5 Hindrances

The 5 hindrances were taught by the Buddha as five obstacle to practice and waking up. The 5 hindrances are extremely relevant to the modern world. This guided meditation asks the meditator to open to see the 5 hindrances at work in their own life as a way to cultivate clarity, wisdom and compassion for themselves and others. It also touches upon possible antidotes to the hindrances, specifically calling upon the 4 Bramaviharas: equanimity, compassion, lovingkindness, and sympathetic joy.

Transcript

Welcome to this sit on the five hindrances.

The five hindrances are named by the Buddha as obstacles to mindfulness,

Meditation,

Deep practice and a tranquil heart.

Revisiting the five hindrances again and again is a profound and deep practice as they arise and they shape shift based on what's going on in our life,

Who we are in any given moment.

It's a wonderful sounding board for our practice to consider sit with the five hindrances and in this context wanting to see clearly,

Seeing clearly how the five hindrances may be playing out in our life,

In our practice,

In our heart.

So find a comfortable position,

Perhaps sitting on a chair,

Sitting on a cushion,

Even lying down and just start to find the breath in the body.

The breath is already happening.

No need to do anything special.

And paradoxically,

As we start to notice the breath,

It may suddenly or not so suddenly start to change.

And if that's so,

We can just be mindful of that,

Oh,

I notice that just by following the breath,

It starts to deepen or perhaps it starts to become more shallow.

So I'm going to drop in each of the five hindrances and just let the words,

The ideas kind of wash over you,

Trusting you can come back to this sit often if you'd like.

And also you can do work off the cushion,

Meaning perhaps journaling about each of the five hindrances.

I'm one of those people that likes to put little mini posters around my house.

So it would be wonderful to print up the five hindrances and just have them posted somewhere where you can reflect a bit on what's unfolding in your practice and your heart.

So the first hindrance as they are traditionally taught is sensual desire or craving.

Sensual desire,

Craving.

So see how those words even land in the body and invite the mind,

The heart to start to become curious about how sensual desire or craving may be playing out for you these days.

Is there something you want?

Is there some guiding desire which may be very nourishing or maybe somewhat destructive?

Not all of our desires are bad.

Not all of our desires are good.

So again,

Holding that curiosity,

That not knowing space,

How is desire,

Craving playing out for me can also be the craving or the desire for something to be different,

For the world to be different,

For the job to be different,

For the spouse or the child or the relationships to be different than they are.

There can be a subtle or not so subtle craving underneath our relationships to other humans,

To our reality.

So just holding what you're finding with as much kindness and spaciousness as you can,

Remembering that seeing clearly,

Knowing what is happening is always a path and a step towards liberation,

Cultivating more understanding of ourselves and others.

I also invite you to look at craving as it's reflecting back into yourself.

So there's a way that we're craving things from the outside world,

From other people,

From phenomena.

And there's a way that we're craving something of ourself.

We wish we could be different.

We build up a persona,

A personality with a bit of a clenched heart around who we wish we were,

Who we want to be.

So there's a way that desire and craving can play out in our relationship with ourself.

What does it mean to drop the agenda that we have for ourselves for who we are and open toward what's there?

Accepting ourselves as we are in this moment completely without reservation.

So as we consider the five hindrances,

We will also think about what are the antidotes and what are the practices that can help to calm and soothe the hindrances and hopefully eventually eradicate them if we can have such a lofty aspiration.

So we'll consider the four Brahma Viharas,

The heavenly abodes,

Again,

As taught by the Buddha,

Loving kindness,

Sympathetic joy,

Equanimity,

Which comes into play in quite a few of these,

And also compassion.

So with each of the five hindrances,

We'll think about the somatic blueprint.

What does clinging feel like in the body?

What is craving feel like?

Is there a heat,

A fire,

Kind of a forward momentum,

A feeling of urgency?

So we can start to soothe the body.

Notice that somatic blueprint so we can recognize it when it is arising.

Oh,

I see.

I see my clinging.

So we're not just lost in it.

