14th Issue (Dec, 2009)

Pañcanīvaraṇāni: the Five Hindrances to Self-cultivation

Bhikkhu K. Tanchangya
saddhananda@hotmail.com

Buddhist self-cultivation is a voyage on the vast ocean of saṃsāra infested by violent and destructive storms of kilesas (defilements), āsavas (cankers), saṃyojanas (fetters), and taṇhās (cravings). These storms are sometimes referred to as elite enemy forces which effectively prevent spiritual self-cultivation from advancing. The pañcanīvaraṇāni, the five hindrances are one such notorious enemy force. As a storm, the nīvaraṇas try to blow the spiritual practitioner into pieces and as an elite enemy force, they try to avert the successful landing ashore of the practitioner to the land of the ariyas. The five are:

1. sensuous desire (kāmacchanda)
2. ill-will (vyāpāda)
3. sloth and torpor (thīna-middha)
4. restlessness and worries (uddhacca-kukkucca) and
5. skeptical doubt (vicikicchā)[1] .         

Holding back, obstructing or hindering [personal and spiritual growth] is their work. The most fertile ground for these nīvaraṇas to arise is when one sits down for self-cultivation popularly known in Buddhism as bhāvanā, meditation or introspection. Anyone who has been to a Buddhist retreat probably knows that one of the first things the master would insist to beware of is these five nīvaraṇas. In today’s world of instant gratification, we hardly devote some time for our inner growth. Even if one does, he/she is most likely to be overpowered by the nīvaraṇas. When one is seated for meditation, thoughts of ‘justifications’ would arise as to whether such a ‘silent sitting’ worth the time spending in bars and parties enjoying the sensuous moments. Such justifications, which are the characteristics of skeptical doubt, lead to restlessness, sloth and torpor. Hence, these nīvaraṇas  are defined as ‘obstacles, hindrances that overwhelm awareness and weaken discernment’[2] . Their suppression and gradual eradication therefore forms the major task in the progressive path to Buddhist self-cultivation. 

The development of samatha (tranquility, serenity), an aspect of samādhi (concentration) which in turn is one of the threefold division of the Noble Eightfold Path, is the first way to deal with the nīvaraṇas. Samatha has one-pointedness and undistractedness of mind as its characteristics. In such steady state of samādhi, one could cleanse the heart from sensuous desires, replace ill-will with love and compassion, sloth and torpor with watchful mind, restlessness and worries with undisturbed mind and heart full of peace, and skeptical doubt with a mind full of confidence in the good[3] . However, this replacement or rather the suspension of the nīvaraṇas by means of samatha is merely a temporary suppression called ‘vikkhambhana-pahāna’ (overcoming through repression)[4] , known as ‘temporary freedom of the mind’[5]. There are 8 such temporary freedoms of mind[6] . It is said that even an immoral person (dussīlo) can experience this kind of cetovimuttis if he studied the Dhamma![7] A quiet place[8] combined with a moral and disciplined lifestyle[9] is all that required to enjoy a certain degree of suchmental calmness. The nīvaraṇas are eradicated for once and all at the gradual attainment of the 4 supra-mundane fruits of Buddhist sainthood. This is very sensible and inclusive, for the spiritual struggle of an ordinary person is not left unnoticed. It is an inspiring assurance that cetovimuttis are within everyone’s reach. Hence, our attempt, as ordinary people, to suppress and gradually eradicate the nīvaraṇas is all the more not futile as it may seem.

