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Venerable Ajahn Brahmavamso -
The Five Hindrances (Nivarana)
The
major obstacles to successful meditation and liberating insight take the
form of one or more of the Five Hindrances. The whole practice leading to
Enlightenment can be well expressed as the effort to overcome the Five
Hindrances, at first suppressing them temporarily in order to experience Jhana
and Insight, and then overcoming them permanently through the full development
of the Noble Eightfold Path.
So, what are these Five Hindrances? They are:
KAMACCHANDA: Sensory Desire
VYAPADA: Ill Will
THINA-MIDDHA: Sloth and Torpor
UDDHACCA-KUKKUCCA: Restlessness and Remorse
VICIKICCHA: Doubt
1. Sensory desire refers to that particular type of wanting that seeks
for happiness through the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and physical
feeling. It specifically excludes any aspiration for happiness through the sixth
sense of mind alone.
In its extreme form, sensory desire is an obsession to find pleasure in such
things as sexual intimacy, good food or fine music. But it also includes the
desire to replace irritating or even painful five-sense experiences with
pleasant ones, i.e. the desire for sensory comfort.
The Lord Buddha compared sensory desire to taking out a loan. Any pleasure
one experiences through these five senses must be repaid through the
unpleasantness of separation, loss or hungry emptiness which follow relentlessly
when the pleasure is used up. As with any loan, there is also the matter of
interest and thus, as the Lord Buddha said, the pleasure is small compared to
the suffering repaid.
In meditation, one transcends sensory desire for the period by letting go of
concern for this body and its five sense activity. Some imagine that the five
senses are there to serve and protect the body, but the truth is that the body
is there to serve the five senses as they play in the world ever seeking
delight. Indeed, the Lord Buddha once said, "The five senses ARE
the world" and to leave the world, to enjoy the other worldly
bliss of Jhana, one must give up for a time ALL concern for the body and its
five senses.
When sensory desire is transcended, the mind of the meditator has no interest
in the promise of pleasure or even comfort with this body. The body disappears
and the five senses all switch off. The mind becomes calm and free to look
within. The difference between the five sense activity and its transcendence is
like the difference between looking out of a window and looking in a mirror. The
mind that is free from five sense activity can truly look within and see its
real nature. Only from that can wisdom arise as to what we are, from where and
why?!
2. Ill will refers to the desire to punish, hurt or destroy. It includes
sheer hatred of a person, or even a situation, and it can generate so much
energy that it is both seductive and addictive. At the time, it always appears
justified for such is its power that it easily corrupts our ability to judge
fairly. It also includes ill will towards oneself, otherwise known as guilt,
which denies oneself any possibility of happiness. In meditation, ill will can
appear as dislike towards the meditation object itself, rejecting it so that
one's attention is forced to wander elsewhere.
The Lord Buddha likened ill will to being sick. Just as sickness denies one
the freedom and happiness of health, so ill will denies one the freedom and
happiness of peace. Ill will is overcome by applying Metta, loving kindness. When it is ill will
towards a person, Metta teaches one to see more in that person than all that
which hurts you, to understand why that person hurt you (often because they were
hurting intensely themselves), and encourages one to put aside one's own pain to
look with compassion on the other. But if this is more than one can do, Metta to
oneself leads one to refuse to dwell in ill will to that person, so as to stop
them from hurting you further with the memory of those deeds. Similarly, if it
is ill will towards oneself, Metta sees more than one's own faults, can
understand one's own faults, and finds the courage to forgive them, learn from
their lesson and let them go. Then, if it is ill will towards the mediation
object (often the reason why a meditator cannot find peace) Metta embraces the
meditation object with care and delight. For example, just as a mother has a
natural Metta towards her child, so a meditator can look on their breath, say,
with the very same quality of caring attention. Then it will be just as unlikely
to lose the breath through forgetfulness as it is unlikely for a mother to
forget her baby in the shopping mall, and it would be just as improbable to drop
the breath for some distracting thought as it is for a distracted mother to drop
her baby! When ill will is overcome, it allows lasting relationships with other
people, with oneself and, in meditation, a lasting, enjoyable relationship with
the meditation object, one that can mature into the full embrace of absorption.
3. Sloth and torpor refers to that heaviness of body and dullness of mind
which drag one down into disabling inertia and thick depression. The Lord Buddha
compared it to being imprisoned in a cramped, dark cell, unable to move freely
in the bright sunshine outside. In meditation, it causes weak and intermittent
mindfulness which can even lead to falling asleep in meditation without even realizing
it!
