1.  A Buddhist monk using the metaphor of a mad monkey to explain what typically happens when we try to concentrate and how meditation can help us” tame that mad monkey”:

‘We are out of control of our minds. We have very poor concentration.

You don’t have to believe me–you check up for yourself…

Try to focus, single-pointedly, on just one thing and tell me how long you can keep it up. Before even one minute has passed you will be thinking about tonight’s dinner, and what’s happening at work, and all the things you need to do at home–everything except what you decided to concentrate on.

…Some people call this “the mad monkey of the mind”. Totally crazy. Jumping this way and that.…

One of the main purposes of meditation is to tame the mad monkey, to allow the mind to settle down and rest instead of all this manic activity.’

 (From Buddhism for Busy People: Finding Happiness  in an Uncertain World,by David Michie, p 18-19)

2.  The Buddhist monk using the analogy of a glass of murky storm water to explain what meditation can achieve for us if we persevere long enough:

‘If you allow a glass of murky stormwater to stand, eventually the dirt settles and you are left with only clear water. It’s the same with meditation…Eventually we discover that the true nature of our mind is nothing except pure clarity, awareness–and bliss.‘ 

(From Buddhism for Busy People: Finding Happiness  in an Uncertain World,by David Michie, p 31)

3.  David Michie using a metaphor of ‘lunatic in the attic’ to describe our incessent internal chatter that gets in the way of single-minded focus of attention:

“Why does it take so much effort to achieve something as simple as mental clarity and awareness? Quite simply, it’s because it goes against all previous conditioning. We lived with a ceaseless tide of internal chatter for so long that it’s only when we take  the unusual step of focusing the spotlight of our attention on the mind itself, observing its antics at close quarters and in real time, that we discover we have a lunatic in the attic.”

(From Buddhism for Busy People: Finding Happiness  in an Uncertain World,by David Michie, p 33)

4.  David Michie developing the “mad monkey” metaphor further and likening it to flabby businessman trying to get fit and suffering pain and frustration in the process:

“Trying to tame the mad monkey mind is, in many ways, like a flabby middle-aged businesssman trying to recover his youthful profile on the step machine. It hurts because we’re just not used to it. We are confronted by the consequences of decades of bad habits and ill-discipline. We are forced to use mental muscles we didn’t even know existed. Wouldn’t it be easier just to give up, and instead enjoy a nice big internal talkfest, garnished with disjointed reflection and lashings of fantasy?” (From Buddhism for Busy People: Finding Happiness  in an Uncertain World,by David Michie, p 33)