Could buddhist monks have "ASDs"?

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I've read that they are chosen very young when their parents or older monks notice they present different mannerisms than other children.

It's an interesting thought exercise to consider what would happen to a monk if he were born in the United States. I suspect that people would think he was naive, not able to relate to other people, and spent too much time alone, thinking or interested in things like the bugs at the bottom of the grass. In the East, such a child would be taken to a monestary and nurtured by like minded individuals. In the West, such a child might be put through "desensitization" routines and encouraged to act like other children (probably because of the expectation that without such skills he won't make money - the Western God).

I read a book where the monk author says, "it is impossible to give a verbal interpretation of our way."

yes, actually I'm inspired by the philosophy of: Spinoza, shopenhauer, buddha, Einstein.
All these people have the most correct view on reality: nondualism.

but its said that people with ASDs often see things in "Black and White" terms. I don't think this is the case with monks. at least on the surface.

I love all of those philosophers my PhD's going to be mainly based on Spinoza, Einstein, Kant and Schopenhauer!

Monks are individuals. If you go and meet or interact with some monks you'll see they're a diverse group, neurologically speaking.

This only tangentially addresses the question you asked, but most of my life, I have felt it would be great to live the life of a monk. To live mostly alone, studying and learning in quiet sounds like a great life. The major stumbling point for me is being a rather practical atheist, I couldn't deal with Christian monasteries and even Buddhism, while fairly attractive to me, still retains far more mysticism than I feel comfortable with.

While I suppose many Aspies tend to think in black and white terms, not all do. And I assume there are many monks who think in black and white terms anyway.

I have often thought that being a monk would be interesting. I shied away from it due to the usual religion issues, but I think many scientists are monks, effectively, spend time alone, thinking, working with their minds in an austere setting. I simply came to the conclusion that I like novelty too much to ever be able to do it. Maybe when I am older and the matters of the flesh become secondary.

I find this topic fascinating and am glad I'm bot the only one to have thought about it. I think this is especially true in Tibbetan Buddhism. From what I have read, it seems to lend itself to being wired differently or rewiring yourself to think different from the norm. Very aspie indeed.

When I emulated NT behavior, I though in very black and white terms. Of course becoming oblivious was a survival mechanism, I could never be accepted otherwise. I always felt on the fringe but desired greatly to fit in. I endured so much humiliation but adapted well and became quite ignorant. Eventually I came to realize my true nature, and have embraced it.

About the forum topic, yes I can recall thinking to myself how interesting it would be to live as a monk. To have a purpose beyond money and to be able to challenge myself through discipline rather than competition.

Eventually I was able to challenge myself in the Army, it definitely changed my life to really see what I was capable of. It gave me confidence too, and in a twist of irony, my lifelong frienemie who had ground my self-esteem into the dirt ended up being a Navy deserter while I had deployed to Iraq as an infantryman and experienced combat. It was horrible and I think the military was exploited for the personal agenda of corrupt politicians, but I swore an Oath and am honored to have served. It's pure chance I didn't get pegged with a diagnosis before joining but I feel it's proof we're more capable than NT's would ever give us credit for.

Great, I'm thinking of studying philosophy, or physics
Last school year left

I love this quotes
“A person experiences life as something separated from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. Our task must be to free ourselves from this self-imposed prison, and through compassion, to find the reality of Oneness.”
Albert Einstein---> illusion seperateness

"All wrong-doing arises because of mind. If mind is transformed can wrong-doing remain?"
Buddha---> Illusion of suffer, is in relating to emotions at true "self", In reality pain, is not somethign to fear of. Our society makes that.

"A man can do what he wants, but not want what he wants."
Arthur Schopenhauer---> illusion of free will, the universe is not something you can control, the universe control you.

It's not true, people may think that.[1]

http://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Earth ... +to+autism

Autistic people think more in space-time, neurotypicals more with symbols.

Black and White thinking is more to do with being unable to take on someone elses viewpoint or be flexible. My Boss routinely calls me up on this, as I tend to get very agitated if I can't do things my way.

Jason.

Speaking as a Buddhist Monk with ASD (yes really!), the main connection that I can see is that it's one area were becoming a bit obsessed by a subject is a positive advantage. You could say that Buddhism became my special interest. I've also had a tendency all my life to want to do things "properly", in other words, having become a Buddhist I wanted to follow it through all the way. (It's also the only time that my failure to establish long term relationships was useful, I didn't have any ties.)

However, I'm a Western Buddhist and became Monk quite late in life, I was also diagnosed with Asperger's after I ordained.

Becoming a monk at a young age is largely a cultural thing depending on the country, I don't think that children are particularly singled out, for example, until recently it was the only way they could guarantee an education, but some are bound to take to it more than others and depending on the tradition, they can choose to continue when the time comes to take full vows.

That's interesting. In my city, there was a monastery, a cloister in fact. When I was 10, I considered joining. I found that quite appealing. Being an atheist was kind of an obstacle though... I can't dream of a better life than that : marveling at the splendor of nature (some would say God's creation), thinking, singing... No doubt there are still social interactions going on there that are hard to fathom though... And I don't believe that all the sisters are good and nice to each other : it must still be a micro-society. So I don't know if I would have fitted in... But I still sometimes fantasize about it.

I'm really surprised nobody has linked this thread yet.

ASD and non-sectarian Buddhism

Who knows; maybe some are. If that's the case, then maybe some people with mild-moderate autism have found a haven there. Depending on what kind of services are available in their area, it might be a good deal better than anything else they could get if they had not entered a monastery. And it doesn't sound like a bad sort of life, either.