Our 'Monkey Mind'
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In BuddhismÂ…We sometimes call our thoughts, Monkey Mind!
ThatÂ’s because all of our thoughts keep jumping like an excited monkey from one to the next, all the time.
For exampleÂ…Imagine you are sitting in school. You are supposed to be practicing maths. One minute you are counting, then your friend across the table says something to you and distracts you. Now you arenÂ’t paying attention to maths anymore. You have been talking to your friend about Pokeman, Once you are done talking to your friend, you immediately begin thinking about the cartoons you watched before school. Then you start thinking about the toys you are going to play with after school. The next thing you know, your teacher is standing beside you, and she wants to know why you are not practicing maths!
When this happens we are not being mindful of the present moment.
Our minds are jumping around like monkeys.
How is your mind like a monkey?
How can you practice being mindful? -
Yes. Our minds are constantly jumping and in recent times, it jumped towards "Money Mind". And the jumping is gaining accelerated speed - unfortunately (in spiritual sense).
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What is the monkey mind? Why is the image of a monkey used? Our mind is expert at creating 'videos'.
Taming the monkey mind: recognizing it for what it is, without excuses, without rationalization.
The 'poor me' video
http://www.thubtenchodron.org/AudioLibrary/audio_DailyLifeDharma/TMM_1-3_20.ram
Turn On Your Speakers
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Hmm, so in summary, we must focus on the present moments?
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yes we have to learn thru cultivation of awareness and meditationOriginally posted by laurence82:Hmm, so in summary, we must focus on the present moments?
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so awareness and meditation on the present? so is it advisable to think or dream about the future?Originally posted by neutral_onliner:yes we have to learn thru cultivation of awareness and meditation -
Buddhist practice focuses on living in the present moment. What do we mean by the present? Present means existing, current, the time being, right now.
To live in the present requires our mind and body to focus on what we are doing. To be aware and mindful of our physical and mental activities.
How many of us experience the art of living in the present moment? When we are walking, are we walking for walking? Or are we occupied with the thought of how long it will take us getting there? Are we enjoying every step? When we eat, are we eating for eating? Or do we want to finish quickly then rush off to the next appointment. When we are in the company of family and friends, do we listen to them attentively when they are telling us about their work, talking about their problems, schools or their friends? Or are we absent minded because we are too busy thinking about something else, thus ignoring the current moment.
Many of us have a busy life. At the end of the day when it's time to rest, the mind refuses to relax. It dwells in things that have happened during the day, or it could be planning something for tomorrow, or worrying about the future. When the mind abides in the past or in the future, we forget about the present and these precious moments will be lost.
To live in the present moment is to make every act count. Our daily encounters can be happy or unpleasant but when we are open, we can see what they have to teach us. When we bring the mind and body together, we become conscious of our speech, conscious of our movement, conscious of our thought. All of these experiences can help us grow and enrich our lives.
Here is a story to illustrate the spirit of do it now. This happened during the Tang dynasty of China. There was a small boy who went to see a Ch'an master and requested to have his head shaved and become a novice monk. The Ch'an master told the boy to come back the following day as the day was getting late. The boy then replied he was not sure whether he would change his mind for he was very young and his will could be weak. On the other hand, he did not know whether the master would still be alive the following day because he is an old man. On hearing the boy's remark, the Ch'an master ordained him straight away.
The art of living in the present moment is to live and embrace each moment fully, because now is the most important. Do not run away from it or go back once it's gone. Commit one hundred percent to the present moment, until then every single event that happens in our life will be transformed to wonder. -
Do Not live in the Past becos it OverOriginally posted by laurence82:so awareness and meditation on the present? so is it advisable to think or dream about the future?
D Not keep dreaming about the Future becos it has not arrived YET
Live in the Present Moment becos that's reality.Yes right HERE right NOW
Becos wat u do RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW will 'shape out' YOUR FUTURE -
Originally posted by neutral_onliner:
Can have things like goals?
Do Not live in the Past becos it[b] Over
D Not keep dreaming about the Future becos it has not arrived YET
Live in the Present Moment becos that's reality.Yes right HERE right NOW
Becos wat u do RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW will 'shape out' YOUR FUTURE [/b] -
Originally posted by neutral_onliner:
PARTY!! PARTY!! WHOOOHOOOOO!!!! BOOZE MAN!!
Do Not live in the Past becos it[b] Over
D Not keep dreaming about the Future becos it has not arrived YET
Live in the Present Moment becos that's reality.Yes right HERE right NOW
Becos wat u do RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW will 'shape out' YOUR FUTURE [/b] -
Sure ... why not.Originally posted by laurence82:Can have things like goals?
As i have said the outcome of your future depend on wat you have done at your EVERY PRESENT MOMENT -
Living at the present moment.Tat's the teaching of the BuddhaOriginally posted by Ito_^:PARTY!! PARTY!! WHOOOHOOOOO!!!! BOOZE MAN!! -
There are many things in life that are beyond our control. However, it is possible to take responsibility for and to change oneÂ’s state of mind. According to Buddhism this is the most important thing we can do, and Buddhism teaches that it is the only real antidote to the anxiety, hatred, discontentedness, sleepiness, and confusion that beset the human condition.
Meditation is a means of transforming the mind. Buddhist meditation practices are techniques that encourage and develop concentration, clarity, and emotional positivity. By engaging with a particular meditation practice one learns the patterns and habits of the mind, and the practice offers a means to cultivate new, more positive ways of being. With discipline and patience these calm and focused states of mind can deepen into profoundly tranquil and energised states of mind. Such experiences can have a transformative effect and can lead to a new understanding of life.
