The Five Hindrances | Buddhism

Speaking of our meditation,

I thought we would talk a little bit about our meditation practice today because the Buddha left us many maps for our practice.

And on the map where he's giving us instructions on a path of enlightenment,

A path of peace,

He also points out that there are many obstacles on this path as well.

There's many false signs,

And we need to pay attention to those obstacles to not get lost in them because they really hinder our meditation practice,

Which is the foundation of the Buddhist practice.

Meditation is the foundation of this path.

And so he gave a teaching on the five hindrances,

Which are the five mind states that prevent us from deepening our meditation practice,

From going into deep absorption,

Concentration,

Samadhi,

Going into the jhanas,

Which are the mind states we need to come into in order to see the nature of reality,

In order to see what is really going on,

To understand what is really going on.

So the mind states,

The five hindrances that prevent us from deepening our meditation practice are sensual desire,

Right?

The mind-seeking,

Pleasurable,

Impermanent objects,

Ill will or anger or aversion,

So pushing back on things,

Not wanting things to be arising.

Laziness is the third hindrance,

That if the mind doesn't have,

If the energy is very low,

Where we're feeling very weighed down in our mind,

That laziness is a hindrance.

Restlessness,

When the mind is the opposite of lazy,

It's very active,

It's kind of going out all over the place,

It's anxious,

It's worried.

And then doubt as the fifth hindrance,

Doubt about our ability to do the practice,

Whether we're doing the right practice or not,

Am I doing this right?

All of these five mind movements cloud up our mind.

And if you think of it like you take a glass of water,

A clear glass of water,

And you add some dye to it,

One of the hindrances,

That all of a sudden the glass is no longer clear,

It's orange,

It's red,

It's purple,

You can't see through it anymore.

And that is preventing us from going into these deep states of absorption that we need to be able to go into in our meditation practices,

Practice.

So the five hindrances,

They are not personal,

They are not unique to us.

The Buddha gave this teaching 2600 years ago,

They were all experiencing it then,

We're all experiencing these same five mind movements.

That prevent us from going into the deeper states of meditation.

So when we find ourselves fantasizing about the new iPhone or about a piece of chocolate cake or a new partner,

So is a monk or a nun somewhere else fantasizing about similar things,

You know,

Maybe the new alms bowl,

Maybe the chocolate cake,

Right?

The same mind movements.

It's not personal,

It's not that we are,

That there's something wrong with us for having these mind movements.

These are typical mind movements that distract us in our meditation.

If we're irritated with our neighbor because they're making a lot of noise when we're trying to meditate,

Right?

Somewhere in the world there's a monk or a nun,

Or back in the Buddha's time there was a monk or a nun that was irritated because the person meditating,

The monk or the nun next to them was making too much noise,

Was too restless or some breathing too loudly.

This is a common,

Common mind state.

And doubt,

When we doubt our practice,

When we doubt whether we're doing the practice correctly,

Whether we're on the path or not,

Whether we're on the right path,

Yes,

Those that are ordained have the same doubts as we have.

So it doesn't matter who we are,

It doesn't matter if we're a lay person,

If we're a monk,

If we're a nun,

If we were born 2600 years ago,

5000 years ago,

If we're born today,

We all face these same five hindrances,

These same five obstacles that prevent us from going into the deeper mind states.

So it's important for us,

If we are not getting into these states,

If you are having difficulty getting into the deep states of samadhi where the mind is really clear and still,

It is because one of these hindrances is present.

So we need to recognize and be aware of the five hindrances and to apply the right antidote to which hindrance is arising.

The die has been cast and we need to remove the die so that we can know and see what it is that's really going on.

So when we get lost in sensual desires,

Again,

With all of these,

We're just identifying,

The mind movement is gone,

Our attention has left the object of our meditation,

Most typically the breath,

Right?

Our attention has gone,

It's gone somewhere,

Where has it gone?

Ah,

I am desiring,

I'm thinking about the new iPhone or I'm thinking about my next meal,

Right?

And in that state,

We can remember the teachings that we've done here many times.

Ah,

I see you Mara,

Disguised as a new iPhone,

Right?

I see you Mara disguised as chocolate cake.

And to remember,

As we talked about last week,

Our intention as well.

I see you Mara,

And I want peace,

And I know that this mind movement is not bringing me peace.

So to come back to our breath,

Right?

To be able to pull ourselves out of the hindrance,

To bring ourselves back,

To bring our attention back to the breath,

Back to the peace and the stillness of this moment.

And for a lot of little mind movements,

The chocolate cake,

The new iPhone,

Right?

Sometimes that's enough.

Sometimes that's enough.

