How to Turn Your Monkey
Mind Into A Pussy Cat

Monkey mind refers to the incessant chatter that goes on in our heads which, if unchecked, can drive us nuts (excuse the pun!) Like a monkey jumping from branch to branch, the mind is always on the move, producing up to 100,000 thoughts per day (astonishing, isn't it!)! it is little wonder that peace can be difficult to find. Nowadays, there are more distractions than ever and the modern monkey mind is more like King Kong crashing through the jungle on amphetamines.

My days used to go something like this. i would finish eating breakfast without noticing the food because monkey mind was already thinking about the days schedule. I would then arrive at work without remembering the drive. When I got to work, monkey mind was already planning the weekend. My mind was never where my body was. I was rarely present in the here and now (which is the only place where joy can be found.)

I remember taking my daughter to the park when she was about three years old. She pointed to the sky and excitedly squealed "airplane". I hadn't even noticed the park! hahaha

This is why children experience so much joy. Being free of mental chatter, they are absolutely present in the Here and Now. Monkey mind hasn't developed yet. There is a chinese saying that says" When the eye is unblocked, sight occurs." The nature of the eye is to see. In the same way, in the absence of thinking, joy is there because it is who we really are. Happiness never goes anywhere. We are simply unaware of the happiness which is always there because we are constantly distracted by our monkey mind. We can only notice the wonder and the beauty that surrounds us when we are present.

Everyone has had what are called peak experiences. I will never forget a visit to The Shetland Islands many years ago. I was fortunate enough to witness what many of the locals described as the most spectacular display of the Northern Lights they had seen in years. Just for a moment, as I gazed upon the spectacle, my mind was stunned into silence. A profound feeling of connection and well-being swept over me. In that perfect moment I felt utterly at peace with no sense of anything missing. A moment later, a thought appeared "I must phone my partner and tell her. As I re-engaged with monkey mind, the experience was gone. And that is how it works. In the absence of thinking, the bliss which is our true nature is experienced. It is still there when we are lost in thought but we are simply too distracted to notice it.



Here is an analogy. Imagine standing at the side of a busy road. A car passes by and you dive and grab onto the bumper. The car drags you half a mile down the road. Bruised and battered, you let go but immediately grab onto the bumper of a truck going the other way. This is what we do with our thoughts. Through grabbing on to them we are pulled all over the place. A "good" thought pulls us one way then a "bad" thought pulls us the other. A more peaceful option is to stand by the roadside simply watching cars go by. When we see them for what they are , they cease to have the same effect on us. Awareness is the key.

So how do we tame the monkey mind?

I'll answer with a story. There was a village in India which was infested with monkeys. They were a real problem. They were not afraid of the villagers and would go into the houses looking for for food and occasionally attack people. All the villagers carried long sticks with them which they used to beat the monkeys and try to chase them away. This only annoyed the monkeys more. They tried everything. They boarded up the doors and windows to keep the monkeys out. Sometimes they would catch one in a net and take it out of the village but they would always return looking for food. The villagers were at their wits end. One day a holy man entered the village and observed what was going on. He laughed and said " I have another solution. Why don't you try planting a banana plantation on the outskirts of the village and see what happens." And it worked. The monkeys were more interested in the delicious bananas and happily rested in the trees, leaving the villagers in peace.

As long as we fight against the monkey mind we give it more energy and make it stronger. As long as we try to beat our thoughts away with sticks we make them bigger. By putting all of our attention on our thoughts and trying to fix them or change them, we achieve the opposite. In my work, I have met so many people who try one therapy after another to find a solution to their depression, anxiety, unhappiness etc. Five years can pass but little changes. This is because focusing on the problem only makes it bigger. It is a paradox that by trying to find happiness we only push it further away. I have also seen people cured of lifelong depression in a one hour session.... simply through seeing that the mind is not the problem, rather our relationship to it.

So, what is the solution?

Mindfulness is the key! And meditation can accelerate things tremendously. Through understanding how the mind works, your relationship with monkey mind changes. Meditation is the vehicle for directly experiencing peace right here, right now... in this very moment! You are not broken... you are only distracted. There is nothing to change and nothing to fix... only something to SEE!

Additional Resources
Meditation Techniques Guide
Meditation Techniques Guide offers in-depth knowledge of Meditation and a large collection of meditation techniques that help to reduce stress, achieve mental peace and tranquility, and a total self-transformation.



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