There comes a time in a students training where they have memorized the form in mind and body and have walked in the realm of Po (the energetic reality). These are two major sign-posts in our training and we must recognize the greater meaning.

One sign for a student to watch for at this stage is the increasing chatter of the monkey mind while performing the forms. If the student is on the correct path s/he will notice that even though s/he has learned to only visualize (and not use words/language) while training that the monkey mind has stepped up its chatter and is becoming quite loud and annoying. The reason for this is that the monkey mind is a manifestation of the ego. The ego has ruled the roost so to speak for most of it’s existence and through the continued efforts of the student to access Po the monkey mind acknowledges that it is starting to loose its dominance. It is like when a tyrant is told that a rebellion has started. He becomes enraged!

If the student has walked the correct path and progressed through the physical then intellectual learning of the forms and has achieved quietude while visualizing then a dramatic emergence of the monkey mind is actually a good sign! 

Now what the student must learn to do is trap the monkey. In India they have learned to cleverly trap monkeys by taking advantage of the monkeys inherent nature. The people set the trap by putting an orange in a milk bottle that is tied to a tree. This is a treat that the monkey cannot resist and it reaches in and grabs the orange. Unfortunately the combined diameter of the monkey’s hand and the orange makes it impossible for the monkey to pull the orange out of the bottle. The monkey could easily let go of the orange and be on its way but because of its nature it does not, and the monkey finds itself trapped in an unpleasant predicament.

I hope you can see the lesson I’m trying to convey and when you recognize the above scenario in your training you can successfully train past that mouthy monkey and learn to walk the fine line between the worlds of Hun (wisdom mind) and Po (ancient mind).

Keep training and learning,

Rod