10)  MONKEY CHATTER

“Monkey Chatter” is that voice inside our heads which is reviewing our situation constantly and doesn’t seem to quit and can be quite unpleasant.

But first, let’s review the purpose of our incarnations into a human body. In metaphysics it is to gain experiences to store in our soul. It can be learning experiences, but not necessarily. It can be pleasant experiences, suffering and hardship, explorations. It is said that the soul, in order to know itself, must eventually experience everything that is possible for a human, positive and negative. And not in any particular order. But having said that, there does seem to be an advance in wisdom.

Another interesting word that needs a definition, “wisdom”. It is when we are making a decision and realize that one path will not lead to good things. The dictionary says “the realization that putting the dam next to the active volcano might not be wise”.

Now to the latest discoveries in evolutionary biology and the development of the brain. All animals have 2 brains, each operates differently. Usually it is the left brain which is designed for eating and the right brain for not being eaten. The left brain is like a digital computer and processes logic and the right brain is like an analog computer and processes associations. One processes the ordinary and the other the extraordinary. Both brains can operate independently, but are also connected via the corpus collosum.

The right associative brain is very quick, needs to be for safety, and doesn’t take much energy. The left logical brain takes a lot of energy and needs our concentration to work. In fact, the brain takes 20% of the energy expended by the body when it is working on a logic problem.

But the interesting thing is that when not working on a problem, the brain still takes 20% energy. Why? What is it doing? Well it is evaluating our situation, how are we doing? It is designed that way.

And that’s the voice that doesn’t seem to quit except when we are actually concentrating on something, the “monkey chatter”. The unpleasantness comes from the focus of this chatter, usually something negative, sometimes pleasant memories, but more often surveying the mistakes we have made ourselves, or the abuse of someone else towards us. And over and over again, the same thoughts. What a waste of energy, not to mention emotions, but not so easy to stop.

This is why it is almost easier to actually do some work where we need to concentrate, because it stops the monkey chatter. I like to think of the word “busy-ness”.

So, back to our purpose, to experience. And with experience comes wisdom.

You remember those IQ tests they gave us in school. They were made up of all these shapes we were supposed to figure out which were the same, etc. These tests were really evaluating how well we can see patterns, because that is what higher IQ is, spotting mental patterns, about any subject.

I call it “meta-thinking”, where we see a bunch of events, and then develop a theory about how those things are the same or different. This is natural, everybody does it, but the theories are more successful the higher the IQ. “Meta” means going up a level. For instance, learning a couple of languages is useful, but some people think about the structures of the languages, how they relate to each other. But more on “meta” in another posting.

Right now we are talking about monkey chatter and wisdom. The point is that if we are going to see the patterns behind a series of events, we need to let our associative brain help—it can do it faster and sometimes more accurately than the logic brain.

The Tarot cards, the major arcana of which there are 22 cards, actually have an esoteric meaning, each card being a progression in the development of wisdom. And one of the overriding lessons of the cards is that in order to see the super-consciousness (the soul), our consciousness (or logic brain) must go through the subconscious (or associative brain). In other words wisdom comes from bringing the 2 brains together in harmony. This is not normal or natural, it takes work. More on that later too.

The point is that if the left brain is busy doing monkey chatter, there is no way to become connected to the right brain, the subconscious. This means that a person who is trying to become wise, must stop the monkey chatter. I have talked to people who don’t believe that it is possible. It is.

How to do it? Meditation is the best tool. When we meditate, we are sitting quietly without external distractions, and that is when the monkey chatter stops. There are 4 steps in the cycle of meditative practice. First is the state of 1) no-thinking, then 2) the money-chatter starts, then 3) the realization that we are chattering, then 4) the stopping of the chatter, and then back to 1. It takes practice and the more we do it, the quicker we can go from 2 to 4 and back to 1.

Another thing about the no-thinking state, it releases endorphins into the brain. It can be quite pleasant, sometimes extending to a quiet ecstasy. But the other thing, maybe more important, is that we learn to control our own brain. Even though we only meditate for 20 minutes a day, the rest of the day can be spent with a quieted left brain, and guess what, from that point we can see the subconscious working, and that leads to awareness of our soul. And from thinking about things from the soul point of view, we can see deeper patterns, which can be quite enlightening and useful.

One more thing, it can be difficult to meditate if our body is in a state of tension, stress. I was in that stressed state at one point and couldn’t meditate. I was lucky because I was then introduced to the practice of yoga. Yoga is the stretching of the muscles and the awareness of them in order to let them relax. After doing a yoga flow, from one posture to another smoothly, the body becomes quiet and meditation is much easier.

Yoga was developed in the East thousands of years ago and it was for that purpose, to prepare the body for meditation. As usual when the Western mind takes something from the East, in this case it has become transformed into exercising. It shouldn’t even be called “yoga”.