"Do People Really Not Understand Ego?"

Summary

The script discusses the difference between thoughts, emotions, ego, and consciousness. It explains that the ego is the sense of 'I' or 'me', while thoughts and emotions are separate functions. Though tricky to observe, the ego can be witnessed just like thoughts and emotions. Consciousness is the ultimate observer that experiences all of these, remaining unchanged. The ego does not observe itself when dominant. Through practices like mindfulness, one can become more aware and look beyond the ego to pure consciousness, where there is no infinite regression of observers. This allows one to understand the ego more objectively.

Takeaways

• 😀 The mind has different parts that can observe and act on each other - thoughts, emotions, ego, awareness, consciousness
• 💡 Thoughts and ego are not the same - you can think without ego
• 🧠 Ego relates to a sense of 'I', 'me', 'mine'
• 👥 Comparisons often involve ego - judging the self relative to others
• 📝 Egoless states are possible - like when jumping into cold water, you just exist without identity
• 🔍 Consciousness can witness ego from a detached place, not from ego itself
• 😖 The more ego dominates, the less self-awareness someone has
• 🙏 Reducing ego via mindfulness helps mental illnesses related to unhealthy ego
• 💪 Ego doesn't observe itself
• ⚛️ If you transcend thoughts, emotions, ego - you find completeness in pure witnessing awareness, not an endless regression of 'observers'

Q & A

What is the difference between thoughts and ego according to Dr. K?

Dr. K explains that thoughts are the function of thinking, while ego is the sense of 'I' or 'me'. You can have thoughts without ego, but ego involves identity, possessiveness, judgments and comparisons which require an 'I' statement.

What does Dr. K say the ego is, in Sanskrit terms?

In Sanskrit, the word 'ahamkara' means the sense of 'I' or 'me'. The ego involves a quality of possessiveness, mineness and self-concept.

What does Dr. K say is the root issue in narcissism and borderline personality disorder?

Dr. K explains that both narcissism and borderline personality disorder involve an unhealthy ego. As awareness increases, the symptoms of these disorders tend to improve, indicating the central role ego plays.

How does Dr. K explain the difference between the ego and the witness consciousness?

The ego cannot observe itself objectively, while the witness consciousness can observe the workings of thoughts, emotions and ego more objectively. The witness is the experiencer, while the ego is part of what is experienced.

What is Dr. K's analogy about jumping into cold water in relation to ego?

Jumping into cold water can create a temporary egoless state, where one is simply present and aware without judgments, identities or thoughts. This exemplifies an experience without ego.

What does Dr. K say is the problem with understanding others?

Dr. K explains that we each only experience our own lives directly. The challenge in understanding others comes from not being able to directly experience what they experience.

What does Dr. K say is the endpoint if one looks beyond the witness consciousness?

Dr. K states that if one can move beyond thoughts, emotions and ego to pure witnessing awareness, they will find that there is no infinite regression. The witness consciousness is the endpoint.

Why does Dr. K recommend checking his ideas yourself?

Dr. K humbly acknowledges he could be wrong in his ideas and interpretations. He recommends people explore these concepts themselves through inner work.

What is Dr. K's central distinction regarding the ego?

Dr. K's main point is that the ego is not the same thing as thoughts or awareness. It is a distinct part of the mind that can be observed just like thoughts and emotions.

How does Dr. K relate narcissism to lack of awareness?

Dr. K notes narcissists lack awareness of their own egotism. As awareness increases, narcissism tends to decline, indicating the role awareness plays in mediating the ego.

Outlines

00:00

😌 Ego vs thoughts - Defining ego as identity and thoughts as separate

Paragraph 1 explains the difference between ego, which is a sense of identity and possessiveness, and thoughts, which are just mental activities without a sense of 'I'. It gives examples of ego statements using 'I' versus just having thoughts. It also talks about being able to think without ego and describes egoless states.

05:01

😊 Examples of ego vs thoughts and other components of mind

Paragraph 2 continues explaining ego vs thoughts using more examples like unconscious actions that don't involve ego. It mentions other components of the mind - emotions, memories, intelligence. It also alludes to the observing consciousness beyond the mind.

