Five hindrances
Part of a series on |
Buddhism |
---|
In the
The five hindrances are:[2][3][4][5]
- Sensory desire (kāmacchanda): seeking for pleasure through the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and physical feeling.
- Ill-will (vyāpāda; also spelled byāpāda): feelings of hostility, resentment, hatred and bitterness.
- Sloth-and-torpor (thīna-middha): half-hearted action with little or no effort or concentration.
- Restlessness-and-worry (kukkucca): the inability to calm the mind and focus one's energy.
- Doubt (vicikiccha): lack of conviction or trust in one's abilities.
Etymology
According to Gil Fronsdal, the Pali term nīvaraṇa means covering. Fronsdal states that these hindrances cover over: the clarity of our mind, and our ability to be mindful, wise, concentrated, and stay on purpose.[1]
According to Rhys Davids, the Pali term nīvaraṇa (Sanskrit: nivāraṇa) refers to an obstacle or hindrance only in the ethical sense, and is usually enumerated in a set of five.[6]
In Pali Literature
In the Pali Canon
In the
Bhikkhus, there are these five obstructions, hindrances, corruptions of the mind, weakeners of wisdom. What five? Sensual desire... ill will... sloth and torpor ... restlessness and remorse... doubt...
There are, bhikkhus, these seven factors of enlightenment, which are nonobstructions, nonhindrances, noncorruptions of the mind; when developed and cultivated they lead to the realization of the fruit of true knowledge and liberation. What seven? The enlightenment factor of mindfulness... equanimity...[7][b]
Anālayo underlines:
To overcome the hindrances, to practise satipatthana, and to establish the awakening factors are, indeed, according to several Pali discourses, the key aspects and the distinctive features common to the awakenings of all Buddhas, past, present, and future.[8]
Anālayo further supports this by identifying that, in all extant Sanskrit and Chinese versions of the
In terms of gaining
How, monks, does a monk live contemplating mental objects in the mental objects of the five hindrances?
Herein, monks, when sense-desire is present, a monk knows, "There is sense-desire in me," or when sense-desire is not present, he knows, "There is no sense-desire in me." He knows how the arising of the non-arisen sense-desire comes to be; he knows how the abandoning of the arisen sense-desire comes to be; and he knows how the non-arising in the future of the abandoned sense-desire comes to be.[9]
Each of the remaining four hindrances are similarly treated in subsequent paragraphs.
The Buddha gives the following analogies in the Samaññaphala Sutta (
[W]hen these five hindrances are not abandoned in himself, the monk regards it as a debt, a sickness, a prison, slavery, a road through desolate country. But when these five hindrances are abandoned in himself, he regards it as unindebtedness, good health, release from prison, freedom, a place of security.[10]
Similarly, in the Saṅgārava Sutta (
From post-canonical Pali literature
method of suppression |
path of eradication | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
sensual desire |
first jhana based
on bodily foulness |
arahantship[c]
| ||
ill will | first jhana based on metta |
nonreturning | ||
sloth and torpor |
perception of light | arahantship | ||
restlessness and worry |
serenity
|
arahantship and nonreturning | ||
doubt | defining of phenomena (dhammavavatthāna) |
stream-entry
| ||
The Pali commentary's methods and paths for escaping the hindrances. |
According to the first-century CE exegetic
- doubt regarding tranquility;
- doubt regarding the insight;
- doubt regarding the Triple Gemis a hindrance to both tranquility and insight;
- doubt regarding places and people is a hindrance to "non-doctrinal" things;
- doubt regarding the Discourses is a hindrance to solitude.[13]
According to
The five mental factors that counteract the five hindrances, according to the Theravada tradition:[4]
- vitakka("applied thought", "coarse examination") counteracts sloth-torpor (lethargy and drowsiness)
- vicāra("sustained thought", "precise investigation") counteracts doubt (uncertainty)
- pīti (rapture, well-being) counteracts ill-will (malice)
- sukha (non-sensual pleasure) counteracts restlessness-worry (excitation and anxiety)
- ekaggatā(one-pointedness, single-pointed attention) counteracts sensory desire
See also
- Five Thieves(in Sikhism)
- Five faults and eight antidotes
- Five precepts
- Pāramitā (the virtues, either six or ten)
Notes
- Samyutta Nikaya chapter 46, Bojjhanga-samyutta, discourses 46.31 through 46.40 are based on this juxtaposition (Bodhi (2000), pp. 1589–94).
