18 Chapter VI: The Heart of the Matter - Thorns and Prickles

Meditation Teachings: Part 2 THORNS AND PRICKLES

The immediate obstacles to the development of samādhi and wisdom are a group of defilements that the Buddha called the nīvaraṇa or hindrances. He described them as ‘overgrowths of the mind that stultify insight’. They are five in number:

1. Kāmacchanda – sensual thoughts.
2. Vyāpāda – ill-will.
3. Thīnamiddha – sloth and torpor.
4. Uddhaccakukkucca – agitation, guilt, remorse.
5. Vicikicchā – Doubt and indecision.

The Buddha made clear the vital importance of dealing with the hindrances as follows:

Without having overcome these five, it is impossible for a monk whose insight thus lacks strength and power, to know his own true weal, the weal of others, and the weal of both; or that he will be capable of realizing that superior human state of distinctive achievement, a truly noble distinction in knowledge and vision.

– AN 5.51

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