10:02

😇 Witnessing awareness as the ultimate observer

Paragraph 3 explains that the witnessing awareness is the ultimate observer beyond the mind, emotions, ego etc. It is complete in itself and not infinitely regressive. To realize this, one has to go beyond thoughts, emotions, ego to the awareness and see that there is nothing beyond the witnessing.

Keywords

💡ego

The ego refers to the sense of 'I' or self-identity. It is the part of the mind associated with possessiveness, judgment, and comparison. The speaker explains that thoughts, emotions, ego, and consciousness are distinct aspects of the mind that can be observed separately. The ego tricks us into identifying with thoughts and emotions. As the ego dominates, we lose self-awareness.

💡thoughts

Thoughts are part of the mind's functioning, separate from ego or emotions. We can have thoughts without ego involvement. For example, simply drinking water does not require ego. Thoughts arise and are 'run by' the ego to create ego-statements.

💡emotions

Along with thoughts and ego, emotions are a key part of the mind's functioning. We can observe emotions just as we notice thoughts and ego. When we practice mindfulness, we gain distance from emotions as well.

💡consciousness

There is an underlying consciousness or awareness that observes all mental functioning - thoughts, emotions, ego. Consciousness is the ultimate witness, beyond even the ego. With meditation, we can move beyond ego to directly experience this consciousness.

💡antakarana

This Sanskrit term refers to the 'inner instrument' of the mind. It includes thoughts, emotions, ego, memories - the various aspects of mental functioning. Consciousness lies beyond the functioning of this inner instrument.

💡narcissism

A manifestation of extreme ego. The less self-awareness someone has, the more narcissistic tendencies they display. Therapies that improve self-awareness help patients reduce narcissism.

💡borderline personality disorder

A condition marked by unstable moods, behavior, and relationships. It stems from an unhealthy ego. Mindfulness practice helps BPD patients by creating distance from the ego.

💡mindfulness

The practice of non-judgmental awareness of the present moment, including thoughts, emotions, and sensations. Mindfulness creates space between our experience and our reactions, helping override ego.

💡meditation

Practices like mindfulness meditation help us observe mental processes clearly. With enough meditation, we can have egoless experiences where we connect directly with consciousness beyond the ego.

💡self-awareness

Conscious knowledge of our own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Lack of self-awareness is linked to egotism and problems like narcissism. Meditation enhances self-awareness by building consciousness beyond the ego.

Highlights

Thoughts and ego are not the same

Ego is identity - the sense of 'I'

You can think without ego

Ego involves possessiveness, me-ness, I-ness

The ego has a spatial location in the brain

You can have egoless states of pure existence

Beyond the mind is pure consciousness observing everything

The witness capability observes thoughts, emotions and ego

The more ego dominates, the less self-awareness

Reducing ego increases awareness and improves illnesses

Ego doesn't observe itself

Look beyond ego to find the ultimate witness awareness

There is an end point to the chain of witnessing

With no thoughts, emotions or ego, witnessing feels complete

I could be an idiot, so check this theory for yourselves

Transcripts

the ego is a part of the mind it can be

observed just like your thoughts just

like your emotions you can notice the

function of ego it's trickier it's

subtler but you can even notice any eye

statement that you make is is a thought

right and it's being sort of run by the

[Music]

ego why does everyone talk about the ego

as if they're not the ego that's doing

the talking everyone seems to refer to

the ego as if it's a as if it's separate

from the one typing or talking

just as a thought arises so do these

words I'm typing as well as the words I

speak it's like everyone is trying to

transcend this voice in their head or

whatever but the voice in the head is

what's creating these words I type as

well as the words I speak do people

understand this or have they just

created a super ego that thinks it's

separate from the thoughts and words

when reflecting upon what they've seen

when explaining to me it seems as if the

program has realized it's a program but

other people seem to think that the

words they write and say are not coming

from the from thought SL ego I'm not

referring to the awareness or

Consciousness that's observing all of

this just referring to the seemingly

large number of people who think they're

not an ego when communicating so if you

are confused because everyone's talking

about ego but isn't it just the ego

that's doing the talking no it's not hey

Dr K how do I get my kid to put down the

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how to raise a healthy gamer combines

