THE MONKEY MIND vs PEAK PERFORMANCE

Human brain being blessed with conscience and intellect constantly thrives to achieve more, on the quest to success. As such, the mind constantly jumps from one thought to another quite similar to a monkey jumping from one branch of a tree to another. Recent research reveals that what we call the unconscious mind is perhaps the most conscious mind which continuously feeds from the senses including vision, sound, touch, smell, taste, and thoughts - often referred to as the sixth sense.??

As part of the process, once the mind encounters these senses it starts evaluating whether the generated feeling is pleasant or unpleasant. From there, if the feeling is pleasant, it naturally generates pleasant sensations in the body and vice versa. As this cycle continues, the brain starts to create constant craving for the pleasant sensations and generates a feeling of abortion towards the unpleasant ones. By birth, the brain is only programmed to prioritise and observe the external factors of the world and constantly react to the thoughts, emotions, and feelings generated by the very extrinsic elements.?

This gives birth to two of the most prevalent challenges in the modern world – Depression, and Anxiety. Depression commonly occurs from continuously thinking about unpleasant past events which often lowers one’s self esteem and plummets the value of today as it stands. Anxiety on the other hand occurs when the mind consistently worries about the future, a future that does not exist yet. The mind is then capable of creating a second non existing world but making the beholder believe it is real, yielding great sense of pleasure from it at times and more often grief, sorrows, and misery.??

The answer to this then could be finding a way to reverse the natural habit pattern of the mind where it either ponders into the past or non-existent future and reacts to the sensations generated by entering the bubble. This signifies the importance of learning the art to live in the present by observing the reality of the moment as it is and not reacting to it. One way to attain this is by learning to become fully aware of the sensations within the framework of the body and simply observing the reality as it is - without craving for the pleasant sensations and creating any feeling of abortion towards the unpleasant ones. As these sensations are objectively observed, it's nature of impermanence becomes very prominent as no two sensations can ever be exactly the same or last forever. Once the fact of impermanence becomes apparent, with it arises a breakthrough question – Is there any point of creating attachment to something that is not even going to last then??

As the reality is allowed to manifest as it is and accepted without reacting to it, the natural cycle of the ever-reacting mind breaks. With consistent and persistent efforts, the mind then slowly starts building resiliency to stay balanced and equanimous. As the reactive habit is paused and observative habit starts to build, the first thing that prominently changes on the surface level is the breath. For example, as one gets nervous their breath gets quicker and heavier which eventually settles down as they start observing the sensations created by feeling nervous initially.

Overtime, and again importantly with consistent efforts the entire field of mind and matter becomes one as the body dissolves into the surrounding as subtle vibrations. Although it takes rather longer to get to this stage, once one gets there they experience the ultimate truth of the entire field of mind and matter on an experiential level. One may be equipped with profound intellectual knowledge but can only get so far without it being backed by experience. As such, continuity of practice to live in the moment without reacting to sensations and building a resilient mind is the key to success.?

There are multiple ways to train the human mind to live in the present including practicing mindfulness, playing sports or even simply being aware of the naturally occurring breath without attempting to control it. Firstly, being able to let go of past episodes including both righteousness and errors and shifting undivided focus on now is undoubtedly the answer to optimising performance and efficiency. Secondly, the power of positive thoughts and actions in this transition to start living in the present is paramount. One is the result of their own thoughts, actions, and the environment. Once these three factors are supercharged to consistently remain positive, a process of manifestation beings and success is naturally attracted in life. The art of living in the moment, therefore, is the one skill that must be practiced for gaining control over the monkey mind and achieving ultimate peak performance.?