We just need to recognize it just to bring ourselves back,

Breathe into the contraction that came with it,

Wasn't too strong maybe,

And just to bring our attention back,

Feel what's going on.

Ah,

Okay,

We're back.

Sometimes it's a little deeper,

It's a little stickier,

Right?

What the mind is desiring.

And in that case,

We can also,

So of course,

First recognize and I see you,

Right?

We have to know what's going on first to identify it,

And then to bring in some inquiry.

Who is it that wants that?

The new promotion,

The new partner,

The new house,

Who is it that wants it,

Right?

Because in the thought,

I want something,

There's a belief that there's a little me out here that's going to get something.

But when we take our mind then and we start looking for that little me,

What we find is it doesn't exist.

Or if we ask ourselves,

Who would I be without this desire?

Right?

The mind's so lost in something,

So in some object.

And we can even just ask ourselves,

Who would I be without this desire?

None of these inquiry questions coming with an answer,

But taking us somewhere,

Taking us back,

Right?

Pulling us out of the hindrance and bringing us back,

Bringing our attention back.

That's what they're meant to do.

They stop the thinking.

There's not an answer that we're coming up with.

It stops the thinking when we're really investigating.

So,

We clear the water again,

And we're back in our deep state of absorption,

Of samadhi,

Of concentration.

And when we recognize its ill will,

Anger,

Aversion arising,

Again,

First to recognize it,

Ah,

I see you Mara,

Disguised as anger,

Disguised as injustice,

Disguised as this isn't fair.

I see you Mara.

And I would always suggest we do come in and we feel that right away,

Because that mind movement has a lot of power to it and come in and feel it.

We've talked a lot about this lately,

Right?

In the last few classes,

Come in and feel,

Breathe into the feelings,

Right?

Really nurture the feelings of hurt or injustice,

Or this isn't fair,

They're being so noisy over there,

And I'm trying to meditate.

And instead of being lost in the story,

But just,

Oh,

It's okay,

Sweetheart.

Feel the fear,

Acknowledge it,

Allow it to be here,

Give it your full attention.

Because we need to get,

We need to bring your attention back.

If you stay lost in the mind movement,

In the hindrance,

You're not able to access the deeper states of meditation.

It's like we're on an elevator and we're stuck.

So we need to make sure that we're saying,

Ah,

This is where I am,

I need to do something.

I need to skillfully and wisely and compassionately do something here,

To come in and feel,

To investigate,

Right?

To feel the hurt,

To be aware,

But then to appropriately respond with the right antidote,

So that we can clear the water again.

Ah,

We're back in our meditation.

We're back in the concentration,

Right?

The elevator is moving again.

And when we find that laziness has arisen in our practice,

The Buddha gave us very specific instructions for laziness.

Change your posture.

You need to do something.

If you're recognizing that you're really dozing in your meditation,

Or you're just kind of daydreaming,

You're almost taking a little nap in the meditation,

Don't fool yourself into thinking that you're meditating.

You're just taking a little nap,

Right?

And that may be what you need.

Okay,

Lie down and take a nap.

But if you're trying to meditate and you notice that there's laziness in the mind,

Laziness is present.

I see that laziness is present.

The energy is low here.

The mind is dull.

I'm not able to be mindful,

Because I need energy in order to be mindful.

I need effort to be able to apply.

So in this situation,

If we're feeling lazy,

The very first thing we can do is open our eyes.

Meditate with your eyes open,

Right?

Just cast them down at a 45 degree angle,

Right?

Maybe you're already meditating with your eyes open though,

And you're still feeling really lazy,

Or this isn't enough to give you the energy that you need to overcome this hindrance.

And stand up.

Standing meditation.

All right,

This is one of our meditation practices,

Just standing.

Walking meditation.

Do walking meditation.

That way the mind isn't dull anymore.

We can't have a dull mind and think that we are going into the states of meditation,

Into the deep absorption states that we need to get into in order to really have the insights and the wisdom that guide us to true peace.

We need to be able to come into these states.

So with laziness is arising.

If you're feeling lazy before you sit down to meditate,

Do something beforehand.

Do a little bit of movement,

Do a little yoga,

Or just decide,

I'm just going to do walking meditation.

I'm going to take my 30 foot path.

I'm going to set my timer still,

My insight timer bell,

And I'm just going to do slow walking meditation,

Which is a beautiful practice that I don't think is done enough.

It's such a good practice because the body is moving slowly,

Right?

The mind is,

Or your attention,

Your eyes are just cast down about 45 degrees,

Usually four or five,

Six feet in front of you,

Right?

And it's good that little bit of movement because then you're kind of seeing your eyes are open,

Your body is moving,

And you can really see that energy that we're used to and just moving forward.

