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Monkey Mind
Shoshin
No one in particularNowhere Special Veteran
Darwinian man though well behaved at best is only a monkey shaved !
It would seem that our untamed monkey mind can get us into an awful lot of strife 
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Story time with Ajahn Brahm on "Monkey Mind"
Artie Wu (Preside Meditation) on "Monkey Mind" (This guy nutshell's monkey mind, in plain down to earth English)
I would recommend for meditation beginners (especially those DIYers) who are having trouble with monkey mind to go to the "Preside Meditation' link above and scroll down to the section on 'monkey mind study series' he will talk you through the tricks monkey mind likes to play.....
@Shoshin : Excellent thread on the Monkey Mind. Thank you for creating it.
Please limit all your images, links, pictures and animated/video/Youtube/photographic references to this perpetual 'monkey mind' of yours, to this thread.
Thank you kindly.
Interesting. He says that monkey mind is there to protect your interests and help you get the things you want. And yet we are trying to get rid of it? Or have I missed the point?
You're not trying to get rid of it. You're trying to tame it, to bring it under control. The way I was taught, monkey mind is stuck on trying to not get eaten by saber tooth tigers. Now, for most of our evolution and perhaps a few places today, someone in meditation could easily be turned into a snack for the local predators sneaking around or killed by the guys from the next tribe over who want our women and territory. People in a war zone count on the monkey mind to survive, and it gets stuck on overdrive and when it can't be turned off, it's now called PTSD.
It might be a natural state of mind, but nature doesn't give a darn about your suffering. It even counts on it, since keeping you awake at night tossing and turning and worrying might allow you to hear the tiger coming in the dark. But suppose the anxiety is about that high stakes business meeting you have tomorrow? What you need is a good night's sleep, but monkey mind only knows one way to behave when you have a fear of something. Keep you alert and jumpy and ready to run or fight.
So we need to tame the beast in our mind. But it's really a metaphor, you know. Monkey mind is you, as much as the conscious meditating mind is you. It helps to look at it this way.
Taming the monkey makes sense, though it often feels like herding cats.
Taming is one thing, but you gotta let the monkey run about every now and then.
"Everybody's got something to hide except for me and my monkey."
You might find this of interest "Shamatha" illustration
"My mind was once full of noisy monkey who really liked to chat-
never stopping for a minute even when I sat…
One day a wise Lama who meditates did say-
'There is a trick that you could use to make them go away!'
Well I was all ears I wanted to know what was it I could do-
to be rid of those pesky monkey who had made my mind a zoo…
He said 'Just concentrate on your breathing that should do the trick-
paying more attention to the present moment will make them feel quite sick.
They will slowly leave through your nose or mouth and dissolve into the air-
leaving a place of true contentment - a mind without a care.'
Well it did the trick, I concentrated on my breathing and my mind became quite free-
an inner peace now fills the space where monkey chatter used to be!
However, I do like all sentient beings, even monkeys who liked to chat-
but they can take their gossip elsewhere-for I’ve had enough of that !!!"
I guess at times monkey mind can be tamed through meditation, at other times perhaps some form of medication is called for (for those who suffer from debilitating forms of anxiety and depression) ...Either way we need to get it under control, then maintain a healthy work balance so it's not overloaded....
I find ignoring the monkey works as well. It gets the hint eventually.
Monkey says "I'm really worried about work tomorrow"
Cool story monkey, I'm going to carry on eating.
Poor neglected monkey! I hope you give him the occasional banana.
Monkey Mind is like a child.
It needs to learn patience, respect and tolerance.
I think if we ignore it too much instead of mindfully allowing it some compassion, there could be problems in that rebellious stage.
Mine turned into a real party animal and for a while, only showed up when it wanted something.
Now we're buds again. It still gets carried away every now and then but for the most part it can recognize on its own when it's time for silence and won't put up a fuss.
Heck, it's mostly the monkey in charge of writing when I can be loose with the topic and fling ideas like proverbial poop.
Thoughts aren't so bad and have their use just like any other tool. However it's hard to be thoughtful and mindful at the exact same time...
...so I try my best to alternate between the two while letting both influence the direction of each other and thus, my actions.
Now if this post seems too "pro-monkey" you may have to consider the source.
Give for the child-like monkeys typewriters, guitars, paintbrushes, and whatever they need
. But, perhaps, I wouldn't recommend the social media for them.
