meditation

Some find the term
“monkey mind”
upsetting
derogatory
and insulting. This is a shame
as the point is lost
the ego is involved
and a natural human defense goes up. After all
we are supposed to be the “king of the primates
” aren’t we?

The first time I heard the expression
“monkey mind
” in regard to meditation
I thought of Swayambhunath Stupa
in Kathmandu
Nepal.
Sometimes
this is named
the “monkey temple
” and it made me laugh inside
as monkeys need supervision in human settings. The picture of unsupervised monkeys got into my head
and I was suppressing laughter during a serious conversation.

Monkeys can be nuisances
when allowed to roam without some guidance
and it is the same with the untrained mind that runs from topic to topic
without getting much accomplished. So please don’t waste time being offended by the term
and try to look at the comical side.

When you allow yourself to enjoy life
and try not to take anything too seriously
you can see that monkeys don’t have it so bad after all. Very often
the human mind spends too much time defending
worrying
posturing
influencing
fearing
and feeling embarrassed
to enjoy life to its fullest potential.

In fact
you are not your mind. You are responsible for your actions
but many things happen in the thought process before you do take action. For example: when you think
images and options are created. As a result of those images
you get a physical feeling somewhere around your heart.

Whether the feeling is
good or bad
you process it into action
or treat it as a fleeting thought that passes and may be forgotten. So if you have a fleeting evil thought and it passes - should you waste time feeling guilty about it? The natural safeguard for ethical behavior is your heart or “gut feeling.” This is the best indicator of wrong or right.

Mankind has the ability to influence the universe
and create different realities
but separating what is sacred
from what is evil
has been a dilemma for thousands of years. The disconnection from your inner self
nature
and God
has led to excessive confusion.

Thank God for meditation; it allows you to harness the power of the mind
settle down
and focus
on one subject at a time. If you take the time for a daily meditation practice
your decision-making process will be much more controlled and clear. The end result will be to look at the monkey with much more respect
appreciation
and a bit of humor.