 What are the origination and overcoming of the nīvaraṇas? Buddha has stated that just as the body sustains on nourishment, the nīvaraṇas too sustain themselves on nourishments[10] . The Āhārasutta, the discourse on nourishment maintains that beautiful and attractive objects nourish kāmacchanda; objects causing aversion nourish vyāpāda; listlessness, lassitude, drowsiness and sluggishness of awareness nourish thīna-middha; non-stillness of awareness nourishes uddhacca-kukkucca; phenomena that act as a foothold for uncertainty nourish vicikicchā[11] . The reason is because we frequently foster inappropriate attention to them. Hence, the Satipaṭṭhānasutta, in which the nīvaraṇas are dealt with under the section of mental phenomena, approaches the suppression and eradication of the nīvaraṇas by means of ‘acknowledgement and non-engagement therein’[12] . By ‘acknowledgement’ it means when any of the nīvaraṇas is present, its presence should be duly noted with appropriate attention; if they are not present, their absence should be duly noted as well. By ‘non-engagement’ it means not getting involved in them, for example, when kāmacchanda arises in one, its presence should be duly acknowledged and subsequently the mind should be diverted to ‘asubhanimatta’, unattractiveness of objects because ‘meditation on impure objects establishes repulsion towards beautiful objects’[13] . Probably a human body is the most attractive and seductive object that fuels sensuous desire. Hence, the Satipaṭṭhānasutta advises to cultivate bodily repulsion by ‘reflecting on this very body from the soles of the feet on up, from the crown of the head on down, surrounded by skin and full of various kinds of unclean things’. Such a reflection would turn even a sex maniac away from [thoughts of] sexual acts[14] . Repulsion, however, is not to be equated with aversion, for attachment and aversion are equally not helpful to self-cultivation. This body in which we find seduction, beauty and delusive enjoyment is in fact nothing but a mass full of illnesses; the true nature of the body is intrinsically unpleasant. Once we come to this realization, kāmacchanda could be suppressed to a very dramatic extent.

Mettā bhāvanā, meditation on loving-kindness, also known as mettācetovimutti (temporary mental freedom via mettā), supplemented with compassion, appreciative joy and mental equipoise, in which one extends unconditional love and compassion for all, is the most well known technique practiced and followed in Buddhist self-cultivation for countering and overcoming ill-will, anger, aggressiveness and hate[15] .

Sloth and torpor is perhaps the most serious stumbling block to self-cultivation. Excuses are the characteristics of sloth and torpor[16] . The reason why people make excuses when it comes to self-cultivation is because they lack the contemplation of death and impermanence. Verily, effort to change and transform oneself for the better should be made here right now because who knows if tomorrow death will come![17] Indeed, ‘when awareness remains steeped in the perception of stress in what is impermanent, a fierce perception of danger and fear is established in him toward idleness, indolence, laziness, heedlessness, lack of commitment, and lack of reflection, as if toward a murderer with an upraised sword’[18] . Some effective methods to counter sloth and torpor would be to do some light exercises like rubbing the limbs with the hands, getting up (if you are seated), and washing your eyes out with water[19] . But the most constructive method is to do walking meditation, senses inwardly immersed and the mind not straying outwards. This is the method recommended in Buddhist retreats and for personal practice at home as well.  

Our mental efforts and energies habitually get scattered being obsessed with thousands of thoughts and activities. The harmonization and integration of them into one mental force constitute ‘the stillness of awareness’, the antidote to restlessness and worries or remorse. It is not helpful for anyone to revive the past [founded on remorse] or build hopes on the future [founded on worries and anxiety] because the past has been left behind and the future has not been reached[20] . It is indeed the pondering upon the done and the unknown with inappropriate attention that causes restlessness and worries. The stillness of awareness obtained by being in constant guard to every mental state that arises and ceases (uppajjitvā nirujjhanti) with appropriate attention is something that forms the theme of Buddhist self cultivation.

Vicikicchā in Buddhist practice is defined as skeptical doubt regarding eight objects, namely, the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Saṅgha, the (threefold) training (sīla, samādhi and paññā), the past, the future, both past and future, and paṭiccasamuppāda. It is very obvious that having vicikicchā on these so-called ‘eight objects of doubt’ means turning oneself away from the Buddhist spiritual path and guide. Having doubt, for example, on the spiritual attainments of Buddha and his ariyan disciples only means that we are denying ourselves of such attainments, which, as a matter of fact, we are equally capable of attaining. This would be a serious setback in our practice because it denies the whole of the spiritual praxis, to begin with. Saddhā (faith) is the first step to counter vicikicchā. Buddhist faith, however, is to be established in accordance with one’s own understanding supported by reasons, rooted in vision[21] . In other words, saddhā should be counter-balance with wisdom (paññā), for excessive saddhā in the absence of paññā inevitably leads to blind faith and belief, while excessive paññā with no saddhā leads to intellectual cunningness. Indeed, it is because faith accompanied by wisdom that a saddhāvimutta, the faith-liberated one, is considered, in the highest sense, an arahat[22] , because on the attainment of sotāpatti, vicikicchā is replaced with unshakable faith whereby the rest of the latent defilements are gradually eliminated.

