Curing the Five Hindrances of mind/heart

(Venerable Gotami) Stuck in life? These Five Things (Hindrances) are hold you back

1. Sense craving (kāmacchanda): seeking pleasure through the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and physical feeling.
2. Ill-will (vyāpāda): feelings of anger, hostility, vengefulness, resentment, hatred, and bitterness.
3. Sloth-and-torpor (thīna-middha): mental and physical lack of energy with little to no ability to make effort toward samadhi or concentration.
4. Restlessness-and-worry (uddhacca-kukkucca): the inability to calm the mind and bring it to stillness (samadhi) and focus one's energy.
5. Skeptical doubt (vicikiccha): lack of confidence, conviction, faith in the practice and one's ability to succeed in calm and insight toward enlightenment and liberation.

• The Five Hindrances (pancha-nívarana)

Etymology

According to Gil Fronsdal, the Pali term (nīvaraṇa) translated as "hindrance" actually means "covering." What these hindrances cover over are: the clarity of our mind, as well as our ability to be mindful, wise, concentrated, and stay on purpose [1].

According to earlier translations by Rhys Davids, the Pali term nīvaraṇa (Sanskrit nivāraṇa) refers to an obstacle or hindrance in the ethical sense, usually enumerated in a set of five [7].

In Pali language literature: Pali canon

In the Pali canon's Samyutta Nikaya, several sutras or discourses juxtapose the Five Hindrances with the Seven Factors of Enlightenment (satta-bojjhanga) [a].

For instance, according to SN 46.37, the Buddha states: "Meditators, there are these Five Hindrances, obstructions, corruptions of mind, weakeners of wisdom. What are the five?

1. Sensual craving...
2. ill-will...
3. sloth-and-torpor...
4. restlessness-and-remorse...
5. skeptical doubt...

"There are, meditators, these Seven Factors of Enlightenment, which are nonhindrances, nonobstructions, noncorruptions of mind/heart. When cultivated and developed, they lead to the realization of the fruit of true knowledge and liberation. 

"What are the seven? The enlightenment factor of mindfulness... equanimity... [8][b]."

Ven. Anālayo emphasizes: To overcome the hindrances, to practice satipatthana [the Four Foundations], and to establish the awakening factors [the Seven Factors of Enlightenment] are, indeed, according to several Pali discourses, the key aspects and the distinctive features common to the awakenings of all buddhas of the past, present, and future [9].

Ven. Anālayo supports this by identifying that, in all extant Sanskrit and Chinese versions of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse (Satipatthana Sutta), only the Five Hindrances and Seven Factors of Enlightenment are consistently identified under the dhamma contemplation section.

Contemplations of the Five Aggregates clung to as self, Six Sense Bases and Four Noble Truths are not included in one or more of these non-Pali language versions [9].

In terms of gaining insight into and overcoming the Five Hindrances, according to the discourse on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, the Buddha proclaimed:

 

"How, meditators, does a meditator live contemplating mental objects in the mental objects of the Five Hindrances? Herein [within this Doctrine and Discipline], meditators, when sense-craving is present, one knows, "There is sense-craving in me."

When sense-craving is not present, one knows, "There is no sense-craving in me."

One knows how the arising of the non-arisen sense-craving comes to be; one knows how the abandoning of the arisen sense-craving comes to be; and one knows how the non-arising in the future of the abandoned sense-craving comes to be [10]. More: The Five Hindrances

One Secret to Enlightenment

Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Ashley Wells (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

"Meditation" is bringing attention (mind, focus, directed awareness) to something. Are all things equal so that anything is just as good as anything else to bring it to? NO.

Some things are better. What things? Subtle ones.

The secret to "meditation" (jhayanti) is directing attention toward an increasingly subtle object. This is because it is subtle then subtler, so the mind has to become increasingly attentive, aware, and focused (which is purifying).

The Buddha recommended focusing on the in-and-out breath for this very reason. We carry it everywhere, and it grows calmer the calmer the mind becomes.

The Five Hindrances

Who will be the Future Buddha?

When we place the mind on the breath -- bright, happy, interested (not bored, not averse) -- it meets the Five Hindrances.

Overcoming those hindrances, the mind settles as the breath thins out and eventually disappears.

1. sensual craving (desire, greed, lust)
2. aversion (ill-will, anger, annoyance, boredom)
3. sleepiness (sloth and torpor, tired mind or body)
4. restlessness (discontent, worry, flurry)
5. skeptical doubt (lack of confidence and conviction, faithlessness, excessive questioning and investigation).