Over the millennia countless meditation practices have been developed in the Buddhist tradition. All of them may be described as 'mind-trainings', but they take many different approaches. The foundation of all of them, however, is the cultivation of a calm and positive state of mind. -
Consider the materialistic life. ItÂ’s a state of complete agitation and conflict. You can never fix things to be the way you want. You canÂ’t just wake up in the morning and decide exactly how you want your day to unfold. Forget about weeks, months, or years; you canÂ’t even predetermine one day. If I were to ask you right now if you can get up in the morning and set exactly how your day was going to go, how you were going to feel each moment, what would you say? ThereÂ’s no way you can do that, is there?
No matter how much you make yourself materially comfortable, no matter how you arrange your house—you have this, you have that; you put one thing here, you put another there—you can never manipulate your mind in the same way. You can never determine the way you’re going to feel all day.
How can you fix your mind like that? How can you say, "Today IÂ’m going to be like this"? I can tell you with absolute certainty, as long as your mind is uncontrolled, agitated and dualistic, thereÂ’s no way; itÂ’s impossible. When I say this, IÂ’m not putting you down; IÂ’m just talking about the way the mind works. What all this goes to show is that no matter how you make yourself materially comfortable, no matter how much you tell yourself, "Oh, this makes me happy, today IÂ’m going to be happy all day long," itÂ’s impossible to predetermine your life like that. Automatically, your feelings keep changing, changing, changing. This shows that the materialistic life doesnÂ’t work. However, I donÂ’t mean that you should renounce the worldly life and become ascetics. ThatÂ’s not what IÂ’m saying. My point is that if you understand spiritual principles correctly and act accordingly, you will find much greater satisfaction and meaning in your life than you will by relying on the sense world alone. The sense world alone cannot satisfy the human mind. -
There are many things in life that are beyond our control. However, it is possible to take responsibility for and to change oneÂ’s state of mind. According to Buddhism this is the most important thing we can do, and Buddhism teaches that it is the only real antidote to the anxiety, hatred, discontentedness, sleepiness, and confusion that beset the human condition.
Meditation is a means of transforming the mind. Buddhist meditation practices are techniques that encourage and develop concentration, clarity, and emotional positivity. By engaging with a particular meditation practice one learns the patterns and habits of the mind, and the practice offers a means to cultivate new, more positive ways of being. With discipline and patience these calm and focused states of mind can deepen into profoundly tranquil and energised states of mind. Such experiences can have a transformative effect and can lead to a new understanding of life.
Mediation is part of the service at the New York Buddhist Church.
The practice is now embraced by more Buddhist groups.
By MICHAEL LUO, New York Times, June 13, 2006 -
Originally posted by neutral_onliner:
Keep it up ,Neutral Onliner
There are many things in life that are beyond our control. However, it is possible to take responsibility for and to change oneÂ’s state of mind. According to Buddhism this is the most important thing we can do, and Buddhism teaches that it is the only real antidote to the anxiety, hatred, discontentedness, sleepiness, and confusion that beset the human condition.
[b]Meditation is a means of transforming the mind. Buddhist meditation practices are techniques that encourage and develop concentration, clarity, and emotional positivity. By engaging with a particular meditation practice one learns the patterns and habits of the mind, and the practice offers a means to cultivate new, more positive ways of being. With discipline and patience these calm and focused states of mind can deepen into profoundly tranquil and energised states of mind. Such experiences can have a transformative effect and can lead to a new understanding of life.
Mediation is part of the service at the New York Buddhist Church.
The practice is now embraced by more Buddhist groups.
By MICHAEL LUO, New York Times, June 13, 2006[/b]
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Originally posted by neutral_onliner:
Thats right
Sure ... why not.
As i have said the outcome of your future depend on wat you have done at your [b]EVERY PRESENT MOMENT [/b] We can have goals, just as long as we do not treat the present moment as a means to an end, but be completely Present in what we are doing. In this way, it is 'non-attached' doing, and whatever the outcome, we also are not attached. No 'gain and loss'. -
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Originally posted by neutral_onliner:
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"It is extremely hard to rest undistracted in the nature of mind, even for a moment,
let alone to self-liberate a single thought or emotion as it rises.
We often assume that simply because we understand something intellectually,
- or think we do -
we have actually realised it.
This is a great delusion.
It requires the maturity that only years of listening, contemplation, reflection,
meditation, and sustained practice can ripen."
-Sogyal Rinpoche
In meditation, we try to develop wisdom, learn to observe our own mind, decrease negative mind states and develop positive mind states. To develop wisdom and insight, we need a calm, clear and concentrated mind. To observe our own mind, we need to develop a kind of inner "spy" - a part of our attention that checks our state of mind. To decrease negative mind states we need to understand where they come from and transform them into positive energy with the wisdom developed from observing our own mind. To develop positive mind states, we need to focus away from selfishness and again develop wisdom by observing our own mind.
"The most important thing is practice in daily life; then you can know gradually the true value of religion. Doctrine is not meant for mere knowledge, but for the improvement of our minds. In order to do that, it must be part of our life. If you put religious doctrine in a building and when you leave the building depart from the practices, you cannot gain its value."
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
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Here and now is the only way it can be. Here and now is the way it has always been. Here and now, we are. Here and now are our loved ones, friends, work...here and now before us is the earth and the universe, all the simple grandeur. Despite all of our worrying to plan and change, collect and use, to make and tear down, we can only be in one place--here and now.
What about the future? Dilemmas and decisions always crop up, needing to be looked after. But where are you really? In the here and now. We tend to dwell on the past. When we do, we are in the here and now so it is not really the past. You can't get away from the present. It is everywhere you go. Use it! The present is what saves us; the crucial moment where the seed of our spiritual awakening takes root, is nurtured, develops and blossoms. All the past comes alive here in our today. It is in the now that our tomorrows begin.
