My approach to monkey mind is gentle and compassionate. Monkey mind is part of
the suchness of human existence. It is simply the thinking part of the mind.
Put another way, monkey mind is a mental formation that comes up during
meditation (and at other times). It is there to inform me of issues (dukkah) I
need to address in my life. It is not my enemy but rather my friend, to whom I
listen.
This is not to say that monkey mind doesn't get in the way sometimes but that
it is part of the interbeing of suffering and well-being; that is, we cannot
experience well-being without the suffering of monkey mind. I think it was
Chogyman Trungpa Rinpoche who suggested that a good way to manage monkey mind
is to "touch-and-go." So, when I meditate, I begin by focusing on my breath. As
William posted, the mental formation of monkey mind soon comes up. I do not
view this as a distraction, but instead observe it, then engage it (in
conversation?). It usually has something to do with an obsession about the past
or a worry concerning the future. I notice this, then return to the
here-and-now of my breath.
Rinpoche also tells a humorous story about monkey mind. The monkey is in the
jungle, swinging from tree to tree with wreckless abandon. This represents the
natural state of our minds without mindfulness. Eventually, the monkey realizes
her/his need for focus so s/he builds a hut. This represents the beginning of
the Zen (meditative) life and is called the narrow path (or the building of the
ego). From within the safety of the hut, the monkey can explore her/his inner
world. As the monkey jumps around in the hut from wall to wall and corner to
corner, s/he eventually notices the walls being pushed further and further
outwards, until eventually the walls disappear. This represents the
transcendence of ego; the monkey now enters the wide path of the Boddhisatvah.
Does this make any sense?
--- In [email protected], "Bill!" <BillSmart@...> wrote:
>
> Bill,
>
> You have described 'monkey mind' very well, and it is just this activity that
> zen mediation (shikantaza) seeks to quiesce. ('Quiesce' = 'to render
> temporarily inactive or disabled'.) This 'monkey mind' is what is obscuring
> Buddha Nature. When the 'monkey mind' (I often call it in my posts the
> 'discriminating mind' or 'rational mind' or 'dualistic mind', etc...) is
> halted Buddha Nature is what is left. Buddha Nature is the foundation. It
> is then that you can become aware of Buddha Nature. And then your zen
> practice begins really begins...
>
> Counting your breathes in an attempt to focus your 'monkey mind' down onto
> just 10 things, not the limitless variety of things you called 'chaos'. Just
> 1, 2, 3, etc... After you can do this fairly well you should then just
> concentrate on your breathes as 'in' and 'out'. That's further focusing the
> 'monkey mind' down to just 2 things. Then you go to just 'following the
> breaths', that is the breath as a whole - in and out together, just a flowing
> of breath. That takes you down to just 1 thing. By then you should have
> quiesced your 'monkey mind' enough that as your relax more and more you
> suddenly go to the final step - 0 things, Buddha Nature. That is 'kensho'.
>
> You can also get to that point by the use of koans. Koans engage the 'monkey
> mind', like putting it on a treadmill or hamster wheel, and letting it tire
> itself out until it quiesces itself either out of exhaustion or boredom. You
> can do this with repetitive chants or bowing also, and I'm sure there are
> other techniques.
>
> The point is when this 'monkey mind' is halted Buddha Nature is revealed. In
> some zen literature is likened to the parting of clouds letting the sun shine
> through. The sun was there all the time, but you couldn't see it for the
> clouds. The clouds are the obscuring actions of the 'monkey mind'.
>
> Please forward $400/month to my PayPal account.
>
> Thanks...Bill!
>
> --- In [email protected], William Rintala <brintala@> wrote:
> >
> > I am a perpetual beginner when it comes to meditation. I've been doing it
> > for
> > 40 years, mostly Vipasana in structure. Cultivating a Mind-Body
> > Awareness
> > through guided meditations with various teachers and proponents of Yoga
> > such as
> > Ram Das (aka Richard Alpert) and Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati. I was drawn to
> > Zen
> > by its simplicity and by the works of Alan Watts. I have attended 2
> > weekends of
> > Sesshin with a group affiliated with the American Zen Association, at
> > the New
> > Orleans Zen Temple where Robert Livingston Roshi is the Abbot. I am not a
> > member
> > there though, they wanted $400 a month to be a member and you have to be a
> > member for at least 3 months before you can receive dokusan from Livingston
> > Roshi. It just felt like a scam to me. I've also done some sitting with the
> > Blue
> > Iris Sangha http://blueirissangha.org/Â they follow a Vietnamese teacher
> > named
> > Thich Nhat Hanh. The group has just moved to Lien Hoa Temple which is now
> > too
> > far away for me. So I try an do it on my own while I am looking for
> > someone
> > closer.Â
> >
> >
> > My Zazen experience -
> >
> > I understand that you simply need to count your breaths but here's what I
> > experience.
> >
> >
> > 1 - Everything feels good. No pains, cramps, gas, bladder spams, etc.
> > 2 - I focus on my nose as the breath comes in and goes out.
> > 1,2,3,4,5.... I
> > rarely get past 5.
> > 3 - First I feel a sense of detachment and I can't feel the air moving in
> > or out
> > of my body at all. Focusing on my breathing becomes more like trying to
> > focus
> > on the blood moving through my veins, I know that it's happening but where?
> >
> > 4 -Â Then my mind takes off like a dog chasing a car, but really more like
> > a dog
> > trying to chase many cars. It often reminds me of the way my
> > grandmother's
> > ringer washer would agitate cloths. Just a chaos of thought fragments.
> > 5 - I become aware that I am afloat in this chaos and bring my mind back
> > to
> > trying to count my breaths 1,2,3,....
> > 6 - by the end of a half hour I feel less like I am caught in the
> > agitation of a
> > washing machine and more like I'm a cork bobbing in very rough water.Â
> >
> > All in all the experience is very stressful and discouraging. Reading
> > what you
> > have all posted here I am encouraged that my experience isn't unusual
> > however
> >
> >
> > I mentioned this to a friend of mine and she said "Oh, you have Monkey
> > Mind!"  Monkey Mind! So what can you do about Monkey Mind?  Â
> >
> >
> > Any feedback would be appreciated.
> > Bill not Bill!
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Find what makes your heart singâ¦and do it!
> >
>
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