The five hindrances and/or fetters?
The five hindrances —
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sensual desire,
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ill will,
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sloth and torpor,
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restlessness and remorse,
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and doubt
— are the primary obstacles to meditative development and their removal is therefore essential for the mind to be brought to a state of calm and unification.
“And what, Ānanda, is the path, the way to the abandoning of the five lower fetters? Here, with seclusion from the acquisitions,654 with the abandoning of unwholesome states, with the complete tranquillization of bodily inertia, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the first jhāna, which is accompanied by applied and sustained thought, with rapture and pleasure born of seclusion. “Whatever exists therein of material form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness, he sees those states as impermanent, as suffering, as a disease, as a tumour, as a barb, as a calamity, as an affliction, as alien, as disintegrating, as void, as not self.655 He turns his mind away from those states [436] and directs it towards the deathless element thus: ‘This is the peaceful, this is the sublime, that is, the stilling of all formations, the relinquishing of all attachments, the destruction of craving, dispassion, cessation, Nibbāna.’656
Then the brahmin Saṅgārava approached the Blessed One, exchanged greetings with him, sat down to one side, and said: “Master Gotama, why is it that sometimes even those texts that have been recited over a long period do not recur to the mind, let alone those that have not been recited? And why is it that sometimes those texts that have not been recited over a long period recur to the mind, let alone those that have been recited?”
“Brahmin, when one dwells with a mind obsessed by sensual lust, overwhelmed by sensual lust, and one does not understand as it really is the escape from arisen sensual lust,14 on that occasion one neither knows nor sees as it really is one’s own good, or the good of others, or the good of both. Then even those texts that have been recited over a long period do not recur to the mind, let alone those that have not been recited. “Suppose, brahmin, there is a bowl of water mixed with red, yellow, blue, or crimson dye. If a man with good sight were to examine his own facial reflection in it, he would neither know nor see it as it really is. So too, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind obsessed by sensual lust … even those texts that have been recited over a long period do not recur to the mind, let alone those that have not been recited.
“Again, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind obsessed by ill will, overwhelmed by ill will, and one does not understand as it really is the escape from arisen ill will, on that occasion one neither knows nor sees as it really is one’s own good, or the good of others, or the good of both. Then even those texts that have been recited over a long period do not recur to the mind, let alone those that have not been recited. “Suppose, brahmin, there is a bowl of water being heated over a fire, bubbling and boiling. If a man with good sight were to examine his own facial reflection in it, he would neither know nor see it as it really is. So too, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind obsessed by ill will … even those texts that have been recited over a long period do not recur to the mind, let alone those that have not been recited.
Again, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind obsessed by dullness and drowsiness, overwhelmed by dullness and drowsiness, and one does not understand as it really is the escape from arisen dullness and drowsiness, on that occasion one neither knows nor sees as it really is one’s own good, or the good of others, or the good of both. Then even those texts that have been recited over a long period do not recur to the mind, let alone those that have not been recited. “Suppose, brahmin, there is a bowl of water covered over with water plants and algae. If a man with good sight were to examine his own facial reflection in it, he would neither know nor see it as it really is. So too, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind obsessed by dullness and drowsiness … even those texts that have been recited over a long period do not recur to the mind, let alone those that have not been recited.
Again, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind obsessed by restlessness and remorse, overwhelmed by restlessness and remorse, and one does not understand as it really is the escape from arisen restlessness and remorse, on that occasion one neither knows nor sees as it really is one’s own good, or the good of others, or the good of both. Then even those texts that have been recited over a long period do not recur to the mind, let alone those that have not been recited. “Suppose, brahmin, there is a bowl of water stirred by the wind, rippling, swirling, churned into wavelets. If a man with good sight were to examine his own facial reflection in it, he would neither know nor see it as it really is. So too, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind obsessed by restlessness and remorse … even those texts that have been recited over a long period do not recur to the mind, let alone those that have not been recited.
Again, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind obsessed by doubt, overwhelmed by doubt, and one does not understand as it really is the escape from arisen doubt, on that occasion one neither knows nor sees as it really is one’s own good, or the good of others, or the good of both. Then even those texts that have been recited over a long period do not recur to the mind, let alone those that have not been recited. “Suppose, brahmin, there is a bowl of water that is turbid, unsettled, muddy, placed in the dark. If a man with good sight were to examine his own facial reflection in it, he would neither know nor see it as it really is. So too, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind obsessed by doubt … even those texts that have been recited over a long period do not recur to the mind, let alone those that have not been recited. “This, brahmin, is the reason why even those texts that have been recited over a long period do not recur to the mind, let alone those that have not been recited.
“Brahmin, when one dwells with a mind that is not obsessed by sensual lust, ill will, dullness and drowsiness, restlessness and remorse, and doubt, on that occasion even those texts that have not been recited over a long period recur to the mind, let alone those that have been recited.
“Suppose, brahmin, there is a bowl of water that is not mixed with dyes; not bubbling and boiling; not covered over with water plants and algae; not stirred by the wind and churned into wavelets; clear, serene, limpid, set out in the light. If a man with good sight were to examine his own facial reflection in it, he would know and see it as it really is. So too, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind that is not obsessed by sensual lust, ill will, dullness and drowsiness, restlessness and remorse, and doubt on that occasion even those texts that have not been recited over a long period recur to the mind, let alone those that have been recited. “This, brahmin, is the reason why even those texts that have not been recited over a long period recur to the mind, let alone those that have been recited.”…
When this was said, the brahmin Saṅgārava said to the Blessed One: “Magnificent, Master Gotama!… Let Master Gotama accept me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge from today until life’s end.” (SN 46:55, abridged; V 121–26)
If a bhikkhu is obsessed by sensual lust, then his mind is obsessed.
If he is obsessed by ill will, then his mind is obsessed.
If he is obsessed by sloth and torpor, then his mind is obsessed.
If he is obsessed by restlessness and remorse, then his mind is obsessed.
If he is obsessed by doubt, then his mind is obsessed.
If a bhikkhu is absorbed in speculation about this world, then his mind is obsessed.
If a bhikkhu is absorbed in speculation about the other world, then his mind is obsessed.
If a bhikkhu takes to quarrelling and brawling and is deep in disputes, stabbing others with verbal daggers, then his mind is obsessed.
“He understands thus: ‘There is no obsession unabandoned in myself that might so obsess my mind that I cannot know and see things as they actually are. My mind is well disposed for awakening to the truths.’494
This is the first knowledge attained by him that is noble, supramundane, not shared by ordinary people. 9.
“Again, a noble disciple considers thus: ‘When I pursue, develop, and cultivate this view, do I personally obtain serenity, do I personally obtain quenching?’
“He understands thus: ‘When I pursue, develop, and cultivate this view, I personally obtain serenity, I personally obtain quenching.’
This is the second knowledge attained by him that is noble, supramundane, not shared by ordinary people.