Mind is a Monkey?

I am surrounded by so many buffoons, degenerates and foul people.
God, there is so much noise, disturbance and interference all around me.
The world is so miserable and full of despair and distress.

So many of us feel this way, complain and conclude by saying…

Oh! My life is full of so many problems.

The real problem is not with your life or the world, but it is the lack of adroitness and dexterity in facing such situations and challenges. Seeing a half-filled glass, one can complain looking at the half empty glass while another savors it viewing the bottom portion. Our state of mind decides which half we will focus on.

All of us in our pilgrimage from the womb to the tomb are motivated and propelled by two inevitable impulses — revulsion to sorrow and craving for joy.

Where is this joy and happiness located? Majority of the people believe that we experience joy through the objects or people in the world. In accordance with this belief people keep acquiring and collecting more and more wealth, objects and toys. The search for the perfect soulmate never ends, because once you find the soulmate, in a few months or years you conclude that he or she does not have a soul and mating is out of question. This craving for joy directs us towards the foggy road which leads us to temporary relief and permanent boredom. The object that you think gives you joy today becomes boring tomorrow.

People are so fascinated with their toys and gadgets. Everyone wants to buy the best mobile phone in the market. Holding the new shiny mobile phone in your hand gives you so much thrill. You play with it everywhere and all the time, even while working on the excretory process of your digestion cycle in the washroom. But what happens when a better model is launched or you see your friend with a ‘cooler’ colour or design? The object that you thought was the source of your ecstasy and bliss, becomes the reason for your despair, brooding and pumping of the brain vessels.

The real joy or happiness that we all are so desperately seeking is not in an object or a person or a place. It is in the mind. When the mind is agitated there is sorrow and when it is tranquil it experiences joy. State of mind defines our world. The beauty that you see around in this world, or the wars that you see, were all first created in the mind.

So, to experience happiness in our life, it is of primary importance that we learn how to think. A fertile land with right fertilizers yields a bounty of crops. Similarly, a fertile mind, with good thoughts will create a world full of joy and happiness. When we do not exercise our faculty of controlling our mind, we operate in a manner where everything is accidental in nature.

Some people say that the ‘mind is a monkey’. What does this mean? Does mind have a tail? Or does it like eating bananas? One of the foremost qualities of a monkey is unnecessary movement. It is not stable and cannot stay in one place peacefully. Another quality is imitation. It mindlessly copies what it sees. Those people whose minds depict such qualities are the people who came up with the expression — mind is a monkey.

If you organize the mind, it in turn organizes the whole system, that is your body, your emotions and your energy. Your entire being works in one direction and anything that you wish, manifests. That is the power of the mind.

An organized mind is not something that you are born with. It is something that you create through your environment, experiences and learnings. Mind is the slave and not the master. If you learn to believe this, you take control of your mind in a manner, where the thoughts that take birth from it, creates a world that gives you bliss, happiness and boundless joy.

Mind is not a monkey, when you live your days mindfully.