Mini-Lessons for Contemplative Practice, Lesson Six

Buddha predicted that, as we practice, we will run into The Five Hindrances. These are states of mind that will interrupt or cause us to question our practice. I have found that, now that I practice with the hindrances off the mat, I see them having their way with my life there as well. The Five Hindrances are:

- Desire, clinging, or craving
- Aversion, hatred, or anger
- Sleepiness, sloth, or torpor
- Restlessness or agitation
- Doubt

We can go back to the donut example from yesterday's mini-lesson. When we sit, and we notice we are hungry, suddenly all we can think about is what we are going to have for lunch or cook for dinner or which donut we are smelling and how long will it be until I can get out of here and buy one and eat it? This is a simple example of desire at work.

Aversion, hatred, and anger happen in my practice often when I notice that I am uncomfortable in a posture physically or when there is something uncomfortable happening in my thoughts or emotions that I would rather not examine.

Sleepiness can happen because you are overtired, of course, but at other times, it is just a very clever trick of the mind to get you to avoid looking at something that is arising in the meditation. A difficult emotion or thought will arise and you barely catch a glimmer of it and then you wake up thirty minutes later when the bell rings to release you from the session.

Restlessness, for me, also tends to begin with discomfort in the physical body, but I often notice restless mind, too. I especially fall victim to this in my own, home practice, where, when I get restless, I know that I can just go and check my phone, or answer the doorbell, or jot down a note. In a group meditation, it is much harder to give in to restlessness, and whenever we work to sit through restlessness rather than giving in, we can learn to work through it.

Doubt will arise whenever we start to question the practice or our abilities. Is this really even helping me? What am I getting out of this? Isn't there something that would be more important for me to do right now? I should really get to my to-do list, call my son's teacher, make that doctor's appointment, weed the garden, and I'd better do it RIGHT NOW instead of sitting. In this way, doubt can flow right into agitation.

It is useful to notice when these situations arise on the mat or cushion and also off of it. Can you think of a relationship where you have experienced doubt? A time at work when you experienced agitation or aversion? A beloved that you crave? Or times when you have checked out by taking a nap just to avoid digging deeper into something?