The breath brings one to the first meditation (the first jhana, the first meditative absorption). The Five Hindrances have fallen away, and the Five Factors of Absorption (jhana-anga) have arisen. One of those factors is joy.

Joy is wonderful, joy is blissful, joy is rapturous (uplifting, effervescent, a kind of elation). This is good at first, but it comes to seem gross and coarse compared to more peaceful sustained-happiness (sukha and abhirati or contentment).

By removing the coarser, the mind turns to the more subtler and thereby enters the second meditation, the second meditative absorption.

This keeps happening by emerging and reflecting on the disadvantages or defects of each of the absorptions, moving one to the next more subtle absorption. This goes from the first access to first absorption, first absorption to second and so forth. This is samma-samadhi, "right concentration" or stillness.

The mind is growing more coherent, more integrated, more whole and wholesome. This is all accompanied by wholesome states -- leaving abandoned the unwholesome, the many manifestations of greed, hatred, and delusion (lobha, dosa, moha). Cultivating those wholesome states is one way to advance the process when nothing else can speed it up.

What is more subtle than the first four form-absorptions? The four formless absorptions, so named because the take as their object increasingly subtle objects: unbounded consciousness, unbounded space, nothingness, then neither-perception-nor-non-perception. What could be more subtle than that, than a state of conscious awareness so subtle that it is not possible to call it "perception," but it is not "non-perception," not unconsciousness, not non-perceiving (non-percipience).

One thing is more subtle. And that thing is not a "thing" at all but it is certainly not nothingness. It is the greatest thing of all: nirvana. It is a mistake to think that it is nothingness on the one hand or merely the end of all suffering on the other.

American Bhikkhu Bodhi

American scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi long ago showed that nirvana is unique, peaceful, not a composite like all "things" are. It alone is the deathless (amata). It alone is the unconditioned element (dhatu), the conditions being composite factors and supports of things. It stands alone and is so subtle an object that the ordinary mind cannot discern or hold it.

The mind grown pure by the increasingly subtle absorptions becomes intensified, still, and so powerful that it is able to glimpse it. And by glimpsing it, the mind (heart) is freed.

Because nirvana is real and even more subtle than "the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception," it is possible to attain that level of samadhi, the eighth jhana, and persist in that absorption for so long that the mind will then wish for something even more subtle. And it may at that point move to nirvana by simply willing for something less coarse/more subtle.

British Buddhist teacher Beth Upton (right)

A story of this exact thing happening is told by Buddhist teacher Beth Upton who knows of someone this happened to. This would seem to suggest that all the insight-meditation that makes this attainment is systematic endeavor is not 100% necessary. Even long ago in proto-India, when hermits and recluses as well as wandering ascetics kept the teaching of samadhi alive, some found the ultimate goal, the highest bliss. The Buddha was not the only one to rediscover nirvana. Other humans known as pacceka-buddhas or "non-teaching supremely enlightened beings" existed as well.

The Five Hindrances in Daily Life (video)

Ayasma Aggacitta (Sutta Workshop); Anagarika E., Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Five Hindrances in Meditation and Life (Ayasma Aggacitta)

The Five Hindrances in Meditation and Daily Life

(Sutta Workshops by Āyasmā Aggacitta, premiered July 30, 2022) This is an edited video of an online Dhamma (Dharma) talk on January 9, 2022, organized by Stay Alive (SA) and Zest Connection.

