Five Hindrances

Buddhism is one of the great spiritual traditions and it has a few potentially life enhancing ideas that can be remembered by the numbers associated with them. The Eight-fold Noble Path is one.

We’ll take a look at what Buddhism has to say about the Five Hindrances.
They are:  sexual desire, ill will, torpor, restlessness and skeptical doubt.

Some are not what you’d expect!

Sexual desire refers to not being fully present in the moment and getting caught up in planning and other extraneous matters. It is getting caught up with a sunbeam that isn’t real or has little substance.

Ill will is animosity and dislike. It is ill-tempered modulation of life energies, lack of complete harmony and being judgmental.

Torpor is inertia, laziness, boredom and a tendency to mentally ’gather wool’ and let the mind wander. It is lack of ability to make a choice or not fully showing up and being present to what is happening in the moment.

Restlessness means the problem of shifting attention. Be aware of it and focus on the ground where you are or upon the breath.

Skeptical doubt is the lack of certainty about the validity of your own experience or concern you are not doing ‘it’ right, whatever ‘it’ is. It is asking questions like, “Am I on time?” “Am I good enough?”

The Five Hindrances all refer to mental states and urge us to be non-judgmental about ourselves.

They point out the fact that it is more helpful to live life by being non-judgmental of yourself. They urge us to notice what is going on emotionally and within consciousness, and to do it with compassion.

Do not judge yourself harshly—just notice and then face it head on. Deal with it, it’s roots and the entanglements and then move on.

The Five Hindrances help us develop a healthy curiosity about what is going on right now.

They point out the need to be aware. They tell us to slow down and understand that we are the Buddha and that we are great and also have moments when we are not so great.

Those moments need to be noticed and dealt with kindly and with compassion.

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Rebecca Field

Inspired by a talk given by Ann Rice
April 14, 2013