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
Other articles related to "mind monkey, monkey, mind":
... xinyuan or Japanese shin'en commonly include "mind monkey", "monkey mind", and "monkey of the mind" ... Inconstant fickle in the mind (A Complete Chinese–English Dictionary, Tsang 1920, cf ... next) 【意馬心猿】 Unsettled in mind fluctuating wavering in purpose (A Complete Chinese–English Dictionary) 【意馬心猿】The intents of the mind and heart are ...
... Examples of "mind monkey" are predictably common in Chinese popular culture ... For instance, Sam yuen yi ma 心猿意馬 – the Cantonese pronunciation of Xinyuanyima "mind-monkey will-horse" – was a 1999 Hong Kong movie (known in English as "The Accident") by Stanley Kwan ... However, examples of "mind monkey" are surprisingly widespread in modern English culture ...
... 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" ... writings, including Chan or Zen, Consciousness-only, Pure Land, and Shingon, this "mind-monkey" psychological metaphor was adopted in Daoism, Neo-Confucianism, poetry ... 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 ...
... Mind monkey and monkey mind both occur in English usage, originally as translations of xinyuan or shin'en and later as culturally-independent images ... Of the two animals in this metaphor, the "monkey" phrase was stronger than the "horse" because xinyuan "mind-monkey" was occasionally used alone (e.g ... qingyuan 情猿 "emotion-monkey" in Ci'en zhuan) ...
Famous quotes containing the words monkey and/or mind:
“An old monkey never makes a pretty face.”
—François Rabelais (1494–1553)
“We all indulge in the strange, pleasant process called thinking, but when it comes to saying, even to someone opposite, what we think, then how little we are able to convey! The phantom is through the mind and out of the window before we can lay salt on its tail, or slowly sinking and returning to the profound darkness which it has lit up momentarily with a wandering light.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)