• 00:00 Start
• 01:25 Āvarana Sutta (AN 5.51)
• 03:08 Āhāra Sutta (SN 46.51)
• 03:49 Sensual Desire
• 05:32 Ill-Will
• 06:16 Sloth and Torpor (Drowsiness and Weariness)
• 06:48 Restlessness and Worry
• 08:23 Skeptical Doubt
• 09:05 How to Nourish the Five Hindrances
• 13:58 How to Denourish the Hindrances
• 17:50 How to Prevent the Hindrances from arising according to the Commentary
• 19:10 Conditions for Prevention of Sensual Desire according to the Commentary
• 25:18 Conditions for Prevention of Ill-Will according to the Commentary
• 28:04 How to Remove Ill-Will (AN 5:161)
• 31:24 Conditions for Prevention of Sloth and Torpor according to the Commentary
• 33:39 How to overcome Drowsiness (AN 7.61)
• 39:50 Conditions for Prevention of Restlessness and Worry according to the Commentary
• 42:10 Conditions for Prevention of Doubts according to the Commentary
• 45:13 How to abandon the Hindrances – Nīvarana Sutta (AN 9.64)
• 47:51 The Five Hindrances in Life – Worthy Deeds (AN 4.61)
• 54:30 What is accomplishment in wisdom?
• 58:25 Q&A
• 58:44 Is it correct that I do not send loving-kindness (mettā) to the opposite sex?
• 1:00:47 How to overcome the challenge when the Hindrances are not from within but are influenced by external factors?
• 1:01:50 Is it recommended for someone with OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) to practice meditation?
• 1:02:59 How does one gaze beyond the wall without imagining during Open Mindfulness Meditation?
• 1:03:54 Can we put in more effort to stop or indulge in the proliferating mind before we sleep?
• 1:05:46 Is it advisable to change meditation object for beginner?
• 1:06:29 How to cultivate Faith (Confidence) in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha?
• 1:08:07 What is Open Mindfulness Meditation?
• 1:08:54 Is it a suitable conversation between spiritual friends when someone expresses negative feelings towards me?
• 1:09:48 Can we practice Open Mindfulness in open and noisy places?
• 1:11:31 What is the difference between sati-sampajañña (mindfulness and clear comprehension) and vipassanā (insight) practice?
• 1:11:59 Can BARR Test and inclining the mind be used to verify the causes and conditions and the Five Aggregates simultaneously? Seems like one is intellectual and the other is intuitive?
• 1:16:45 What is the difference between Open Mindfulness Meditation and Watching the Breath?
• 1:18:00 How to draw the line between suitable and unsuitable conversation?
• 1:19:24 Are youngsters practicing de-focused mindfulness when they ignore their parents?
• 1:20:18 The End

Attributions: Graphics designed by 30000009006 from "lovepik.com/image-401898097/t..."

Is life disappointing and painful?

Ven. Piyadassi Thera edited and expanded by Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

What is the cause of disappointment/pain?

Life, according to the right understanding of a buddha, is NOT "suffering," but it is unsatisfactory (dukkha), disappointing, and suffused with a lack-of-fulfillment. It cannot be satisfactory, though we think it can, and it has the potential for great pain and misery.

Is there pleasure? Of course! Is there happiness (sukha)? Yes! Yet, for all that, life (pursuing our cravings) is not able to fulfill us, satisfy us, allay our pains, except that pleasure sometimes distracts us.

"Suffering" in English means one thing, and it is not what the Buddha was talking about. It is too powerful a translation that misleads. Many translators use it because it does not shrink back from the problem of physical pain and psychological disappointment. Pain is based on ignorance, delusion, wrong view (avijja). That is not to say it does not exist. That is to say it does exist and is rooted in this mental defilement, the greatest source of suffering. So what is the solution? It is enlightenment, wisdom, insight in the Truth.

Ignorance is the experiencing of that which is unworthy of experiencing — namely harmfulness. Furthermore, it is the non-perception of the fabricated nature of the Five Aggregates. It is:

• the non-perception of sense-organs and their objects in their objective natures,
• the non-perception of the emptiness (impersonal nature) of the elements,
• the non-perception of the dominant nature of the sense faculties,
• the non-perception of the thus-ness — the such-ness, infallibility — of the Four Noble Truths.

And the Five Hindrances (pañca nivaranani) are the nutriment or necessary condition for this ignorance. They are called "hindrances" because they completely close in, cut off, and obstruct liberating insight. They hinder the understanding of the way to liberation from all suffering (disappointment, pain, unsatisfactoriness).

The Five Hindrances

1. Sensuality (kamacchanda)
2. Ill-will (vyapada)
3. Obduracy of mind and mental factors (thinamiddha)
4. Restlessness and worry (uddhacca-kukkucca), and
5. Skeptical doubt (vicikiccha).

What is the nutriment of these hindrances? The three harmful modes of life (tini duccaritani): 1) bodily, 2) verbal, and 3) mental wrong-doing.

This threefold nutriment is, in turn, nourished by non-restraint of the senses (indriya asamvaro), which is explained by the Commentary as the admitting of lust and hate [passion and aversion] into the six sense-organs of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind.

The nutriment of non-restraint is shown to be lack of mindfulness and of complete awareness (asati asampajañña). In the context of nutriment, the drifting away of the object (dhamma, thing) — the lapsing, from the mind, of the knowledge of the Three Universal Marks or Characteristics of Existence:

1. impermanence (change)
2. unsatisfactoriness (suffering)
3. impersonal nature (not self).

And forgetfulness of the true nature of things is the reason for non-restraint. It is when one does not bear in mind the transience and the other characteristics of things that one allows oneself all kinds of liberties in thought, speech, and deed. Two give rein to unskillful imagery (thought).

