Olympic mindbrains

Imagine a gathering of obese people watching an Olympic athlete performing floor exercises, or listening to a world class pianist playing a Chopin prelude.

A continuum suggests itself. At the obese end are the undisciplined and unfit characters whose lifestyles demonstrate what happens when a stone age brain encounters the 21st century. At the Olympic end are the self disciplined and enormously skilful experts who have mastered a specialised area of competence.

Note that most experts perform best when they are in a flow state. After years of practice they perform best when they are focussed in the present moment and are thus in a non-egoic state and are outside space and time. The musician is in the groove, the athlete is in the zone, and the man in the street rides his bicycle without thinking about it.

Back to the continuum but now with the mindbrain as the topic of concern. After many years of evolution the human mindbrain is now a top of the range sports car. But at the obese end few people ever get the car out of first gear, out of the drive, or even out of the garage. Meanwhile, at the Olympic end, the experts alternate high speed cross country races with quiet periods of stillness.

I like to think that it is easier for a person to undo the obesity of his mindbrain than of his body. Many statues of the Buddha show him to have a well developed pot belly. Who amongst you feels the need of an Olympic mindbrain?