And then start to introduce some sense of compassion for ourself.

Yeah,

There's that thing that I really,

Really want.

And we can also start to seed equanimity.

How do I hold that fire,

That passion,

That clinging,

That craving with stability,

With clarity,

With clear seeing,

With compassion?

So just taking a moment to feel into the body around clinging.

So now putting down our opening and exploration of central desire and craving as it may be playing out in our lives these days,

We will turn toward the companion of craving and desire,

Which is ill will and aversion or hatred,

Dislike.

So often craving and aversion are taught as the front and back of the same coin.

We want this so much and we definitely don't want that.

And we can become very caught in kind of ping ponging between the two of them.

So taking a deep breath and just turning toward the idea of ill will,

Aversion,

Dislike,

Hatred,

Noticing how those words land on the body somatically and starting to bring to mind anything in your life right now that you're kind of engaged in a battle with,

Don't want,

That's unfolding.

So there's ways that we don't want certain people in our life.

We don't want certain situations.

We're battling our job.

We're just struggling to be with what is there and not have that aversion feeling turning away.

So again,

We have that with the outside world,

Outside phenomena,

Other humans.

And then we also can turn that ill will toward ourself.

So this is traditionally thought of as self-harshness,

Self-judgment,

Self-hatred even.

The ways we can just be so harsh with ourself,

The voices in our head.

So as the last piece of considering ill will and aversion,

Feeling into the body,

Seeing what somatic arisings may be happening,

A clenching,

A holding,

A rigidity,

A tension.

And where is that?

Is it in the jaws?

Is it in the low belly?

Is it around the eyes?

Starting to soften into the body.

And also bringing in that compassion,

Compassion for yourself,

For any aversion or ill will you may feel towards yourself or others.

Knowing this is an arising of what being human is.

Sometimes we open toward what is happening and sometimes we shut down.

Sometimes compassion naturally flows for a person and other times there is no compassion for someone.

That is the root of so much suffering in our world on an individual level and also on a grand scale.

Rooting down again into that equanimity,

The stability,

Not having to believe the story,

Allowing there to be a lot more spaciousness.

So with equanimity there is often a sense of spaciousness I notice in my practice.

Just by stabilizing myself things can become less claustrophobic,

Less stuck.

And the piece of meta where we offer the meta phrases may you be happy,

May you be safe and protected,

May you live with ease and well-being for a difficult person could be something that you engage in around this ill will or aversion.

And so in quite a brilliant way we turn that meta toward ourself because we know that sometimes we are embattled with ourself.

So turning that loving kindness back toward yourself and then also perhaps turning it toward that difficult person.

And also the genius of this practice is breaking down the separation,

Right?

What's difficult about my relationship with myself might also be what's difficult in my relationship with you or someone else.

So once again in Buddhism we have this breaking down of the idea of the separate self and so with this compassion,

With our ill will we can see the stew of suffering that is created when we're holding ill-willing aversion for anyone else and also especially and including ourself.

The third hindrance is sloth or torpor,

A kind of dullness and heaviness.

Could even put the word laziness in there although laziness has such a kind of harshness and self-judgment to it.

If you can have a sense of humor about being lazy then add it in but if it feels too weighty then just stay with sloth or dullness,

Not having enough energy to do the things you want to do.

Kind of that attitude of why bother,

Who cares?

And when sloth is turned back in on the self it can feel like a burden carrying life as a burden,

A weightiness,

A sadness,

A depression.

Those times when we carry life as a burden can be tangled up with a sense of sloth or laziness or just not having enough energy to do the things that you feel like you want to do.

Whether that's just get out of bed or run a marathon,

There's always a spectrum as we work with the five hindrances or anything that we're considering as a way to kind of have as a sounding board for our life.

And sometimes with something like sloth we have a bunch of energy for certain things and then there's other aspects of our life where there's less energy available.

That's also excellent to get curious about.

Hmm,

I have enough energy to get to the job and do this for the family or do this other thing and yet there's this desire in my heart that I don't have the energy for.

