Monkey Mind and Grasping a Snake

A monkey sees a beautiful shining sphere in a deep pool. The excited creature leans out precariously to grab it, but can’t reach far enough. If the monkey lets go he will fall into the dark water. Yet if he pulls back into the trees the quest will have been abandoned. “Monkey mind” – a Buddhist term: Thoughts that pull attention here and there become obsessive [or a mind that jumps from one thing to the other incessantly]. Feeding the monkeys is buying into the show of proliferating thought, reifying it, being led off by it. It is taking thought too seriously. A related metaphor is the allegory of a monkey stretching as far as he can to grab the reflection of the moon in water. He cannot understand that he is looking in the wrong place. – from “Don’t Feed the Monkeys”. I have a chronic monkey mind. It never stops chattering. (OS: speaking of which, I really miss “Monkey” what a series that was – remember Tripitaka, Piggy and of course Monkey? That was serious good fun 🙂 ) Eric Maisel’s “Coaching the Artist” has a good exercise in there on quieting the mind to the point where there is no thought. He calls it ‘hushing’. Like that’s possible??!! I have found one place where my mind can stay still (and it’s not sleep LOL). When I’m drawing or lost in the guitar or singing. That ‘refuge’ place. My own personal version of ‘Taking Refuge’ … but instead of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, creativity is my refuge.

And to keep up the Buddhist theme, a thought provoking little story I like from “A Still Forest Pool. The Insight Meditation of Achaan Chah”…

To Grasp a Snake.

“Our practice here is not to grasp anything” Achaan Chah told a new monk.

 “But isn’t it necessary to hold onto things sometimes?” the monk protested.

“With the hands, yes, but not with the heart,” the teacher replied. “When the heart grasps what is painful, it is like being bitten by a snake. And when, through desire, it grasps what is pleasant, it is just grasping the tail of the snake. It only takes a little while longer for the head of the snake to come around and bite you.

“Make this nongrasping and mindfulness the guardian of your heart, like a parent. Then your likes and dislikes will come calling like children. ‘I don’t like that, Mummy. I want more of that, Daddy.’ Just smile and say ‘Sure, kid.’ ‘But Mummy, I really want an elephant.’ ‘Sure kid’. ‘I want candy. Can we go for an airplane ride?’ There is no problem if you can let them come and go without grasping.”

Something contacts the senses; like or dislike arises; and right there is delusion. Yet with mindfulness, wisdom can arise in this same experience.

Do not fear places where many things contact the senses, if you must be there. Enlightened does not mean being deaf and blind. Saying a mantra every second to block things out, you may get hit by a car. Just be mindful and do not be fooled. When others say something is pretty, say to yourself, “It’s not.” When others say something is delicious, say to yourself “NO, it’s not.” Do not get caught in the attachments of the world or in relative judgements. Just let it all go by.

Some people are afraid of generosity. They feel that they will be exploited or oppressed, that they will not be properly caring for themselves. In cultivating generosity, we are only oppressing our greed and attachment. This allows our true nature to express itself and become lighter and freer.