Is It Possible To Have Positive Monkey-mind Thoughts Outweighing Negative

[Joseph Maynor]

My monkey-mind is very negative.  Does the monkey get more cheerful as you do personal development and kick-up more positive default thoughts than negative default thoughts?  Does the ratio ever favor the positive thoughts with some of you more advanced folks?

I wanna trade my negative monkey in for a more positive one!  I think my whole world would change.

[S33K3R]

Yes it will happen. It takes time though. 

I used to think I would be battling this mind for a very long time. You will understand what your mind is better if I just explain this. 

 

Your mind is a tool which evolved for survival. Therefore it seeks out any kind of danger, physical, emotional, psychological. If it cant find danger it will imagine it (preventative). Now this can be useful, but mostly it drives us crazy. As you start to turn the mind around it will slowly start to reflect what is being put in. If negative is allowed to fester it will continue the negative as it is geared toward the negative. It is designed to scare you strait. But as you master meditation and clear out the beliefs you have that are inaccurate the mind will change. Be patient. Remember as a baby you didn't learn to walk in a day. It took months and months of constant practice. One thing at a time. You will get there. Only worry about now and before you know it you will be amazed at the progress

[Markus]

Yes, sure. But in the end, fuck monkey mind.

[hinawashi]

@S33K3R makes a great point. The monkey mind is indeed a tool for our survival. What's important is that you put it to good use and don't abuse it. Most of the time when people talking about their monkey mind being negative it's because they're abusing it. Actually there isn't a positive VS negative way of looking at it because it's all up to your definition. Part of the enlightenment journey is realizing that everything that you used to consider positive becomes the negatives and vice-versa.

[RossE]

I've meditated for almost a year now and a lot of it is still worrying, being anxious, being judgemental etc. But the difference is that I do not let the thoughts bother me so much. Unless they are part of practical thinking, the content goes largely unnoticed. I almost laugh at them at times because I know that negative voice has a job. That's fine, it's trying to make a living. But you must keep it failing miserably at this job 

[Joseph Maynor]

@Markus After many years of battle (and I have the scars to prove it), I realize I don't want to be at war with my monkey-mind anymore.  That just emboldens it I've found.  And correct me if I'm wrong, but even the most enlightened yogi on this planet still has vestiges of monkey-mind lurking in their psyche.  If you gotta live with it, shouldn't you try to make it the best possible roommate for yourself?  Don't you wanna tame the little devil?  If you can get it to lay down and take a nap that's good, but if you get it to kick-up positive rather than negative thoughts, that seems to be one better!  Is that possible?

Edited June 21, 2017 by Joseph Maynor

[SOUL]

8 hours ago, S33K3R said:

as you master meditation and clear out the beliefs you have that are inaccurate the mind will change.

Whether beliefs are accurate or not isn't the most effective way of viewing their value, what I prefer to view them as and found it effective is if they are contributing to our well being or are detracting from it. Which is really just an extension of do they aid in us being present in the moment or do they distract from our presence.

Other than that your response is succinct.

@Joseph Maynor Yes! It will. Monkey mind see monkey mind do, What we put into the mind will eventually come out of it so we feed the mind what we seek it to eventually reflect in us.

[S33K3R]

@SOUL I completely agree, my mind floats along and isn't considerate enough to always try to get the point across haha 

Thank you for clarifying Soul I know you got my back

[SOUL]

@S33K3R Part of the monkey mind conditioning is being fixated on right and wrong(accurate and inaccurate) which empowers that belief system so if we are seeking to change the habituation of this mechanical creature we can do it by offering it alternatives to that primitive dichotomy paradigm. Plus even the most inaccurate beliefs can produce powerful effects for working in one's life so ultimately it's just using a mechanism of the monkey mind to heal it self.

It's freeing the mind by transcending the ideology of the concept in working with the methods of the mind stripped of identity justification and anything that may give a foothold for the ego to use it to justify.

Edited June 21, 2017 by SOUL

[Markus]

11 hours ago, Joseph Maynor said:

@Markus After many years of battle (and I have the scars to prove it), I realize I don't want to be at war with my monkey-mind anymore.  That just emboldens it I've found.  And correct me if I'm wrong, but even the most enlightened yogi on this planet still has vestiges of monkey-mind lurking in their psyche.  If you gotta live with it, shouldn't you try to make it the best possible roommate for yourself?  Don't you wanna tame the little devil?  If you can get it to lay down and take a nap that's good, but if you get it to kick-up positive rather than negative thoughts, that seems to be one better!  Is that possible?

As I said, it's absolutely possible. But the yogi ultimately doesn't care too much for the positive-negative distinction. I want you to take "fuck monkey mind" as meaning not to take its content seriously. Don't fight it. It's like a child - love it but don't think everything it says is some godly wisdom or sth hahaha.

[Nahm]

@Joseph Maynor i have been without monkey mind for years. let me know if i can help. 

[Joseph Maynor]

@Nahm Would you say you have achieved Leo's concept of enlightenment?  Have you experienced the crack that Leo talks about in his discourses on enlightenment?

Edited June 21, 2017 by Joseph Maynor

[Epiphany_Inspired]

@Joseph Maynor  I've recently discovered that the extent of the monkey mind's manipulative powers is far more epic than I could have ever imagined...this includes using many of the great things about you as devices....although negative thought spirals are obviously "less healthy" even if your monkey mind was going crazy with positivity...monkey mind would likely be using this for it's own agenda of distracting, manipulating, and controlling you...the good news is that you are AWARE of how negative your monkey mind is...you've spent time observing it mindfully....and it never hurts to get more optimistic!

[Joseph Maynor]

@Epiphany_Inspired Maybe this is what causes people to become celebrities or "successful"!  Positive monkey-mind spirals.  Just a half-baked thought.

[Nahm]

@Joseph Maynor Even in referencing Leo's connotation, we're not dealing with an objective definition. You tell me what your connotation of enlightened is, and I'll honestly let you know if I'm there. ? Perhaps it will be helpful to both of us, or at least matter in some way. 

[Epiphany_Inspired]

@Joseph MaynorAffirmations, maybe? These can help people re-wire their brain for more positivity....the trick is to find affirmation that you can actually believe in *on all levels*....I just listened to "beyond willpower" there are some good examples of how to re-program in there...also, maybe see Bruce Lipton's work biology of belief, etc....

Edited June 21, 2017 by Epiphany_Inspired

[Joseph Maynor]

@Nahm I'm not sure.  I can't believe Leo's concept of enlightenment until I experience it for myself though.  But I have had an ego-death experience where I lost the concept of myself as a thing.  And I do practice being in nothingness and watching my input portals (thoughts and senses).  But I have not experienced the crack that Leo talks about where you lose your sense of self entirely.  And I'd be interested in hearing from anybody on here who has actually achieved Leo's sense of enlightenment fully.

Edited June 21, 2017 by Joseph Maynor