the latest in Neuroscience research

along with a decade of clinical practice

check it out anywhere books are sold so

if you all want to understand this it's

very simple okay maybe it's confusing

but I think it's relatively simple the

first is that thoughts and ego are not

the same so we're going to use a lot of

Sanskrit here because I think Sanskrit

is a very very sophisticated language

and we run into this problem here with

English because English does not have

the language to specify these

differences so the first thing is that

this person says thought SL ego which

implies that thoughts and ego are the

same thing right so if you're using like

good slash right like that implies and

this is precisely this person's problem

I according to me is that they haven't

understood that the mind has different

parts and that different parts can

observe and act on each other so let's

understand that we're going to use the

Sanskrit phrase Anana so Anana is often

times translated as the mind but man is

mind such an unsophisticated

representation of it so antakarana

literally means internal instrument and

that is the best definition so if we

look at our lives okay there is this

physical body we have hands we have eyes

we have nose and all of these things are

designed to interact with the outside

world so I can pick up a pen so that the

hand is really interesting because it is

a sensory organ and is it it is an organ

of action I can affect a willpower

change in the external world with my

hands and I can get information from the

outside world with my hands the whole

body is an external instrument I can

taste things from the outside my body

will let me know whether this is healthy

or unhealthy because I'll get sick or

I'll feel good after I eat something so

we have this instrument that allows us

to connect with the external and then we

have this instrument that is internal

this is the an this is the mind now

let's understand so much like the body

has hands feet Eyes Nose we have five

senses we have many organs of action

right we can do things with our heat

feet we can do things with our hands we

can do things with our voice we can

affect change in the outside world with

many instruments that are part of the

body so what are the parts of the

antakarana the internal instrument so

the first question is thoughts and ego

because this is what this person is

confused about can I think without

having an ego absolutely right so if we

look at what is the ego the ego is the

sense of ey so an ego is something

that's me mine that's what ego is so

even in the west and the East we kind of

agree that there is a quality of

possessiveness there is a quality of

meanus there is a quality of Inus we

know there's this part of the brain

called the default mode Network which is

probably where this part of the Inus

lives we also know that the me has a

spatial location so I know this sounds

kind of weird but you

the Unice of you exist somewhere over

here you're not in a different room

right now you're where you are right and

that sounds kind of weird but we also

know that you can electrically stimulate

the temporoparietal junction of the

brain and you can trigger It Out of Body

Experience you can have an eye that is

outside of the physical location of your

body so there's a certain Inus so you

can the the function of thought is

separate from the function of ego so ego

is identity it's like who I am okay in

Sanskrit we have the the word aara which

means the sense of ey oress but you can

think about things without ego it is you

that's doing the thinking yes but you're

not thinking in terms of ego like I can

just drink this water there's no ego

involved in that right I'm just drinking

water and you can say but you're saying

you're saying you're drinking water but

yeah but that could be unconscious too I

could just drink the water so we have

thoughts we have emotions and then we

have the ego so the ego is anytime you

have an eye statement that is the ego so

I am good at this I am good at that that

requires a judgment of a an identity

compound anytime we make a comparison

involves the ego because I cannot say

that you are taller or shorter without

me being taller or shorter so you can

make comparisons to non-p people that's

not ego but anytime you make a

comparison to someone else that involves

the ego because you can't say that

you're taller or shorter unless you have

an identity and so the ego is a part of

the mind it can be observed just like

your thought thoughts just like your

emotions you can notice the function of

ego it's trickier it's subtler but you

can even notice any eye statement that

you make is is a thought right and it's

being sort of run by the ego and we know

that we can exist with egoless States so

really good example of an egist state is

if you ever jump into a body of water

that is a little bit cold for a moment

you're just pure existence you're not

fat or thin you're not silly or smart

you're not successful or a failure

you're not poor or Rich for a moment you

just jump into the water and then you

exist fully in that moment you're not

