Thoughts Diary

A large part of human happiness lies with thought filtering.
Thoughts can easily be looped in vicious cycle.
Your thought does not reflect reality.
Thought feeds on energy from emotion and attention. Give it enough emotion and focus, it will have a life on its own, which are commonly referred to as thought-form.

What Are We Chasing After?

We often associate happiness with material wealth. The richer we are the happier we become. We didn't know that in the process of accumulating external objects, we are feeding our greed and growing our attachments. That explains why billionaires are never satisfied with their wealth, because their greed have overblown to the extent that they become slaves. Devoting their lives to quench their ever increasing thirst of greed and living every moment in fear of losing. Their gigantic greed can make them stingy even on 10 cents deal.

Every material object is subject to depreciation and sudden lost. They are never permanent. As soon as you drive your brand new porsche out of showroom be prepared it will be scratched or lost by theft, anytime.

Isn't it tragedy to see that we devote our lives chasing after illusions and only to regret during our last few breathes?

Anything more than you need is considered as life clutter. Clutter is a liability rather than an asset. These are useless things you think you need that is giving you a bad quality of life.

Emotions Takeover

Whenever you are struck with extreme emotion such as fear or anger, do not respond or act on it.
Because whatever think and feel subsequently will be guided by these emotions, that separate you from rationality.

Hence many people regretted their actions that are motivated by emotions and impulses because these are irrational, and actions include thoughts. Negative thoughts often come with the first impression.
Emotions need to be constantly fed to stay alive. Feelings, thoughts and actions are their foods. And emotions have an ingenious mechanism that ensures that they get fed constantly. They create a loop of feelings, thoughts and actions that make them stronger each time. Eventually they have a life on their own independent of almost anything else. They surface on your consciousness in daily life with direct or indirect trigger or suggestion, draining you of energy via feelings, thoughts and actions. Ever heard of the phantom-like “thought-form”? That’s how powerful emotional thoughts can get, that eventually they manifest in physical form.

What do you do next time you feel the temptation to think, feel and action on your emotion? Distract yourself and draw your attention away from your emotion. Never put a single thought on them. Without the attention, they soon fade and that’s when rationality and a spark of wisdom sets in to dispel and disperse the doubts, suspicions, falsehood, lies, or collectively a “dark-cloud” that was about to be implanted into you.

Shocking Prophecies made by Padmasambhava more than a thousand years ago

Many people are familiar with the prophecies of Nostradamus made more than seven hundred years ago, but few people are aware of the prophecies made by Padmasambhava (also known as Guru Rinpoche), the founder of Tibetan Buddhism, more than one thousand years ago.

When asked by his disciple when is the beginning of Dharma-ending age, Guru Rinpoche replied; “When the Iron Birds(1) are flying in the sky and the Iron Horses(1) are running on the roads, we know that dharma-ending age has arrived. At this time, Tibetan Buddhism shall flourish globally. When the iron bird flies and the horses run on wheels, the Tibetan people will be scattered like ants across the world, and the Dharma will come to the land of the red men (Western Countries).

In this Dharma-ending age, “Rulers do not act like Rulers, Subjects do not act like Subjects, Fathers do no act like Fathers, Sons do not act like Sons” (2), the relationships between Fathers and Sons are more like Playmates. Women do not honor and uphold chastity; men indulge in lust and unrestrained sexual misconducts.

Note:
1) Iron Birds and Iron Horses are known now as Airplanes, Cars and Trains.
2) This reminds me of Confucius’ Analects: “...ruler be a ruler, the subject a subject, the father a father, the son a son”, with regards to maintaining a world of order. What this means is that ruler shall uphold the duty as a ruler by serving the interests of the citizens. The citizens shall behave like citizens, by being law-abiding, respect the authorities and maintain law and order. Parents should act as parents by being providers, teachers and guardians to their children. Children shall be obedient and respect their parents.

Guru Rinpoche further prophesied that in that era (or rather now), carriages do not require horses to move, they self-propel (3). Youngsters in that era step on something that shaped like a bullhorn and there are wheels underneath that allow them to skate everywhere (4). It is even stranger that people in that era do not need to leave their houses to know things that happen around the world, just by sitting in front of a mirror (5）.

