The Monkey Mind vs The Monk Mind

I am very happy with this analogy comparison and it very accurately describes life in the modern world today, namely The Monkey Mind &The Monk Mind.When we are dealing with someone, sometimes we find it difficult to focus and concentrate on listening to what he is saying, or when we are working on a task, sometimes our thoughts fly there –here.The term monkey mind is a monkey that always jumps from one branch to another, just like the mind of someone who has difficulty concentrating and is often restless.Meanwhile, the term monk mind refers to monks whose thoughts are directed only to one branch and not anywhere else.

In a coaching session with a CEO of a large company in this country, he told me that his morning activity before starting his work and at night to close his day was to pray for 20 minutes each. He spends 40 minutes every day praying, but from his explanation, he realized that when he prays, his mind always switches between tasks, personal desires and family matters.In the end, the activity of praying was only a requirement/ritual that he had carried out the routine without fully concentrating.

Our minds are easy to move, even though our bodies are not.Difficulty in focusing/concentrating will cause a lot of harm to a person.Starting from everything we do is only on the surface, we don't delve 100% into it, and of course this will have a negative impact on the relationships we build with other people.Often I deal with people who have the monkey mind.What I gave cannot be captured 100%. In the end, I will go back to repeating everything that has been said.The relationship becomes disharmonious, less frequent because the person we are talking to does not listen properly.

Learning from those who are focused, such as monks, will certainly help us learn more easily about many aspects that we don't understand in this world.Learn to understand what the other person is saying, understand what he wants to say, and even feel what he feels when we can restrain our thoughts from being with him.This will make it easier to make a connection with the person we are talking to.

Is it easy?Of course it's easy if we want to try it.Try ordering it to yourself when we want to start this practice, whether when we are doing work, talking to someone, even when we are silent.Instruct ourselves to be quiet and concentrate and listen carefully, observe without interrupting, observe without letting our minds fall into accusations or assumptions that are in our heads in any situation.I am one of those people who used to have difficulty focusing, especially when smartphone distractions are really the biggest temptation and disaster, get away from all those distractions and start practicing, little by little.An easy example of what I do in my daily life, for example, when there are many WAs that I have to open and answer, I will choose first which one is more important, when I have chosen to open 1 WA, and read and find that I have to follow up with other people, I will not wait, but finish it completely, reply back, then open another WA and so on.I found a pattern for this answering technique that is very easy.One step at a time.

Feel the benefits and impacts when we can concentrate more.We will become calmer individuals, not easily interrupt other people's conversations and even become pleasant individuals because we want to hear what other people have to say to us.Having the monk mind is an appreciation for ourselves and of course an appreciation for others.That all the people we meet are valuable and important, so of course we will open ourselves deeper so we can understand the many aspects we don't know about from what we see and get in this world.

Written by Erwin Parengkuan