Why Why Is My Own Mind Set To Sabotage Me? | The Monkey Mind

Question: “Why, Why, Why is my mind set to sabotage me?”

This short piece is delivered as if it were a dialogue between two friends- or even between two parts of you.

It explains- in conversational style- the mechanics of the monkey mind/ the chimp/ the ego/ the unconscious mind (whichever term you are most familiar with), and gives an insight into how we may be, unknowingly, feeding the chimp-voices in our head.

Furthermore, how can we go about lessening this automated and ingrained pattern of suffering, in favour of a more conscious and aligned state of mind?

With Special thanks to Music of Wisdom’s “The Gentle Whisper”
And photo by Spenser Sembrat.

Transcript

A friend asked of another, Question, Why, Why, Why, Why is my own mind set to sabotage me? Answer, It genuinely doesn't see itself as a saboteur. It sees itself as your saviour, For its pursuit is survival, And its sole subject is you. Drink, Drugs, Cigarettes, Martyrdom, Procrastination, The blame game, Isolation, Spending, Extreming, Overindulging, Hypochondria related avoidance of life, Sex, Over under eating, These can all be used as distractions, Used to dull the pain, And to avoid living your fullest life, For fear of the power of your own potency. And these distractions may seem to offer a period of relief, And maybe even some pleasure. But what your mind is not interested in, Is the fact that the results of these distractions are both short lived, And often have painful consequences, And devastating ongoing repercussions. For each time we step away from our consciousness, And our most potent present path, We experience a form of suffering. And in time, We grow addicted to, And used to the suffering state, And the suffering cycle. So when that pain comes along again, As a result of our choosing and actioning from our scared minds menu of diversions, The survival mind can feed. Because like, Meets like. And once re-energized, The unconscious mind will almost certainly offer you a whole bunch of new, And irresistible, Get out of life temptations. To simply throw you back into the same loop, Again and again. Job done. Spiral, Spiral, Spiral, Spiral. The vast many believe that they are their mind. That their thoughts define them. But in reality, The mind has, Over time, Been allowed to develop into a kind of entity that feeds upon our pain, So it can be in control of us. As much as it believes it is saving us from the ultimate pain of death, It needs our pain in order for itself to exist in its current form. So I guess it's saving itself from death, And not us? The chimp mind is the scared bit, That's in near constant fear. In fact, It has been allowed to become a resident professional fear thought monger. Chattering incessantly, In a desperate plight to override our consciousness. So it can control the unknown. Unknown being, Of course, The nature of nature. The nature of the planet we live on. And the nature of the universe it spins within. And the nature and the beauty of our own potential. But the mind cannot control nature. So it strives to mask our own nature. To veer us onto a narrower path of its own design. A controllable one. A smaller one. An unnatural one. And fear is the ink that draws in our walls. Question. So what do I do with my chimp mind? How do I stop it? Answer. The principle, Not easy to be sure, Is not to fight the chimp mind. Or to strive to stop it. Because to force is unnatural. And unnatural is to cause suffering. And to cause suffering is to feed it. Rather the principle is to observe it. Like an outsider watching someone else's petulant child. To observe. But not to identify with. Because it is that identification that enables it to continue to exist. To feed. And to grow in power. So no judgment. No entertaining. No striving to change it or drawing out the sword in battle. Rather to observe. And then graciously move on. It will take a while for this new habit to form. So please, Please do be patient with you. For frustration and chastisement and agitation are the energy forms that feed what we are looking to release. Eventually, With time and consistency, Through lack of attention and encouragement, Our chimp mind will start to relinquish its control. It will de-energize with undernourishment, With lack of like-for-like attention. And not only then do we gain back the energy space that it once held, But we are also not wasting our vital life force on a futile internal battle of the wits where trying to out-chimp the chimp only encourages the chimp. So, Little by little, Let's start to remember our conscious self. Let's start to become available to each present moment. Let's start to show up in order to receive the gifts from the universal unknown. And let's embrace the wonder of what we really have to offer in this world. Thank you for showing up here, And I am very much looking forward to seeing you.