Note:
3, 4, 5) Car, Skateboard, Roller Blades, TV and LCD panels, i.e. computer with internet connections.

Guru Rinpoche further said that in that era, many ordained monks are greedy and pursue wealth and fame. They travel everywhere to cheat on their followers. They plan and think of ways to get offerings and donations from followers and possess their own private wealth and properties, yet they do not engage in any Buddhist practices or chanting on their own. They indulge in music, dance and entertainments. They break precepts and vows without any remorse (6).

Note:
6) This is happening now.  Bogus monks are everywhere especially in the Eastern countries. This prophecy coincides with Buddha’s prediction that “There is no disappearing of the true Dhamma until a counterfeit Dhamma arises in the world. Once a counterfeit Dhamma arises then there is a disappearing of the true Dhamma.” 

When i read that The Buddha told his disciples the most important sutra of all, the Surangama Sutra, should be the first to be destroyed, i asked myself how could any teaching be destroyed at this digital age?  I could print a thousands copies and bury them underground and someday someone would dig it up and revives the teachings again.  Or i could upload copies of the sutra to all the available servers on the internet. How could it possibly be destroyed?

Then one day, while doing research and reading news regarding some Buddhist sect in Taiwan proclaiming that the Surangama Sutra is fake and that Buddha never taught that, do i realize what Buddha meant by "Destroy".  This realization was brought to me by a renowned Buddhist master over a seminar that Sutras do not get destroyed physically, they are destroyed by being "discredited".  In other words, by saying that Surangama Sutra is fake and that Buddha never taught that, nobody will ever read or bothered with that Sutra again and that is how it is "destroyed".  This will eventually happen to the entire Buddhism as the predicted by The Buddha, as the Dharma ends when nobody has faith or believe in it anymore.
I would also like to note that the credibility of Buddhism is in the hands of those who represent it, those who spread and teach in the name of Buddhism especially those in "high authority" and/or with many followers.  That puts Buddhism at stake because its credibility is tied to these people.  So The Buddha said, in the Dharma-ending age "follow only the Buddha-Dharma, and not the person who teaches it. In other words, The Buddha warned us against "Idolism". It is The Buddha's teaching and your own practices that liberate you, not any mundane person, not even any self-proclaimed or public-acknowledged certified born-again "Buddha". 
The original teachings of The Enlightened Ones could also be corrupted or altered by self-profiteering persons or by intellectuals. This was also the reason Guru Rinpoche concealed countless Terma teachings to prevent the destruction of the secret mantrayana.  And for each of these terma treasure, the time, the identity of its revealer, the person who would receive and hold the teachings were also predicted.

With regards to mundane lives, Guru Rinpoche commented that in that era, husband and wife relationship shall be ruined and damaged by so-called “double-tongues” women, who instigate, provoke and create disharmony within families(7). Unfilial sons and daughters will chase their parents out from home. Brothers and sisters shall fight among themselves for inheritance, and violate the five precepts without remorse. Buddha’s teaching gradually faded and eventually lost. There shall be incest among the closest kin. Many people shall be addicted to gambling, drugs and alcohol. Buddhas’ statues and paintings, Buddhist ritual instruments are sold in flea markets on the streets (8). Vintage valuables passed down from generations to generations shall be sold and auctioned in international markets. Deforestation and over exploitation of nature causes ecological imbalances thereby resulting in frequent natural disasters. Thieves and robberies shall infest the entire city and paupers and beggars are seen everywhere.

Note: Can anyone tell me what is not happening now?

7) The word “double-tongues” mentioned is what is known to us now as “double-headed”. He specified women that include friends, relatives and kin. This means gossipy friends and kins deliberately giving bad advises and information to create disharmony between husbands and wives and eventually breaking up families.
8) It was mentioned that the karma for such phenomenon is the widespread of infectious diseases.