Lack of complete awareness is lack of these four:

1. complete awareness of purpose (sattha sampajañña),
2. of suitability (sappaya sampajañña),
3. of resort (gocara sampajañña), and
4. of non-delusion (asammoha sampajañña).

When one does something while lacking right purpose, when one looks at things or does actions (performs karma) that do not help the growth of the good,

• when one does things inimical to improvement,
• when one forgets the dhamma (the Truth, the teachings, the Dharma), which is the real resort of one who strives,
• when one deludedly takes hold of things believing them to be pleasant (able to satisfy or able to fulfill one), beautiful, permanent, or substantial —
• when one behaves in this way, then also non-restraint is nourished.

And below this lack of mindfulness and complete awareness lies unsystematic reflection (ayoniso manasikara). The books say unsystematic reflection (the opposite of wise reflection) is reflection that is off the right course.

That is to say, one takes the impermanent as permanent, the painful as pleasurable, the impersonal as a self, the unskillful as skillful (unwholesome as wholesome, unprofitable as profitable, bad as good).

The constant rolling-on through rebirths that is samsara is rooted in unsystematic consideration. When unsystematic consideration increases, it fulfils two things, nescience (ignorance) and craving for more becoming (rebirth).

Ignorance being present, the origination of this entire mass of suffering (disappointment) comes to be. Thus a person who is a shallow thinker (lacking systematic consideration), like a ship drifting at the wind's will, like a herd of cattle swept into the whirl pool of a river, like an ox yoked to a cycling wheel-contraption, goes on revolving in the cycle of rebirth, samsara.

And it is said that imperfect confidence (assaddhiyam) in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha is the condition that develops unsystematic reflection. And imperfect confidence is due to non-hearing of the Dharma (the teaching of a fully awakened buddha), the Dharma (asaddhamma savanam).

Finally, one does not hear the Dharma through lack of contact with the wise (those in the stages of enlightenment), through not approaching and keeping company with the good (asappurisa sansevo).

Therefore, want of noble friendship (kalyana-mittata) appears to be the basic reason for the ills of the world. Conversely, the basis and nutriment of all good is shown to be noble friendship. For it furnishes one with the nourishment of the sublime Dharma, which in turn produces confidence in the Triple Gem (tiratana): the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

When one has confidence in the Triple Gem, there come into existence profound or systematic consideration, mindfulness and complete awareness (sati-sampajjana), restraint of the senses, the three good modes of life, the Four Foundations (or Arousings) of Mindfulness, the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, and deliverance through wisdom, one after another, in order [5]. More

The Conquest of the Five Hindrances

The Five Mental Hindrances and Their Conquest: Selected Texts [Anthology] from the Pali Canon and the Commentaries by Nyanaponika Thera (trans.); edited by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly, 2020

It's great to learn at Sutta Central or ATI.

Unshakable liberation of the mind is the highest goal in the Buddha's Teaching or Dharma.

Here, liberation means: the freeing of the mind from all limitations, fetters, and bonds that tie it to the Cycle of Suffering, to the Wheel of Life and Death, to the Endless Round of Becoming.

It means the cleansing of the mind of all defilements that mar its potential purity, removing all obstacles that bar its progress from the mundane (lokiya) consciousness to supramundane consciousness (lokuttara-citta), that is, to enlightenment/awakening from the illusion.

There are many obstacles that block the spiritual road and impede or derail our progress. But there are FIVE in particular that, under the name of the Five Hindrances (pancha nivarana), are often mentioned in the Buddhist texts:

1. Sensual craving (kamacchanda)
2. Ill-will (byapada)
3. Sloth and torpor (thina-middha)
4. Restlessness and remorse (uddhacca-kukkucca)
5. Sceptical doubt (vicikiccha).

Yes, when I release them, meditation just happens.

They are called "hindrances" because they hinder and envelop the mind (heart) in many ways, obstructing its development (bhavana or "meditation").

According to Buddhism, spiritual development is twofold, through tranquillity (samatha-bhavana, "serenity") and through wisdom (vipassana-bhavana, "insight").

Tranquillity is gained by complete mental coherence (collectedness, usually and misleadingly translated as "concentration") of the mind during the meditative absorptions (jhanas).

For achieving these meditative absorptions, the overcoming of the Five Hindrances, at least temporarily, is a preliminary condition.

It is especially in the context of achieving the absorptions that the Buddha often mentions the Five Hindrances in sutras or discourses.