not paying attention you're not thinking

about video games or distracted or

anything like that you're fully present

right there for just a flash of a second

but you have no sense of identity if you

really pay attention you'll find this

and so this is the ego and it's not the

same as thought it's not the same as

emotion and then we sort of get to this

this ultimate idea which the person kind

of alludes to in in their post right

which is um I'm not referring to the

awareness or Consciousness that's

observing this that's what's ultimately

at the end of it okay is that there is a

Consciousness the act of witness

observation or experience is ultimately

like what's even beyond the antakarana

so the antakarana or the internal

instrument or the mind has thoughts it

has emotions it has ego has two other

things some scars like memories and it's

got a a location of sorts called the

chitta it's got a space where all these

things interact and then beyond that is

pure Consciousness and so when this

person says it seems to me as if the

program has realized it's a program it's

not the program that realizes it's a

program it's the Consciousness that

realizes that there is a program running

so you have a witnessing capability

which can witness your thoughts can

witness your emotions and can witness

your ego but the witnesser itself is

doesn't have any ego qualities because

it is just the screen on which

everything else is projected right so I

don't know if this makes sense but like

you know you can have a lot of pixels on

the screen but the TV itself doesn't

change everything all of the images that

are projected on the screen can change a

lot your thoughts can change your

emotions can change but that Which

experiences has never changed that's the

you your body has changed your mind has

changed but you have not changed what

makes you you what makes you you is

you're the one who experiences every

moment of your life this is why it's so

hard for other people understand you

because they don't experience the other

parts of your life if everyone could

share experiences everyone would

understand each other the whole

challenge in life is you're the only one

that experiences your life and yet you

are always experiencing it you don't get

a break from it for even moment this

quality of experience is the most

fundamental thing and that is what

observes the ego it isn't the ego

observing the ego and there's a very

simple way to understand this so when

someone is behaving egotistically do

they know they are behaving

egotistically not at all y'all get that

the more of their head that someone has

up their ass the less aware they are the

ego dominates the mind it is dominates

the antakarana and as it dominates the

anara you lose awareness narcissists

don't know their narciss that's the

whole problem how do you demolish

narcissism you raise awareness as they

become more aware the narcissism reduces

literally if we look at things like

dialectical behavioral therapy which is

regarded by many as the best

evidence-based treatment for borderline

personality disorder which is a cluster

B personality disorder and the cluster B

personality disorders also include

narcissism so what do BPD and narcissism

share they share a very unhealthy ego

that's the root of it unhealthy in

different ways and so mindfulness helps

both so the more we move away from the

ego the more that the symptoms of these

clinical illnesses improve and so ego

doesn't observe itself okay and now if

if y'all are really paying attention

some of y'all may ask the question okay

but you know what is it so if if the

witness or the experiencer can observe

the ego what is it that observes the

witness and the cool thing is people may

say is there a witnesser Beyond

witnesser right so I witness my life but

is there something beyond that is there

something beyond that is it basically

like turtles all the way down and the

answer is no there is an end of the road

and the witnesser is the end of the road

but you can't understand that until you

get really good at looking beyond the

anara to your awareness until you learn

how to move past emotions thoughts and

ego to what it what is experiencer and

then you try to look beyond that you can

keep looking and then you'll find the

answer it makes sense once you find it

right there's just one it's not like the

TV is pixels on another TV which pixels

on another TV right so this is what it

kind of looks like but no this it it it

isn't infinitely regressive so and the

way that we know that is because if you

actually get rid of the antakarana if

you stop all thoughts all emotions and

all ego and you are just witnessing in a

raw way there's nothing Beyond it that's

full it feels complete it's you have to

experience it but by all means go

looking for something Beyond ego and I

mean beyond the witnesser and prove me

wrong go for it right this is just once

again the ego of me oh my God my

experiences must be generalized to

everybody I could be wrong I could be an

idiot in fact I am an idiot so check it

out for

[Music]

yourselves