In the year of metal dragon (9), demons entered the water (10). In the year of Metal Snake(11）, demons entered the wind and thunder frost hail, wreaking havoc and creating disasters for many (12). In the year of Water Goat (13), here shall be widespread of infectious diseases (14).

Note:
9) Year 2000 is the year of Metal Dragon based on the Tibetan Calendar.
10) On August 12, 2000, the Russian Oscar II class submarine Kursk sank in the Barents Sea and exploded.
11) Year 2001 is the year of Metal Snake based on the Tibetan Calendar.
12) i) Tropical Storm Allison that devastated southeast Texas happened in June
2001.
ii) The 2001 Gujarat earthquake occurred in India, killing 20,000 people and causing injuries to 166,000 others.
13) Year 2003 is the year of Water Goat based on the Tibetan Calendar.
14) The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) happened in 2003.

These incidents might not "appear" to be catastrophic or on global scale. Similar to Chinese Calendar, the Tibetan Calender Year has a 60 years cycle. For instance, in year 2000 it was year of Metal Dragon and in the year of 2060 it should be another year of Metal Dragon.  Should He could be referred to any year with that specific Element-Animal.  

Alcoholics shall die of cerebrovascular diseases; gamblers shall die of stomach disorder; slander shall die of throat-related diseases; heavy smokers shall die of lungs diseases; over consumption of eggs, garlic and onion causes frequent nightmares resulting in mental disturbances and eventually related death; hunters and slaughter of animals shall die of liver and intestines related diseases, sinners and those with heavy bad karma shall die of many types of diseases that are painful and sufferings.

The year of Wood Rooster is when the strength of Buddhism is the weakest. Evil spirits and demons shall take opportunity at this time to wrench more havocs and creating more damages.
In the year of Earth Ox15, there shall be wars among countries and many people shall perish.

Note:
15) 2009 is the Year of Earth Ox based on the Tibetan Calendar. However it might not necessary be this year. It could be another cycle of Earth Ox which is 60 years from now. But for sure in 2009 we have encountered frequent natural disasters of different scale.

The origin of this translated text is in Chinese. Any mistake in the translation is solely my responsibility. I am not sure if there is other more complete translation out there in English, if there is, please inform me. Anyone is free to use the content of this translation, responsibly.

Homage to Guru Rinpoche, if not because of Him i weren’t be alive today doing this translation.
Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum.

Putting in Control The Most Powerful Thing You Possess

For every amount of power gained, there must be an equal or more levels of control over it. Power breeds greed and greed in turn corrupts power. An increase of power without proportional increase in control will by default corrupts power.

The single most powerful thing you possess is your mind. It has the creative power to generate thoughts that directly and indirectly affect things around you. Thoughts are energies, and breaking up every sub-atomic participles in this world are nothing but energies vibrating in different frequencies that ultimately manifest in different material forms.

Believing whatever your mind tells you is giving it power. If thought patterns become habit, your mind is given absolute power. In other words, whatever your mind "thinks", shall be taken as "real" by you. This means there is no control system over your mind.

Based on what was mentioned above, that power corrupts because of greed, in this case the greed to fulfill the inner desires, you will soon be a slave to a mind that is easily dictated by emotions. Because emotions carry much powerful energies (due to human weaknesses, i.e. the self ego), compared to rationality and has the ability to overrule the latter. You will be sucked into the turbulent undercurrent of highly agitated emotional and unstable mind that tells you what is "real" based on its disposition conditioned by emotions.

Warning on New Age & Psychic Development
Now we come to the danger of so-called the "sixth-sense". Once in a blue moon, we could have a gut feel about something. But beware if that happens too often to the extent that you automatically believe whatever your "gut" feels.

This is what many New Age and Psychic Development tries to achieve, to invoke (I rather call it provoke) a "knowing" by will about something unknown. Underlying all these efforts are nothing but giving the mind a diplomatic passport. That's the beginning of the infamous Schizophrenia.

it's getting very late and i am in serious lack of sleep recently, i will continue to write as and when inspiration strikes. Meanwhile, all rights reserved on the content of this note and if you were to use anything please quote the source. I want to be responsible for what i wrote. Actually i do have many things to write but the Zzzzz monster just knocked me out

Our Habits Form Our Nature

Because of the illusion of the self, ego arises. Human have been servicing these egos and develop habits of greed, anger and ignorance.

