understanding mind_IMPROVING UPON SIGMUND FREUD'Sconcept of ID,EGO AND SUPER-EGO

[dr_rameshbuddha]

hi,iam dr.ramesh,a psychiatry resident.before i
took up psychiatry i have been reading GAUTAM BUDDHAS
teachings with interest.As i could find similarities
in buddha's and frued's concept i would like to
improve upon the id,ego,superego model and
conscious-unconscious mind concept of frued from the
experiences of buddha.
freud says,ego has the defence mechanism called
repression which pushes the ego-paining things into
unconscious and the ego-comforting things in the
conscious mind.according to him,conflict arises when
conscious elements that formed the ego at one side and
the situation the person faces in life or his
desires(id) or morals he learned are different from
each other.this conflict creates mental distress and
hence pushes the conflicting situation into
unconscious.(eg,rape incident may conflict with
conscious ego that doesnt like it)
and freud continues,when at a certain period of
time(in stressetc) this conscious to unconscious
repression is impaired,the person may feel mental
distress as neurosis or more seriously as psychosis
when ego cannot withstand it and loses its
organization and its boundaries.
this further manifests as neurohormonal disturbances
that can be treated by drugs even though the conflict
is not resolved and so drugs are to continued ever
mostof the time.
this is true,but there is more to it as can be
analysed from that given by buddha which help us in
psycho-therapy.the ego elements keep on changing as a
person lives after interacting with id(drives that
satisfy instincts)and superego(morals we learn).this
changing ego may itself make REPRESSION very weak,so
that the conflict between unconscious and conscious
leads to mental distress and illness.for ex,a person
who killed one of his enemies may push the incident
into unconscious as his ego wont like incident of
KILLING A HUMAN.As long as ego doesnt have a problem
the unconscious wont disturb him but if he feels
guilty after learning some morals,the events of
unconscious even though he forgot, can enter his
conscious memory and he feels distress with or without
knowing the cause.
that is,as ego's conscious elements keeps learning
after interacting with superego and id,REPRESSION may
get impaired at a certain period and leads to mental
distress/illness.this changing of ego conscious
elements is a continuous process until ego learns no
more to conflict with ID or SUPEREGO which also is
only approachable.
(buddha by his theory of "cause and effect(KARMA) and
the balance thus produced",he meant only this process
going on, until there are no more conflicts felt by
mind to feel peace of mind or a superconscious
feeling/samadhi state which has to be experienced to
be known.)SO,if the conscious elements can be taught
to change itself to a state of no selfishness by
nature which only can clear all conflicts with
superego and instincts,then all conflicts we already
stored would come out and then disappear in the long
run.THIS IS THE ULTIMATE PSYCHOTHERAPY GIVEN BY
BUDDHA.
THANK YOU,

PLEASE REPLY REGARDING....

[Joe Ocho]

While I find Dr. Ramash's conclusions fascinating and a pathway to a perspective I had never even considered --but no less valid for that, by the way, I find the vast majority of Freud's theories repugnant and painfully archaic, to say nothing of sexist. Not so with Buddha who symbolizes love for all and inclusiveness -- the original Buddha --what different sects may do varies.

Freud was a scholar limited to his time and place. He was a victim of his own background and experience and ASSUMED that his theories would be necessarily be valid or predict behavior adequately across cultures, etc. without knowing anything about those other cultures. I realize that someone had to start the psychoanalyst business and in that respect, he was something of a pioneer but this is the 21st Century after all.

Freud's thoughts, in my opinion, were venal, limited to his socioeconomic caste, close-minded and rather ... well, don't have much validity within the context of our present day socio-cultural mileu!

And Buddha was one of the most enlightened, illuminated beings of our age. He managed to express meaningful, amazing theorsophical concepts with few words. Buddha makes one think of limitless possibilites, of endless birth and death that pertains to ALL people.

I think Carl Jung was more aware of Buddha than Freud ever was! But even Carl Jung has his limitations.

Thank you ,Dr. Ramash for giving me a new perspective on Freud and Buddha. I will share this with the others in my class and see what they think.