- ^ Bodhi (2000) elides the middle five factors of enlightenment since all seven factors of enlightenment are identified previously multiple times in Bodhi's text.
- SN 46.55, Bodhi (2005), p. 440, n. 14, states that sensual desire is "eradicated by the path of arahantship (since kāmacchanda is here interpreted widely enough to include desire for any object, not only sensual desire)".
- ^ Regarding the Sāratthappakāsinī commentary, see Bodhi (2005), p. 440, n. 14 Regarding the Vimuttimagga commentary, see Upatissa (1995), p. 316
References
Citations
- ^ a b Fronsdal 2008, The Five Hindrances: Introduction; 2008-10-13.
- ^ Fronsdal (2008), Introduction.
- ^ Traleg Kyabgon (2001), p. 26.
- ^ a b Wallace (2006), pp. 158–159.
- ^ Brahmavamso (1999).
- ^ Rhys Davids & Stede (1925), p. 376.
- ^ Bodhi (2000), pp. 1591–92.
- ^ a b Anālayo (2006), pp. 239–40.
- ^ Thera (1994).
- ^ Thanissaro Bhikkhu (1997).
- ^ Bodhi (2000), pp. 1611–15.
- ^ Walshe (1985), pp. 73–75.
- ^ Upatissa (1995), pp. 91–92.
Works cited
- Anālayo, Bhikkhu (2006). Satipatthāna: The Direct Path to Realization. Birmingham: Windhorse. ISBN 1-899579-54-0.
- Bodhi, Bhikkhu, tr. (2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-331-1.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - Bodhi, Bhikkhu, ed. (2005). In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pāli Canon. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-491-1.
- Brahmavamso, Ajahn (1999). "The Five Hindrances". Budsas.org. Buddhist Society of Western Australia. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
- Fronsdal, Gil (2008). Online Course: Five Hindrances Series (audio). Audio Dharma. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
- Rhys Davids, T. W.; Stede, William, eds. (1925). The Pali Text Society's Pali–English Dictionary. Chipstead: Pali Text Society. A general on-line search engine for the PED is available at [1].
- Thanissaro Bhikkhu (1997). "Samaññaphala Sutta: The Fruits of the Contemplative Life". Access To Insight. Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
- Thera, Nyanasatta, tr. (1994). "Satipatthana Sutta: The Foundations of Mindfulness". Access To Insight. Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Traleg Kyabgon (2001). The Essence of Buddhism. Shambhala Publications.
- Upatissa, Arahant (1995). The Path of Freedom (Vimuttimagga). Translated by Ehara, N.R.M.; Thera, Soma; Thera, Kheminda. Kandy, Sri Lanka: ISBN 955-24-0054-6.
- Wallace, B. Alan (2006). The Attention Revolution. Wisdom Publications.
- Walshe, Maurice O'C. (1985). Samyutta Nikaya: An Anthology (Part III). Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
{{cite book}}
:|website=
ignored (help)
Further reading
- Kunsang, Erik Pema (2004). Gateway to Knowledge. Vol. 1. North Atlantic Books.
- Mipham, Sakyong (2003). Turning the Mind into an Ally. Riverhead Books.
- Thiradhammo, Ajahn (2014). Working with the Five Hindrances. USA: Aruno Publications.
- Thera, Nyanaponika (1993). The Five Mental Hindrances and Their Conquest (PDF). Wheel Publication No. 26. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society.
- Thrangu Rinpoche, Khenchen (1993). The Practice of Tranquility and Insight: A Guide to Tibetan Buddhist Meditation. Shambhala Publications.
- Ye-shes rgyal-mtshan (1975). Mind in Buddhist Psychology: A Translation of Ye-shes rgyal-mtshan's "The Necklace of Clear Understanding". Translated by ISBN 9780913546079.
External links
This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. (November 2021) |
- Ajahn Dhiravamso (2008), The Five Hindrances [Dhamma talk video]. Serpentine: Bodhinyana Monastery. Retrieved December 8, 2008 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xpcD0Y3x7Y
- Dealing with the Five Hindrances, by Sayalay Susila
- What are the Five Hinderances?