Watch Out for Monkey’s That Fling Poo or Your Ego’s Memory.

And how the monkey brain swings from tree to tree…This is one of my favorite topics because it’s the one most difficult part of being a human, in my humble opinion. Granted, if I had less of the basic needs taken care of I might say differently but from my perspective this is the big one for myself and many of you out there.For the last seven years I’ve been in the study of Buddhism, trying to see reality, and from this perspective the monkey brain is one to be trained to not swing and fling poo. We use daily meditation, moving the jumping thoughts and ego to the side, quieting things down so that we can even just for a moment see things as they truly are. Taking off the glasses so to speak. This allows one to step back, cast away attachments to the ego memories or thoughts, see the emotions or thoughts as they are; coming and going.What got me thinking this morning about this was a recent post by one of my favorite blogs “be Conscious now” on

How can I stop these compulsive thoughts from invading my brain?

K-L does a great job of relating to what most of us go through and offers some advice on how to quiet things down:

Realize that: “See, YOU are not your thoughts, nor your mind, nor your personality, nor your body. You are the eternal, unchanging consciousness within. ”

“The thoughts are automatic… they are generated based on your past, your personality, your emotions… they are inevitable. Yet they mean nothing.”

K-L makes a great point, do nothing about these thoughts, see them, separate from them and observe them. Great! Easy no? No. Not easy and not as simple as just looking at them. I don’t think one can just say I’m going to look at them but they won’t affect me, this is not possible. But this may be two lines of thinking, K-L vs. Laboheme. I am of the belief that it takes practice and time. It’s taken me years to make progress and I still spin out of control with thinking.

Once you realize, as K-L says, that these thoughts are not you but the reflection of your ego memories, you can start to detach from them. Once you realize that a mind untrained will create these thoughts and lead then to suffering.

If you have the ability to not attach to your thoughts then you are a long way down the path but if you struggle, from my perspective they only way to walk down that path is by training the mind; Mindfulness Meditation is the first and best place to start.

Here is a primer on how to start. At first you will find it difficult to sit for a long period of time but through training you maybe be able to sit for 30 or 60 minutes a day or even sit for 8 hours at a retreat. (I’m at the 30 min mark myself but I never go further than I can).

Find a comfortable sitting position, on a cushion, in a meditation bench, any position you can sit comfortably for an extended period of time. You can clasp your hands in any position or mudra you wish or not, it’s up to you and what works for you.

Close your eyes and just breathe……..notice the breath as it moves in and out just at the tip of your nose. You will feel the air move in and out, almost tickle. Focus on this, without words or thoughts, just focus on the breath coming in and out.

After a bit your mind will drift; maybe it’s the grocery list, maybe it’s the negative thoughts in your ego saying you are wasting your time or maybe it’s that itch on your leg. As soon as you drift come back to focusing on the breath and it’s coming in and out of your nose.

That’s it, simply a practice of allowing the mind to drift, placing no judgment on the thoughts and letting them drift away as you focus on your breath.

Start for 10 minutes and work your way up as long as you can but practice daily. What you will notice is how you will naturally do this during the day, you are training your mind.

This is a good topic, more on this later.

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