The five defilements which the Buddha designates as the five hindrances are, as we mentioned, sensual desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry, and doubt.
These five receive the name “hindrances” for the reason that they hinder and envelop the mind.4
They hinder and envelop the mind by obstructing the development of meditation in either of its two modes – the mode of serenity (samatha bhāvanā) and the mode of insight (vipassanā bhāvanā). Hence the Buddha calls the five hindrances “obstructions, hindrances, corruptions of the mind, weakeners of wisdom.”5 Again he says: “These five
1. PP., p. 145. “Andhakāre sati padīpobhāso viya, tesaJ pariccāgeneva c’assa adhigamo hoti, orimatīrapariccāgena parimatīrasseva.” Vism., p. 113.
2. PP., pp. 145-46. Vism., pp. 83-84.
3. PP., p. 147. Vism., p. 114.
4. “CittaJ nīvarenti pariyonandhantī ti nīvararanā.” Dhammasa/ga5i A((hakathā [Pāli Text in Burmese script] (Rangoon, Burma: Buddhasāsana Samiti, 1960), p. 91 (hereafter cited as Dhs.A.).
5. C. A. F. Rhys Davids, and F. L. Woodward, trans. The Book of the Kindred Sayings (Sa.yutta-Nikāya) or Grouped Suttas. [Pt. 1: Kindred Sayings with verses (Sagatha-Vagga), translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids assisted by Sūriyagoda SumaKgala Thera; pt. 2: The Nidāna Book (Nidāna-Vagga), translated by Mrs.
Rhys Davids assisted by F. L. Woodward; pt. 3: translated by F. L. Woodward and edited by Mrs. Rhys Davids; pt. 4: translated by F. L. Woodward with an Introduction by Mrs. Rhys Davids; pt. 5.
(Mahā-Vagga), translated by F. L. Woodward with an Introduction by Mrs. Rhys Davids. (Pali Text Society Translation Series, vols. 7, 10, 13-15]. 5 vols. 1927-30; reprint. London: Luzac & Co., 1956-71), 5:79 (hereafter cited as KS.). “ĀvaraLā nīvaraLā cetaso upakkilesā paññāya dubbalīkaraLā.” SN. 5:94.
hindrances, monks, are causes of blindness, causes of loss of vision, causes of unknowing, opposed to wisdom, aligned with vexation, leading away from nibbāna.”1 In the suttas the Buddha offers two sets of similes to illustrate the detrimental effect of the hindrances. The first compares the five hindrances unabandoned in oneself to five types of calamity: sensual desire is like a debt, ill will like a disease, sloth and torpor like imprisonment, restlessness and worry like slavery, and doubt like being lost on a desert road. Release from the hindrances is to be seen as freedom from debt, good health, release from prison, emancipation from slavery, and arriving at a place of safety.2 The second set of similes compares the hindrances to five kinds of impurities affecting a bowl of water, preventing a keen-sighted man from seeing his own reflection as it really is. The five impurities are appropriately paired off with the hindrances: sensual desire is like a bowl of water mixed with brightly colored paints, ill will like a bowl of boiling water, sloth and torpor like water covered by mossy plants, restlessness and worry like water blown into ripples by the wind, and doubt like muddy water.3 Just as the keen-eyed man would not be able to see his reflection in these five kinds of water, so
when one dwells with his mind obsessed and overwhelmed by sensual desire (ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry, and doubt), without under-standing as it is the escape from these arisen obsessions, then one does not know and see as it is one’s own good, the good of others, or the good of both.4 (Wr. tr.).
Because the five hindrances are the states especially obstructive to the first jhāna they are called the first jhāna’s “factors of abandoning” (pahāna/gāni). The factors of abandonment are the states which have to be abandoned in order for the jhāna to arise.5 But the singling out of these five factors should not be taken to imply that they are the only states antithetical to the first jhāna or the only defilements abandoned when the jhāna is attained. To forestall this suspicion Buddhaghosa points out, in his exegesis of the first jhāna formula, that the two phrases “secluded from sense pleasures” (vivicc’eva kāmehi) and “secluded from unwholesome states of mind” (vivicca akusalehi dhammehi) cover other categories of defilements besides the hindrances. Of the three unwholesome roots (akusalamūla), the first covers greed, the second hatred and delusion. Of the floods (ogha), bonds (yoga), cankers (āsava), clingings (upādāna), bodily ties (gantha), and fetters (sa.yojana), the first phrase covers the flood, bond, canker, and clinging of sensual desire, the bodily tie of covetousness, and the fetter of sensual desire; the second phrase covers the remaining members of these groups.
1. KS. 5:91. “Pañcime bhikkhave nīvaraLā andhakaraLā acakkhukaraLā aññāLakaraLā paññānirodhikā vighātapakkhiyā anibbānasaJvattanikā.” SN. 5:97.
