THE FIVE MENTAL HINDRANCES | Meditation Techniques | Buddhism Beliefs

Free your mind of detrimental and nuisance thoughts. The five mental hindrances impede our progress during meditation, dharma practice and consequently life. Knowing these five hindrances helps us to recognize them, gain skillfulness to guard against, and take action against them. Hence, we don’t fall prey to their destructiveness. As a result we walk the path to peace, live without suffering and are free to be happy.

The first hindrance is sense desire. Most people untrained in the way of true wisdom are consumed with this hindrance. It has a pulling affect or sensation. These people are falsely inclined towards they supposed beauty of material objects as well as that of the flesh. Because of this, deep craving or thirst for sense objects and anything sensual, they fail to move along the path to higher spiritual levels. Instead, consumed with the sense object, detrimental to the end.

The second hindrance is ill-will. This hindrance consumes you with a powerful pushing effect that blinds us to truth. When consumed with ill-will we feel hatred and dislike to others. To walk the path to great internal peace and life satisfaction requires the release of ill-will.

The third hindrance is sloth and torpor. If this hindrance has invaded your mind, you will not have the strength to counter the heavy sensation. It will be difficult to rouse the effort to attain true wisdom.

The fourth hindrance is restlessness and remorse. This hindrance makes itself known through flighty, floating or spaced out sensations that produce irrational anxiety and fear.

The fifth hindrance is doubt. You become unsure and hesitant as to what is true and what is false or illusion. As a result you doubt your path and grasp at anything that may seem rational and many times is not rational and leads only to self destruction.