Advice to the Cook

Doing some research on Oryoki and found this in an article giving advice to monastery cooks -

"Do not discriminate between the faults or virtues of the monks or whether they are senior or junior. You do not even know where you stand, so how can you put others into categories. Judging others from within the boundaries of your own opinions, how could you be anything other than wrong?"

Monkey Mind

As I sit down to read yesterday's mail, I notice my mind is madly ticking off a list of other things I could (and should) be doing. It seems pretty irritated that I haven't yet learned to bi-locate.

Is this what Buddhists call monkey mind? Chattering on and on, not always making a lot of sense. Either nagging and dissatisfied or off in its own little world, going on about one thing or another. Making up stories. Trying to get me to believe they're real. Relying on dubious premises to cobble together "the way things are."

It takes careful investigation and tireless effort to begin to unravel the tangle of thoughts woven over the years by a relentless monkey mind.