Question
I have heard the term monkey mind referred to often. Can you
please explain exactly what this means?
Thank you.
Chris Bird
Answer
Hi Chris.. it's just a metaphor for distracting thoughts, desires, inclinations and so on that can arise while people are trying to quiet the mind. The aim of many forms of meditation is to reach single-mindedness. Some schools of Buddhism and Christianity, too, use physical violence (i.e. self-flagellation or a master beating disciples with a stick) to quell bad or distracting thoughts. This certainly wouldn't be my path! Other meditation teachers suggest that one should try to distance oneself from distracting thoughts by looking at them as objects floating on a screen, or on an ocean.
I, myself, find the ideal of single-mindedness somewhat incomplete, however. In my view there are other forms of more active meditation which are of great value. These additional forms involve a kind of information processing. Yes, one must still quiet the mind. But instead of keeping it in some kind of imposed boundary of silence, one permits information to enter. Some say the info comes from the unconscious. Others believe that they have a kind of psi experience. What one does with this info and how it may or may not fit with one's daily life also differs according to one's belief and practice.
I mention this to point out that meditation means many different things to many different people. The monkey mind idea, however, usually applies to hindrances to single-mindedness. Whether or not other forms of advanced or active meditation can follow after achieving single-mindedness, again, is a point of debate--or perhaps individual difference.
You might take a look here:
http://meditationproject.com/Monkeys.html