Greed-anger-ignorance create emotional energies that disrupt the mind and preventing it from being peaceful.

Every moment in our lives we create illusions from sensory inputs based on the habits of our thoughts that create emotions that further enforces these habits. Hence a habitually angry person always see, hear, smell, touch things that make them angry. And this creates a vicious cycle.

A habitually greedy person see, hear, smell, touch everything that excites his greed. He sees opportunities in many things he can take advantages of. And he habitually exploit and manipulate people and things to realize his goals.

Emotional Energies

The best quote i ever written and i think it went unnoticed to many people was "Why do we continue to fear even after we knew the rope in the dark wasn't a snake".

The fear lingers even after you knew the rope in the dark wasn't a snake. Your anger didn't vanish immediately even after you knew you've wronged that person. Feeling of jealousy remains even after you knew it was a misunderstanding. These demonstrate the existence of emotional energies.

Rationality dispels a wrong view but not an emotion. Emotion is energy and once it is generated it exist and it fight its way to grow and survive.

Emotional energies are produced by thoughts and these energies will then guide your thoughts to generate the same emotions and give food to these energies. A vicious cycle will continue until you decide to break those compulsive thoughts.

Think about it, recall your experiences and look at what was taking place in your mind recently. Do you see patterns? Do you see yourself predisposed toward a certain emotion?

As soon as your mind is scatter, your thoughts will immediately be lead by your most predominant emotion. Recalling events, instances to interpret or re-interpret them in order to generate the same emotion.

How are we teaching our young ones?

Kids bring joys to our lives. They dispel the emptiness and bring new meanings to our lives.

While the best thing we can ever provide is love, best gift we can ever give is not material but something that prepares the young ones for their future and benefits them for many years to come. That gift is called education. Not in terms of academic learning but the education of the mind and character.

How many times did you scream at your kids when they did mistakes and how many times did you jump at them for being mischievous? Can you count the number of times you were angry in a day because of the behaviors of your kids?

Emotion directed at a particular person is a cultivated habit. If you ever find a justification to be angry with someone, you will find it very easy to be angry with the same person the second time, and it became a nature on the third occasion, and so and on and on. Soon, before you realized each of your anger automatically escalates to violence.

What is the implication? We are teaching our kids ANGER, and showing them that violence is justified by anger. We are teaching them to react instead of respond to situations with our immediate reaction to their mistakes. We are telling them that each time they feel angry they should not restraint that anger but let it be fully blown out.

Kids are always looking for example to follow, particularly what they should do in various situations. They will continue to look up to adults for clues as long as they have not developed the ability to think and rationalize independently, and sometimes it might be too late if they had already developed the habits of certain emotions and behaviors.

How many times did you lied to your kids that if they do not behave you will send them away to the beggars on the street, if they don’t go to bed now the monster will come and eat them up, and there are ghosts in the dark room, etc? How many times have you threatened to lock up your kids in a dark room, spread chili on their lips, or beat them up if they don’t do what you say? What are you doing here? You teach them FEAR. And succumb to the demand of authority without the need for justification.

That however does not imply that appropriate punishment is forbidden. I am only bringing out your awareness on your behaviors and its implications on the minds of the young ones.

Are you using more punishment than persuasion on your kids? Did you bother to explain the reasons why they should act or not act in a certain way? Yes, you did explain, but how many times did you bother to repeat the explanation and enforce the messages with words instead of losing your temper and say the usual “How many times have I told you….” followed by harsh words and physical punishment?

A young kid is often analogous to a piece of plain white paper. It depends on what we want to draw on it. Putting aside various beliefs, every kid is born with unique personality, disposition and predominant emotions. We should not bring out, develop and enforce the habits of their negative emotions. Teach them what we wanted to be taught and the way we wanted it to be taught. We do not have to follow the way we were taught and how we were taught.

