Monkey mind
The term monkey mind or mind monkey originates from Chinese xīnyuán or Sino-Japanese shin'en (心猿), a word that literally means "heart-mind monkey." It is a Buddhist concept that describes a state of restlessness, capriciousness, and lack of control in one's thoughts. This "mind monkey" metaphor is not only found in Buddhist writings such as Chan or Zen, Consciousness-only, Pure Land, and Shingon, but it has also been adopted in Taoism, Neo-Confucianism, Chinese poetry, theater, and literature.