Inner Hindrances To Be Abolished
There are five kinds of inner hindrances that must be abolished.
(1) The first kind are the hindrances of sensual desires that have their origin within the mind itself, because of memory or imagination. In the preceding chapter in discussing the external conditions, we referred to the sensual desires, also, but then we had in mind the bodily desires that had their origin in the physical contact of the senses with their objects. Now we are to consider the mental notion of these desires as they arise or linger in the mind itself. A follow of the Buddha may be practicing Dhyana in a very solemn manner, but his mind may be filled with seductive notions of these craving sensual desires and their continual activity will effectually prevent good qualities from germinating. So when we become conscious of the presence of these sense-desire notions, we must get rid of them at once. For, as in the case of Jubhaga whose body was consumed by the inner fires of his concupiscence, so we must not be surprised if the flames of these inner desires consume all our good qualities. Those who cherish these inner desires will make little progress on the path that lead to enlightenment. Why is this so? It is because these inner desires are a stronghold of vexations that so engross the mind that they crowd out the very purpose to attain enlightenment. In the Sutra it is written:
“You that seek enlightenment must be a man of humility and modesty. You that hold out the begging bowl that you might give blessings to sentient beings, how can you indulge in cheap desires for yourself and plunge into the sea of the five hindrances?
How is it that you, who has gotten rid of the external desires, have forsaken all their pleasures and thrown them away without regret, now seek to return to the shadow? Are you a fool who returns to his own spittle?
These notions of sensual desires that you are hankering for inevitably lead to suffering. If they are gratified there is no satisfaction, and if they are not satisfied there is annoyance. In either case there is no happiness at all.
What power do you have to get rid of these pain producing desire notions? When you have deeply enjoyed the happiness that arises from the successful practice of Dhyana, then you will no longer be defrauded by these deluding notions.”
(2) The second inner hindrance is the hindrance of hatred. This is a most fundamental factor in preventing one from attaining enlightenment. It is both the cause and condition for our fall into the evil existences. It is the enemy that keeps us from enjoying the Buddha’s Dharma. It is the thief that steals away our thoughts of good will toward all sentient beings. It is the fountain of evil words that burst out unchecked. Therefore, in the practice of Dhyana we should treat the mood of hatred as though it was a personality that was annoying not only yourself, but your relatives and enemies; and not only in the present but because of memory in both the past and the future. This makes nine annoyances, which will keep alive this mood of hatred. Hatred gives rise to grievances and each added grievance gives rise to more annoyances. Thus hatred goes on disturbing the mind, and that is why we speak of it as a fundamental hindrance. We should cut it away at the root and thus keep it from spreading.
Suprapunna asked the Lord Buddha as follows:
“What shall we get rid of if we want peace and happiness? What shall we do to get rid of sorrow? What is the poison that devours all our good thoughts?
Kill hatred and you will have peace and happiness. Kill hatred and you shall have no more sorrow. It is hatred that devours all thy goodness.”
Having become fully convinced of the evil of hatred, if one wishes to get rid of it, he must practice both compassion and patience.
(3) The third hindrance is the hindrance of laziness and sleepiness. Laziness means that our mind gets dull and inert, while sleepiness means that our five senses become relaxed, our body becomes immobile, and then we fall asleep. To attain enlightenment we need an alert mind and all such causes and conditions are hindrances that prevent us from experiencing the highest happiness both in our present life and in future lives, and the joy of the Pure Land, and the inconceivable peace of Nirvana. This hindrance is perhaps the most serious of all. Why? Because other hindrances come when we are awake mentally and we can at least make an effort to overcome them, but the hindrance of laziness and sleepiness makes effort impossible. In sleepiness, we are like a dead corpse with no perception and no consciousness.
Even our Lord Buddha and the Mahasattva-Bodhisattvas have had to combat sleepiness, as it is written in the following verses:
“Get up! Do not lie there clasping a decaying corpse to your bosom. Even though it passes under the name of man, it is only an aggregation of rubbish. It is as if you had been poisoned by an arrow; in your pain would you lazily lie down to sleep? It is as if you were tightly bound because you had murdered someone; in your calamity and fear would you lie down to sleep?
This thief and kidnapper might well be our death if you do not repel him forcefully. It is like lying down with a poisonous snake, or it is like lying down in the midst of battle; under such desperate conditions how could you think of indulging in sleep?
You should realize that laziness and sleepiness leaves you in perfect darkness; it robs you of your intelligence, it dulls wits, it is a drag on your will, it obscures your heart’s true purpose. How can you lie down to sleep when suffering such losses?”
