the ego is so dependent on thought and afraid of disappearing into the timeless that it cannot recognize it.
To experience the timeless dimension, one must go to the top of the mountain or bush away from any man-made structure. Here the attraction of nature is so powerful that it is easy to observe the phenomenon of the observer in your mind, and what is observed becomes one. But one can experience this anywhere. When this happens, you will discover that we have only one mind. Your mind is experiencing eternity in this state, and you are fully alert and aware of your inner and outer world. The ego is there, and you are not in a trance. You will realize that you are not separate but one with the universe. You will realize that you too are part of this timeless dimension. There is no thought but only consciousness. But once the ego uses words to describe what you see, you’ll be back in our familiar time zone.
From the above observations, one can see that we have only one mind, and the ego is not the whole mind. The ego cannot function effectively without a healthy brain. The brain allows the ego to think and reason. The brain allows us to perceive reality. The ego is tied to time without realizing that it is part of the timeless dimension.
What the ego is creating is an escapist world today. The more one tries to escape from reality, the more out of touch with reality one becomes. It is distorting our perceptions and we will suffer more mental health problems.
It is, therefore, the time to better understand our ego and become aware of our perceptions and thoughts. We have to use our brain to understand the timeless dimension and lose the fear of death before our mind separates from the body. Without self-knowledge, you are like a boat without a motor in the ocean of life. The rough seas will whip you. You’ll be worse for wear when you reach your destination. However, if you want to be a ship that can navigate rough seas without much effort, empower yourself with the engine of self-knowledge.