I hear a lot of people talk about "monkey mind" but have wondered if they really know where the term comes from. Here it is---the Buddha's words from the Nidanasamyutta 12. VII:
But that which is called 'mind' and 'mentality' and 'consciousness' arises as one thing and ceases as another by day and by night. Just as a monkey roaming through a forest grabs hold of one branch lets go and grabs another, the lets go and grabs still another, so to that which is called 'mind' and 'mentality' and 'consciousness' arises as one thing and ceases as another by day and by night.
How often does the monkey in our mind swing from one thought to another? A recent study suggests that we generate a new thought every 1.2 seconds!! That's 50 thoughts a minute, 3000 thoughts an hour, 168,000 thoughts in a 14 hour day, 1,176,000 thoughts a week, 61,152,000 a year---now multiply that by your age. Now do you see why you are exhausted AND you haven't done anything yet. Want some rest? Quiet the mind. How? As I have been suggesting. Stop and be still. Make the monkey a sloth. Five minutes of quieting the mind a day relieves 250 thoughts that day, 1750 a week, 91,000 a year. May not seem like much but it's 91,000 fewer. Think of the possible relief with each additional five minutes!! Make the monkey a sloth!
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