It is because of these very serious causes and conditions that the mind is given its faculty for noticing and appreciating their danger, and for guarding against and warding off laziness and sleepiness. If laziness and sleepiness are the great foe of the practice of Dhyana, strange to say, the earnest practice of Dhyana is our best weapon against laziness and sleepiness.
(4) The fourth inner hindrance is recklessness and remorse. Recklessness is of three kinds. There is body haste, walking or rambling about with no especial purpose in mind, sports and make-believe and dancing about. Then there is haste and recklessness of lips. The lips seem to find enjoyment in just reciting and singing and disputing and boasting and discussing worldly affairs, all to no purpose, just for the thrill one gets out of it. The third is mind recklessness. This means careless thinking, idle day dreams, the perversion of the minds powers to selfish and acquisitive ends when they should be used for the attainment of enlightenment. Then there is the waste of the mind upon the unnecessary discrimination of external differences and the diversion of it into the enjoyment of worldly writings and artistic pursuits, or the frittering away of it in concentration upon sentimentality and emotionalism, and the absorption of it in contemplation of beautiful sights music, delicacies, fragrance, softness, and the seductive rhythm and cadence of beautiful thoughts.
It is as if a person, who had made up his mind to strictly control his mind, deliberately forgets his purpose and lets his mind run along the easiest channel. What does it mean to be a reckless person? He is no better then an intoxicated elephant free of its chains, or a wild camel held by the nose. Concerning this hindrance, it is written in the sutra:
“Oh you, who have become a monk, who have shaved your head and gone begging from door to door, why do you indulge in light and reckless manners, when you know that by such careless conduct and indulgence you will imperil all the benefits of the Dharma that might be yours?”
As soon as we become aware of what we are risking by such reckless acts and habits we should give them up at once for all time. Because as soon as we become aware of our guiltiness and do not give them up then remorse will spring up and that will intensify the hindrance, where recklessness without remorse would not be so serious. Why is this? The reason is this: we may have reckless habits without thinking much about it and then remorse will not spring up to disturb the mind. It is in the quiet of Dhyana practice that remorse with its burden of sadness and regret and vexation rises to disturb the mind and prevent its concentration. That is why recklessness and remorse are so great a hindrance to the practice of Dhyana. There are two kinds of remorse, namely, one kind comes after recklessness, as stated above, and the other kind precedes further recklessness. It is the fear that always shadows the life of a criminal. It is like an arrow that has penetrated so deep that it cannot be removed. As the sutra says:
“Because you do what you ought not to do, and do not what you ought to do, your life is replete with remorse and vexation, whereby you will fall at your death into an evil existence.
If you have commuted an offence and felt remorse for it, and afterwards are able to keep your mind from its grievance, your heart will be happy and peaceful, but you should be careful not to reawaken the mind either to the offence or to the remorse.
There are two kinds of remorse in which the foolish man is accustomed to indulge. The first is for things done which ought not to have done; the second is for things, which he ought to have done, but which he did not do.
The reason why both these kinds of remorse are foolish is because they do not express the true state of the mind, and because the offence, having occurred, it is too late for you to undo it.”
(5) The fifth inner hindrance is the hindrance of doubt. If the mind is clouded with doubt, how can it have any faith in the teaching? And if it has no faith in the teaching, how can it profit by it? It is as if one were going up a mountain for treasure but had no hands with which to bring back any of the treasure. There are some “honest doubts” which do not entirely hinder the practice of Dhyana, but there are three kinds of doubt that most effectively hinder the attainment of Samádhi. The first kind of doubt that hinders successful Dhyana is doubt of oneself. We may question whether we are the right one to attempt the Noble Path inasmuch as we are temperamentally gloomy and dull and our faults and offences are many and serious. If in the very beginning we cherish such doubts as that, we will never attain any development of Samádhi. So, if we are to practice Dhyana, we should not be contemptuous of our self. We should remind ourselves that it is impossible for anyone to fathom the depth that some root of goodness lies buried in our past lives.
The second kind of doubt is doubt in our master. We may have been displeased in his manner or appearance and doubted whether he had attained any degree of enlightenment and would be able to guide us along the path. If we cherish such doubt or contempt for our Master (Teacher), it will certainly hinder our attainment of Samádhi. If we wish to get rid of this hindrance, we should recall the words of the “Mahavibhasa Sutra” in its parable of the miser who kept his gold in a bag of rubbish. If we love the gold of enlightenment we too must keep it in our rubbish bag. Although our master is not perfect as we think he ought to be, we should honor and trust him because he stands for us in the Buddhas place.