And then,

Oh,

Right,

All of a sudden you see,

Oh,

The energy's now,

Now it's up again.

Oh,

We bring it back into the body.

We're really looking for that balanced state of energy in the body,

Again,

To be able to get into these deep states of absorption.

So if laziness is present,

We've got to change the posture.

If you are doing all of these things and you're finding you're still just absolutely falling asleep,

You probably really do just need a nap.

Go take a nap.

Great.

Go take a nap and then come back and meditate,

Right?

So just don't fool yourself.

Don't fool yourself.

If the mind is heavy,

Is tired,

Is dull,

You're not getting into the states that you want to be getting into.

The mind is not clear.

We want the mind to be clear,

To be still.

So if it's restless,

If the mind is restless,

Right,

The opposite of laziness,

Right,

The mind is all over the place.

It's,

You know,

Probably a lot of anxiety,

Maybe a lot of worry that's happening,

Right?

So I see you Mara,

I see you disguised as anxiety,

I see you disguised as worry,

Or I see you disguised as just restless energy.

I see it,

Right?

Come in and feel it,

Right?

To breathe into it.

Not to say you have to go away.

And we're not doing that in any way that we come in and use our feelings,

That we come in and feel,

Sorry.

We're not trying to push anything away.

But when we come in and feel,

To allow it to be,

Ah,

Right,

We're bringing our attention into the body,

That starts to relax the body.

We allow,

We don't then add resistance on top of this,

Right,

Going back to the second hindrance.

This is what's here.

There's restlessness here.

Okay.

You're here.

Okay.

It's okay.

We'll just stay here with you with this energy for a bit.

I'll just breathe a little bit more deeply,

Give you a little more space,

Until you find that the energy,

That your energy is a little bit more balanced,

That you feel a little bit more settled,

And that you're able to ah,

Clear,

That the mind feels more clear,

That the energy feels more balanced,

It feels right.

Again,

You clear the water.

You're in the meditation.

And then the fifth one,

The fifth hindrance,

Doubt.

Of course,

We have to recognize it first.

I see you.

I see you,

Mara,

Disguised as doubt.

To feel doubt,

To feel that contraction in the body.

And definitely,

I would suggest to inquire into doubt.

To ask,

You know,

To whatever it is that the doubt's coming up with,

That,

Oh,

You're just doing this wrong.

You're doing the wrong practice.

You don't have enough discipline for this.

You're hopeless at this.

You're not good at this.

Everyone else is getting it.

You're not getting it.

You've never gotten it.

To ask ourselves in that moment,

And this is taking from Byron Katie,

For those of you that are familiar with her teachings,

Is this true?

Is this really true?

Is it true that I don't know what I'm doing?

Is it true that this has never worked for me?

Is it true that I'm hopeless?

Right?

Just even asking that question gives us a little bit of space from the doubt to be able to just like,

Okay,

I see what's going on here.

I see the mind movement of doubt.

I see it.

And now I'm questioning it.

Is it real?

Is it not real?

Right?

Because we so easily believe the story of doubt.

We so believe what it's saying.

We don't even question its veracity.

But then when we see it,

And we,

We kind of step back for a moment,

We go,

Ah,

Is this true?

Have I never gotten this?

And we think,

No,

I was getting it just last week.

In fact,

I had those,

Yeah,

Those moments,

I was present,

I was mindful,

I was peaceful.

There was moments I could see I could have been triggered and I didn't rise,

You know,

I didn't get triggered,

Right?

We can think of then all of these ways in which,

No,

I am getting this.

I just was letting doubt get in there because doubt likes to come in and stir the pot to distract me from my practice,

From going deeper into these absorption states.

We need to be able to get into these deep states in order to gain the wisdom and the insight to see what is really going on.

And these five hindrances are what stop us.

This is what the Buddha was pointing to on the map.

He's saying,

In mindfulness of breathing,

Anapanasati,

Focusing our attention on the breath,

He gives us the instructions on what we're to do.

But he's also saying,

Be careful of these five hindrances.

Everyone experiences them.

They will distract you from the path.

Be mindful of them.

Be aware that they are going to come up.

Don't think that they won't.

Don't think that any of us are any different.

So while the five hindrances is primarily a teaching for our meditation practice,

It is also,

We can apply,

I think,

The five hindrances in our daily lives as well to see what's going on when we're being mindful.

And we're noticing that we're sitting there and we're eating potato chips,

And we're just shoveling them in one after the other,

Right?

And we all have that moment where we go,

Okay,

After this last chip,

I'm going to put the bag away.

Then we're still just shoveling a few more in.

And we can see in that moment,

Oh,

Greed is arising.

Sensual desire.

Look at what's happening.