My first PC looked like that.
I'm so tempted...... but am saying nothing.....
And not once did someone stoop to a joke about spanking the monkey, but I bet I'm not the only one who had that stray thought somewhere in this thread.
The vids a bit violent I had to stop watching. Kinda preachy. I hope its a joke.
Even if I'm not a monkey and the earth is only 7000 years old (like my baptist friend says it is), I bet "made-up" Jesus is cool with me dating a boy or a girl, visiting a casino, or practising mindfulness. No big deal.
Looks like the term was actually used by the Buddha himself. Monkey mind appears when there is something to grab on to.
I was tempted myself, but modesty prevailed.
A few years ago I was taking my two eldest boys over to visit family in the UK. On the way over we stopped off in Kuala Lumpur to visit my ex brother & sister in-law who were working there. They live in a compound on the outskirts of KL which was surrounded by jungle.
One day we were all sitting in the apartment when we heard screeching sounds in the distance then the sound of all the apartment windows and doors closing in the complex, my sister in law got up and rushed to close the doors and windows as fast as she could..
Then we heard really loud screeching as a troop of monkeys came swinging through the trees then made their way up onto the balconies looking for ways into the apartments...
It turns out when Westerners first moved into the complex they saw 'cute' monkeys around and though that it would be a good idea to 'feed' them, after awhile the monkeys decided to help themselves and started to ransack the apartments whose windows or doors were left open looking for food...
I guess the moral of this tale/tail is "Don't feed the monkeys!" which in a way reminds me of the third link in Dependant Origination 'consciousness' which is often depicted by a monkey going from window to window, ...
A business run by monkeys ie "monkey business" pays peanuts....
Be friend with your monkey mind, give it some food, " I give a task to you my friend, Listen to my breathing"...but after few breaths, its allready in the grossary store where the monkey saw a pretty monkey woman, HEI YOU come back here! Breath! " HRMMMF!" And so it goes..
Moneky Mind loves computer, click click click, news, youtube, facebook, spotify, google, mail...
When I find my mind spinning out into papanca I let it go and give the monkey a gentle smile. Monkey deserves some metta as well.
Anyone else feel like bananas for dinner?
Or maybe... a sammich....?
Oh yeah! Banana Sammich...
LOL
Sounds like a plan.
Limited recognition or partial wisdom always assumes we know better. 'I don't know mind' is never an option because that is not us gibbering ... or just maybe ...
One of the bad things about having a monkey mind is its random samsaric (on-going) nature. It's not always branches that it holds on to, it's whatever it finds sometimes. This brings to mind the many relevant and irrelevant things that we think about. Perhaps I am veering this too far off. I'll stop right here.
I was going to start a new thread titled "Being mindful of being mind full" but then thought the contents are compatible with this one, so I'm tacking it on so to speak
It's an interesting phenomenon when one is aware (dare I say mindful) of their mind fullness ie, 'monkey chatter'
However this awareness seems at times to be contaminated with aversions & desires...not wanting the mind to be so full (aversion) and wishing things were different (desire)
"I'm mind full and I ought not to be mind full, but because I'm mindful 'of' being mind full, I'm mind full of being mindful!"
(Many of us no doubt, have at one time or other been there 
)
and that's a real mind full to contend with
Counting the breath is a common means of quietening the chatter, or chanting a mantra is another...
I realise that there are many here who are professional monkey mind whisperers(Those who have developed the art of taming the monkey mind) and many who have yet to learn the technique...
So what techniques do you use to pacify "monkey mind" ?
(Is it hit & miss ? Or works most of the time? )
Bodhidharma on the importance of understanding the Mind:
"The most essential method which includes all other methods is to behold the mind-The mind is the root from which all things grow-If you can understand the mind-Everything else is included ! "
@Shoshin said: Counting the breath is a common means of quietening the chatter, or chanting a mantra is another...
Alternatively just be mindful of the thoughts and see what a load of pointless nonsense most of them are.
In some Hindu traditions the retirees who have passed over the family house and business renounce their caste and go "into the forest"
They often do a vow of silence for a month or even years. The ones that do years stop thinking in words. All the other senses apparently become super vivid. This is often their method of awakening.
I can believe that. I once did a 2-month solitary and when I returned to the world I found it really difficult to put sentences together for a while.
That's a load of pointless nonsense