Remember one thing, patience comes from love. Anger arises from your own ego.

Your strongest emotions Override your Judgement

Let's recall some experiences. You walked into a total strange dark room and you accidentally stepped on something. What was the first thing that came into your mind? That the mysterious thing you stepped on was a snake, a lizard, a rat, or something you fear the most. It can never a adorable teddy bear or cute bunny rabbit.

Another possibility could be that you thought it was a stacks of notes. Whichever your strongest emotion is, fear or greed.

On another occasion, your friend told you that he/she saw your spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend walking on the street acting intimately and holding the hand of another opposite sex. What was then on your mind? Your mind could be flooded with countless thoughts but there was one underlying dominant thought, that is, it happened.

On the other hand, if that friend told you he saw the spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend of an acquaintance of yours walking on the street acting intimately and holding the hand of another opposite sex, you are likely to remain detached and asked "is that possible" or "so what, that could be his/her sister/brother". That was an example of how your mind give way to fear.

You have always wanting to buy an item you desire so much in a departmental store for a long time but held back because it was too expensive. Suddenly someone told you that the item is on 90% discount in that departmental store and stocks are running out. Are you not likely to rush down to that departmental store immediately without questioning the fact. On the other hand if you had no desire to purchase any item, you will question how could a famous brand give such substantial discount for a non off-season item. That was an example of an overwhelmed greed that clouded the mind.

Yesterday was April Fool's day and most people were well aware of that. But yet there were still victims of pranks and jokes. How could it happened? Well, the pranks must had touched on the deepest emotions of these victims and they fell for them. For instance if you received an sms while you were in your office, saying that a building near your house collapsed and many people died, would you immediately believe it, rather than stop for a moment and remember that it was April Fool's day.

Be aware, be very aware of your every emotion.

The Foundation of Health

精气神, pronounced as Jing, Qi, Shen are coarsely translated as nutritional energy, breath energy and primordial energy.

Nutritional energy comes from the foods and drinks we consume and it is the essence of these nutrients.  This energy circulates in  blood streams and lymphatic system.

As we moved toward the uncommon science or the meta-physics, many definitions are not available and hence translations became clumsy. Breath energy is not exactly the air we breathe (anyone interest may refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi). It is sometimes referred to as prana, chi/qi, or wind energy, because it has a wind-like behavior.  It is the source of life, anything that grows has chi, including plants and trees. Our consumption of fruits and vegetables includes the intakes are this energy.  Stamina of athletes are also related to this form of energy.  Breath energy travels along the meridian paths where the superficial ones are commonly known as acupuncture points.

Mysterious primordial energy possibly explains the vorticity of the chakra. If Breath energy is meta-science, primordial shall be meta-meta-science.  I prefer to use energy-of-origin instead of primordial energy because it has a descriptive purpose.  Primordial energy is psyche in nature.  It affects our concentration and ability to manage emotions.  A disturbed emotion is a drain on the breath energy and eventually the physical body.  Modern lifestyle is destructive to our primordial energy and we have shorter life-span, because we are draining more and more energy of origin.

Primordial energy is replenished by withdrawing our five senses, especially sense of sight, i.e. the eyes. Meditation is the most effective ways to charge this energy.  In ancient times, the sages and the wise meditate more than they sleep.  Closing your eyes and not thinking or feeling any emotion is a way to refill this energy.  Sleep of course is our instinctive mean to preserve health by replenishing the primordial energy, although it is less effective than meditation.

When you had a good night sleep, you feel good the next day and people you meet always say, "wow, you look fresh, good and vibrant today'. The more sensitive ones will say "you have a good aura today".  Remember days when you were deprived of sleep, people you met said you looked like a ghost and asked if you were sick.  That's appearance.

Emotionally you are easily disturbed when you are mental tired or lack of sleep. Everyone you met are irritating. You are easily angered or sad, and that caused a drain on your breath energy.  Chakras and emotions are closely linked and chakras vibrates to generate the energy surrounding you that is called the aura.