2. DN. 1:71-73.
3. SN. 5:121-24.
4. “Yasmim samaye kāmarāgapariyu::hitena cetasā viharati kāmarāgaparetena. Uppannassa ca kāmarāgassa nissaraLaJ yathābhūtaJ nappajānāti, attatthaJ pi tasmiJ samaye yathābhūtaJ na jānāti na passati. ParatthaJ pi, ubhayatthaJ pi tasmiJ samaye yathābhūtaJ na jānāti na passati.” SN. 5:121-22.
5. PP., p. 152. Vism., p. 118.
Among the unwholesome states of consciousness mentioned in the Abhidhamma, the first phrase indicates the eight classes of consciousness rooted in greed, the second the remaining four classes of unwholesome cousciousness – those rooted in aversion and strong delusion.1
Nevertheless, despite this diversity of defilements opposed to the first jhāna, the five hindrances alone are called its factors of abandoning. The principal reason behind this selection, according to the Visuddhimagga, is that “although other unprofitable things too are abandoned at the moment of jhāna, still only these are specifically obstructive to jhāna.”2 Buddhaghosa goes on to show how each hindrance impedes the mind’s capacity for concentration:
The mind affected through lust by greed for varied objective fields does not become concentrated on an object consisting in unity, or being overwhelmed by lust, it does not enter on the way to abandoning the sense-desire element.
When pestered by ill will towards an object, it does not occur uninterruptedly.
When overcome by stiffness and torpor, it is unwieldy. When seized by agitation and worry, it is unquiet and buzzes about. When stricken by uncertainty, it fails to mount the way to accomplish the attainment of jhāna.
So it is these only that are called factors of abandoning because they are specifically obstructive to jhāna.3
A second reason for confining the first jhāna’s factors of abandoning to the five hindrances is to permit a direct alignment to be made between the hindrances and the jhāna factors (jhāna/gāni). The jhāna factors are five mental phenomena which strengthen concentration and lift the mind to the level of jhāna. The five are applied thought (vitakka), sustained thought (vicāra), rapture (pīti), happiness (sukha) and one-pointedness (ekaggatā). Since the five remain in the first jhāna they come to be called its “factors of possession” (samannāgata/gāni). Buddhaghosa states that the abandonment of the five hindrances alone is mentioned in connection with jhāna for the reason that the hindrances are the direct enemies of the five factors:
Only the hindrances are mentioned subsequently in the VibhaKga… in order to show their opposition to, and incompatibility with, the jhāna factors. For the hindrances are the contrary opposites of the jhāna factors: what is meant is
1. PP., p. 147. Vism., p. 114.
2. PP., p. 152. Vism., p. 118.
3. PP., p. 152. “Kāmacchandena hi nānāvisayapalobhitaJ cittaJ na ekattārammaLe samādhiyati;
kāmacchandābhibhūtaJ vataJ na kāmadhātuppahānāya pa:ipadaJ pa:ipajjati; byāpādena c’ārammaLe pa:ihaññamānaJ na nirantaraJ pavattati; thīnamiddhābhibhūtaJ akammaññaJ hoti;
uddhaccakukkuccaparetaJ avūpasantaJ eva hutvā paribbhamati; vicikicchāya upahataJ jhānādhigama sādhikaJ pa:ipadaJ narohati. Iti visesena jhānantarāyakarattā etān’eva pahānaKgānī ti vuttāni.”
Vism., p. 118.
that the jhāna factors are incompatible with them, eliminate them, abolish them.1
To support his contention the commentator cites a passage he ascribes to the Pe:aka demonstrating a one-to-one correspondence between the jhāna factors and hindrances:
Concentration is incompatible with lust, happiness [rapture] with ill will, applied thought with stiffness and torpor, bliss [happiness] with agitation and worry, and sustained thought with uncertainty [doubt].2
Thus each jhāna factor is seen as being assigned the specific task of eliminating and abolishing a particular obstruction to the jhāna. To correlate these obstructions with the five jhāna factors they are ordered into a scheme of five hindrances.
The same principle also serves to explain the rationale behind the coupling that takes place in two of the hindrances, “sloth and torpor” and “restlessness and worry.” In an important passage which anticipates the analytical precision of the Abhidhamma the Buddha demonstrates a method by which the five hindrances become tenfold. This is done by dividing three hindrances into two each according to whether they take internal or external objects, and the two compound hindrances into two each by way of their pairs of components:
What, monks, is the method of explanation according to which the five hindrances become ten?
Sensual desire towards the internal, monks – that is a hindrance; sensual desire towards the external – that is a hindrance. Thus the hindrance of sensual desire that comes down in the summary by this method becomes twofold.
Ill will towards the internal, monks – that is a hindrance; ill will towards the external – that is a hindrance. Thus the hindrance of ill will that comes down in the summary by this method becomes twofold.
Sloth, monks, is a hindrance; torpor is a hindrance. Thus the hindrance of sloth and torpor that comes down in the summary by this method becomes twofold.