The third kind of doubt is doubt in the Dharma. Nearly everyone of us no doubt retains some measure of confidence in his own mental judgment, and therefore it will be hard for us at first to have faith in the teachings of the Master when they differ from what we think they ought to be, and it will be hard at first to put his teachings into practice humbly and faithfully. So long as we cherish doubts of our Master, we cannot be much influenced by his teachings. This is clearly explained in the following stanzas:
“Just as a man standing where the roads cross and questioning which way he ought to go so are we facing the true nature of things. If we cherish doubts as to our ability to know and to choose the right way, it is not likely that we will put much earnestness or zeal into our search.
If, in our ignorance as we face the true nature of things, seeing bad and good, mortality and Nirvana, we doubt our Master, we resign ourselves to the bondage of life and death. We will be like a deer chased by a lion with no hope of escape.
In your ignorance, facing the true nature of things obscured by the world’s appearances and changes, you had better have faith in the good Dharma and follow its teachings with zeal and confidence. Standing where the ways of life cross, have faith and courage to choose the right.”
Faith is the only entrance to Buddhism. Without faith all earnest study and constant effort will be to no avail. Just as soon as you are convinced that error always follows doubt, give up all doubt and enter the gateway of faith.
Someone may ask: “There are as many different kinds of error as there are grains of dust, why do you speak of giving up only five doubts? That is true, but these five doubts cover the whole field of greed, hatred and foolishness. Doubt, greed, hatred and foolishness are the bad ways that are fundamental. Beyond the gateway of doubt open all the paths, said to be eighty-four thousand in number, that lead to worldly suffering: if we close the gate of doubt we block the way to all evil.
For these reasons the followers of Buddha should get rid of the five inner hindrances of greed, anger, hatred, laziness and sleepiness, recklessness and remorse, and doubt. Getting rid of these five hindrances is like having a debt remitted, it is like recovering from a painful sickness, it is passing from a famine stricken country into a land of prosperity; it is like living in peace and safety in the midst of violence and enmity with no apparent reason for it. If we have given up all these hindrances our minds will be fresh and happy and our spirits and tranquil and peaceful.
Just as the brightness of the sun may be obscured by smoke, or dust, or clouds, or mist, or Rahula, or the Asuras may hide its brightness behind their palms, so the pure brightness of our minds may be obscured by these five hindrances.
There are five kinds of inner hindrances that must be abolished.
(1) The first kind are the hindrances of sensual desires that have their origin within the mind itself, because of memory or imagination. In the preceding chapter in discussing the external conditions, we referred to the sensual desires, also, but then we had in mind the bodily desires that had their origin in the physical contact of the senses with their objects. Now we are to consider the mental notion of these desires as they arise or linger in the mind itself. A follow of the Buddha may be practicing Dhyana in a very solemn manner, but his mind may be filled with seductive notions of these craving sensual desires and their continual activity will effectually prevent good qualities from germinating. So when we become conscious of the presence of these sense-desire notions, we must get rid of them at once. For, as in the case of Jubhaga whose body was consumed by the inner fires of his concupiscence, so we must not be surprised if the flames of these inner desires consume all our good qualities. Those who cherish these inner desires will make little progress on the path that lead to enlightenment. Why is this so? It is because these inner desires are a stronghold of vexations that so engross the mind that they crowd out the very purpose to attain enlightenment. In the Sutra it is written:
“You that seek enlightenment must be a man of humility and modesty. You that hold out the begging bowl that you might give blessings to sentient beings, how can you indulge in cheap desires for yourself and plunge into the sea of the five hindrances?
How is it that you, who has gotten rid of the external desires, have forsaken all their pleasures and thrown them away without regret, now seek to return to the shadow? Are you a fool who returns to his own spittle?
These notions of sensual desires that you are hankering for inevitably lead to suffering. If they are gratified there is no satisfaction, and if they are not satisfied there is annoyance. In either case there is no happiness at all.
What power do you have to get rid of these pain producing desire notions? When you have deeply enjoyed the happiness that arises from the successful practice of Dhyana, then you will no longer be defrauded by these deluding notions.”
(2) The second inner hindrance is the hindrance of hatred. This is a most fundamental factor in preventing one from attaining enlightenment. It is both the cause and condition for our fall into the evil existences. It is the enemy that keeps us from enjoying the Buddha’s Dharma. It is the thief that steals away our thoughts of good will toward all sentient beings. It is the fountain of evil words that burst out unchecked. Therefore, in the practice of Dhyana we should treat the mood of hatred as though it was a personality that was annoying not only yourself, but your relatives and enemies; and not only in the present but because of memory in both the past and the future. This makes nine annoyances, which will keep alive this mood of hatred. Hatred gives rise to grievances and each added grievance gives rise to more annoyances. Thus hatred goes on disturbing the mind, and that is why we speak of it as a fundamental hindrance. We should cut it away at the root and thus keep it from spreading.
