Where Is The Monkey Mind? (& Realistic Enlightenment)

Oliver Gohari explains exactly how to "find" your mind, and offers a realistic take of what enlightenment can look like for you. You'll find answers to the following questions: Why is the mind so troublesome? How can I locate this mind? What is enlightenment? What is consciousness & awareness?

Transcript

We have to observe our thinking mind because the thinking mind is, It's the root of all our suffering, Quite literally. The Buddha stated that the mind is like a monkey swinging on branches between the trees. If anybody has any difficulty knowing what their mind is, If you're thinking, Okay, Well, What's my mind? What's my mind? Just do a very simple activity. Say to yourself, Hello, My name is, And then fill in the blank. And then what you'll hear in your head is your conscious thinking mind. So each of you can do that right now. Hello, My name is. And there you have it. There is your thinking mind. And you are not that mind. It's part of you, It's part of your life, Yes, But it's not the be all end all. Now the problem is that we're not taught at school about this. We're not raised in a system that helps us stand back from our mind. So we end up growing up in a culture and a system where it's all mind. This results in suffering. Because the mind is a fear-based being. Enlightenment might be described as the realization that you're not your mind. You're the observer of the mind. And Enlightenment Level 2 might be the Awareness, Consciousness is the main ingredient in all of your experiences.

Reviews

I really enjoyed this short but thought-provoking talk. I appreciated the way you explore the nature of the mind and offer such a grounded and realistic perspective on enlightenment. It gave me a few things to reflect on and made some big questions feel a little more approachable. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and perspective. 🌿

I love it-the monkey 🐒 mind! So true with what you said, it can certainly run away and drag me with it before I know it! This is a helpful reminder to not let that happen!