The Monkey Mind

~ By Ajahn Jayasāro ~

Monkeys often appear in Buddhist texts as symbols of mental unrest. When agitated, the mind is commonly referred to by meditation teachers as the ‘monkey mind’. The reasoning is clear: the ‘monkey mind’ jumps from one thought and idea to another just as in a forest a monkey swings aimlessly amongst the trees from branch to branch.

In some cases, the ‘monkey mind’ is given a more general meaning. Here, the restless superficiality of the untrained mind is considered to be its defining trait, and the term ‘monkey mind’ is used to mean ‘unenlightened mind’.

It is in this second sense that Ajahn Chah used the monkey metaphor to explain the nature of nibbidā, or disenchantment. Nibbidā is the term the Buddha gave to a profound new perspective on the body and mind that can arise through Dhamma practice. Meditators may sometimes wrongly assume impermanent feelings of distaste for the sensual world to be an experience of nibbidā. Ajahn Chah would say that they were simply experiencing the temporary disenchantment of the bored monkey. True nibbidā meant being disenchanted with the monkey itself.

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"Food for the Heart", a series of Dhamma teachings handwritten weekly is posted on the Buddhadāsa Indapañño Archives page with Ajahn's kind permission.

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For other teachings by Ven. Ajahn Jayasāro, please visit the Panyaprateep Foundation website.