The urgency and the significance of the elimination of the nīvaraṇas is thus obvious in that the development and cultivation of their corresponding positive qualities are some of the very important factors of enlightenment (bodhipakkhiya-dhammā). That the gradual suppression and elimination of the pañcanīvaraṇāni lead to their corresponding spiritual attainments in the Buddhist soteriological path, it only remains of us to exert ourselves diligently for self-cultivation which is the essence and culmination of life[23] , the very essence of all endeavors[24] . 

Editor’s Note:

Originally, there are actually  no five hindrances in Man. They have arisen in the defiled consciousness of Man because  ordinary worldlings, deluded by the illusion of the multiplicity of the empirical world, fabricates the unreal self-centric ego of grasping. The five hindrances overwhelm clear awareness of Anattᾱ and veil its discernment. The Buddhist development and self-cultivation of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness help annihilate the five hindrances  so that the cultivator is self-redeemed. Self-redemption is self-actualization of intrinsic Buddha-hood in us. It is the summit of human development and self-cultivation.

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Bibliography and References:

1. Thera, Nyanaponika, ‘The Five Mental Hindrances and Their Conquest - Selected Texts from the Pali Canon and the Commentaries’, BPS, The Wheel publication no. 26, 1993
2. Somaratne, G. A., Dr., ‘Is Saddhāvimutta an Arahat?’, Sāragavesī Sastrīya Saṅgrahaya, Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies, University of Peradeniya, 2005, Pp. 301-310
3. “Form and Formless Attainments as Levels of Concentration Freedom”, Sāragavesī Sastrīya Saṅgrahaya, Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies, University of Peradeniya, 2004, pp. 225-238
4. 'Intermediate Existence and the Higher Fetters in the Pāli Nikāyas',  Journal of the Pali Text Society, Vol. XXV, Oxford, 1999
5. Gunaratana, Henepola. “The Path of Serenity and Insight: An Explanation of the Buddhist Jhānas”, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, 1985
6. “The Jhānas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation”, Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1988
7. Nyanatiloka, ‘Buddhist Dictionary – Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines’, PBS, Kandy
8. Karunaratna, Upali, “Cetovimutti,” The Encyclopedia of Buddhism, G.P. Malalasekera, ed. Vol. IV, pp. 109-110.  
9. S.K.N., “Deliverance,” The Encyclopedia of Buddhism, G.P. Malalasekera, ed. Vol. IV, pp. 359-362.
10. Lily de Silva, 1981, "Cetovimutti, pannavimutti and ubhatobhagavimutti", The Maha Bodhi, Vol. 89, pp. 1-24.
11. Unless otherwise stated, all the Canonical references are to that of the PTS edition. Wherever the sutta name and the number is given and/or the vaggas are referred to, the reader should know that they are reference to the Chaṭṭsaṅgāyana CD-Rom following the numbering of the following translated texts:
12. The Long Discourses of the Buddha (Dīgha Nikāya), trans. by Maurice Walshe, Wisdom Publications, Boston, 1995 
13. The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha (Majjhima Nikāya), trans. by Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi, BPS, Kandy, 1995 
14. The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Saṃyutta Nikāya), vols. I-II, trans. by Bhikkhu Bodhi, Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2000  
15. The Book of the Gradual Sayings (Aṅguttara Nikāya), vols. I (1970), II (1972) and V (1964), trans. by F. L. Woodward, PTS, London, 1970
16. The Book of the Gradual Sayings (Aṅguttara Nikāya), vols. III (1973) & IV (1064), trans. by E. M. Hare, PTS London
17. Woven Cadences of Early Buddhists (Suttanipāta), by E. M. Hare, London, 1945