Taming the Drunken Monkey: The Path to Mindfulness, Meditation, and Increased Concentration

Meditation practitioner and professor Mikulas presents a user-friendly program to help readers control their thoughts rather than having their thoughts control them. “In Buddhist psychology or yogic sciences,” Mikulas explains, “the mind is often described as a wild or drunken money.” This monkey metaphorically jumps from limb to limb (or constantly races from thought to thought). When the monkey is “tamed” via concentration, awareness, meditation, and breath work, the mind becomes calm, stress is decreased, and the practitioner is able to stay present. In separate chapters, the book presents five levels: Novice, Student, Warrior, Adept, and Master. In each, the authors guide readers through methods to develop and fine-tune mental skills according to their capabilities; each level (with its own “skills, challenges and discoveries”) is a prerequisite for the next in the process of transforming the mind from master to servant. Mikulas encourages readers to approach the journey with “playful curiosity,” kindness, and patience, moving at his or her own rate. Though it may take readers time (perhaps even years) to perfect the steps in this compact book, the rewards of a calm mind will no doubt be worth the effort. (June)