I have come to view the mind – that is the part of the brain that makes psychological or moral judgments and determines the actions that flow from those judgments – as being a long continuum. At the one end is Buddha mind. At the other end is the ego-mind. And in the middle it is a combination of these two aspects, on the one end of the continuum it is mostly ego-mind and very little Buddha mind, and at the other end mostly Buddha mind and very little ego-mind. (I have never heard or read of the mind being described in this way.) Scientifically, the ego-mind is mostly contained in the amygdala section of the brain, while Buddha mind is contained in the frontal cortex.
None of this has to do with the capacity of the mind to add and subtract, solve problems, etc. This capacity involves different areas of the brain.
In much of my writing, I talk about the mind and its impact. Sometimes I refer to ego-mind, but usually just mind. That is because in common parlance, the mind is synonymous with ego-mind; that is the "self" that everyone refers to.
So it is important to make clear that when in my writing I discuss all the problems that flow from the mind, it is the ego-mind I am talking about, certainly not Buddha mind. And the process of cleansing our mind, or purifying our heart, is the process of moving us along that continuum from ego mind to Buddha mind.
The mind, understood thus, is never your adversary, a source of problems; the ego-mind, yes, but not the mind as a whole. On the contrary, the mind is the source of growth, spiritually and otherwise.
None of this has to do with the capacity of the mind to add and subtract, solve problems, etc. This capacity involves different areas of the brain.
In much of my writing, I talk about the mind and its impact. Sometimes I refer to ego-mind, but usually just mind. That is because in common parlance, the mind is synonymous with ego-mind; that is the "self" that everyone refers to.
So it is important to make clear that when in my writing I discuss all the problems that flow from the mind, it is the ego-mind I am talking about, certainly not Buddha mind. And the process of cleansing our mind, or purifying our heart, is the process of moving us along that continuum from ego mind to Buddha mind.
The mind, understood thus, is never your adversary, a source of problems; the ego-mind, yes, but not the mind as a whole. On the contrary, the mind is the source of growth, spiritually and otherwise.
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