The Factors of Absorption

There are also five opposite mental constituents that are chiefly representative of the first meditative absorption. They are therefore called the "Factors of Absorption" (jhana'anga).

On the one hand, for each of these there is, according to the ancient Buddhist commentarial tradition, one of the Five Hindrances that is specifically harmful for it and excludes its development and refinement to the degree required for mental absorption.

On the other hand, the cultivation of these five factors beyond their average level is an antidote to the hindrances, preparing the road to absorption.

The relationship between these two groups of five is indicated in this anthology, under the heading of the respective hindrance.

Not only the meditative absorptions but also lesser degrees of samadhi (mental concentration) are impeded by the Five Hindrances.

There is something prior to full absorption. It is called "neighborhood" or "access" concentration (upacara-samadhi), being the preliminary stage for fully absorbed concentration (appana) reached in absorption.

Likewise excluded by the presence of the Five Hindrances is something called "momentary concentration" (khanika-samadhi) -- not because it only lasts a moment but because it runs alongside the effort moment by moment -- which has the strength of "neighborhood concentration" and is required for mature insight (vipassana).

But apart from these higher stages of mental development, any earnest attempt at clear thinking and pure living will be negatively affected by the presence of these Five Hindrances. ...

The Five Hindrances

I. GENERAL SUTRAS

The Buddha teaches Buddhist nuns.

There are five impediments and hindrances, overgrowths of the mind that [stultify or] nullify insight. What are the five?

1. Sensual craving is an impediment and hindrance, an overgrowth of the mind that nullifies insight.
2. Ill-will...
3. Sloth and torpor (laziness and sleepiness)…
4. Restlessness and remorse...
5. Skeptical doubt [are all] impediments and hindrances, overgrowths of the mind that nullify insight.

Without having overcome these five, it is impossible for a meditator whose insight lacks strength and power, to know one's own true good, the good of others, or the good of both [of the entire community or society].

Nor will one be capable of realizing that superhuman state of distinctive achievement, the knowledge and vision (knowing-and-seeing) enabling the attainment of enlightenment/awakening.

But if a meditator has overcome these five impediments and hindrances, these overgrowths of the mind that nullify insight, then it is possible that, with strong insight, one can know one's own true good, the good of others, and the good of both.

And one will be capable of realizing that superhuman state of distinctive achievement, the knowledge and vision enabling the attainment of enlightenment. — AN 5:51 More

The Buddha's gradual instruction

Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Ellie Askew (eds.), Ven. Nyanatiloka (Buddhist Dictionary: Manual of Terms and Doctrines, palikanon.com), Wisdom Quarterly

First, reflect on the power of giving (dana), of letting go to benefit others (Goalcast). 

.

Now I'm settled, so teach me insight.

Another way to enlightenment is to cultivate serenity, detach, and practice systematic mindfulness.

This is for the arising of wisdom -- penetrating insight. Practice of this leads to the perfection of wisdom (prajna-paramita), the greatest bliss of all.

Serenity derived from samadhi is very blissful, which often stimulates the habit of attachment and suffering when the bliss we cling to dissolves. And it will. But there is a higher bliss.*

Practicing in tandem is the wisest way. The Buddha, the "Sage of the Scythians" Shakyamuni, often gave the gradual instruction starting with talk of karma and virtue (dana-sila-bhavana or sila-samadhi-prajna), the rewards of celestial bliss, serenity, dispassion, concentration, leading up to wisdom as liberating-insight -- to see that all is impersonal and not worth clinging to.

The eye of wisdom arose and the listener understood directly, often entering the first stage of enlightenment on the spot.

Ennoble me = enlighten me

Seeing things as they really are, one lets go and awakens.

"Gradual instruction" (ānupubbī-kathā) is a progressive talk or sutra/discourse given by the Buddha when it is necessary to first prepare the listener's mind/heart before speaking on the advanced teaching of the Four Noble (Ennobling) Truths.

The stock passage (e.g., DN 3, DN 14, MN 56) runs as follows:

"Then the Blessed One gave a gradual instruction -- that is to say, he spoke on generosity (letting go, giving, dāna), on virtuous conduct (sīla), and on heaven (sagga).

"He further explained the peril, the vanity, and the depravity of sensual craving, and the advantages of renunciation (letting go, nonclinging).

"When the Blessed One perceived that the listener's heart/mind was prepared, pliant, free of hindrances, elevated, and lucid, he explained that exalted teaching unique to buddhas (buddhānam sāmukkamsikā desanā), that is:

1. disappointment
2. its cause [ignorance that gives rise to craving]
3. its cessation, and
4. the path to the end of all disappointment."

