To enjoy Life and to live each moment fully move from mind to
no-mind.
We have all been conditioned to believe
that the human faculty to think is what differentiates us from other forms of
creation. Undoubtedly it does. But the human mind is also responsible for
causing all our suffering. The nature of the mind is that it keeps generating
thoughts. And the other fact is that the mind thrives only in the past or in
the future. But either position is irrelevant in the present moment. Which is
why it serves no purpose for the mind to be in the past – which is dead, which
is over – or to imagine a future – that is still unborn, yet to arrive. Life is
always happening in the present moment, in the now. So, when we listen to the
mind, we are missing living in the moment. We are missing the beauty and magic
of Life.
In Buddhism, the mind is referred to as
the Monkey Mind. This is to emphasize the point that there is a constant churn
of thoughts, most of them unsettling in nature, that is happening in the undisciplined
mind. With a mind that is steeped in anger, grief, guilt, fear, anxiety, worry
and such wasteful, debilitating thoughts, where is the opportunity to live in
the moment? One Buddhist scripture quotes the Buddha even describing the mind
thus: “The human mind is like a drunken monkey that has been stung by a bee.”
This is so apt. So powerful a metaphor that I can totally relate to.
The mind is powerless in the present. So,
when you are trying to relax, for instance, watching TV or a sunset, the mind
will remind you of a sunset that you watched with your girlfriend. And your
thoughts will go to a time in the past that is so painful because your girlfriend
and you had a messy break-up. Or it will drag you into the future, to a worry
about some unpaid bills and the lack of cash to meet them – which includes not
being able to pay for your DTH TV connection coming due next week! When your
mind wanders, it will stop being in the present. So will you. Which is why all
of us are leading incomplete lives – lost in mourning about the past or worrying
incessantly about the future. This is why we suffer. Since we cannot undo what
has happened nor can we tell what will happen, we are either pining for
something is not there or we are fearing something which we believe will happen
to us. Both these thoughts cause our agony and suffering.
I have, over time and consistent
practice, learnt to tame the drunken monkeys in my mind. I do this by having
conversations with the monkeys. Every time a monkey starts jumping around in my
mind, I talk to the monkey. For instance, whenever I think of someone who has
betrayed me or has been unkind to me, Anger Monkey starts jumping up and down.
I ask Anger Monkey, “What’s the point in your getting excited. It’s all over.”
The Anger Monkey replies, “But you were cheated, you were pissed on and passed
over. You must avenge.” I would say, “I am not interested. Why do you insist?” Anger
Monkey would reply: ‘So that they (my detractors) don’t get the feeling that
they got away with doing what they did to you.” I would conclude, “Let them. I
am happy not wanting to prove anything to anyone or teach anyone a lesson.”
That would be it. And I would go back to living my Life without the least trace
of anger or vengeance in me. But, as I said, this attitude is something you
cultivate with practice. This is true for every monkey in your mind – from Fear
Monkey to Guilt Monkey to Worry Monkey.
To expect thoughts – the drunken monkeys –
not to arise in your mind is futile. As long as you are alive your mind will be
churning out thoughts. Intelligent living is the ability to tame the drunken
monkeys and make them powerless by staying in the present. This then is the
state of no-mind. Try to be in this state for as long as possible each day. That’s the only way to not be held hostage by the past or be
fearful of the future. That is the only way to live in the now!
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