There are too much to write on this subject. How the modern lifestyle exploits our greed and lead us to poorer health, lower quality of living, and poor inter-personal relationship with others.

I have no intention to expound this note into a full-blown article. This is just a note keeping. I do wish to write more in the near future.  I need to clarify that I am no authority is this subject and I am merely an observant student in my own learning.

Emotion and Imagination

The stronger the emotion the more powerful the imagination.

That explains why artists are people full with emotions.  They created their best works usually in a state of overwhelmed emotions/feelings and directed that energy into creative expressions with powerful imagination that came direct from these emotions.

A pattern of behaviors formed their lifestyles and habits.  They tend to sleep late at night because thoughts and imaginations seem to be directly linked with emotions and feelings without restriction at these times.  That eventually leads to the creative expression of thoughts and imaginations.

These people appear haggled, worn-out, lethargic and weak during the day, and often look worried with emotional engaged thoughts.  They often react with extreme emotions.  These are the reasons why they are often labeled as eccentric.

There are dangers keeping the link opened between emotion/feeling and thought/imagination because emotion/feeling are often undesirable.  If this connection is habitual, whenever and whatever emotion arises it goes direct to the thought creating perceptions that deviate from reality.

We all have mental energy called primordial energy that give us the focus and concentration thereby holding up the integrity of our sensibility.  This energy is perpetually depleted due to prolonged early-bed deprivation.  What happens when this energy runs low?  You are quick-tempered, easily angered, depressed, feared, quick to succumb to your desires and full of suspicions.  Like an artistic, whatever that is felt, goes direct to your thoughts and imaginations.  When that happened, there is effectively no outside world, your perceptions obey whatever your emotion commands.

This explains many mental illness nowadays. And the reason?  The depletion of mental energy due to modern lifestyle, and the lack of replenishment also due to modern lifestyle [i should have a chance to elaborate this on another occasion].

In short, everyone is living the lifestyle of an artist without being productive.  Which is good for some people, because it means it is easier to sell you things, easier to manipulate you to serve their ends.

Anger (Speech)

When someone is talking with emotion especially anger, be assured that person will not be rational.  Emotion clouds the mind.  An emotional person can never be rational, and when emotion arises all sensory perceptions shall be attuned to accustom its frequency.

Anger burns from the ego, it is an expression, an extension of the ego.  A person who is habitually angry has a over-inflated ego that he/she projects to another person spontaneously.

When you feel that you are being challenged or insulted, you get angry in order to defend your ego, to let the other person know that there is something inside you that must be worshiped.

In other case, when a person is defending a cause or thinks that he/she is doing something right or serving justice, he/she has the right to be angry in order to uphold that cause. That again is imposing your ego on others.  Because whatever you think is right or justice is what your ego recognizes it to be.  For centuries human has been manipulated to fight for a certain cause or 'freedom' but effective they are merely tools to serve the political interests  (greed) of others in the name of justice.

All emotions are contagious. A greed of a person can result in a community of greedy people; a single angry person can cause a social upheaval, mob or riots, one grandmother's story that was made up for her grandson to go to bed early can result in generations of children shiver in bed when the dog howls at night.  That has to do with how the human emotions are manipulated.

The flame of anger that burns out from the ego of an angry person projects directly toward the ego of the target.  When the ego of the targeted person is challenged or threatened, he/she will react with anger in order to defend the ego. Eventually we have a war of fire that burns and destroys everything beyond recovery.  Physical objects are smashed, hurtful words are uttered that result in lifetime of painful memories, physical violence and even death.  This is the danger of the ego fire or human anger if it is not restrained.

In a conversation when someone is speaking angrily, there is no communication.  This is merely a one-way projection of ego toward the other person.  A negotiator never negotiates under such circumstances. The first rule is always to pacify all emotions, to bring out rationality.  More advanced negotiator will go for reverse emotional manipulation. That will not be discussed.

So you can never talk sense in an argument, you can never reason with an angry person.  What do you do?  Never react with emotion, both anger and fear.  Just listen or pretend to listen attentively and observe the behavior.  By appearing to listen attentive, you show that you respect their ego. By observing their behavior, you make them self-conscious.