*Nirvana is the highest bliss of all. When the Buddha realized it, he is reputed to have said something to the effect of, "I who wept with all my brother's tears laugh and am glad, for there is freedom!"

He had just seen why all suffering happens -- karma caused by ignorance (delusion) and the attraction (greed) and aversion (hatred) that arise from it -- and what could be done to end it all. "Now the builder of this house had been seen, its ridgepole shattered.

"The Buddha laid down virtue, concentration,
and wisdom as the Path to peace, the way to
enlightenment. But in truth these things
are not the essence of Buddhism. They are
but the Path... The essence of Buddhism
is peace, and that peace arises from
realizing the true nature of all things..."
(Ajahn Chah, A Taste of Freedom)

Seven things to DO in meditation (video)

Ven. (Bhante) Vimalaramsi, 3/13/18; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
We apologize for the somewhat arrogant, patriarchal, mansplaining appearance of this presentation, but maybe this American monk is onto something.

Metta Meditation instructions and the Six-Rs

Western Theravada Buddhist monk Ven. Vimalaramsi Mahathera from Missouri trained for many years in Burma (Myanmar). Here he defines "mindfulness" and describes his instructions for metta ("loving-kindness") using his practice of "The Six Rs" to eliminate the Five Hindrances to meditation.

1. [Rest (up then get in a comfortable, restful position to start), our implicit addition].
2. Recognize (any distractions, which means any time the meditation object is drifted away from).
3. Release (it by not keeping attention on the distraction).
4. Relax (the tightness caused by that distraction, which appears in the head/mind, due to craving [liking/disliking], this returns us to an open mind so that it's possible to return to the meditation object and continue observing it with a pure mind untainted by greed, hatred, or delusion).
5. Re-smile (which is a way to bring up something wholesome, so smile with the face and the mind, as this leads to not trying so hard, smiling to recognize distractions and again to resume).
6. Return (to the meditation object with a lighter mind as a result of smiling).
7. Repeat (all of this to stay with the object).

"Mindfulness" (sati) is "remembering to observe how mind's attention moves from one thing to another." This definition works in all situations the word is used.

This is the first part of the Brahma Viharas (Four "Divine Abidings") practice or what Ven. Vimalaramsi calls TWIM ("Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation"). Retreats are available at the Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center (dhammasukha.org).

BOOK: The Path to Nibbana (Sanskrit Nirvana) has been published by David C. Johnson on these teachings (thepathtonibbana.com). This talk was recorded on Nov. 20, 2016 at the St. Francis Retreat Center in San Juan Bautista, California, delivered by the abbot of DSMC of Annapolis, Missouri.

How to start meditating

The Rut. (bigeyedeer); Headspace.com (text); Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Rut. (bigeyedeer.wordpress.com)

I think I'm ready to begin a meditation practice and experience the many benefits it has to offer.

There may be one issue, however: I might not know how to start meditating. With so many different meditation techniques and traditions to try, it’s natural to feel unsure or even silly at first.

But here’s what we need to know about how to meditate.

Get started: basics

Most meditations begin by sitting in a quiet place, closing the eyes, calming the mind, and putting attention/focusing on the breath.

There’s more to meditating than sitting quietly and breathing. When we meditate, we are essentially cultivating awareness and compassion. We are training the mind to stop being so easily distracted and instead be more focused in and on the present moment.

Using the breath as our anchor in the moment, we sit and gradually learn to let thoughts and feelings come and go.

Of course, it’s completely normal when we start to meditate for the mind to jump all over the place, to wander untamed. The mind’s nature is to generate thoughts, so it’s going to think them:

Meditation is not about stopping thoughts (the "monkey mind" of discursive trains of thoughts). We sit and practice to observe the thinking without getting caught up in the content of the thoughts and emotions.

We learn to tame this restlessness by developing an awareness for those moments when our attention has wandered off. Each time we notice we’re distracted, we build our awareness, and we bring our attention back to the breath. More

Five things that will hinder meditation

1. Sensual desire: mind will wander to the pleasure of the senses, past and future.
2. Anger: ill will, annoyance, and cruelty — long simmering resentments — will come up.
3. Sleepiness: sloth and torpor, bodily exhaustion and mental dullness, will overwhelm us.
4. Restlessness: too much energy, eagerness, expectations, disappointments, greed, envy, jealousy, ruffled impatience may take the place of sleepiness with monkey mind angst and over-efforting.
5. Skeptical doubt: doubt, wrong views, questioning, philosophizing, ratiocination may arise.

