"Everybody loves me until I get arrested again," Mike Tyson talks about love, life, and his existence

Mike Tyson [Credits: @miketyson/Facebook]

Mike Tyson started at the bottom, rose to the top and fell off. But he grew as a person due to the lessons he learned along the way. Appearing on the sixth episode of the second season of Hart to Heart, a TV show hosted by the comedian Kevin Hart, Tyson laid out his beliefs on deeper subjects of love and understanding.

Watch the interview below:

Mike Tyson is on a quest for self-knowledge. When asked whether he was at peace, Tyson said:

"I'm just in the state of understanding me...what my real purpose is here...When you get into your fifties, you start thinking about your whole life expectation, that 'I'm gonna die soon'."

Tyson also described taking magic mushrooms before a workout. According to 'Iron Mike,' while he was flexing in the mirror, the mushrooms took effect and he had a sudden realization of his own mortality:

"I went through that process by taking certain natural medicines, and it was beautiful."

He explained how, like most of us, he was a slave to his ego until it broke him:

"My breaking point was not wanting to be me anymore...The ego is like a narcotic. It gives you everything you want, but it takes too much back in return."

Since his breakthrough, Mike Tyson claimed that he understands that we are all illusions, in the sense that everyone believes in the false conceptions they have of themselves and others. He talked about trying to play the role of a respectable African-American so that people would love him.

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Mike talked about how the love many boxing fans felt for him would disappear in an instant if, for example, he were arrested or went to prison, but that true love never stops, no matter what happens.

He tells his children to do unto others as they would have others do unto them because, even though we present the world with a persona, we're more transparent than we believe.

When Kevin Hart praised him for his deep self-knowledge, Tyson said simply:

"What is intelligence? It's the ability to learn."

He described his worst traits to be low self-esteem and a megalomaniacal ego. Hart was impressed by Tyson's ability to be confident enough to talk about such sensitive things openly. Tyson further added:

"Just working on that plateau of peace or happiness, whatever you call it. It's something that needs to be worked on."