Minnesota State Fair 100th Fine Arts Exhibition

Chill Your Monkey

If you go to the Minnesota State Fair this year be sure to stop by the fine arts exhibition and say hello to this guy. His penetrating gaze beckons us to let go of the stressful, striving mess of our lives and take the path of simplicity and grace. It's as though he's saying, "Come along. You can be free." In Zen Buddhist circles, there is a metaphor for our crazy stressed out minds. It's called "monkey mind". Our minds are naturally alive with a never-ending stream of thoughts that we chase after creating story upon story upon story. We become so distracted and enmeshed in these stories that we toss and turn at night, we become forgetful, we're easily irritated... you know the drill. We just want to be happy! But there's all these worries, aches and pains, and confusion! There is a way out of this suffering. Chill your monkey.