Maybe in knowing these are to be expected, the antidotes to them can be employed to overcome them and succeed in experiencing meditation.

Thai forest tradition teachings

Ajahn Chah, Ajahn Thate via Ven. Sujato; Ellie, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

O, great Awakened One, why do we suffer, and what can we do to bring it to an end?

.

My advice is to not let yourself get wrapped up in doubts and questions. Let them go and directly attend to whatever you are experiencing. Don’t make a big deal out of any physical pleasure or pain that comes into experience.

When you sit in meditation and start to feel tired or uncomfortable, adjust your position. Endure as much as you can, and then move. Don’t overdo it. Develop a lot of mindfulness -- that’s the point.

Do your walking meditation and sitting meditation as much as you can. The aim is to be developing mindfulness as much as you can, knowing things fully. That’s enough.

Another famous master from the Thai forest tradition, Ajahn Thate, said: The true aim in developing concentration and absorption is to gather one's mental energies and make them steady and strong in a single point.

This then forms the basis for the knowledge and discernment (wisdom) capable of gaining true insight into all conditions of nature and eliminating all that is detrimental and defiling from the heart.

Thus, stillness of mind is developed not simply for other external purposes, such as the various fields of science. Instead, it's meant specifically for use in cleansing the heart of such defilements as the Five Hindrances.

But when you have practiced to the point of proficiency, you can use your stillness of mind in any way you like, as long as that use isn't detrimental to yourself or to others.

How to fly (video)

XTreme Video; HBO; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Dude, what's this samadhi y'all are talking about? That sounds rad.

(XTreme Video) Five Mind-Blowing Wingsuit Fly-Bys
 

"A fly-by is a flight past a point, especially the close approach of a spacecraft to a planet for observation." In this case it refers to proximity flying, one of the most engaged disciplines to emerge out of BASE Jumping. Witness the most incredible wingsuit fly-by ever done and check out the original videos and athletes in the description...

WingSuiting is the deadliest sport in the world: Real Sports (HBO)
 

Leaping off mountains wearing only a wingsuit may be thrilling, but it's also incredibly dangerous with 1:20 dying in the process. Yet, those flyers who are pushing the bounds of safety show no signs of slowing down. Connect with HBO Online Find HBO on Facebook.com/HBO or follow on Twitter.com/HBO and Youtube.com/HBO.

 

If you want to fly, according to Douglas Adams, simply throw yourself at the ground...and miss. Another good way is buy a ticket and get on a major airline. Look, if the great Evolution had wanted us to fly, it would have given us wings or at least a longer tail. What if there were a way to glide, to hang glide, to dive through the air like a flying squirrel? Go the way of Felix Baumgartner and just jump from space. If the drop doesn't kill you, a heart attack might. (That was likely faked and bogus but with the backing of big money, so who dares to question it? We're sure it's just what it seems because who couldn't go eight Gs, faint, and come back in time to pull the rip cord and land a parachute, right? Right). There is also the Buddhist way, true flying, sitting crosslegged in the air and levitating by an act of will after mastering and emerging from the absorptions (jhanas, dhyanas). Everyone knows "concentration" is the secret to magic. It's just that almost know one knows the real meaning of concentration. It is not hankering and straining. It is gaining a coherent state of mind called samadhi then learning to manipulate that by passing through the levels of absorption in a particular pattern.

There's an easier way! Ask the devas.

Is "magic" real? Caught live on VIDEO

Terrifive (youtube.com); Dhr. Seven, Crystal Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly

With meditative alegria and esprit de corps, I can fly, I can fly...well, almost.

 

Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe...

The East is still mysterious. From a real life "Superman" in Hong Kong to a girl with mind control powers in Thailand to a teleporter (deva?) in India, here are Five People with Superpowers Caught on Tape. 

Are any of these real or merely staged hoaxes? Some can't be real but others?

What a mystery to live in a world where beings have superpowers. It is entertaining to watch and wonder. Whether or not all of these are real, it is sure is that such things do exist.

coherIn Buddhism, today as in Ancient India, they are called siddhis (abhinna, iddhi) often associated with great yogis and ascetics living in silence and seclusion. They are the byproduct of very intense concentration known as "meditative absorption" or jhana (Sanskrit, dhyana).

What does concentrating mean?

Magic of flight or a block "South Park" style cut-out inserted in a hoax video?

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But "concentration" is a misleading English translation. It leads us to imagine squinting and trying, gritting our teeth and momentarily forcing our attention. 