This is the movement of it in action.

I'm not just fantasizing about the chips or the chocolate cake.

I'm actually just shoveling it all in,

Right?

And so you can see it in real time,

Like,

Ah,

There it is.

Oh,

My God.

I was so believing I needed five more chips that the chips just were consuming me in that moment,

Right?

That I was bargaining with them.

If I just have two more,

Then I'll put them away.

Okay,

Just three more,

Right?

To put them away instead of recognizing this is that mind movement.

And to be mindful of what's happening.

Wow.

Feel what's happening in your body,

The contraction.

It doesn't feel good.

It doesn't feel good.

But we're so believing the story,

We don't even notice what's going on.

And so also to notice in these hindrances,

If one of them,

We do all of them,

We do all of them,

All five,

Without a doubt.

But there might be one or two that you are more,

Is more prevalent for you.

And as an example,

I will share for me,

And I've shared this in other places,

But laziness.

And I don't even,

In fact,

I wouldn't even call it laziness.

But I am just a very low energy person.

And I know that that is an obstacle for me.

On the path,

I have to be really mindful of my energy.

And to know throughout the day,

Or before I sit to meditate,

Just or to know just when my energy is starting to,

To really drop off.

Because it's so easy at that point to want to reach for some low hanging fruit.

And the recognizing of it like,

Ah,

This is what the Buddha was telling me.

It's almost like,

I feel like he's like slipping me a little note like,

Meredith,

This is what I'm pointing to.

This is preventing you from knowing the peace.

This is stopping you on your path.

So do something,

Change your posture.

If you're sitting down,

Get up,

Go do something.

Go do some yoga,

Go put on some music and dance,

Do whatever you need to do to get your energy back up again.

But don't succumb to that inertia.

Because when it does,

Once we succumb to it,

I know my mind becomes dull.

It's very hard to be mindful when the mind is dull.

And the old habits,

The old energy habits just are like,

Fantastic,

She's out,

Basically,

We can just take over again.

And so again,

Knowing this is where it's taking me,

I know what it is to do.

I know for me laziness,

Or I'm going to say,

Low energy is,

It is a hindrance.

It's,

It's just the way this body is,

You know,

For whatever reason.

I mean,

There's many positives,

I like to be alone,

I do like to sit and meditate,

Right?

I'm not a high energy person.

But I also have to be very mindful of that.

So for each of us to also be very mindful of the way of whichever hindrance you find is most distracting you from your path.

And then to apply the right antidote and to know what it is that you can do when that hindrance is arising.

And then also,

Just finally,

We can also notice when you are feeling at peace,

When you are present,

And you are mindful.

And you just feel that total sense of ease.

Check in to see if any of the hindrances are present.

Notice,

Ah,

No greed,

No needing for sensual desires here.

No ill will,

No laziness,

No restlessness,

Energy is well balanced.

No doubt,

Right?

This is why you feel like this,

Because all of the hindrances are absent.

Because the peace,

Like we did in the meditation,

And that you had commented on,

Sue,

The peace that we are seeking is always here.

It is simply our attention that goes away from it.

And it goes away in these five different ways.

Seeking,

Chasing,

Desire,

Greed,

That mind movement of reaching out,

The mind movement of ill will,

Anger,

Aversion,

Pushing back.

And even the other three,

They come under these two.

Laziness really is a form of resistance,

Aversion to movement,

Restlessness,

Right?

We're kind of chasing all over the place and pushing back at the same time.

And doubt,

Resisting.

But because the Buddha gave it to us,

This specifically,

He said,

Look for these five hindrances.

There's nothing wrong with you for having any of these mind movements.

Don't beat yourself up.

Don't think that there's something wrong with you.

Everyone's having these mind movements.

This is the map.

These are the obstacles.

Be aware that they're there,

Just like a good traveler,

Right?

A good traveler before they go out on an expedition,

And they look at the map,

And they look at the terrain,

And they bring all the right tools.

This is what we're doing.

The Buddha left us the map.

He said,

This is the map.

These are the obstacles.

Watch out for them.

Don't let your guard down.

Know where it is that you're going.

Know your intention,

Right?

Know that intention of peace,

What it is that you're seeking,

And know what it is that's getting in the way.

Because when you remove the hindrances,

What you find is you are right here,

Exactly where you want to be.

Not 10 years in the future,

Not 20 years in the future.

You are right where you want to be,

Right now.

So let's remember the five hindrances in our meditation practice,

But I think we can also apply it in our daily life as well,

And to really just hold them close to our heart,

Because they are little messages that the Buddha is giving us,

Little ways in which he is trying to keep us on the path,

To keep our attention here in the present moment,

In the peace that is always here.