a buddhist perspective on AS?

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Buddha? Buddha we will all wake

I actually have very few thoughts of on how Buddhism relates to autism. All I know is that I often make mistakes during the rituals at my Zen dojo due to clumsiness.

I don't think about enlightenment in terms of being closer or further away. It's just awareness of what is already all around you. Compassion in the Buddhist sense follows from the awareness that you are part of the wider world. It's not the same as the cognitive empathy that autistics struggle with.

You are definitely not further away from enlightenment.



Also the separation from the self that most people with AS have is what the NTs who practice Buddhism are in search of, anyway. And l think someone with AS is more likely to feel zen, which is probably more valuable than an individual connection with someone.

And l agree with the quote, most autistics are going to be very good at logically analyzing the motives behind their behavior. As smart as some NTs are, and l may not justified in describing this behavior as "smart" anyway but to me it is, many or maybe most simply cannot separate themselves from their emotions completely.

But at the same time l know what you mean about "scattered pieces" of the self. l don't know if that can be resolved through any concepts related to Buddhism or even if it should be. It can be disconcerting and it has really derailed my life in the past but l think it's tied too closely to my neurology to overcome. There is probably a way to balance it that Buddhism can aid in, though.

l'm not really into Buddhism. l've tried to get into it in the past and it has always drawn me because it appeals to the Aspie ish traits l have.

One thing that really appeals to me is the discussion of ego death, how many of the problems people have ar a result of ego attachments and how far a person can advance if they learn to let go of them. l feel like l've always been halfway there so the prospect of potential enlightenment is exciting to me.

l've always been too much of a spaz to take a serious approach but someday l will learn about Buddhism properly.

The way I see it, my emotions themselves are not disordered so much as my ability to recognise them. I still feel the same things as other people, so compassion is possible.

I have been a practicing Zen Buddhist for 30 years now and it saves me and my also aspie son when he was 15. I think now we are better at it than its and also it is so important for ourselves. I want to write a book or at least a blog post about this. Send me a message thru here somehow if you would like to be interviewed. I wrote my own book "Life in he Aspergers Jungle" and how the zendo saved our lives is a chapter.

This old(er) discussion thread needs to be reclaimed!

Just wanted to bump this thread, I find this very interesting. I'm a Christian but I used to visit this Theravada Buddhist monastery near me to meditate, and Buddhism interests me very much so. My biggest hurdle (and please forgive me if I am misunderstanding this, as I have read numerous conflicting reports across a variety of traditions) is that this life is the result of my past misdeeds and bad karma from previous lives, correct? And if that's the truth, nothing wrong with that, can't change the past, but it still hurts to hear that yknow? Like there's guilt and regret in something I cannot even remember nor know what exactly I have done. Another interpretation I have heard is that karma works in smaller ways, like for instance being an a**hole results in alienation from the ppl u were being an a**hole to.

I read though how the Buddha called this line of thinking as one of thee Four un-conjecturables in the Acintita Sutra, which states one of them as "The precise working out of the results of kamma...".

One Buddhist belief focuses on balance, detachment and neutrality. The struggle for "balance" is ladden with discord, imbalance, and subjectivity.

LINK on Tatramajjhattatā (Pali): A Buddhist term that is translated as "equanimity", "neutrality of mind", etc. In the Theravada tradition, it is defined as a mental attitude of balance, detachment, and impartiality.

LINK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatramajjhattat%C4%81

These older threads are so useful... concepts explained from an ASD perspective, new ideas to think about... perfect.

As far as I know there is no particular Buddhist perspective on AS: all suffering sentient creatures are considered to be in a key way the same in that their suffering is a result of ignorance (wrong thinking, self-cherishing and clinging in relation to this wrong thinking). Also, imo, this, unfortunately, is not the appropriate place or conditions to discuss Buddhism, at least in depth, as the atmosphere is too confused and chaotic, generally speaking, for people to be able to hone in and focus to the necessary degree or to assimilate anything of enduring value regarding Buddhist teaching. This said, as a forum to just hang out on, to socialize and/or try to inquire into certain topics, it is fine, though I think it could be much better if people did not flit capriciously from topic to topic.