monkey mind

Today it means: A Buddhist concept that describes the state of restlessness, capriciousness, and lack of control of one's thoughts. Full definition →

Chinese 心猿 ← Japanese 心猿

The story

From Chinese 心猿 (xīnyuán) or Japanese 心猿 (shin'en) which both literally mean "heart-mind monkey".

Chinese心猿 all →

Japanese心猿 all →

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.