One quick life-saving advise. In a situation when at least one person is screaming at the top of the voice with anger, get out immediately.

The Mind - Heart & Consciousness

Our mind comprises both the heart and the consciousness.

The heart is sometimes referred to as the "Monkey Mind" (心猿).  This is because the heart contains feelings and emotions, it is restless, unstable and always seek attention.  It has potential energies that are always waiting to be released.

The consciousness is sometimes referred to as the "Horse Mind" (意馬).  It is a dynamic energy of thought, knowing and awareness. It can be thought of as a kinetic energy.

The heart needs the consciousness to bring out its feelings and emotions or releasing its potential energies; that is when feelings and emotions are effectively experienced at consciousness level.

The heart has a strong energy that attracts and charges the consciousness with the polarity of its prevailing energy.  You can think of it as the monkey that is always chasing after the horse in order to jump on its back and ride on it (心猿意馬).

When you are feeling angry, that means the energy of anger has ride on your consciousness.  The energy of anger is always in your heart; only when it rides on your consciousness do you experience or feel the anger.

Knowing this is important because you can then explain the awareness of your feelings and emotions even while you are experiencing it because your consciousness (horse) is not your emotion (monkey).

The monkey can be agitated in two ways; when it sees a horse and it get excited, or when it gets really excited by itself and start looking for horses.

The monkey sees the horse and gets excited is when any of your five senses triggers the emotions in your heart (example, you see, hear, smell, taste or touch something that makes you angry, sad, jealous, greedy, etc).

The monkey gets excited by itself and start looking for horses is when your emotions are overwhelming and eventually determine the perception of what you see, hear, smell, taste or touch.  So when you are jealous, whenever your see, hear, smell, taste or touch will make you more jealous.

Things are not so simple.  Each time a monkey rides on a horse, it makes the monkey stronger and more skilled at riding horses later.  In other words the potential energy that charges the kinetic energy will be feed back into the potential energy and making it more dominant and strong.

Another discovery is that our consciousness - the horse, has direct relationship with our mental strength (神).  If your mental strength is low, your horse is slow that makes it easier for the monkey to jump on top and ride on it.  So when you are lack of sleep or when you are exhausted or sick, you tend to be more emotional.

And hence the saying, "cast the heart aside - 制心於一處", meaning you need to isolate your feelings and emotions and let it not surface to the consciousness.  As and when feelings ride on your consciousness, be aware and cast it aside immediately, i.e. do not react on it and let it go immediately.  Do not chase a second thought of emotion and do not entertain the flow of emotional thought, drop it instantly.

This is why meditation is important because you are training your mind to be aware of your consciousness and you are learning to let go of sticky thoughts all the time while in meditation.  As time goes by, you learn how to identify consciousnesses that arise from the heart and isolate or ignore these. You will have less distraction from the mind and will be able to focus deeper and longer on the object of meditation and develop concentration.

When you have strong concentration, you can control your consciousness and your mind becomes strong and powerful.  This allows you to contemplate on things and understand the reality which have so far been clouded by your heart.  This is how wisdom is developed.

Monkey Heart - Horse Mind (心猿意马）

You may ask how monkey and horse are related to heart and consciousness. Here i should explain.

Monkey is synonymous with the heart.  It is fickle, unstable, and always changing, which is the behavior of our emotions or the heart.

Why are emotions related to the heart?  The heart is synonymous with strong feelings, linguistically we refer strong emotional issue with the heart, such as heart-felt, heart-pain, broken heart.  Physically we do feel sensation at the heart whenever we encounter emotional issues.

Meanwhile the horse is synonymous with our consciousness.  Our consciousness is but pure energy; it is like a horse, it needs a rider to go places and provide it with direction.

We are habitually allowing our consciousness (horse) to be taken control by our heart (monkey).  A preloaded energy shall always attract (charge) a pure energy to assume its polarity.  Which is why we always perceive (see, hear, feel, etc) things that are determined by our emotions.