Mind monkey or monkey mind, from Chinese xinyuan and Sino-Japanese shin'en 心猿, is a Buddhist term meaning "unsettled; restless; capricious; whimsical; fanciful; inconstant; confused; indecisive; uncontrollable". In addition to Buddhist writings, including Chan or Zen, Consciousness-only, Pure Land, and Shingon, this "mind-monkey" psychological metaphor was adopted in Daoism, Neo-Confucianism, poetry, drama, and literature. "Mind-monkey" occurs in two reversible four-character idioms with yima or iba 意馬, most frequently used in Chinese xinyuanyima 心猿意馬 and Japanese ibashin'en 意馬心猿. The "Monkey King" Sun Wukong in the Journey to the West personifies the mind-monkey. Note that much of the following summarizes Carr (1993).
Read more about Mind Monkey: Linguistic and Cultural Background, Early Literary History of "mind-monkeys", "Mind-monkey" in English, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words mind and/or monkey:
“There is one mind common to all individual men. Every man is an inlet to the same and to all of the same.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Madam, you’re making history. In fact, you’re making me and I wish you’d keep my hands to yourself.”
—S.J. Perelman, U.S. screenwriter, Arthur Sheekman, Will Johnstone, and Norman Z. McLeod. Groucho Marx, Monkey Business, a flirtatious remark while trying to make love to Lucille Briggs (Thelma Todd)