Variations on Five Hindrances
James Baraz
Five Hindrances
Sensual desire, ill will, dullness and drowsiness, restlessness and remorse, and doubt: the five hindrances described in MN 10.
Recognize the pattern and its conditions
In the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, the practitioner recognizes a hindrance when it is present and recognizes its absence. The inquiry extends to its causes, its release, and the conditions that prevent its return.
Sensual desire
MN 10 names sensual desire as a hindrance and asks the practitioner to know its presence or absence, its arising, its abandonment, and how it is prevented from returning.
SN 46.51 contrasts repeated attention to attractive features with attention to unattractiveness: the former nourishes sensual desire, while the latter deprives it of nourishment.
Ill will
MN 10 treats ill will as something to recognize and abandon. The discourse distinguishes knowing that ill will is present from knowing the conditions under which it ceases.
SN 46.51 contrasts dwelling on irritation with developing release of mind. In AN 5.161, the Buddha lists goodwill, compassion, equanimity, withdrawing attention, and recollection of kamma as responses to resentment.
Sloth & torpor
MN 10 includes dullness and drowsiness among the five hindrances. Its instructions concern their presence, their arising, their abandonment, and preventing their return.
In AN 7.58, the Buddha gives Moggallāna a sequence of responses to drowsiness: change the perception attended to, reflect on or recite the teaching, rub the limbs and ears, wash the eyes, attend to light, and walk. If drowsiness remains, he instructs him to lie down mindfully with the intention to get up.
Restlessness & remorse
MN 10 names restlessness and remorse together. The practitioner recognizes whether they are present and understands how they arise and are abandoned.
SN 46.53 recommends tranquility, concentration and equanimity when the mind is restless. It recommends investigation, energy and rapture when the mind is sluggish, and says mindfulness is useful in both cases.
Doubt & uncertainty
MN 10 includes doubt among the hindrances. It asks the practitioner to understand its presence, absence, causes, abandonment, and future non-arising.
SN 46.51 points to careful attention that distinguishes skillful from unskillful and blameworthy from blameless qualities as a condition for weakening doubt.
How this connects to the path
In MN 10, the five hindrances are followed by teachings on the aggregates, sense fields, awakening factors and Four Noble Truths. SN 46.53 couples abandoning the hindrances with developing the awakening factors.
Talks on the five hindrances
09 talk: The five hindrances part 2 - sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry, and sceptical doubt
Jill Shepherd
Five Hindrances and Seven Awakening Factors
Ayya Anandabodhi
12 talk: Wise Effort and the Five Hindrances
Jill Shepherd
Waking Up through the Five Hindrances
Jean Esther