Dear Friends,
Gil Fronsdal wrote:
Because we tend not to see clearly when the hindrances are present, the Buddhist teachings strongly encourage people not to make decisions while under their influence. If possible, wait to make a decision when the mind is more settled or clear.
So if you have something big on your to do list today, see if you can check in first – what’s the state of the mind?
Gil’s article included this metaphor for the hindrances (based on the Sangaravo Sutta):
An ancient metaphor for how the hindrances obscure clarity of mind is a pond. When the pond is clean and the surface still, the water reflects our image. The effect of sensual desire is like looking into a pond that has been dyed; we are predisposed to see unrealistically—that is, “seeing with rose-colored glasses.” When the heat of ill will is present, it is as if the pond water is boiling; no reflection is possible. Sloth and torpor are like having thick algae growing across the pond; again, no reflection is possible except by doing the difficult work of pulling out the algae. Anxiousness is like the wind churning up the pond’s surface. And doubt is like water filled with mud.
If a hindrance is present, can you first explore it, noticing how it feels in the body, how it feels emotionally, how it feels energetically? Does it shift and change?
Gil also lists the similes of what it’s like when the hindrances aren’t present (based on a portion of the Maha-Assapura Sutta):
being freed from sensual desire is like being freed from debt; being released from the grip of ill will is like recovering from an illness; being free from sloth and torpor is like being freed from prison; freedom from anxiety and worry is like freedom from slavery; and passing beyond doubt is like completing a perilous desert crossing.
Likewise, you can notice, if a hindrance is not present, what does that feel like? Is there a sense of joy knowing it’s not there?
And then you can enjoy tackling that to do list with an unhindered mind!
With best wishes,
Andrea
I am grokking on the last two quotes…. how to settle the turbid, churning, tinted, contaminated, choppy pond of myself…. can I just be there in that clarity? Breathless still at first … then one or two tentative breeze-like breaths… and then the quiet….
My insight last night while meditating…. this is a very lonely practice…. even in the Sangha we sit alone inside the great cavern of the solitary self…. I cannot imagine doing three months of Vipassana retreat without talking…. does the loneliness not overwhelm after awhile?
Then I realized with certainty I have always been alone… the journey of the soul is one of solitude…. loneliness is the human condition…. yes there are moments of connection… of truly being with another human or sentient being…. of love….of compassion….and there is the profound sadness of knowing that cannot last… and I am alone once again….
Maybe that is one of my hindrances…. following this practice takes away forever the illusion that I am not alone… the loneliness frightens me…. I truly do not want to face that solitude…. Vipassana means seeing things as they really are…. My insight today…. I acknowledge I am alone…. lonely lonely lonely here in space and time… alone… I overcome the hindrance of fear… I accept my solitude.
Dear Robbie – Thank you for sharing your insights along this journey.
With metta, Andrea