“The way the mind jumps from a pleasant memory to a nagging anxiety, and then on to a physical sensation, and back again to the memory, or the anxiety, or to planning or worrying, or wanting to be somewhere else altogether, is just like a restless monkey swinging from branch to branch.” The Seeker’s Guide, Elizabeth Lesser
According to Lesser and Wikipedia, Buddists refer to this type of restless mind as “monkey mind.” I came across this description for the first time when I read Lesser’s book and have carried it with me ever since. I can hardly imagine a more fitting description.
I was surprised to find 144,000 results on Google for the search “monkey mind definition.” The Google results and wikipedia entries range from discussions of mediation and even attention deficit disorder. We consume more information – print, online, video, and audio – than ever before in history, and our time is divided into smaller, more bite-sized increments than it was even 5 years ago. People are beginning to feel a very real sense of over stimulation as a result of this information deluge.
I wonder though if there isn’t more to monkey mind than simply an inability to switch modes quickly or reaction to over stimulation. Lesser goes on to say that “often right below the surface of the monkey’s chatter are unfelt feelings and truths we have been avoiding.” This rings true to me. Maybe “monkey mind” is a defense mechanism of sorts as we get close to ideas that are uncomfortably true and potentially scary? And, the pace of our lives just seems to prolong and encourage it.
Thankfully an excessively restless mind is not a constant struggle for me, but more of an issue I face from to time to time. The last week or two has been one of those times. That’s part of the reason that I’ve been struggling to get something substantive posted here. So I figured that I’d write about it and get your thoughts. Just writing this has me feeling better, but I’d love your thoughts too.
Do you ever feel like this? What helps you tame this erratic monkey mindset?
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** The photo above is by Trey Ratctiff. If you haven’t seen his work, definitely check out his Flickr photostream or his blog Stuck in Customs. It’s worth the trip!