I'm not quite able to meet.

And again just bring kindness and gentleness and curiosity to what's arising.

Where is there sloth?

Where is there dullness?

Where is there a depression?

Whether it's mild or extreme.

Something in your life that just needs some energy but instead there's kind of stuckness there.

And another translation kind of a stuckness and also honoring that there are certain mental states and mental health states that do require multiple layers of support.

So with a clinical depression of course we would want you to be seeking help from a mental health practitioner.

So just having the five hindrances as one aspect in your toolbox to support your growth and learning and well-being but also honoring when other help is needed.

So with sloth again taking a moment to notice how that might play out in the body,

The heaviness,

The kind of feeling shut down,

Perhaps a blankness not really even feeling the body.

Certainly a lack of energy is often present with sloth.

And also just wanting to turn toward the fact that burnout and overwhelm and overwork is quite prevalent in many cultures.

So it could be that actually what is needed as an antidote is deep rest.

So how can you invite more rest into the life whether it's sleeping more,

Engaging in certain practices like yoga nidra to allow for more rest in your life.

And conversely exercise is another great way to work with sloth because often when we feel too exhausted to exercise but we push through that and exercise we connect with a wellspring of vitality and energy in the body.

There is a paradox at play there.

And so in any given moment at any given day you yourself can be your own best scientist deciding what is needed.

Is there a 20 minute power nap that's needed or is it a brisk walk?

Also with sloth we can have that sense of self compassion not bringing a lot of judgment or harshness.

Layering it on top of whatever heaviness,

Sadness might be arising so not creating more second arrow pain.

And also equanimity is helpful in this case because we don't have to believe it so completely.

We can feel the tiredness in moments but we can also bring spaciousness and get curious.

Hmm why am I so tired in this moment?

Is there something else that's weighing on me that needs attention?

Is it a physiological issue I can address?

Is it emotional?

Or again is there just deep rest that's needed more sleep?

Joy is another great antidote to sloth because joy enlivens us and awakens us to the beauty and mystery and wonder of life.

Laughter and fun and dance and music.

So maybe what's needed really is 20 minutes of your favorite music turned up quite loudly and just free movement and dance in the living room as a beautiful antidote to sloth.

And lastly I'll ping food.

Food can be a place where based on what we're ingesting is either creating a lot of energy and aliveness and vitality in the body or can be creating a bunch of heaviness,

Sleepiness and so for each person's body is different.

So I know for myself it's been a deep practice over years to really become more and more aware of how the food I'm eating is affecting my level of vitality,

Energy and health in the body.

So I offer that to you as something to consider when you're working with sloth.

The fourth hindrance is restlessness or worry.

So that inability to really focus,

Calm down,

Have the resources to be clear about what we're doing in any given moment or the larger clarity that we seek in our life around holding a vision for our life.

So restlessness and worry can create a lot of rumination,

A lot of fear.

It can become like a smokescreen between you and everything else,

Just kind of flavoring and coloring reality in a fairly unpleasant way,

Again on a spectrum,

Mildly unpleasant,

Extremely unpleasant.

And restlessness and worry is something that we often turn back on ourself as well,

Becoming anxiety and stress and just a negative feedback loop.

So just breathing and noticing where is restlessness and worry arising in your life these days?

If it is,

Is there a specific situation that you're worried about?

Is there a relationship that's causing worry,

Restlessness?

And are you turning that back in on yourself as well,

Just worrying and creating anxiety around yourself?

Again holding with kindness whatever you're discovering.

No harsh judgments,

No judgment at all.

This is the human condition.

That's the reason why something that was taught thousands of years ago is still extremely relevant to us today.

This is part of our human condition.

And in that way we can also lighten up a bit about it.

Doesn't have to be so personalized and such a burden of the individual.

We can even honor these hindrances as just part of the human experience,

Something that connects us to each other as opposed to isolating us.