Restlessness, monks, is a hindrance; worry is a hindrance. Thus the hindrance of restlessness and worry that comes down in the summary by this method becomes twofold.
1. PP., p. 147. “VibhaKge upari jhānaKgānaJ paccanika-pa:ipakkha-bhāvadassanato nīvaraLā’eva vuttāni.
NīvaraLāni hi jhānaKgapaccani-kāni; tesaJ jhānaKgān’eva pa:ipakkhāni viddhaJsakāni vighātakānī ti vuttaJ hoti.” Vism., p. 114.
2. PP., p. 147. “Samādhi kāmacchandassa pa:ipakkho, pīti byāpādassa, vitakko thīnamiddhassa, sukhaJ uddhaccakukkuccassa, vicāro vicikicchāya ti [ ] Pe:ake vuttā.” Vism., p. 114.
N.B. The Path of Purification’s “happiness” is our “rapture” (pīti), and The Path of Purification’s “bliss”
is our “happiness” (sukha). The other differences in translation are more obvious, and can be checked in Appendix 3.
Doubt towards internal phenomena, monks, is a hindrance; doubt towards externals is a hindrance. Thus the hindrance of doubt that comes down in the summary by this method becomes twofold.
This, monks, is the method of explanation according to which the five hindrances are ten.1 (Wr. tr.).
Thus when analyzed into distinct mental factors (cetasika) the five hindrances break down into seven separate states: sensual desire, ill will, sloth, torpor, restlessness, worry, and doubt. This raises the question why the seven defilements obstructive to the first jhāna are presented as only five hindrances rather than as seven. The reason for this peculiarity of arrangement again seems to lie in the economy required to set the jhāna-factors and hindrances in direct opposition. Since there are five jhāna factors the defilements they oppose must likewise be five. Sloth and torpor on the one side, and restlessness and worry on the other, readily lend themselves to the required coupling. For sloth and torpor share the common feature of mental ailment or indisposition, the former of consciousness itself and the latter of its concomitants.2 Restlessness and worry, likewise, share the common feature of agitating or disturbing the mind. Thus it is natural that a single jhāna factor should be capable of opposing and silencing the two hindrances in each set. According to the method cited in the Visuddhimagga, sloth and torpor are both countered by applied thought, restlessness and worry are both countered by happiness.3 In this way the mutual exclusion of hindrances and jhāna factors becomes the ground for the grouping of the hindrances into a fivefold set.
1. “Katamo, ca bhikkhave pariyāyo yaJ pariyāyaJ āgamma pañca nīvaraLā dasa honti?
Yad api bhikkhave ajjhattaJ kāmacchando tad api nīvaraLaJ. Yad api bahiddhā kāmacchando tad api nīvaraLaJ. KāmacchandanīvaraLaJ ti iti hidaJ uddesaJ āgacchati, tadaminā petaJ pariyāyena dvayaJ hoti.
Yad api bhikkhave ajjhattaJ byāpādo tad api nīvaraLaJ. Yad api bahiddhā byāpādo tad api nīvaraLaJ.
ByāpādanīvaranaJ ti iti hidaJ uddesaJ āgacchati. Tad aminā petaJ pariyāyena dvayaJ hoti.
Yad api bhikkhave thīnaJ tad api nīvaraLaJ. Yad api middhaJ tad api nīvaraLaJ.
ThīnamiddhanīvaraLaJ ti iti hidaJ uddesaJ āgacchati. Tad aminā petaJ pariyāyena dvayaJ hoti.
Yad api bhikkhave uddhaccaJ tad api nīvaraLaJ. Yad api kukkuccaJ tad api nīvaraLaJ. Uddhacca kukkucca nīvaraLanti iti hidaJ uddesaJ āgacchati. Tad aminā petaJ pariyāyena dvayaJ hoti.
Yad api bhikkhave ajjhattaJ dhammesu vicikicchā tad api nīvaraLaJ. Yad api bahiddhā dhammesu vicikicchā tad api nīvaraLaJ. VicikicchānīvaraLaJ ti iti hidaJ uddesaJ āgacchati. Tad aminā petaJ pariyāyena dvayaJ hoti.
AyaJ kho bhikkhave pariyāyo yaJ pariyāyaJ āgamma pañca nīvaraLā dasa honti.” SN. 5:110.
2. “ThīnaJ citta gelaññaJ, middhaJ cetasikagelaññaJ.” Buddhaghosa, (Dīgha Nikāya A((hakathā (Suma/galavilāsinī)]. [Vol. 1:] Sīlakkhandhavagga((hakathā; [vol. 2:] Mahāvagga((hakathā; [vol. 3:]
Pāthikavagga((hakathā. [Pāli Text in Burmese script]. 3 vols. (Rangoon, Burma: Buddhasāsana Samiti, 1968), 1:189 (hereafter cited as DN.A.).
3. PP., p. 147. Vism., p. 114.