Right concentration, samma samadhi, is the natural state of coherence that results from calming the mind (heart) until it rests in quiescence. Then it is "held all together," that is to say, collected. A cool, calm, and collected mind/heart is a "concentrated" one.

It is almost effortless, except that paradoxically to begin with it takes considerable effort (padhana, viriya) to stop, let go, relax, and allow. One sets aside and abandons the Five Hindrances and obstacles simultaneously develops the "Five Factors of Absorption" (jhana-anga). The heart/mind will cohere as we remain attentive in a state of serenity, focusing on a single object (such as the subtle breath, the prana, at the tip of the nose).

Ask a Ninja: How to Meditate: Doubt

Seth Auberon, Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Nyanaponika, Five Hindrances and Their Conquest: Selected Texts from the Pali Canon and Commentaries; Faith

Think. There are hindrances to meditation. Overcome them and be a ninja.

Do we need more doubt or more confidence? Think. Decide. Then do. (tonycrabbe)

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"This year, rise above it"! (AB)

This is Part VI of a seven-part series (see Part V) on overcoming the Five Hindrances, culminating with what to do as an enlightened Meditation Ninja. Reaching enlightenment may take anywhere from seven days to seven years, according to the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Sutra. But it depends on effort, sustained-ease, and consistency. Over-effort is something to be overcome by calm; under-effort is overcome by energy: balanced-effort is the goal. There is much more to be gained by practicing a little every day rather than a lot on Sunday and none at all the rest of the week: Consistency over time is the tortoise's secret, leaving the hare far behind. Everything can wait, but the search for enlightenment cannot wait.

5. Doubt
A. Nourishing of Doubt

There are things giving rise to skeptical doubt. Frequently giving unwise attention to them is nourishing the arising of doubt that has not yet arisen and the increase and strengthening of doubt that has already arisen. — SN 46:51

B. Denourishing of Doubt

Stop thinking and DO. (motorcitymoxie.com)

There are things that are wholesome or unwholesome, blameless or blameworthy, noble or low, and (other) contrasts of dark and bright. Frequently giving wise attention to them is the denourishing of the arising of doubt that has not yet arisen and the increase and strengthening of doubt that has already arisen.

 
Of the six things conducive to the abandonment of doubt, the first three and the last two are identical with those given for restlessness and remorse. But the fourth runs as follows:
 

Firm conviction (confidence, saddha) concerning the Buddha, Dharma, and [Noble] Sangha -- that is, the Teacher, the Teaching, and the successfully Taught.
 

In addition, the following are helpful in conquering skeptical doubt:

• Mindfulness/Wise reflection (sati or "bare attention"/yoniso manasikara), of the Five Factors of Absorption (jhananga);

The sky's going out! Soon all will be dark.

"The first [Fine Material Form Sphere] jhana or 'meditative absorption' is free of five things (i.e., the Five Mental Hindrances). And five opposite things are present (i.e., the Five Factors of Absorption or jhāna-anga).
 
Whenever a meditator enters the first absorption, there have vanished: sensuous desire, ill-will, tiredness-and-boredom [sloth and torpor], restlessness-and-worry, skeptical doubt.
 
What is present instead are: initial application [of attention] (vitakka), sustained attention (vicāra), rapture (pīti), happiness (sukha), and concentration (samādhi or ekagata, unification of mind, one-pointedness).
 
In the second absorption there are present: rapture, joy, and concentration; in the third: joy and concentration; in the fourth: equanimity (upekkhā) and concentration" (Path of Purification, Vis.M. IV).

NOTE: the next four absorptions of the Immaterial or Formless Sphere (jhanas 5 through 8) still belong, properly speaking, to the fourth absorption as they possess the same two constituents. The fourth Fine-Material Sphere absorption is also the base or starting point (pādaka-jhāna) for the attaining of the higher spiritual powers (abhiññā), which should be avoided as a dangerous distraction.

• Wisdom (pañña), one of the Five Spiritual Faculties (indriya, bala);
• Investigation of reality (dhamma-vicaya), one of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment (bojjhanga).
• For more details on these three helpful factors, see The [37] Requisites of Enlightenment (Wheel 171-4, BPS).

C. Simile

Then all was dark; I didn't know what to do.

If there is a pot of water that is turbid, stirred up and muddy, and this pot is in a dark place, then a person with a normal faculty of vision cannot properly recognize and see the image of one's own face. In the same way, when one's mind is possessed by doubt, overpowered by doubt, then one cannot properly see any escape from doubt that has arisen. Then one does not see one's own welfare, nor that of another, nor that of both. And teachings memorized long ago do not come to mind, let alone those not memorized. — SN 46:55