So possible antidotes for restlessness and anxiety,

Equanimity again,

Breathing into the stability and spaciousness and not getting too claustrophobic,

Turning away somewhat from story,

Story can often reaffirm the anxiety,

Accelerate it as always self-compassion as we're noticing how anxiety feels in the body,

How it plays out in the mind,

Gaining clarity on the constellation of somatic experiences,

Mental processes,

Emotional responses that create this anxiety,

This restlessness in the body can open up more spaciousness and much like sloth with anxiety and restlessness exercise,

Moving the body can be very helpful to transform just a lot of rising energy.

If we go into just the somatic experience of anxiety and restlessness,

What we find is there's a lot of churning energy that may not have an outlet.

This is where in performance as musicians or athletes,

Anxiety can look also like excitement.

So often there's a reframing of that extra burst of energy before performance away from anxiousness and toward excitement.

So it's interesting to consider how we frame things,

How that colors our relationship with them.

I also want to ping gratitude as a possible antidote to restlessness and anxiety.

Often when there is a lot of restlessness and anxiety arising,

There's a lot of focus on what's wrong and what's not going right and what could possibly go wrong.

And certainly in life we know things do go wrong,

But at the same time there's many things going right and often they are unnoticed,

Undervalued.

So bringing in a concrete gratitude practice is always a great idea,

But especially during a time of high restlessness and anxiety,

Seeding that awareness of how many things are going right in any given moment on any given day.

The last of the five hindrances is doubt.

So just notice how the body feels when I say the word doubt.

How is doubt arising for you these days?

Is there some place it's playing out?

Some project?

Some relationship?

Some worldview?

And is doubt being turned back in on you in the sense of feeling not good enough,

Doubting your own potential,

Doubting your own goodness?

Just breathing in and noticing how doubt can be turned outward towards others in the world and how it can be turned inward to sabotage the self.

So as we consider the antidote to doubt,

Noticing again the somatic experience of doubt.

Or is doubt for you more of a mental process,

A kind of thinking about all the things that could possibly go wrong or disbelieving your own efficacy and abilities?

For me,

Doubt can also be experienced similar to sloth,

Like a heaviness,

A weightiness,

A burden,

Carrying life as a burden,

Carrying a certain situation as a burden.

So bringing in equanimity,

Creating a bit more spaciousness and stability,

Noticing as doubt arises,

Having that tender heart toward ourself and not necessarily needing to believe everything the mind is thinking.

Is it true?

Is it helpful?

Creating that little bit of space or perhaps a lot of space from the thinking mind,

Not having to believe every thought that is directed our way.

These are some possible antidotes to doubt.

So to end this meditation,

I invite you to come back to the five hindrances again and again as a way to just bring clarity to how they may be operating in the life,

Sabotaging energy,

Creating confusion,

Disrupting tranquility and peace,

Eroding confidence,

Sensual desire and craving,

Its companion ill will and aversion,

Sloth or torpor,

Restlessness and worry and doubt.

And also in conclusion,

I would say there's a way they kind of bounce off each other.

So we might be feeling dull and depressed and not having enough energy because we're riddled with doubt or ill will.

We might feel full of anxiety because of some ill will that were version we're holding or a craving.

Some desire we have that's being thwarted is creating a lot of destabilizing energy.

So it's good to look at each one individually.

And then it's also really helpful to look at how they might be feeding each other and how they're kind of tangled up together.

And again,

With as much kindness and compassion,

Gentleness and curiosity that you can bring,

Leaving the judgment at the door,

The harshness at the door and welcoming in through the door the Brahma Viharas,

Equanimity,

Sympathetic joy,

Loving kindness and compassion,

As well as other practices such as gratitude,

As well as the exploration of what is this arising offering me?

What can I learn from it?

So for instance,

When we spoke of sloth,

That perhaps the message is the need for deeper rest.

So being open to hearing and receiving the messages that the hindrances are pointing to happy practicing.

May you be healthy.

May you be happy.

May you be safe and protected.

May you live with ease and well-being.

Reviews

Thank you so much for this thoughtful and kind session.

Lots to unpack and this is a very clear presentation to help you.

🙏🏻🤍✨