Sloth and torpor is overcome by rousing energy. Energy is always available
but few know how to turn on the switch, as it were. Setting a goal, a reasonable
goal, is a wise and effective way to generate energy, as is deliberately
developing interest in the task at hand. A young child has a natural interest,
and consequent energy, because its world is so new. Thus, if one can learn to
look at one's life, or one's meditation, with a 'beginner's mind' one can see
ever new angles and fresh possibilities which keep one distant from sloth and
torpor, alive and energetic. Similarly, one can develop delight in whatever one
is doing by training one's perception to see the beautiful in the ordinary,
thereby generating the interest which avoids the half-death that is sloth and
torpor.
The mind has two main functions, 'doing' and 'knowing'.
The way of meditation is to calm the 'doing' to complete tranquillity while
maintaining the 'knowing'. Sloth and torpor occur when one carelessly calms both
the 'doing' and the 'knowing', unable to distinguish between them.
Sloth and torpor is a common problem which can creep up and smother one
slowly. A skilful meditator keeps a sharp look-out for the first signs of sloth
and torpor and is thus able to spot its approach and take evasive action before
it's too late. Like coming to a fork in a road, one can take that mental path
leading away from sloth and torpor. Sloth and torpor is an unpleasant state of
body and mind, too stiff to leap into the bliss of Jhana and too blinded to spot
any insights. In short, it is a complete waste of precious time.
4. Restlessness refers to a mind which is like a monkey, always swinging
on to the next branch, never able to stay long with anything. It is caused by
the fault-finding state of mind which cannot be satisfied with things as they
are, and so has to move on to the promise of something better, forever just
beyond.
The Lord Buddha compared restlessness to being a slave, continually having to
jump to the orders of a tyrannical boss who always demands perfection and so
never lets one stop. Restlessness is overcome by developing contentment, which is the opposite of
fault-finding. One learns the simple joy of being satisfied with little, rather
than always wanting more. One is grateful for this moment, rather than picking
out its deficiencies. For instance, in meditation restlessness is often the
impatience to move quickly on to the next stage. The fastest progress, though is
achieved by those who are content with the stage they are on now. It is the
deepening of that contentment that ripens into the next stage. So be careful of
'wanting to get on with it' and instead learn how to rest in appreciative
contentment. That way, the 'doing' disappears and the meditation blossoms.
Remorse refers to a specific type of restlessness which is the kammic effect
of one's misdeeds. The only way to overcome remorse, the restlessness of a bad
conscience, is to purify one's virtue and become kind, wise and gentle. It is
virtually impossible for the immoral or the self indulgent to make deep progress
in meditation.
5. Doubt refers to the disturbing inner questions at a time when one
should be silently moving deeper. Doubt can question one's own ability "Can
I do This?", or question the method "Is this the right way?", or
even question the meaning "What is this?". It should be remembered
that such questions are obstacles to meditation because they are asked at the
wrong time and thus become an intrusion, obscuring one's clarity.
The Lord Buddha likened doubt to being lost in a desert, not
recognizing any
landmarks. Such doubt is overcome by gathering clear instructions, having a good map, so
that one can recognize the subtle landmarks in the unfamiliar territory of deep
meditation and so know which way to go. Doubt in one's ability is overcome by
nurturing self confidence with a good teacher. A meditation teacher is like a
coach who convinces the sports team that they can succeed. The Lord Buddha
stated that one can, one will, reach Jhana and Enlightenment if one carefully
and patiently follows the instructions. The only uncertainty is 'when'!
Experience also overcomes doubt about one's ability and also doubt whether this
is the right path. As one realized for oneself the beautiful stages of the path,
one discovers that one is indeed capable of the very highest, and that this is
the path that leads one there.
The doubt that takes the form of constant assessing "Is this
Jhana?" "How am I going?", is overcome by realizing that such
questions are best left to the end, to the final couple of minutes of the
meditation. A jury only makes its judgment at the end of the trial, when all
the evidence has been presented. Similarly, a skilful meditator pursues a silent
gathering of evidence, reviewing it only at the end to uncover its meaning.
The end of doubt, in meditation, is described by a mind which has full trust
in the silence, and so doesn't interfere with any inner speech. Like having a
good chauffeur, one sits silently on the journey out of trust in the driver.
Any problem which arises in meditation will be one of these Five Hindrances,
or a combination. So, if one experiences any difficulty, use the scheme of the
Five Hindrances as a 'check list' to identify the main problem. Then you will
know the appropriate remedy, apply it carefully, and go beyond the obstacle into
deeper meditation.
When the Five Hindrances are fully overcome, there is no barrier between the
meditator and the bliss of Jhana. Therefore, the certain test that these Five
Hindrances are really overcome is the ability to access Jhana.
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