Suprapunna asked the Lord Buddha as follows:
“What shall we get rid of if we want peace and happiness? What shall we do to get rid of sorrow? What is the poison that devours all our good thoughts?
Kill hatred and you will have peace and happiness. Kill hatred and you shall have no more sorrow. It is hatred that devours all thy goodness.”
Having become fully convinced of the evil of hatred, if one wishes to get rid of it, he must practice both compassion and patience.
(3) The third hindrance is the hindrance of laziness and sleepiness. Laziness means that our mind gets dull and inert, while sleepiness means that our five senses become relaxed, our body becomes immobile, and then we fall asleep. To attain enlightenment we need an alert mind and all such causes and conditions are hindrances that prevent us from experiencing the highest happiness both in our present life and in future lives, and the joy of the Pure Land, and the inconceivable peace of Nirvana. This hindrance is perhaps the most serious of all. Why? Because other hindrances come when we are awake mentally and we can at least make an effort to overcome them, but the hindrance of laziness and sleepiness makes effort impossible. In sleepiness, we are like a dead corpse with no perception and no consciousness.
Even our Lord Buddha and the Mahasattva-Bodhisattvas have had to combat sleepiness, as it is written in the following verses:
“Get up! Do not lie there clasping a decaying corpse to your bosom. Even though it passes under the name of man, it is only an aggregation of rubbish. It is as if you had been poisoned by an arrow; in your pain would you lazily lie down to sleep? It is as if you were tightly bound because you had murdered someone; in your calamity and fear would you lie down to sleep?
This thief and kidnapper might well be our death if you do not repel him forcefully. It is like lying down with a poisonous snake, or it is like lying down in the midst of battle; under such desperate conditions how could you think of indulging in sleep?
You should realize that laziness and sleepiness leaves you in perfect darkness; it robs you of your intelligence, it dulls wits, it is a drag on your will, it obscures your heart’s true purpose. How can you lie down to sleep when suffering such losses?”
It is because of these very serious causes and conditions that the mind is given its faculty for noticing and appreciating their danger, and for guarding against and warding off laziness and sleepiness. If laziness and sleepiness are the great foe of the practice of Dhyana, strange to say, the earnest practice of Dhyana is our best weapon against laziness and sleepiness.
(4) The fourth inner hindrance is recklessness and remorse. Recklessness is of three kinds. There is body haste, walking or rambling about with no especial purpose in mind, sports and make-believe and dancing about. Then there is haste and recklessness of lips. The lips seem to find enjoyment in just reciting and singing and disputing and boasting and discussing worldly affairs, all to no purpose, just for the thrill one gets out of it. The third is mind recklessness. This means careless thinking, idle day dreams, the perversion of the minds powers to selfish and acquisitive ends when they should be used for the attainment of enlightenment. Then there is the waste of the mind upon the unnecessary discrimination of external differences and the diversion of it into the enjoyment of worldly writings and artistic pursuits, or the frittering away of it in concentration upon sentimentality and emotionalism, and the absorption of it in contemplation of beautiful sights music, delicacies, fragrance, softness, and the seductive rhythm and cadence of beautiful thoughts.
It is as if a person, who had made up his mind to strictly control his mind, deliberately forgets his purpose and lets his mind run along the easiest channel. What does it mean to be a reckless person? He is no better then an intoxicated elephant free of its chains, or a wild camel held by the nose. Concerning this hindrance, it is written in the sutra:
“Oh you, who have become a monk, who have shaved your head and gone begging from door to door, why do you indulge in light and reckless manners, when you know that by such careless conduct and indulgence you will imperil all the benefits of the Dharma that might be yours?”
As soon as we become aware of what we are risking by such reckless acts and habits we should give them up at once for all time. Because as soon as we become aware of our guiltiness and do not give them up then remorse will spring up and that will intensify the hindrance, where recklessness without remorse would not be so serious. Why is this? The reason is this: we may have reckless habits without thinking much about it and then remorse will not spring up to disturb the mind. It is in the quiet of Dhyana practice that remorse with its burden of sadness and regret and vexation rises to disturb the mind and prevent its concentration. That is why recklessness and remorse are so great a hindrance to the practice of Dhyana. There are two kinds of remorse, namely, one kind comes after recklessness, as stated above, and the other kind precedes further recklessness. It is the fear that always shadows the life of a criminal. It is like an arrow that has penetrated so deep that it cannot be removed. As the sutra says:
“Because you do what you ought not to do, and do not what you ought to do, your life is replete with remorse and vexation, whereby you will fall at your death into an evil existence.
