THE 5 HINDRANCES These are unskillful mental factors that stem from the 3 root defilements of greed, hatred, and delusion. They hinder the mind from being mindful and concentrated. Like all phenomena they are impermanent but can derail the meditation process. The hardest part of working with the hindrances can be recognizing when they are present. They often operate below our level of awareness but influence our thoughts, speech, and action in unskillful ways. Our first task regarding the hindrances is to be mindful of them. Rather than getting into a struggle to suppress or eliminate them, we need to take our time in seeing them clearly and investigating them in terms of the 4 foundations of mindfulness (i.e., breath, body, feeling tones, thoughts, emotions, etc.). One helpful approach is the RAIN formula: We Recognize the hindrance, Accept it, Investigate it, and Non-attach to it (e.g., don‟t identify with it as being “me” or “mine”). Using the noting process can be helpful (i.e., “this is desire” or “ill-will is present,” etc.). Now we will look at each hindrance in more detail and give some specific tools to work with them. Sensual desire manifests as wanting something that is pleasing to our 6 senses. It has an aspect of leaning into experience, wanting more of it. Types of sensual desire include wanting, lust, greed, envy, jealousy, addiction, and gluttony. Specific antidotes for working with sensual desire are: seeing into the nature of desire, understanding the negative consequences of it (not just its illusive attractive features), reflecting on the undesirable features of the object of desire, guarding the senses, renunciation, and generosity.
56