If you have commuted an offence and felt remorse for it, and afterwards are able to keep your mind from its grievance, your heart will be happy and peaceful, but you should be careful not to reawaken the mind either to the offence or to the remorse.
There are two kinds of remorse in which the foolish man is accustomed to indulge. The first is for things done which ought not to have done; the second is for things, which he ought to have done, but which he did not do.
The reason why both these kinds of remorse are foolish is because they do not express the true state of the mind, and because the offence, having occurred, it is too late for you to undo it.”
(5) The fifth inner hindrance is the hindrance of doubt. If the mind is clouded with doubt, how can it have any faith in the teaching? And if it has no faith in the teaching, how can it profit by it? It is as if one were going up a mountain for treasure but had no hands with which to bring back any of the treasure. There are some “honest doubts” which do not entirely hinder the practice of Dhyana, but there are three kinds of doubt that most effectively hinder the attainment of Samádhi. The first kind of doubt that hinders successful Dhyana is doubt of oneself. We may question whether we are the right one to attempt the Noble Path inasmuch as we are temperamentally gloomy and dull and our faults and offences are many and serious. If in the very beginning we cherish such doubts as that, we will never attain any development of Samádhi. So, if we are to practice Dhyana, we should not be contemptuous of our self. We should remind ourselves that it is impossible for anyone to fathom the depth that some root of goodness lies buried in our past lives.
The second kind of doubt is doubt in our master. We may have been displeased in his manner or appearance and doubted whether he had attained any degree of enlightenment and would be able to guide us along the path. If we cherish such doubt or contempt for our Master (Teacher), it will certainly hinder our attainment of Samádhi. If we wish to get rid of this hindrance, we should recall the words of the “Mahavibhasa Sutra” in its parable of the miser who kept his gold in a bag of rubbish. If we love the gold of enlightenment we too must keep it in our rubbish bag. Although our master is not perfect as we think he ought to be, we should honor and trust him because he stands for us in the Buddhas place.
The third kind of doubt is doubt in the Dharma. Nearly everyone of us no doubt retains some measure of confidence in his own mental judgment, and therefore it will be hard for us at first to have faith in the teachings of the Master when they differ from what we think they ought to be, and it will be hard at first to put his teachings into practice humbly and faithfully. So long as we cherish doubts of our Master, we cannot be much influenced by his teachings. This is clearly explained in the following stanzas:
“Just as a man standing where the roads cross and questioning which way he ought to go so are we facing the true nature of things. If we cherish doubts as to our ability to know and to choose the right way, it is not likely that we will put much earnestness or zeal into our search.
If, in our ignorance as we face the true nature of things, seeing bad and good, mortality and Nirvana, we doubt our Master, we resign ourselves to the bondage of life and death. We will be like a deer chased by a lion with no hope of escape.
In your ignorance, facing the true nature of things obscured by the world’s appearances and changes, you had better have faith in the good Dharma and follow its teachings with zeal and confidence. Standing where the ways of life cross, have faith and courage to choose the right.”
Faith is the only entrance to Buddhism. Without faith all earnest study and constant effort will be to no avail. Just as soon as you are convinced that error always follows doubt, give up all doubt and enter the gateway of faith.
Someone may ask: “There are as many different kinds of error as there are grains of dust, why do you speak of giving up only five doubts? That is true, but these five doubts cover the whole field of greed, hatred and foolishness. Doubt, greed, hatred and foolishness are the bad ways that are fundamental. Beyond the gateway of doubt open all the paths, said to be eighty-four thousand in number, that lead to worldly suffering: if we close the gate of doubt we block the way to all evil.
For these reasons the followers of Buddha should get rid of the five inner hindrances of greed, anger, hatred, laziness and sleepiness, recklessness and remorse, and doubt. Getting rid of these five hindrances is like having a debt remitted, it is like recovering from a painful sickness, it is passing from a famine stricken country into a land of prosperity; it is like living in peace and safety in the midst of violence and enmity with no apparent reason for it. If we have given up all these hindrances our minds will be fresh and happy and our spirits and tranquil and peaceful.
Just as the brightness of the sun may be obscured by smoke, or dust, or clouds, or mist, or Rahula, or the Asuras may hide its brightness behind their palms, so the pure brightness of our minds may be obscured by these five hindrances.
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